Canadian GP: Will Mercedes’ car upgrades keep them ahead and will Lewis Hamilton’s ‘no-simulator’ approach pay off? | F1 News

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 upgrades

While 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.”

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.”

Red Bull made the biggest gains in Miami as they effectively had a new car which Max Verstappen gelled with and perhaps could have claimed a podium, if not for a first-lap spin.

Do not expect to see too many new parts on the RB22 this weekend, as they aim for the European races next month to make a bigger jump forward towards the front.

Hamilton trials new ‘no-simulator’ approach

Whatever kind of a season he is having, the race weekend in Montreal always stirs nostalgia around Lewis Hamilton.

Nineteen years on from his famous maiden F1 win at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – the first of a joint-record seven at this track – Hamilton will be hoping to get back into podium contention this weekend after two difficult races since the positive start to his second season at Ferrari.

While his Grand Prix on the Sunday last time out in Miami was ultimately compromised by misfortune on lap one, firstly when a fast getaway was scuppered by coming across a spinning Verstappen and secondly when his car sustained damage later around the lap after contact with Franco Colapinto, Hamilton’s weekend had got off on the wrong foot in the Sprint when he qualified and finished seventh.

Hamilton said at the end of the weekend that “I’m going to have a different approach for the next race as the way we’re preparing at the moment is not helping”, having previously finished only sixth in Japan.

So what does that change of approach entail? A move away from the race weekend preparation now so prevalent in modern F1 which he has long said he has never much liked anyway – simulator work.

“I’m not going to go on the simulator between now and the next race.” said Hamilton. “I’ll still go and hold meetings at the factory and stuff, but I’m just going to back away from it for a little bit and see. Because when we went to China [which was straight after Australia] I had the best weekend without the sim.”

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

Verstappen’s attention back on F1 after 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 the win with his team-mates until his car suffered a late reliability problem.

The four-time world champion has made two trips to the iconic Nordschleife circuit this year to prepare for the race and plans to make another appearance in the future.

Now his attention will be back on F1 and continuing Red Bull’s upward trend from Miami, when he qualified on the front row for a Grand Prix for the first time this season.

Verstappen has been on the front row in Montreal on F1’s last four 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 podium finish this time around would likely be welcomed.

Canada’s first Sprint weekend

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

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

Tweaks to the power-unit regulations for Miami created some great racing and there should be more of the same at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve thanks to its long straights and big braking zones.

Showers are forecast for Sunday too, so we may see the new 2026 cars racing in the rain for the first time in the 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 with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime