Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Montreal

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The title battle between Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli boiled over for the first time as the Englishman won a gripping sprint race at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Russell and Antonelli collided in one incident and the Italian ran off track in another as they battled for the lead of the race in the early laps.

Antonelli's second off-track incident handed second place to McLaren's Lando Norris and the three cars fought nose to tail until the end of the race.

Antonelli, who finished third behind Norris, complained over the radio that Russell had pushed him off track in the first incident and deserved a penalty.

Team boss Toto Wolff, who rarely talks on the radio, ordered his protege to "concentrate on the driving, not on the radio moaning".

Read the full report here

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I think we can say Canada's first crack at hosting a sprint race was a success.

What will the Mercedes debrief be like after the rumble between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli?

Russell has been doing a walk-and-talk with Sky Sports and said he thinks it was fair racing with his younger team-mate. Antonelli may feel differently.

One thing is for certain - the crowd in Montreal loved the intra-team battle.

With the third sprint all done, it's time to turn our attention to qualifying for tomorrow's 70-lap grand prix. Come back and join us from 20:45 BST for build-up, with Q1 going green at 21:00.

See you shortly!

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff: on his drivers battling on track: "It was great cinema. Tough fighting, not only between our two but also with Lando [Norris]. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it.

"You can see how quickly it goes, you create a gap with two cars and then you start to fight a bit and you can lose a race. If that goes longer and unlucky for us and it is the grand prix, then Norris may well win."

"I really enjoy these moments because it allows us to learn and say OK what are we doing with this situation, how are we handling that in the future? Because you don't want to lose a race, you don't want to crash into each other and sometimes it needs a little moment to remind ourselves what our objectives are.

"This is not particularly against one or the other. There is a framework we want to establish and I'd rather have it in a sprint race, where it is not about a lot of points, than the main race."

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Montreal

Image source, Getty Images

The first of a series of flashpoints between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli came on lap six.

Antonelli tried to pass Russell around the outside of Turn One, but ended up on the grass, managing to hold on to second place.

This was the incident by which Antonelli was angered and the Italian continued his complaints after the race.

A little further around the same lap, Antonelli overshot his braking point at Turn Eight and plunged across the grass and out of the other side of the chicane.

Antonelli held his hands up about this incident, saying he had hit a bump on the track and compromised his race.

Some sprint admin for us to digest.

Sorry, Harry. Sergio Perez has been penalised by the stewards for forcing another driver off the track, so the Mexican Cadillac driver drops from P11 to P14.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, is in the media pen ready to tell us what happened at the end of his race. The seven-time world champion lost two places in the closing stages to Australian Oscar Piastri and his team-mate Charles Leclerc.

He also clipped the Wall of Champions.

"Piastri got alongside me into the last corner and he overtook, and then through that, I lost position to Charles," says Hamilton.

And that's it.

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McLaren's Lando Norris, after finishing P2: "It was a good race, was good to watch them to go at it for a while and we were there to pick up the pieces. They were quick, Kimi caught me back up pretty quickly, so I was looking behind and looking to attack ahead. It was fun, always a tough track to push on and easy to make mistakes but yeah, today was a good result for us."

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Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who finished third: "It was a tough battle, to be fair, we were all there in terms of pace, it was not easy. I tried to make my move and I need to review on that because I was quite well alongside and got pushed off. But it is what it is.

"Then I made a mistake into Turn Eight because I took a big bump and locked up and I compromised my race there. But it was a good battle."

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Mercedes' Canadian Grand Prix sprint winner, George Russell: "It was a cool race, I was just talking with Lando, it was definitely difficult to get a gap around here and it felt quite easy to follow.

"The slipstream was quite powerful with the overtake mode and it was a good battle with Kimi and glad we are both standing here after the race."

On coming back after a difficult race in Miami: "It was never really a concern. I know Miami is a bogey track for me and of course there has been a huge break in the calendar.

"Lots of people with a lot of things to say but ultimately just wanted to get back to racing and it feels like the season is going to start now with the six races in eight weeks so looking forward to getting that groove back in Montreal and amazing fans as always. Looking forward to this afternoon."

George Russell has taken a little nibble of two points out of Kimi Antonelli's championship lead before we go racing for the full 70-laps on Sunday, so now the Italian's advantage over Russell at the top is 18 points.

Let's have a look what the top three had to say...

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Harry: Sergio Perez coming 11th in a Cadillac is quite something. Still got it!

Lewis Hamilton lost out big in the final moments of the sprint race. He was running in fourth when he was challenged by Oscar Piastri and overtaken by the McLaren driver - and then Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc took advantage and pushed him down to sixth.

It was another eventful race for championsip leader Kimi Antonelli. His late attack on the outside Lando Norris at Turn One ended with him running off the road and giving the place back to the McLaren man.

On his tussle with team-mate George Russell at the same corner, Antonelli reckons he pushed off the track.

Antonelli: "If we race like that, it's good to know."

Toto Wolff: "We don’t talk about this on the radio. We do it internally.”

1. George Russell (Mercedes) - 8pts

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 7

3. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) - 6

4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 5

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 4

6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) - 3

7. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 2

8. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) - 1

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

George Russell sounds so calm considering it was a frenetic race, from start to finish. There's no way George could relax at any moment throughout that sprint. He had people in his mirrors the whole way. You've got to say he did a pretty good job of hanging on and bringing home the eight points for him and the team.

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Well that was a huge lunge from Antonelli, round the outside, into Turn One, he couldn't make it stick. He ran across the same patch of grass, came onto the race track ahead of Norris but had to give that back.

Kimi Antonelli is off the track! The Italian tries his luck on the outside Lando Norris but it goes all wrong and he ends up under pressure from the cars behind.

And now Lewius Hamilton has been passed by Oscar Piastri! The Australian takes back his fourth place in the closing stages.

We're nearing the end of the third sprint of the season and it looks like George Russell is going to return to winning ways. The Mercedes man has kept McLaren's Lando Norris at bay, while team-mate Kimi Antonelli is trying to catch the world champion in third.

Can anyone challenge George Russell Geirge Russell for the lead? Not yet. Lando Norris is trying but the polesitter is holding his position well out in front.

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Valtteri Bottas shifts his Cadillac out of the way of the frontrunners but his former Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton has just had a brush with the Wall of Champions! The seven-time world champion is OK and he hasn't lost any places.