Here’s the report on the action in Montreal.
And across the Atlantic.
Manufacturers standings
1 McLaren 374pts
2 Mercedes GP 199
3 Ferrari 183
4 Red Bull 162
5 Williams 55
6 Haas F1 28
7 RB 28
8 Aston Martin 22
9 Kick Sauber 20
10 Alpine 11
Drivers' championship standings
1 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 198pts
2 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 176
3 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 155
4 George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 136
5 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 104
6 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Ferrari 79
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Ita) Mercedes GP 63
8 Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 42
9 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Haas F1 22
10 Isack Hadjar (Fra) RB 21
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber 20
12 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 14
13 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Williams 13
14 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 11
15 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Red Bull 10
16 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 8
17 Oliver Bearman (Gbr) Haas F1 6
18 Liam Lawson (Nzl) RB 4
19 Gabriel Bortoleto (Bra) Sauber 0
20 Franco Colapinto (Arg) Alpine 0
21 Jack Doohan (Aus) Alpine 0
Updated
Top 10 finishers
1. George Russell (Mercedes)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
8. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
9. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
10. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
David Hepp asks: “Are tyre manufacturers alling behind in their tech re. speed capabilities of today’s F1 field?”
That’s one for the experts. It’s always about the rubber.
Hugh Molloy gets in touch: “My word, Verstappen and Horner are obnoxious, passive aggressive, Karens on the radio.”
Oscar Piastri is given a briefing by his team. “Amazing day for the team,” Russell tells Nico Rosberg. “The strength of our car is in these cooler conditions. We did have high expectations and it worked as we thought. Good day, good day.'”
“We managed to hang in there. we drove an attacking/defending race, the maximum possible,” says Verstappen. “We go race by race.’
Big cheers for young Kimi. “It was so stressful but I am super happy. I am really happy to bring the podium home. In the first corner I tried to have as much speed as possible.”
“Well done, team. That made up for last year,” says George Russell. “Congrats to Kimi.”
Piastri ends up extending his championship lead on Lando Norris. But Verstappen grows in threat.
“Oh my god,” says Kimi Antonelli, who uses some rude words. “It was needed,” he admits.
“Such a brilliant drive,” Toto Wolff tells George Russell. “Good day, good day.”
Russell does a flying dismount from his Merc and stage dives into his team. That was smooth as silk.
George Russell wins the Canadian Grand Prix!
70/70 Great drive from the Englishman, as he follows the safety car home, with Verstappen staring daggers in second, and Antonelli the third youngest ever on the podium.
A fourth career win for Russell, who followed up pole with a wire to wire win. Fastest lap, too.
Updated
69/70 Verstappen overtakes Russell behind the safety car but blames his rival for braking too hard. “Don’t fall for the gamesmanship,” Verstappen is told.
68/70 Piastri comes in for a pit stop, as Norris lopes home. Piastri takes a free pit, and is in fourth. Surely no time for a race like that fateful Hamilton v Verstappen in Abu Dhabi.
Safety car!
67/70 Norris is gutted. They both had DRS, and into a chicane. He went for a gap on Piastri and his front wing came off Piastri. “All my fault,” he admits. There was no gap.
Updated
Norris comes off and crashes!
66/70 Norris and Piastri go wheel to wheel and Piastri holds on, and Norris loses control! His wing flies off, race over for him, and everyone else. We did have a Prost v Senna after all!
65/70 Driver of the day – Kimi Antonelli, all ends up – despite Russell’s ice-cool display. Mercedes look in form. McLaren, for all their pace, are caught in a soap opera.
64/70 Russell sets a fastest lap, and his gap to Verstappen is 2.5 seconds. Antonelli continues to frustrate the McLarens.
63/70 It’s teammate v teammate. McLaren can’t afford a Prost v Senna prang.
62/70 Piastri has to fight for fourth, let alone third. Norris has a look, and thinks better of it.
61/70 Antonelli, Piastri and Norris is where the action lies. Norris is asked if he’d take a soft if there was a safety car. “Yep,” comes the simple answer.
