Kimi Antonelli set the pace on a chaotic Friday at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, edging George Russell by 0.029 seconds to lead a Mercedes one-two in second practice for the Canadian Grand Prix. The 19-year-old Italian’s 1:12.847 came on a session twice interrupted by red flags, the second triggered when Williams driver Alex Albon struck a groundhog at the exit of Turn 6, ripping the front wing from his FW48 and littering the run-off with carbon fibre.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was third, three-tenths adrift, with Oscar Piastri fourth and Charles Leclerc rounding out the top five for Ferrari. Max Verstappen, who has won three of the past four races in Montreal, could only manage sixth, the Red Bull driver complaining of “no rear” on the long-run simulations that traditionally define competitive order at this circuit.
Antonelli stakes his claim on the streets of Montreal
Antonelli’s headline time arrived on a second push lap on the soft compound, the rookie carrying speed through the final chicane that has caught out far more experienced drivers on the Wall of Champions. It is the third practice session he has topped this season, following his early-year benchmarks in Bahrain and Imola, and the first time he has out-paced Russell on a Friday since the Miami weekend in May.
The performance carries weight beyond a single lap. Montreal punishes any deficit in traction off the slow chicanes and rewards bravery over the kerbs at Turns 8, 9 and 10 — areas where Mercedes have historically struggled to extract grip from the W-series chassis. Toto Wolff confirmed in the team’s post-session briefing that updates to the floor and rear corner, first run in Spain a fortnight ago, had “translated to this surface better than the simulator predicted”.
Russell, who took his maiden Formula 1 victory here in 2024, remained the team’s reference point on race-trim laps. Telemetry shared by Mercedes showed the 28-year-old running between 0.2s and 0.4s a lap quicker than Antonelli on matched fuel loads, suggesting Saturday’s qualifying gap may not survive Sunday’s 70-lap distance.
Wildlife stops play as Albon’s Friday unravels
The groundhog incident — the second of the weekend after a smaller animal forced a virtual safety car in FP1 — left Albon visibly shaken on team radio. “I’ve hit something, I’ve hit something big,” the Thai-British driver reported, before pulling off at the hairpin with extensive front-end damage. Williams later confirmed the chassis itself was undamaged but that a full front-wing assembly, estimated at $150,000, would need to be replaced before Saturday running.
The FIA noted that wildlife strikes have occurred at every Canadian Grand Prix since 2019, with marmots and groundhogs the most frequent culprits. Race director Rui Marques confirmed additional perimeter sweeps would be carried out before qualifying, though he stopped short of committing to the deployment of trained handlers used at other venues with persistent wildlife issues.
Albon’s misfortune capped a difficult opening day for Williams, with team-mate Carlos Sainz only 14th and reporting balance problems through the high-speed sections. The Grove-based outfit arrived in Canada fourth in the constructors’ standings but only 11 points clear of Aston Martin, and team principal James Vowles has publicly identified this weekend as “critical” before the European triple-header begins in Spain.
Title picture sharpens before qualifying
With nine races completed and 15 remaining, the championship lead Verstappen carries into Sunday is just 19 points over Norris, with Piastri a further eight back. Mercedes, fourth in the constructors’ table, are mathematically still in contention but realistically racing McLaren and Ferrari for second place behind Red Bull.
The forecast for Saturday remains mixed, with a 60 per cent chance of rain between 14:00 and 16:00 local time — the precise window of qualifying. Pirelli’s head of motorsport, Mario Isola, said the harder C3 compound brought to Montreal for the first time had “behaved exactly as expected” in dry running, but warned that the cooler ambient temperatures predicted for Sunday could shift strategies toward a one-stop race.
Key talking points heading into FP3:
- Whether Mercedes’ floor upgrade holds up under qualifying simulation runs
- Verstappen’s race-pace deficit and Red Bull’s overnight set-up direction
- The condition of Albon’s repaired Williams and any chassis vibration data
- FIA marshalling response to repeated wildlife incursions on the circuit
The third practice session begins at 12:30 local time on Saturday, with qualifying scheduled for 16:00. Antonelli, asked whether his Friday pace was sustainable, offered a characteristically measured response: “It’s only Friday. The points are on Sunday.”
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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