Mercedes fired an early warning shot at the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli leading a dominant 1-2 in the sole practice session, just ahead of teammate George Russell. The session itself proved a chaotic affair, hit by three red flags for Liam Lawson's car failure, Alex Albon crashing after hitting a groundhog, and Esteban Ocon's spin into the wall. Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc showed pace behind the Silver Arrows, while Max Verstappen struggled to P5, nearly a second off Antonelli’s blistering 1m13.402s.
For American interests, it was a challenging start. Haas driver Ocon finished P13, with rookie Ollie Bearman P19, both looking off the pace. Cadillac endured a miserable outing, with Valtteri Bottas P20 and Sergio Perez P21. Both American teams face an uphill battle to find performance before sprint qualifying.
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