60/70 Great driving from Antonelli, at 18. I was driving a car of 1043cc at that time. McLaren are struggling to get on the podium.
59/70 Norris is right on Piastri’s tail. Russell has added a couple of tenths on as he negotiates the backmarkers. Can Norris pass Piastri?
58/70 Verstappen is flying, as the lagging back of the field is lapped. Piastri is stuck amid the backmarkers as he chases Antonelli.
57/70 The gap between Verstappen and Russell is just over 1.5 seconds. Piastri is getting anxious as he chases down Antonelli. Good drive from the teenager.
56/70 Antonelli holds off Piastri, and that’s good for both Norris and Verstappen. Liam Lawson – at the back – has retired. Not been a happy season for the Kiwi.
55/70 Piastri gives chase to Antonelli, the McLarens are losing points to Verstappen, their main challenger.
Leclerc pits, Russell leads
54/70 Leclerc comes out in fifth, ahead of Hamilton. Russell has the race in his grasp.
53/70 Piastri is after Antonelli, under a second. Russell is waiting on Leclerc to pit. And he does….
52/70 Leclerc is told to wait. “We don’t want to do too many on the medium?” He is bemused. “Why don’t you call me in?”
51/70 Piastri sets a fastest lap as he gives chase to Antonello, and then Norris sets a fastest lap. The McLarens are flying. Too late? Albon’s problem was a power unit.
50/70 Russell has three seconds on Verstappen, and Leclerc will have to pit soon. It will come down to Russell v Verstappen, then Antonelli and Piastri.
Yellow flag - as Albon slides out
49/70 Albon’s misery complete as he pulls up. He told you his car was rubbish. He pulled out somewhere safe so no safety car, good egg.
Updated
48/70 Leclerc leads, Russell is in second, and Norris comes back out in sixth, not far behind Piastri.
47/70 Gasly and Lance Stroll have had a row back in the field. Stroll didn’t leave Gasly much room. Norris is due in to pit, and does.
46/70 Norris leads, Leclerc is second, though has to pit. Russell is in third. Piastri comes out sixth ahead of the great, lost Hamilton.
45/70 Piastri is complaining his car is now hard to drive. Norris has been told to go for it, and see what happens. Piastri pits.
Updated
44/70 Russell’s pit suffered because the back-left tyre took two attempts to connect. Still, he’s in a strong position.
43/70 Russell pits, Piastri leads, and Russell comes out behind Leclerc, and he’s lost two seconds to Verstappen, who is fifth, behind him. It all comes down to those two?
42/70 Russell is approaching the backmarkers, so will he pit soon? He’s got 23 seconds on Verstappen, and the open road to consider. The Merc garage sets to work.
41/70 Russell leads, Piastri second, Norris third. Can Norris go for it on those tyres? He’s closing on his teammate.
40/70 Oscar Piastri is asked whether he can till the end. Norris is happy to stay out. There were 12 laps’ difference in pitting between them.
39/70 Russell leads, and now Antonelli pits, and aims to come out ahead of Verstappen. But fails to do so. That was a neat move but now he has Antonelli all over him.
38/70 Verstappen has pitted. Antonelli was again close to him. Verstappen comes out in the nowheresville that Hamilton was complaining of.
37/70 Is Max now dropping speed? He’s been telling his team that’s the case. Russell continues to open up the gap.
36/70 Lewis Hamilton has told his team “I’m nowhere”. He’s in seventh, 7.5 seconds behind Leclerc. “Don’t know what’s happened?”
35/70 Norris, in fifth, is far quicker than Piastri, in fourth. Just who is team leader? That’s one that may be answered later this season.
34/70 Russell has four seconds on Verstappen. The Merc is far quicker than the Red Bull. The tyres are helping, too.
33/70 Norris now has the fastest lap. McLaren recovering their pace. They have two Mercs and Mad Max: Fury Road to catch up with.
32/70 Alonso is the latest driver to whinge about his tyres. It’s all about the rubber. Forget your hydraulics and jet engines, it’s all rubber.
