If you’d have asked George Russell to rate his weekend prior to lights out for the Canadian Grand Prix, he’d probably have been elated.

He converted his Sprint pole to victory in the inaugural Sprint Race in Montreal, fending off his teenage teammate and championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, though, the young Italian felt that Russell had forced him off during the course of their tussle. He’d also finished second in the sole practice session of the weekend, with Antonelli the only one that was faster.

Then the Brit took pole for the race, pipping Antonelli by just 0.068 seconds, with the Italian consigned to second place. Russell’s pole had at one stage seemed unlikely. He was forced to abort his first attempt as he suffered a snap of oversteer going through turn six. But, as Q3 was coming to an end, he found pace and posted an electrifying 1 minute 12.578 seconds, less than one-tenth clear of his younger teammate.

After an extra two formation laps, while Arvid Lindblad’s stricken Racing Bulls car was moved following a clutch issue, it was time to go racing.

George Russell’s Action-Packed Canadian GP

An incredible launch by Lando Norris sent him alongside the Mercedes pair of Russell and Antonelli before he powered his McLaren into the lead. This sent Russell into third behind his teammate, with his former teammate Lewis Hamilton behind him in fourth after the Ferrari man had overtaken the McLaren of Oscar Piastri.

Following pitstops for both McLarens, Russell and Antonelli began an exhilarating skirmish for first place, which saw the latter lock-up and almost collide with the 28-year-old as he left the track. The young Italian flat-spotted his tyres, which caused him to fall behind by one second.

Russell would then lock up himself, with Antonelli seizing the opportunity to overtake, albeit temporarily, as the Brit was able to retake the position.

The fight would continue, a gripping watch for Formula 1 fans, but a terrifying one for Mercedes, who surely felt contact was inevitable.

Russell locked up once more, which allowed Antonelli to go side-by-side, but the King’s Lynn driver reacted quickly, holding onto the position and forcing his adversary to brake and back out of the move.

On lap 24, their scuffle went to new heights. The 19-year-old locked up, allowing the more experienced Russell to return to P1. Not content with second, Antonelli attempted an overtake but ran wide, leaving the track and rejoining in front of his teammate. The pair had brushed wheels in the incident but avoided any major damage. Antonelli was told to return the position, much to his displeasure as he felt he’d been pushed off.

Russell’s Race Ended Prematurely

But Russell’s formidable weekend ground to a halt on lap 30, as he was forced to stop his car on track with a power unit failure, relinquishing P1 to Antonelli. The Brit was understandably inconsolable, furiously slamming his fists on the car and throwing the head restraint. He then watched the marshals clear his car from the side of the track, shaking his head in disappointment.

Antonelli would go on to win the race untroubled. He was 4.6 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen after pitting for medium tyres under the Virtual Safety Car.

Antonelli has now extended his championship lead over Russell by 43 points following the Brit’s retirement. The latter will be hoping to take inspiration from his old friend Norris, however, who took the championship win in 2025 with a fantastic resurgence despite Piastri leading for 15 consecutive race weekends.

Russell’s Reaction to Canadian GP Actions

Posting on X, Russell appeared in susprisingly high spirits, stating: “Lost for words breaking down from the lead! Really loved the battle with Kimi [Antonelli] and wished to have had 40 more of those laps!

Overall, Russell had an impressive weekend in Montreal at a track he seems to like. He has taken two previous poles in Quebec and converted his pole into a win in 2025 in a race marred by McLaren title drama, in which Norris’ ambitious move on Piastri caused the Brit to DNF.

With much of the season up for grabs and nothing impossible, it could still be Russell who is crowned the 2026 world champion, but if he’s to take his maiden championship, he’ll be hoping the car achieves full race distance next time.

With the iconic Monaco beginning the European part of the calendar, Russell needs to carry over some of this momentum and use his frustration to fuel him. But Antonelli won’t take the challenge lightly.

