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The Canadian Grand Prix wrapped up in spectacular fashion on Sunday at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. Mercedes walked away the ultimate winners, as George Russell took his first win of the season, and Kimi Antonelli got the first podium of his career with a P3. Max Verstappen held on to P2, meanwhile the McLarens had a disappointing result with Oscar Piastri just missing the podium and Lando Norris’s race ending early in a retirement.
Pre-Race:
Before the on-track action even began, a few important grid position changes came into effect.
Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson, who were both eliminated in Q1 of Qualifying, had adjustments made to their cars under parc fermé, and took pit lane starts for the race. Gasly had new power unit components installed, while Lawson received an almost complete power unit change as well as changes to his suspension.
Isack Hadjar received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Carlos Sainz during Q1 of Qualifying. After qualifying in P9, Hadjar started the grand prix in 12th position.
Yuki Tsunoda was also handed a hefty 10-place grid penalty for overtaking Piastri during a red flag in FP3. After qualifying in P11, Tsunoda started in P18 due to Gasly and Lawson’s pit lane starts.
Race Start:
It was a clean start for pole leader Russell, who kept the lead out of turn 1 ahead of Max Verstappen. His teammate, Antonelli, also had a great start, maneuvering around Oscar Piastri into a podium position.
Most other drivers also had a straightforward first lap, aside from Franco Colapinto, who swerved onto the grass briefly after a battle with Alex Albon through a chicane.
Race:
Russell and Verstappen continued their battle throughout the beginning of the race, with Verstappen staying hot on Russell’s tail across the first handful of laps. The gap between the two eventually increased as the Red Bull lost pace, with rookie Antonelli getting within touching distance of Verstappen at lap 13 on merit.
After the first round of pit stops, Russell, Verstappen and Antonelli remained the top three, yet the McLarens were not far behind. Piastri stayed close to the leader group, while his teammate, Lando Norris, made significant progress forward after an extended first stint on the hard set of tires.
Overall, teams across the board found themselves struggling with degradation, as the heat made both the hard and medium tires more fragile than they were during earlier sessions. The mediums in particular gave plenty of drivers grief, with the hards being the clearly favorable compound.
Over at Ferrari, communication issues continued to be a theme. Charles Leclerc called for a Plan C–presumably a one-stopper–early on in the race, but was over-written by his team, who called him into the pit during the first third of the race for Plan B.
The race continued without much incident until just past the half-way point, when Verstappen was the first of the front runners to come in for a second pit stop. Antonelli followed suit on the next lap, coming out of his second stop practically nose-to-nose with the four-time World Champion. The two had an exciting side-by-side moment, but Verstappen eventually came out on top, maintaining the position.
Russell’s second stop also saw him maintain his position ahead of Verstappen. And once Piastri, Norris and Leclerc took their final stops, he found himself back in the lead. Antonelli continued his stronghold on P3, despite heavy pressure from Piastri right behind him.
But Piastri had his own fight to focus on, as Norris inched ever closer to him. Throughout the last 10 laps of the race, Norris was well within DRS of Piastri and we were finally treated to a proper race between the two McLarens. Norris had several opportunities to overtake, taking a couple of lunges throughout the final few goes around the track.
The Antonelli-Piastri-Norris DRS train continued, eventually leading to an absolutely epic side-by-side fight between the two McLarens. The battle showed just how on par with each other the two drivers are, as they fought brilliantly along the straight of the track.
The battle ended in misfortune, however, as Norris tried to overtake Piastri out of the straight, only to tap the back of his teammate’s car, and find himself in the wall. Norris was forced to retire and the race was completed under a safety car
Checkered Flag:
Despite finishing under a safety car, the end of the race brought plenty of excitement, as Russell took his first win of the season. Verstappen came in P2, splitting the two Mercedes drivers, with Antonelli taking his first podium in P3. He became the first of this year’s rookies to take home a trophy.
With Norris’s retirement and Piastri’s P4, this also marks the first time that neither McLaren were among the top three.
Norris was not alone in his retirement though. Alex Albon was out, likely with a power unit issue that the team had flagged at the beginning of the race. Liam Lawson, despite the full PU swap, also was forced to retire.
Post-Race:
Lando Norris received a 5-second penalty for colliding with teammate Oscar Piastri. It had no effect on Lando's finishing position.
Canadian Grand Prix Results
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