Formula 1 arrives at the Canadian GP next weekend surrounded by expectations, after the balance shown in Miami. Mercedes and McLaren appear as the main forces at the moment, but both avoid assuming favoritism for the stage in Montreal.
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The next weekend will also mark another stage with the Sprint format in 2026. This means less track time for teams and drivers to adjust the cars and understand the impact of the updates brought to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
In Miami, McLaren emerged as the main rival to Mercedes. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri secured a one-two in the Sprint race and then finished on the podium in the Sunday GP, behind only Kimi Antonelli, winner of the main race.
Antonelli highlighted that Mercedes is experiencing a positive moment, but stated that the team still needs to closely follow McLaren’s evolution: “I have a lot of confidence in the car. We are in a great moment, but McLaren is bringing another package of updates, and the step they took last weekend was very big,” he said.
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The Italian emphasized that the balance between the teams changed quickly in the last races: “We need to keep pushing and raising the level because we saw in Miami how much everything changed compared to the first three stages. We need to stay at the top of the game,” he added.
Norris, on the other hand, pointed to Mercedes’ favorable history in Montreal as a reason for caution: “It would be foolish not to feel confident after the progress we made last weekend, but we are going to a track where Mercedes has probably been the best team in the last five or six years. We need to wait and see,” he said.
Piastri also highlighted the difficulty of predicting the scenario for the Canadian GP. According to the Australian, McLaren’s dominant performance in the Sprint in Miami was a surprise even for the team itself: “The updates worked well and we hope that continues in Canada, but Mercedes did not bring many novelties to Miami and will also have an update package in Montreal, so we need to wait to understand the impact of that,” he concluded.
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