Mercedes’ Montreal upgrades appear to have delivered immediately, with Kimi Antonelli convinced the updated W17 has given the team an advantage over its rivals.
While the Brackley squad’s main rivals, led by Ferrari, went big with their Miami Grand Prix updates, Mercedes waited until Montreal to introduce its package.
Kimi Antonelli says Mercedes update has given W17 a crucial edge
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust
The team brought a revised floor, front and rear corner, as well as a new front wing to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
George Russell clinched pole position for the Sprint ahead of Antonelli, with the Briton three-tenths up on Mercedes’ nearest rival, Lando Norris.
Last time out in Miami, Mercedes not only lost pole position for the Sprint to Norris, but their advantage in qualifying for the grand prix was just a tenth of a second.
Antonelli reckons Mercedes has again pulled clear of the chasing pack.
“Yeah, for sure,” he said. “We brought the upgrade, and that’s what it was giving us in terms of performance.
“Of course, we still need to understand the package a little bit more because the balance has changed slightly.
“But overall, yeah, it seems to have given us a little bit of an edge against the others. We’ll focus on it tomorrow.”
Russell and Antonelli line up first and second for Saturday’s 23-lap race, ahead of Norris and Oscar Piastri while Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will be on the third row of the grid.
The championship leader missed out on pole position by 0.068s and admits he made mistakes that cost him.
More from the Canadian Grand Prix on PlanetF1.com
F1 Canadian Grand Prix 2026 – Live Updates, Schedule, Weather, Preview & Predictions
F1 2026 Canadian Grand Prix schedule: Session start times for practice, Sprint, qualifying and race
“The lap was quite bad, to be fair. The session was not clean at all. I made a mistake in SQ2, and that threw me off a little bit.
“Then I decided to go for lap one on softs without doing a prep lap and the tyres were a bit cold, so it was just a messy session.
“But still, P2 and very close. So the potential is definitely there, and we’ll do better tomorrow [Saturday].”
Antonelli leads the Drivers’ standings on 100 points, 20 ahead of Russell.
Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.
You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
Read next: Leclerc delivers Ferrari reality check ahead of first ADUO of F1 2026
Originally published by Planet F1 —
Read Original Article