George Russell converted his terrific pole position into his 4th Formula 1 win at the Canadian Grand Prix, leading Max Verstappen and teammate Kimi Antonelli to the podium.
There were hints that Mercedes might do well in Canada during Friday and then Saturday with the pole position. This led to a lot of speculation about how Max and George would manage Turn 1, with many talking about the inevitable clash between the two cars, but the clash didn’t happen between George and Max; it happened between the two McLaren drivers.
Lando Norris made a good move at the hairpin on Oscar Piastri but couldn’t make it stick. He then tried an ill-advised pass on the front straight but ran out of room, clouting the wall and ending his race. It also brought out the Safety Car, which effectively sealed the race’s outcome.
Win
A big win for Mercedes, who were slightly worried the warmer temperatures on Sunday might hamper their pace, but George drove a great race from pole while his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, had a fantastic podium finish—his first F1 podium—in third. Mercedes looked great all weekend, and they have positive momentum heading to Austria.
A win for Max Verstappen, who minimized the damage by finishing in P2. He nearly had pole but drove a race starting aggressively and then defending to bring it home with no drama. He gained points on both McLaren drivers.
A win for Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso, who seemed to unlock some pace with their recent upgrades. He had a good qualifying that led to an even better race, coming home in P7. Lance Stroll was a no-show in the points, but Fernando had a good effort.
A win for Nico Hulkenberg, finishing in P8. If anyone wrote off Sauber’s season, perhaps Nico and the team are giving them some hope by securing points again. The team, and Nico in particular, looked quick in Canada, and he certainly delivered.
A win for Carlos Sainz, who had a miserable qualifying but parlayed that into a points finish in P10. Given Alex Albon’s DNF, scoring a point is a small, but much-welcomed win.
A win for Esteban Ocon, who finished in P9 and moves up one spot in the Driver’s Championship.
Fail
A fail for McLaren, and to be fair, it did look as if Canada would be an unfriendly track to their car’s strengths. So it proved to be. They were maximizing their strategy, trying to hang on to the Mercedes and Red Bull pace, but a late clash between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri cemented their Canadian fate and widened Oscar’s points lead over Lando. Lando’s mistakes are starting to show signs of an Oscar championship, as the gap was 10 points but is now 22 points.
A fail for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finishing in P5 and P6, respectively. Ferrari clearly didn’t like this track much, and they struggled to get a strategy for Charles that worked. Lewis had a recurring issue that damaged his underfloor and left him running his own race in a wasteland.
A fail for both Racing Bulls and Alpine, who suffered a tough Sunday with all cars out of the points and a DNF for Liam Lawson.
WTH
It’s an interesting issue with McLaren, and they did bring upgrades this weekend in wings and suspension. We know that pace can be track-specific, but it will be interesting to see if they carry those upgrades over to Austria or the British GP or if they feel they were not pace-increasing.
I do find the amount of hate online for Danica Patrick odd. One could argue her insight isn’t as granular as, say, Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, or JV, but I don’t find Naomi Schiff’s insightful either, or Jamie Chadwick’s. For reference, Karun Chandhok has, what, 40-50 races under his belt in different series? Naomi Schiff has a handful in Formula W? Danica has over 300 races at 200mph under her belt, and she sacrificed as much as anyone else in the karting days, moving to England to learn the craft. Perhaps it’s her politics and personality that are a cup of cold sick, but I’m sure we can all find people we disagree with and yet retain some decorum and civility. She’s a female driver, who Susie and everyone say they want, who has over 300 races and sacrificed a lot to achieve what she’s achieved, more than many of the other pundits.
MARIO ISOLA – PIRELLI DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT
“A very closely contested race from start to finish, as can be understood from the fact that when the Safety Car came out, the top five drivers were separated by less than seven seconds, with just four laps to go to the chequered flag. In terms of strategy, the two-stop proved to be fastest with the Hard compound being the most effective. Making one stop was possible but, honestly, it was really only an option for those starting from the back half of the grid who therefore had less to lose. Those starting from the front rows were able to push in all stints thus giving rise to a very hard fought race, with notable differences in stint length and in the sequence of compound use. The most effective tyre was the Hard, even if we had little data on it available, given that during Friday free practice only Sauber used it. The Medium probably suffered a bit because of the temperatures being higher than on the first day. This was the third event of the year which featured the C6. Clearly, we will now carefully analyse all the data gathered here to work out if and how to use it again this season after the summer break. Here too we saw that the difference in outright performance between the newcomer and the C5 is relatively small – one to one and half tenths – but, as we predicted yesterday, having a wider range of compounds allowed the team a greater range of strategic options. Honestly, if we did not have the C6, we would have had to bring the same trio as last year, namely C3, C4 and C5, and it’s probable that would have produced a more linear race with just the one pit stop. Finally, let me say that, as an Italian, I was very happy to see one of our compatriots on the podium. It’s the first time it’s happened since Pirelli returned to Formula 1 in 2011 and interestingly, the last time an Italian driver finished in the top three in a car running our tyres was also here in Montreal in 1991, when Stefano Modena in a Tyrrell-Honda finished second, behind winner Nelson Piquet in a Benetton-Ford, also fitted with Pirellis. Our work continues next week with an important test for 2026 wet weather tyre development. Working with Ferrari, we will be using their Fiorano track where Zhou Guanyu will drive on 19 June, followed by Charles Leclerc on 20th.” |
Canadian GP Results:
|
Pos |
No |
Driver |
Car |
Laps |
Time/retired |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
63 |
George Russell |
Mercedes |
70 |
1:31:52.688 |
25 |
|
2 |
1 |
Max Verstappen |
Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT |
70 |
+0.228s |
18 |
|
3 |
12 |
Kimi Antonelli |
Mercedes |
70 |
+1.014s |
15 |
|
4 |
81 |
Oscar Piastri |
McLaren Mercedes |
70 |
+2.109s |
12 |
|
5 |
16 |
Charles Leclerc |
Ferrari |
70 |
+3.442s |
10 |
|
6 |
44 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Ferrari |
70 |
+10.713s |
8 |
|
7 |
14 |
Fernando Alonso |
Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes |
70 |
+10.972s |
6 |
|
8 |
27 |
Nico Hulkenberg |
Kick Sauber Ferrari |
70 |
+15.364s |
4 |
|
9 |
31 |
Esteban Ocon |
Haas Ferrari |
69 |
+1 lap |
2 |
|
10 |
55 |
Carlos Sainz |
Williams Mercedes |
69 |
+1 lap |
1 |
|
11 |
87 |
Oliver Bearman |
Haas Ferrari |
69 |
+1 lap |
0 |
|
12 |
22 |
Yuki Tsunoda |
Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT |
69 |
+1 lap |
0 |
|
13 |
43 |
Franco Colapinto |
Alpine Renault |
69 |
+1 lap |
0 |
|
14 |
5 |
Gabriel Bortoleto |
Kick Sauber Ferrari |
69 |
+1 lap |
0 |
|
15 |
10 |
Pierre Gasly |
Alpine Renault |
69 |
+1 lap |
0 |
|
16 |
6 |
Isack Hadjar |
Racing Bulls Honda RBPT |
69 |
+1 lap |
0 |
|
17 |
18 |
Lance Stroll |
Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes |
69 |
+1 lap |
0 |
|
18 |
4 |
Lando Norris |
McLaren Mercedes |
66 |
DNF |
0 |
|
NC |
30 |
Liam Lawson |
Racing Bulls Honda RBPT |
53 |
DNF |
0 |
|
NC |
23 |
Alexander Albon |
Williams Mercedes |
46 |
DNF |
0 |
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