George Russell had hoped to take the lead back, or at least close the gap on Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli heading into the Montreal weekend, and it all looked to be going his way after he had already taken Sprint victory and secured pole for the Canadian Grand Prix 2026. But his dreams suffered a major blow on lap 30 when he was forced into a sudden retirement from the lead battle.
What went wrong with his car?
What Happened To George Russell in Montreal?
The pre-season title favourite started from pole position in Montreal for the third successive year and was running at the front of the race alongside the 19-year-old Italian when his car slowed and stopped at the side of the track on lap 30.
The retirement allowed Antonelli to claim his fourth consecutive win of the season and to increase his championship lead overRussellfrom 18 to 43 points after five grands prix, all won by Mercedes, and three Saturday sprints.
What went wrong with George Russell's car at Canadian Grand Prix?
The fierce battle at the front of the pack came to an abrupt, terminal end due to a sudden power unit electrical breakdown. Speaking to Sky Sports after the chequered flag, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff revealed that Russell's W17 suffered a total battery failure. The internal energy storage module failed instantly, wiping out the car's electrical grid and leaving the driver entirely helpless.
"It looks like a module failure, so a battery failure, because the car was literally going dark," Wolff explained. "There was no electricity in the car anymore."
George Russell Reacts to Canadian GP Retirement
"It feels like the gods don't want me to be in this fight,"Russellsaid, citing a poorly timed safety car in Japan, a qualifying breakdown in China, and Sunday's retirement.
Nevertheless, he remained determined to fight on for the championship, despite the growing points gap.
"The pressure's off now. I'll go out and enjoy every single race, try and win every single one, I've got nothing to lose," he added. "It is, of course, frustrating, and I want to be in that fight."
Russell, who had won the sprint race on Saturday and impressed throughout the weekend after the team's latest upgrades, threw his headrest out of the car before stepping away as the virtual safety car was deployed.
Despite his frustration, the 28-year-old Briton said he was enjoying the contests with Antonelli.
"I haven't seen a battle like this probably since Lewis (Hamilton) and Nico (Rosberg) in Bahrain 2014,"Russellsaid.
"These new cars allow you to do that. Kimi and I had a great battle." Teenager Antonelli said he was also disappointed that his teammate had retired. "It was a tough fight," he said. "We were both pushing and we both wanted to win.
"And it was, I think, for everyone watching, pretty entertaining… Of course, it was not good seeing him having a failure because it would have been a very intense fight all the way to the end."
(With inputs from Reuters)