The 2025 F1 Canadian Grand Prix proved to be a slow burner that built up in tension and finally came to boiling point once again in the closing stages. With George Russell’s first win of 2025, Kimi Antonelli’s debut F1 podium, Haas scoring points in their 200th Grand Prix and Lando Norris’ dramatic crash, there were a plethora of talking points from Grand Prix Sunday.
The Chronicle Headlines
- Free Practice perfectly demonstrated the unpredictability that was to come over the course of the weekend for the 2025 F1 Canadian Grand Prix .
- Verstappen, Russell and Norris all topped the timing sheets in the three free practice sessions.
- George Russell claimed his first Pole Position of 2025 in Qualifying.
- George Russell claimed his and Mercedes’ first win of 2025 on Sunday.
- Max Verstappen kept him honest in second place with Kimi Antonelli claiming his first F1 podium in third.
- Drama at the end of the race saw Lando Norris take himself out of the race with a dramatic crash.
Free Practice – Unpredictability Aplenty
FP1 – Woes for Leclerc
Charles Leclerc, Williams and a lack of overall grip at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve were the main talking points from the first of the three practice sessions in Montreal.
The Monegasque driver had an unusual incident going into T3. Locking up heading into the corner, Leclerc went over the chicane, onto the grass and unfortunately smashed the left hand side of his car into the barriers. He then span around and headed into the barrier opposite coming out of T4 facing in the wrong direction. Elsewhere, Hamilton span his own Ferrari at the hairpin down into T10. It’s fair to say that Ferrari didn’t get off to the best of starts in Canada.
Max Verstappen led the way with the quickest time in FP1. But it was both Williams drivers that were hot on his heels. Albon finished the session in second with Sainz in P3. The aforementioned lack of grip caught many drivers out, such as Antonelli, Colapinto and even current Championship Leader Oscar Piastri.
FP2 – Stroll Vs The Wall
It was all change in FP2 as the Mercedes of George Russell topped the timing pages by the end of the session. Rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli backed him up in third. The McLaren of Lando Norris split the pair of them in second.
The majority of drivers suffered from a combination of yet more lack of grip and impeding incidents with other drivers. Lance Stroll went even further on his Grand Prix return. He hit the wall coming out of T7. The Canadian was forced to park his car at the run off area at T10 thanks to the damage sustained to the front left hand side of his Aston Martin.
Charles Leclerc didn’t emerge from the pits for the session. Ferrari were still in the process of rebuilding his car from FP1. Hamilton meanwhile continued to have issues coming into T13 and T14, cutting the chicane.
FP3 – Wall of Champions Strikes Again!
It was all change again in FP3, teasing a potentially wild card weekend of Grand Prix action for Formula 1 in Montreal. Lando Norris was the quickest in this session with Leclerc bouncing back into second after a torrid weekend so far and Russell in third.
There was drama aplenty in this session further down the field. A red flag was brought out, caused by debris from both Hulkenberg and Piastri alongside the Wall of Champions. In this time, Yuki Tsunoda overtook Oscar Piastri – earning himself a ten place grid penalty for the Grand Prix.
Alonso found himself firmly inside the top ten once more, as did both Williams drivers. Heading into Qualifying, McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes all seemed to have Pole Position within their reach.
Qualifying
Q1 – Sainz Vs Hadjar
Qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix was an exhilarating affair. Q1 saw Gasly, Lawson, Stroll, Sainz and Bortoleto all fall at the first hurdle. The main talking point from this was Hadjar’s impeding of Sainz which result in the Spaniard missing out on the next part of qualifying. A fuming Sainz didn’t feel like saying much to the media post session and Hadjar receiving a three place grid penalty did little to cheer him up either.
The other main talking point from Q1 was thanks to the Williams of Alex Albon. A bizarre moment occurred when Albon’s engine cover decided to rip itself free of the car and disintegrate over the back straight. Naturally, this brought out the red flag so that marshals could clear the mess up. Albon went back into the pits and was able to get his car (properly) stitched back up and he returned for the remainder of the session.
Q2 – Close but no Cigar
Q2 eliminated Ocon, Bearman, Hulkenberg, Colapinto and Tsunoda from contention. With the latter’s ten place grid penalty for overtaking Piastri under red flag conditions in FP3, this would mean that the Red Bull driver would begin Sunday’s Grand Prix from the very rear of the field.
Colapinto had his best qualifying so far. Without the penalties to come for Tsunoda and Hadjar, he would already have been starting Sunday’s Grand Prix in his best position yet. In the end, he’d start the race from P10.
Q3 – Piastri Vs Verstappen Vs Russell
Q3 saw six of the ten teams on the grid battling it out for Pole Position. For so long, it seemed like it would be a straight fight between Piastri and Verstappen. Norris was struggling to get to grips with the track while Ferrari’s prancing horse looked a little lame. Alonso, Antonelli, Hadjar and Albon all did what they could but none were ever really in the hunt for pole.
Then, just as it looked like Verstappen had done the impossible once again by pipping Piastri to Pole, Russell came out of nowhere and snatched it away from the flying Dutchman. Just like in 2024, it would be Russell and Verstappen lining up on the front row of the grid for the Canadian Grand Prix.
