The Formula 1 Canadian GP delivered one of the busiest races of the 2026 season so far. Besides the intense internal duel at Mercedes between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen starred in a fierce battle in Montreal, further enhancing the spectacle at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
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The race marked a change in the pattern recently seen in the category, especially after the so-called ‘Papaya Rules’ from McLaren influenced the confrontations between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. This time, Mercedes allowed Russell and Kimi to race freely, as long as they respected limits previously defined by the team.
The two drivers took advantage of the freedom from the start of the weekend. Still in the Sprint race, Antonelli attempted aggressive overtakes on Russell, while the Brit responded in kind. In Sunday’s GP, the battle continued until Russell retired on lap 31 due to power unit issues.
With the end of the battle between the Mercedes cars, Hamilton and Verstappen took center stage in the race. The Ferrari driver came out on top against the Red Bull Racing rival after direct on-track battles, in a confrontation that kept the audience attentive for much of the race in Montreal.
Even finishing on the podium in P3, behind Hamilton, Verstappen again criticized the current Formula 1 regulations. The four-time world champion stated that the spectacle provided by the drivers is independent of the current technical rules and suggested that exciting races would happen even with rental cars.
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“Even if they gave us a rental car, we would put on a great show and race hard against each other. So this has nothing to do with the rules,” said the Red Bull driver. The Dutchman also commented that he has been competing in other categories recently, an experience that made him recall ‘how pure motorsport can be’.
Verstappen also expressed discomfort with the complexity of the current Formula 1 regulations, especially regarding battery management and operational restrictions during races: “It’s all very confusing. This is not what Formula 1 should be. It’s too complex,” he added.
The Dutch driver also stated that most fans don’t even understand everything the drivers have to manage inside the car: “Fans don’t know what we deal with while driving, what is allowed when you are behind or ahead, what we must do on a formation lap or a pit exit lap, or how much battery we can charge. It’s a shame to have to deal with all this,” Verstappen concluded.
