ANTONELLI PULLS AWAY, RUSSELL FALLS BEHIND

The Formula 1 World Championship seems to be increasingly pointing toward Kimi Antonelli. And not so much — or not only — because of George Russell’s retirement in Canada, but rather because of what the Canadian weekend revealed about the current balance of power at Mercedes. Antonelli’s victory, combined with his teammate’s costly zero, created a major shake-up in the standings: a 43-point gap is starting to look significant, especially in a season where the W17 appears to be the clear reference car.

For Russell, the comeback now looks extremely difficult. Not only because Mercedes seems to give very little away to its rivals in terms of performance, but also because there is no real rotation of challengers at the front: if no other drivers consistently join the fight, recovering such a gap becomes almost impossible. And then there is another increasingly visible factor: Antonelli seems perfectly fused with this car. The impression is that Kimi is often more natural, more effective, and more incisive than his own teammate.

Even in Canada, despite mistakes from both drivers, once Antonelli moved into the lead he looked capable of pulling away without much trouble. Russell, on the other hand, once again gave the impression of constantly chasing something, as if the car’s limit always arrives earlier in his hands. In qualifying, George did a lot of the heavy lifting to stay close, but in race conditions the difference in effectiveness was clearly visible. And this is not the first time this season.

Monaco could represent a good opportunity for him: a very particular track where Mercedes’ power unit advantage will likely matter less, and where the Briton’s experience could make a difference. But from this point on, Russell will have to operate at maximum attack mode at all times, because every mistake from here on could be extremely costly. He has also been unlucky on several occasions, and it must be said he probably does not deserve such a large gap. However, after years spent driving a non-competitive Mercedes, more was expected once he finally got a title-capable car.

Behind Mercedes, Canada also delivered a strong battle between Hamilton and Verstappen. Fortunately, the fight was not ruined by the Virtual Safety Car, which still raises plenty of questions. In many other categories there are far simpler and more consistent systems, based on a straightforward limiter applied equally to everyone, whereas Formula 1 continues to rely on procedures that often feel unnecessarily complex.

For Hamilton, the Canadian weekend was extremely positive. Despite a slightly underwhelming Sprint, Lewis showed consistency, pace, and competitiveness throughout the entire event, also taking advantage of Leclerc’s struggles. And here a familiar pattern emerges: whenever Charles finishes behind Hamilton, it is suddenly attributed to tracks he “doesn’t like” or that don’t suit his style. Strange, considering such explanations are rarely applied to drivers like Norris, Sainz, or even Hamilton himself. Sometimes, you simply end up behind a driver who has won over a hundred races and seven world championships.

Fortunately for the Monegasque, the next circuit should suit him much better, and with this Ferrari he could have an immediate chance to bounce back — provided Norris does not interfere again.

Once again, Verstappen delivered an excellent race, extracting everything possible from what Red Bull had to offer. The Canadian circuit likely helped mask some of the RB’s weaknesses, but the overall impression is still of a team that looks slightly more competitive than in previous rounds.

McLaren, meanwhile, were the protagonists of arguably the most inexplicable strategic performance of the weekend. More than the strategy choice itself, what is puzzling is the way the team voluntarily exposed itself to such a high-risk scenario despite having a competitive car. Starting from the second row and complicating the race in that way makes little sense: with a car capable of fighting for strong results, the logical approach would be to align with rivals’ strategies and then play your cards in the race, rather than immediately committing to an extreme gamble.

And it is a shame, because Norris once again showed he is one of the very few capable of truly challenging Mercedes. We saw it in the Sprint, in qualifying, and even during his race recovery, built on clean overtakes and genuine pace, without relying on massive performance gaps. Piastri, meanwhile, looked less effective throughout the weekend before a technical issue ultimately forced his retirement.

At this point, the only hope for those chasing Mercedes is that these reliability issues do not remain isolated incidents.

© Simone Marchetti Cavalieri