The season has featured rapid adaptation to new cars and regulations, with early results still subject to change. The Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal is expected to provide clues about form, with attention centered on Mercedes. Mercedes has started dominantly, taking all four poles and all four wins, while new regulations create major room for improvement and a fierce development battle. McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari introduced significant upgrades in Miami, and McLaren plans further changes in Canada, including a new front wing. Mercedes is estimated to be about a tenth of a second ahead in Miami, but revised performance may be visible at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Kimi Antonelli has won the last three races and leads the championship by 20 points over George Russell, who finished fourth in Miami and faces pressure questions in Canada.
"Four races into what has been a disjointed opening to the Formula One season, the sport is still in a period of rapid adaptation and adjustment as drivers and teams come to grips with their new cars. While this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix may offer some indication of the form to come and championship ambitions, it is also something of an outlier. The focus in Montreal will be of two-fold interest centred largely on Mercedes."
"The team have opened the new season with a dominant car that has claimed all four poles and all four wins. Yet with the new regulations offering enormous scope for improvement, a fierce development fight will define 2026. McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari all brought their first major upgrades to the last round in Miami; Mercedes bring their opening salvo of major parts to Quebec."
"The latter bring another tranche of upgrades to Canada, most importantly a new front wing, the schwerpunkt of the aerodynamic battle. The McLaren team principal, Andrea Stella, estimated Mercedes to still have about a 10th of a second on McLaren in Miami but, with all the new carbon fibre in place, some sense of the revised pecking order will be on show at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve."
"The 19-year-old Antonelli, in only his second season in F1, has been enormously impressive, having won the last three races in a row to lead the world championship by 20 points from his far more experienced teammate. Russell, the preseason favourite, who could manage only fourth in Miami, unsurprisingly had to bat away inquiries in Canada as to whether he was starting to feel the pressure."
Read at www.theguardian.com
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