Kimi Antonelli recorded his fourth consecutive victory Sunday by taking first in the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Antonelli, 19, and Mercedes teammate George Russell were wheel to wheel much of the afternoon, trading leads multiple times on Lap 13, before a power unit failure ended Russell’s day on the 30th of the race’s 68 laps.
Antonelli is the first Italian since Alberto Ascari in 1952 to win four straight races and the first F1 driver to win his first four consecutively.
“Not the way I wanted to win. It was meant to be a good fight with George but we will take it,” said Antonelli, who finished in 1:28:15 to beat runner-up Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari by nearly 11 seconds.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took third.
After five grand prix, all won by Mercedes, and three Saturday sprints, Antonelli leads all drivers with 131 points. Russell is second with 88.
“Just everything turned off all of a sudden,” Russell said of Sunday’s power failure. “Just went into the corner, engine stopped, no electronics, no proper braking.
“I’m pretty damned frustrated with what’s happened but what more can I do?”
Mercedes (219) lead Ferrari (147) by 72 points in the constructors’ standings. McLaren, which didn’t have a driver score Sunday, is third with 106 points.
Source: Khaleej Times