As the 2026 Formula 1 season resumes this weekend, Sky Sports F1 assess the key talking points heading into the Canadian Grand Prix.Mercedes to bring major upgradesWhile much of the focus will be on George Russell and whether he can stop Kimi Antonelli’s early championship momentum, the Mercedes team themselves will be hoping their major upgrade package gives them an advantage over the field.
Although Mercedes have won each of the four races so far this season, the field certainly closed up in Miami and Lando Norris thinks he would have had a better shot at victory if McLaren were more proactive with strategy.
While most teams brought significant upgrades to Miami, Mercedes only had a minor update on the car. However, in Canada the W17 will have visible changes to the aerodynamics which Toto Wolff hopes will convert into more performance.”Sometimes upgrades don’t correlate with the stopwatch, so we need to prove that out. I hope we can,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“It is going to be a development race this season. How much can you bring? Are you limited by the cost cap? All of these things will play a role.”
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Brundle has praised ‘impressive’ Kimi Antonelli but believes he will have to put on a big performance to stop Mercedes team-mate George Russell in Canada
McLaren are not standing still though, and have more new parts for Canada, on top of their Miami developments. Montreal was one of their least competitive showings in 2025, difficulties compounded when Norris and title-rival team-mate Oscar Piastri collided late on when fighting over fourth place.
“Our development pathway has lots in the pipeline, with parts planned for Canada and a few more in Monaco and Spain,” said team principal Andrea Stella.”We are in the fight, and we believe this sets the stage for a very interesting championship battle for the fans and F1.”
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Watch back to the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix where Lando Norris crashed after battling with team-mate Oscar Piastri
Red Bull made the…
2026-05-20 06:00:00
