Canadian GP: Will Mercedes’ car development keep them at the top and will Lewis Hamilton’s ‘unmatch’ approach pay off? | F1 News

As the 2026 Formula 1 season resumes this weekend, Sky Sports F1 takes a look at the key talking points heading into the Canadian Grand Prix.

Mercedes to bring a big improvement

While much of the focus will be on George Russell and whether he can stop Kimi Antonelli’s first championship push, the Mercedes team themselves will be hoping that their development package will give them a chance to overtake the field.

Although Mercedes have won four races so far this season, the field is closed in Miami and Lando Norris thinks they could have had a better shot at victory if McLaren had been more strategic.

While many teams brought significant improvements to Miami, Mercedes only had a minor update to the car. However, in Canada the W17 will have noticeable changes in aerodynamics that Toto Wolff hopes will translate into more performance.

“Sometimes development doesn’t go with a stopwatch, so we need to prove that. I hope we can,” he said. Sky Sports F1.

“It’s going to be a race for development this season. How much can you bring in? Are you limited by the cost? All these things will play a part.”

McLaren isn’t standing still though, and they have more new parts for Canada, in addition to their Miami development. Montreal was one of their most competitive events in 2025, with the stakes heightened when Norris and rival Oscar Piastri collided late in the race for fourth place.

“Our development path has a lot to do, parts are planned in Canada and a few more in Monaco and Spain,” said team principal Andrea Stella.

“We are at war, and we believe this sets the stage for a very exciting championship battle for fans and F1.”

Red Bull made a big profit in Miami as they had a new car for Max Verstappen and he could probably claim a podium, if not a first round.

Don’t expect to see a lot of new parts on the RB22 this weekend, as they aim for next month’s European races to leap forward.

Hamilton tests new ‘no-simulator’ approach

Regardless of the type of season he is having, the race weekend in Montreal is always emotional for Lewis Hamilton.

Nineteen years on from his famous F1 victory at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – the first of seven jointly recorded at the track – Hamilton will be hoping to return to podium contention this weekend after two tough races since the start of his second season at Ferrari.

While his Grand Prix on Sunday during his visit to Miami ended up in danger due to bad luck in the first leg, first when a quick escape found Verstappen spinning and second when his car suffered damage later in the lap after contact with Franco Colapinto, Hamilton’s weekend got off on the wrong foot in the Sprint and finished in the Sprint.

At the end of the weekend Hamilton said: “I will have a different approach for the next race as the way we are preparing at the moment is not helping,” having previously only finished sixth in Japan.

So what does that change of approach entail? The shift away from race weekend preparation is now all too common in modern F1 with a long-time claim he never really liked it – acting.

“I won’t go to the simulator between now and the next race.” Hamilton said. “I will still go and hold meetings at the factory and so on, but I will take a step back and see. Because when we go to China [which was straight after Australia] I had the best weekend without a sim.”

As F1 prepares for another Sprint weekend in Canada where set-up time on track is once again limited to a single practice session, will Hamilton’s no-sim policy help him start on the front foot?

Verstappen’s attention is back on F1 after the Nurburgring 24 Hours

Verstappen has been busy since the last F1 race as he made his debut at the Nurburgring 24 Hours and was in contention for victory with his teammates until his car suffered a late reliability issue.

The four-time world champion has visited the Nordschleife circuit this year in preparation for the race and plans to make another appearance in the future.

Now his attention will return to F1 and continue Red Bull’s rise from Miami, where he qualified for the front row of a Grand Prix for the first time this season.

Verstappen has been on the front row in Montreal for the last four F1 visits amid a strong record since the sport returned to Canada after the Covid pandemic, winning the race in 2022-2024 and finishing second to Russell last year.

Any kind of termination of the speaker at this time is likely to be accepted.

The first Canadian Sprint weekend

Due to the cancellation of the April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Canada will be the third Sprint weekend out of five races of the season but it will be the first time Montreal has hosted another format.

That means competitive action from Friday evening with Sprint Qualifying and, as a road track, drivers willing to take risks early and be brave against the walls will be rewarded.

The power unit rule change at Miami has created some great racing and there should be more of the same at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve thanks to the long straights and large braking areas.

Showers are also predicted for Sunday, so we could see the new 2026 cars race in the rain for the first time in a Grand Prix.

Formula 1 heads to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and another Sprint weekend. Watch live on Sky Sports F1 from this Friday. Stream Sky Sports NOW – no contract, cancel anytime