Lewis Hamilton blitzes rival as Aston Martin blunder on the grid

EARLY REPORT: Lewis Hamilton blitzed his F1 rival during the start of the Canadian Grand Prix sprint race, as Aston Martin and Lance Stroll faced an early blunder.

Both Mercedes got off the line cleanly, with George Russell remaining ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli. Meanwhile, Hamilton split the McLarens on the opening lap and got ahead of Oscar Piastri for fourth place, proving the speed we saw in sprint qualifying on Friday.

Ferrari have been lightening quick on their starts in 2026, but Mercedes put any chance of an early lead for their rivals to bed during their first true test of their new upgrades around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Before the sprint race even got underway, there were also concerns the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll would even start as the team worked on suspension issues.

Thankfully, Stroll managed to start the race, albeit at the back of the field and behind the pitlane starters of Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Ollie Bearman and Valtteri Bottas.

Stroll was later placed under investigation by the stewards for a starting procedure infringement, but no further action was taken.

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Mercedes duel, Antonelli furious

Russell and Antonelli inevitably came to blows as they duelled for the lead on lap six, where the Italian tried to overtake on the outside at Turn 1, but ended up cutting across the grass and his team-mate retained the lead.

Then at Turn 8, there was nearly another collision between the pair, where Antonelli attempted to go on the inside on corner entry but locked up.

Here, he lost a place to the McLaren of Lando Norris, who made his way up to second and started to close the gap to Russell, getting within five tenths of a second.

Antonelli was furious with his team-mate, however, and ranted over team radio: "That was very naughty." He then claimed that Russell 'pushed him off', as race engineer Peter Bonnington tried to calm his driver down.

Eventually, in response to Antonelli's complaints, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff had to step up on the radio, and said directly to the youngster: "Kimi, concentrate on the driving, please, not on the radio moaning."

In the backdrop of this drama, Red Bull was forced to retire Isack Hadjar's car due to engine issues.

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