31/70 Leclerc is really not happy at all with his team. Piastri sets a fastest lap as he closes on Antonelli.
30/70 Norris makes his first stop – just 2.2 seconds on medium tyres – he’s behind Piastri. Russell and Verstappen are 1-2, with Antonelli third, just as we ended the first lap.
29/70 “I don’t understand this choice,” says Leclerc, who has had a few run-ins with his garage. He will have to make two stops now. He drops to sixth. Russell leads.
28/70 Leclerc is called into the pits.
27/70 So, Russell chases after Norris, who is relying on his one-stop strategy, it seems. Verstappen is giving chase to Leclerc but will need another lap to do it as he goes after Russell.
26/70 Russell sets a fastest lap, and is within passing distance of Leclerc. He blasts past with ease, hands down.
25/70 Norris’s lead drops by almost a second. How long can his tyres last?
24/70 “Plan B, Plan C?” asks a cryptic Charles Leclerc. Teammates Lewis Hamilton needs repairs. He’s grazed his motor somewhere.
23/70 Piastri has set a fastest lap. The McLarens seem to have the speed. Alonso goes past the unhappy Albon. Norris leads by three seconds, having not yet pitted.
22/70 The Williams team is having power unit issues, and Albon wants to stay out with his tyres. Not a happy camp. Would a driver have spoken to the late Frank Williams like that? Good luck.
21/70 Albon, in 10th is not happy with his garage: “I don’t know why you don’t listen to me, it really annoys me.” We’ve all been there, Al.
20/70 Some D-Fens-style driving from Hamilton sees him climb into eighth, behind Ocon.
19/70 Piastri joins the big six, where Fernando Alonso once was, but he’s now back in 18th. Hamilton is in 10th, and unhappily amid traffic.
18/70 Antonelli overtakes Hulkenberg in the Sauber, and takes his place in the top five. Verstappen in fourth, behind Russell, Leclerc and Norris.
17/70 Piastri pits, and Norris on the hard tyres leads. Leclerc, in second, is also on the hards. It’s all about the rubber!
16/70 So, different tyre strategies, and they look to have played into McLaren’s hands. Hamilton pits now, and he drops down to ninth. Antonelli is in seventh.
15/70 Norris is asked for a one-stop – “one of those amazing races” – by the McLaren team. Antonelli pits, and now Piastri leads. Hamilton is second, Norris third.
Russell pits
14/70 The Merc garage call him in, and Antonelli now leads. Russell comes out seventh, and is two ahead of Verstappen. The undercut works!
Updated
Verstappen pits early doors!
13/70 Antonelli v Verstappen – this is a new one – but Max pulls into the pits. His tyre does look jiggered. He goes to the hard compound. Verstappen comes out at ninth.
Updated
12/70 Alonso allows Norris, in a far quicker car, to overtake him for sixth.
11/70 “Not good, really fragile,” says Verstappen of his tyres.
10/70 Leclerc: “These tyres are not great.” Ferrari tell him that’s the case for everyone. Antonelli is within a second of Verstappen.
9/70 Piastri is complaining of degradation on his tyres. That is likely to be an issue across the board. He’s in fourth, and 2.3 off Antonelli as Verstappen is within a Merc sandwich.
8/70 Russell, with clean air to use, is opening up the gap. The field is stringing out. Not been much in the overtaking stakes so far.
7/70 A look at the start shows that Verstappen was asked to make a defensive rather than attacking move. Piastri had to do similar and lost his place.
6/70 Leclerc is down in eighth. The Ferraris still well off it this season. Russell sets a fastest lap. Verstappen is sitting off. His team know they can’t risk the car by throwing the kitchen sink at it.
5/70 The heat is the concern. Verstappen seems fine to go all out despite the temperature. Russell and the Merc team have concerns over the heat, and now Max is pushing them so hard.
Updated
4/70 Verstappen is, as ever, the driver on the attack. Russell is being kept honest, with around 0.75 of a second’s lead. Max wants the open road ahead of him.