Bruno Fernandes has hit back at Manchester United legend Roy Keane for recent comments, which the Portuguese star has labelled ‘lies’.

The Red Devils’ midfielder smashed the record for the most assists in a single Premier League season (21) after setting up Patrick Dorgu against Brighton. Now, a clip has emerged online where Fernandes makes sure to set the record straight after being heavily criticised by Keane.

Following his 20th assist of the campaign against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford, Keane was left fuming by the skipper’s actions and the whole noise surrounding his attempts to break Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne’s record.

Roy Keane Was ‘Raging’ at Bruno Fernandes

Speaking on The Overlap, Keane made his feelings very clear about the perception that Bruno was chasing an individual record rather than prioritising the team. The Premier League Player of the Season has been United’s standout performer by a distance, but Keane still wasn’t too happy.

“When you’re the captain of a club and you’re supposed to be driving the club forward, do not be getting bogged down by just your role in the team, just assists,” he told Gary Neville.

Continuing his rant, the ex-United captain fumed at the whole circus around the assist record. He wasn’t happy with the conversation around it, or what he claimed Fernandes himself said after the Forest game. He added:

Bruno Fernandes’ Message to Roy Keane

In a recent appearance on Steven Bartlett’s ‘The Diary of a CEO’ podcast, Fernandes clarified that he didn’t actually say what Keane had claimed.

He said he doesn’t mind criticism, admitting it comes with the territory: “I don’t mind criticism. I always take criticism from everyone and never reply to anyone whatsoever. People have an opinion, they think it’s good, bad or whatever.”

However, he draws the line at ‘lies’. The 31-year-old even claimed he asked former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for Keane’s number to ‘have a word with him’. He explained:

Watch the full clip:

Bruno Fernandes got his moment in Manchester United’s final game of the season as he broke the record for the most assists in a single Premier League campaign. Or did he?

Well, one of the two men he overtook in the official standings doesn’t think so. Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry were joint holders of the record, with the two superstars managing 20 assists in a Premier League season.

The Belgian equalled Henry in the 2019/20 season, but he actually thinks he was robbed of standing alone on 21 assists. He even took to Twitter to ‘correct’ the Premier League’s official account.

De Bruyne Believes He Had an Assist ‘Taken Away’

In an interview referring to the 2019/20 season, De Bruyne made sure to make his feelings clear on one assist that the Premier League ‘took away’ from him. It came in an away win against Arsenal.

De Bruyne skipped past multiple Gunners stars before firing the ball across to Raheem Sterling, who put the ball into an empty net. However, it never counted on his official record.

It’s a decision he clearly doesn’t agree with. “They still took away one away against Arsenal for me,” he claimed.

Not only does he think the video itself proves that he actually got a 21st assist that season, but he even used proof from the Premier League themselves. He pointed out that the organisation later recognised the ‘assist’ in a video celebrating his 100th.

He even corrected a post on social media, claiming he had 18 assists at the time, rather than the recorded 16: “9 plus 18 is 27.” The second missing assist came in the home game against Arsenal.

Again, it was a pass to Sterling. However, on the way through to the England international, Arsenal defender David Luiz got a slight touch on the ball. That was deemed enough to take the assist away from the Belgian playmaker.

Fans Unconvinced By Bruno Fernandes Assist

De Bruyne isn’t the only one with ‘proof’ that the Portuguese star isn’t the record holder. Fernandes set up his 21st goal with a cross for Patrick Dorgu, who headed past Bart Verbruggen.

With a closer look and a new angle that appeared on social media, fans can’t make up their minds on whether it was Dorgu’s goal. The Brighton goalkeeper got a touch on the ball before and after it hit the crossbar, but it’s being debated whether the ball was heading over the line before his second touch. Watch the video below.

The argument being made is that Fernandes only holds the record if Dorgu’s goal was actually his own. It’s almost impossible to prove the Danish defender didn’t find the net without Verbruggen’s assistance, so it’s unlikely the Premier League will retrospectively take the assist away from Bruno.