Russell escapes near-miss incident in closing stages of Canadian GP FP1

The Briton, on a circuit he has historically loved and where he claimed victory last year, endured a mixed opening session in Montréal as he once again finished behind teammate and current championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

The Italian topped the session with a 1:13.402, while Russell had at one stage been trailing by as much as four tenths before eventually reducing the gap to just 0.142s by the chequered flag, securing second place. There was also a scare in the closing stages, with Russell losing control of his W17 on the exit of Turn 1 and sliding dangerously towards the barriers, only managing to avoid a heavy impact at the very last moment.

Disaster was ultimately avoided for the King’s Lynn native, however, with Russell managing to escape without major damage to the car and therefore avoiding extra work for his mechanics ahead of Sprint Qualifying, which is set to get underway in just a few hours.

You can watch the near-miss collision at the bottom of the article.

Speaking ahead of the weekend, Russell admitted Miami had served as an important wake-up call after what he described as a turbulent start to the season. The Mercedes driver explained that the race weekend in Florida had exposed several weaknesses, but also provided valuable lessons that he believes could prove crucial over the remainder of the campaign.

Reflecting on the challenges faced so far in 2026, Russell suggested teams and drivers had become overly focused on energy management, tyre behaviour and setup-related compromises linked to the new regulations, to the point where some of the core fundamentals of racing had been neglected. Despite describing Miami as a painful experience, the Briton stressed that the difficulties encountered there ultimately helped both him and the team better understand the car, leaving him far more confident heading into Montréal.

“It's been a turbulent start, but the truth is Miami felt like the first tough race of the season. I'm in a good place because I think I've come away from Miami having learned more than I did in the first three races of the season. Miami was obviously a very tough weekend for me, but a huge amount was learned from that, and I feel great coming into this weekend,” Russell told GPblog, among others.