3/70 Piastri is also keeping it cool, Norris, too. Surely McLaren team orders on the tyres. Verstappen is setting the fastest lap. Russell leads for the first time since Las Vegas in November.
2/70 Albon was all over the place and is back in 12th. Norris is in seventh, sixth is Alonso, not easy to pass. DRS is enabled. Antonelli is dropping off Verstappen.
Away we go
1/70 No contact, Russell holds his lead by 6/10. Antonelli overtakes Piastri for third. Piastri had to hesitate. Albon bounces across the grass and rejoins, and he will be asked to drop back surely. Hamilton holds fifth.
Before we go…news from elsewhere in the world of vroom.
The formation lap sees the cars bob and weave all over the track. Can George Russell hold the lead. Last year, he did until the 20th lap, only for Verstappen to win. There’s the Piastri factor to consider too.
Right, not long to go until the off….
Toto Wolf is concerned about the heat. “The asphalt is very closed and smooth,” the Mercedes principal says. Sounds like a Suede lyric. Max Verstappen is looking calm as he runs over the final instructions with Gianpiero Lambiase, Red Bull’s chief engineer.
“O Canada” was sung well by some local youngsters, no straining of the national anthem in the cursive style made famous by Whitney Houston but rarely bettered, and often favoured south of the border.
• This post was amended on 16 June 2025 to correct the title of O Canada.
Updated
Martin Brundle is on his grid walk and with Esteban Ocon, who is looking forward to a day without rain. The drivers are sheltering from the heat. Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu says Montreal is one of “our favourite events, for sure”. The worry for Racing Bull is the tyres – always the rubber – Jonathan Wheatley of Sauber cannot wait. Next year, his team will be Audi. Alpine – Franco Colapinto – are changing brake disks. His team seem confident. Quicker than KwikFit, that lot. Only 18 cars on the grid. Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly will start from the pit lane. There’s a DJ dropping tunes – it’s a modern remix of the below classic. Fernando Alonso seems happy with life…here comes the national anthem of Canada.
It’s a hot day in Canada, and the cars are out and testing. As ever, the discussion is about tyres. When isn’t it? All that tech and it always comes down to rubber.
Feels like old times to kick off in Melbourne next season.
Beau Dure on the chap they may soon be calling Mad Max, Fury Road.
There’s some needle within the grid. It sure adds to the gaiety of nations. If not Max’s moods.
Top 10 drivers’ standings
1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 186 points
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 176 points
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 137 points
4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 111 points
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 94 points
6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 71 points
7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 48 points
8. Alex Albon (Williams) – 42 points
9. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) – 21 points
10. Esteban Ocon (Haas) – 20 points
Final Grid Positions after Qualifying:
1 George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1m 10.899s
2 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:11.059
3 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:11.120
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Ita) Mercedes GP 1:11.391
5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Ferrari HP 1:11.526
6 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:11.586
7 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:11.625
8 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari HP 1:11.682
9 Isack Hadjar (Fra) RB 1:11.867
10 Alexander Albon (Tha) Atlassian Williams 1:11.907
11 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Red Bull 1:12.102
12 Franco Colapinto (Arg) Alpine 1:12.142
13 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Kick Sauber 1:12.183
14 Oliver Bearman (Gbr) Haas F1 1:12.340
15 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Haas F1 1:12.634
16 Gabriel Bortoleto (Bra) Kick Sauber 1:12.385
17 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Atlassian Williams 1:12.398
18 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:12.517
19 Liam Lawson (Nzl) RB 1:12.525
20 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:12.667
Preamble
This remains an open championship, with McLaren’s wings clipped – literally – and Max Verstappen’s ever-changing moods threatening him with the sin bin. It was something of a surprise to see George Russell claim pole – though he repeated last year’s feat. Now, can he turn it into a win? Lewis Hamilton is higher in the mix, too. With five different teams over the front five on the grid it looks an open race.
Lights out at 7pm. Join me.