The grid was set for a tantalising Grand Prix.
The Grand Prix
What many thought would be a dramatic clash of the titans heading into T1 after the end of Spanish Grand Prix would actually be more of a slow burn. It was all rather well behaved from Russell and Verstappen out in front. There was some jostling behind but this would reveal its full consequences by the end of the Grand Prix. The biggest of these was the sublime move by Kimi Antonelli on Oscar Piastri going into T3. With a Championship mindset in Piastri’s eye and nothing to lose for Antonelli, both kept it tight, but crucially, clean.
George Russell – Mr Sunday
Following his stunning pole lap on Saturday, there were still a lot of question marks over Russell’s ability to convert it to a race win on Sunday. The Mercedes hasn’t been bad this year but it’s lacked the necessary to take a victory. That all changed in Canada. A smooth operation that would get even Carlos Sainz’s stamp of overall was what was executed by the Silver Arrows. Pit stops, strategy and the management of an ever closer Verstappen were all handled with the skill and precision of what seemed like the Mercedes of old.
Russell would go on to take his fourth career victory after Brazil, Austria and Las Vegas. That he would win it under safety car conditions won’t faze the King Lynn lad at all – the victory for him in Montreal was never in doubt. He also took the fastest lap of the Grand Prix for his own too.
Kimi Antonelli’s Debut Podium
Kimi Antonelli made history on Sunday by becoming the third youngest podium finisher after Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll. His opening move against Piastri paid dividends for the Italian driver. It looked like it might be in doubt towards the end of the Grand Prix with Oscar Piastri closing in on the Mercedes driver fast. But Piastri would face his own challenge with teammate Lando Norris catching up. This would ultimately benefit Antonelli. While he wasn’t able to stretch out a massive gap to the Australian, he was able to create enough of a buffer to keep his maiden podium safe. He was voted driver of the day too.
Lando Norris Vs Lando Norris
The 2025 F1 Canadian Grand Prix will be remembered by many though because of Lando Norris. Attempting to make up for his poor qualifying session on Saturday, there were moments where it looked like he would safely finish in the top five, if not on the podium. Things all came to a head though towards the tail end of the Grand Prix. Chasing Piastri down for P4, with Antonelli just ahead of him in P3, the prospect of finishing on the podium was tantalisingly close to the McLaren driver.
Try as he might, Norris didn’t have an answer for Piastri as he attempted to overtake him repeatedly. There was a brilliant moment down the back straight where both drivers, with DRS, were running side by side. Piastri won out, braking later into the final chicane and staying ahead of Norris. Coming down the pit straight, Norris then decided to try and overtake Piastri on the inside. It’s not a normal part of the track for overtaking and Norris was reminded why in brutal fashion.
With the wall incredibly close and Piastri on the racing line defending, Norris drove into the back of Piastri before hitting the wall. His front wing and front left tyre were sizeably damaged as a result. The McLaren driver came to halt just alongside the pit exit and retired from the race with only a handful of laps left. The incident was very reminiscent of the 2011 clash between Hamilton and Button, also racing at the time for McLaren, at the same part of the track.
Haas Points for 200th Grand Prix
Running a tribute livery harking back to their first Grand Prix, Haas made their 200th start at the 2025 F1 Canadian Grand Prix this weekend. Esteban Ocon made it an anniversary to remember by finishing in P9. This adds a couple of crucial points to their overall tally.
The French driver has a knack this year of somehow ending up in the top ten by the end of a Grand Prix. On a weekend where his former teams of Aston Martin and Alpine celebrated their own benchmarks of 100 Grand Prix starts apiece, Ocon will be happy he made the move to the American outfit. Alonso scored points for Aston Martin but that hasn’t been easy for the team to replicate this year. As for Alpine, it was another pointless weekend for them, capped off by Renault’s CEO, Luca De Meo resigning.
An Entertaining 2025 F1 Canadian Grand Prix
It wasn’t just F1 Academy that had an thrilling conclusion to its racing action on Sunday. Formula 1 in Canada rarely disappoints and for a multitude of reasons, the 2025 F1 Canadian Grand Prix didn’t either. While not a classic, it gave us more important moments in the story of the 2025 season.
Mercedes have retaken P2 from Ferrari in the Constructors Standings. Part of this comes down to Hamilton hitting a Groundhog during his opening stint. He subsequently lost half a second’s worth of performance on his car as a result. P6 in the end wasn’t too bad for the seven time World Champion. Carlos Sainz was able to grab a point for Williams in P10 after his teammate retired with another PU issue. Hulkenberg scored back to back points for Kick Sauber with a P8 finish too.
Piastri still leads the Championship leaving Canada, extending his lead over Norris. Verstappen and Russell have now closed the gap to the second McLaren driver after his DNF. Championships are not won or lost in a single moment. But at the end of the year, if Norris doesn’t become World Champion, this will be one of the reasons why.
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Formula 1 returns for the Austrian Grand Prix on June 29th.
Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool