Author Archives: PressBox

Alexander Albon crashed his Williams after striking a groundhog during Friday’s only 60-minute practice for the Canadian Grand Prix sprint weekend in Montréal. The impact, reported to have occurred on the exit of Turn 6, sent Albon’s car into a wall and prompted a red-flag stoppage around the half-hour mark, costing the team more than half the session. Williams team principal James Vowles described the contact as causing “extensive damage,” saying it affected the front and rear corners and potentially the floor, front wing and suspension. Reports varied on which side of the car took the worst of the impact, with some accounts saying heavy damage down the left-hand side and others saying heavy damage to the right side and rear.

Albon emerged uninjured and walked away from the wreck, but the crash deprived the team of crucial running on a Sprint weekend and forced urgent repair work on the FW48 before the next track sessions. The incident followed an earlier brief stoppage caused by Liam Lawson’s car, prompting the FIA to add time to the session first by four minutes and then by a further 15 minutes after Albon’s crash. Replays of the collision were not carried on the official world feed but circulated on social media, and Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft suggested a marmot may have been involved. Vowles called the episode frustrating, said wildlife encounters had happened previously at the circuit and called them “one of the risks of this circuit,” while Albon’s mother jokingly feared he might have to “pay to adopt a family of marmots.”

Kimi Antonelli topped the lone practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, leading a Mercedes one-two with teammate George Russell. Antonelli set the fastest lap of 1:13.402, with Russell 0.142 seconds adrift on a 1:13.544, as Mercedes ran an upgraded W17 that showed a clear pace advantage in FP1.

The 60-minute session was chaotic and was stopped three times. Alex Albon suffered a heavy crash after striking a groundhog at the exit of Turn 7, triggering a roughly 15-minute red-flag stoppage. Liam Lawson stopped with a power issue that brought out a Virtual Safety Car, Franco Colapinto reported a suspected electrical throttle problem, and Esteban Ocon hit the Turn 7 wall and lost his front wing, with a post-session investigation under way over a possible pit-exit under a red light. George Russell spun in the opening corner sequence and lightly tapped the barrier but escaped major damage. Officials extended FP1 by around 15 to 19 minutes to make up lost running.

The interruptions shuffled running and timesheets. Oscar Piastri posted an earlier sub-75s lap of 1:14.963 and briefly rose to the top after a restart, but was classified seventh in the final order. Lewis Hamilton finished third, Charles Leclerc fourth, Max Verstappen fifth and Lando Norris sixth. Rookie Arvid Lindblad ran into the top 10 and Fernando Alonso recorded his first top-10 showing of the season on an offset tyre strategy. The FIA used the session to trial new rear lights to warn of MGU-K derating, and teams said they would review the upgrades, incidents and reliability issues ahead of Sprint Qualifying.

Martin Brundle warned that George Russell needs a victory at the Canadian Grand Prix as an important psychological step, saying a Montreal win would be “more mental than purely mathematical.” Russell arrives under pressure, 20 points behind Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who has won the last three Grands Prix and tops the standings. Mercedes remains the overall favourite and is bringing a major upgrade package to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the fifth round, a development many writers expect could deliver a strong result for the team in Montreal.

Russell has struggled in recent rounds, finishing fourth in Miami and not having stood on the podium since the Chinese Grand Prix, and commentators have warned he may risk overdriving as he chases a turnaround. He worked with his team during the three-week break to refocus on setup and tire management after saying he had been distracted by the cars’ increased electrical power and energy-management demands. Russell has form at Montreal, having taken pole in the last two seasons and won the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix, and both he and team principal Toto Wolff cited that history as reason to expect a regrouped performance.

Rival teams are closing the gap and could complicate Mercedes’ task. McLaren is bringing the second half of a major upgrade package to Montreal and has been tipped by multiple writers to challenge with Lando Norris or an Norris–Oscar Piastri one-two, while Red Bull and Ferrari plan to refine their Miami components. The Canadian weekend introduces a Sprint race for the first time and weather forecasts of cold, potentially wet conditions could influence strategy. Regulatory change is on the horizon, with F1’s ADUO rules due to be implemented after Montreal and potentially limiting any extended advantage for Mercedes.

Charles Leclerc said the SF-26 has a competitive chassis but is held back by a power unit that lags Mercedes and the Red Bull-Ford unit on the straights, saying the car is “lacking a little bit” in straight-line speed. He pointed to strong starts in Melbourne, Shanghai and Suzuka where Ferrari began well but fell back as rivals’ engines asserted an advantage.

Broadcasters and technical commentators echoed a picture of a package imbalance. David Croft warned the FIA’s lengthened race-start procedure “has hamstrung” Ferrari by reducing the benefit of its launch-focused design, which uses a smaller turbo favoring traction and getaways over top speed. Leclerc said Ferrari’s Miami upgrade delivered only a small gain, less than a tenth of a second in race pace, while rivals such as McLaren and Red Bull made bigger steps in optimization and results, with McLaren emerging as a significant challenger.

Ferrari has urged that it should qualify for Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities after parity checks are scheduled to take place following the Montreal round. Leclerc said, “I’ll be surprised if not” when asked whether Ferrari would be eligible, and he argued ADUO access would help close the gap even if it might not eliminate it. He cautioned that this season’s cars are highly interdependent systems and that raw power alone will not suffice, saying rapid optimization across chassis, aero and powertrain packages will decide competitiveness in the coming months.