Has everyone enjoyed the short break? I know I have. I am aware that my blog has been heavily F1-based recently; however, I just wanted to say that I am working on several non-F1 posts to be published within the next few weeks. So, this will not become solely an F1 blog, but F1 is a passion of mine, so with that said, let’s talk about the Canadian Grand Prix. The track length is 4.361 km, and the race consists of 70 laps and 14 turns per lap. The circuit opened in 1978 and has held 50 races since then. The track record is held by Sebastian Vettel in 2019 with a time of 1:10.240. The lap record is held by Valtteri Bottas with a time of 1:13.078, also achieved in the same year. Schumacher and Hamilton share the record for most wins here with 7 each, and Ferrari holds the record for most wins with 11. The pole-sitter has finished on the podium 28 times and has won from pole 21 times. Let’s see how the weekend unfolded.

We will start with qualifying. As many of you know, I don’t really watch the practice sessions too much. Early in Q1, both Alpine drivers went to the top of the timesheets, but that was short-lived when they were pushed down the order by both Mercedes drivers. Meanwhile, Bearman and Hamilton suffered lockups, and Piastri jumped Russell for the top spot with the C6 compound. We soon saw a lot of switching as Leclerc moved into second, Stroll put in a great lap and moved to third, pushing Alonso down to fourth. Following Tsunoda’s red-flag infringement in third practice, the stewards handed him a ten-place grid penalty. Then, a red flag was caused by debris from Albon’s car, which damaged the Williams driver’s engine cover. Once resumed, with three minutes left, the drivers eliminated from Q1 were Gasly, Lawson, Stroll, Sainz, and Bortoleto.

Moving on to Q2, Verstappen sets a lap time of 1:11.638 on the medium compound tire, while the rest of the grid are on softs. Norris comes in just behind Max, falling short by 0.038 seconds, putting him in second. Piastri, also looking quick, sets a time that puts him in third. In the Ferraris, Leclerc sits in fourth and Hamilton in fifth. Shortly after, Colapinto avoids sliding into the wall, and the drivers near the top of the timesheets keep getting quicker. However, Ocon, Bearman, Hulkenberg, Colapinto, and Tsunoda are out of Q2. Leclerc is the first car to set a time in Q3 with a 1:11.729, but he is not there for long as Piastri goes quickest, who is then outdone by Max. Lando goes deep and wide into the final chicane and loses the rear end, messing up his lap. However, after Piastri takes provisional pole, Max snatches it from him. But after looking quick in Q2 and Q3, Russell takes pole! This leaves Max in P2, Piastri in P3, Antonelli in P4, Hamilton in P5, Alonso in P6, Norris in P7, Leclerc in P8, Hadjar in P9, and Albon completing the top 10.

Canada was a decent race, but let’s go back to the beginning and talk about how it played out. George Russell got a good start and went ahead of Max into turn one; however, at turns three and four, Kimi saw an opportunity and passed Piastri into third. Meanwhile, Albon lost three places after running across the grass while battling in the midfield, and Hulkenberg took ninth place from him. On lap 13, Max came in for a very early pit stop and changed to hard tires, while George copied him on the following lap, also changing to hard tires. Further on, Norris and Leclerc were first and second, but neither had pitted for a tire change yet, and we were on lap 18. It’s great to see a mixture of tire strategies, with some going long and some shorter distances. Albon aired his frustrations on the radio, stating, “I don’t really know why you don’t listen to me. It really annoys me.” He was slowly losing places, and there was a disagreement about when he should pit.

At the halfway point, George was leading, Max was second, and Kimi held the final podium spot. Due to a few later pit stops, Piastri was now leading, having stopped only once; however, he claimed the car was not feeling its best. Meanwhile, Norris was collecting fastest laps, and on lap 46, the Australian pitted for a tire change. Gasly radioed that Stroll should receive a penalty after an aggressive maneuver; the incident was noted. A few laps later, Albon’s race ended, but a safety car was not needed as he was well out of the way. Stroll was given a ten-second penalty. Shortly afterward, Kimi, who was driving very well, faced pressure from the two McLarens. While this was happening, Lawson also retired from the race.The battle between Kimi and Oscar continues, but now Norris has DRS on his teammate and keeps trying to make a move. His latest attempt ends in disaster as he makes contact with Piastri and slams into the wall, retiring from the race with only three laps to go. This leads to a disappointing end to the race behind the safety car. Russell wins the Canadian Grand Prix, Max finishes second, and Kimi gets his first podium finish in third!

Team principal Andrea Stella commented on the incident between his two drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri: “We never want to see a McLaren involved in an accident and definitely we never want to see the two McLarens touching each other. It is something definitely that we need to review, because this is a very clear principle, at the same time it is a contact that happened because of a misjudgment. Lando misjudged the distance to the car ahead, of course there was no malintent, I have to say. Lando owned it immediately, took responsibility for that, which we appreciate. But certainly something to discuss and review.” On a more positive note this is what Kimi had to say about his first podium place “It was so stressful but super happy, I had a good start I managed to jump into P3 and I just stayed up there at the front. The last stint I pushed a bit too hard behind Max and I killed a bit of the front left and I struggled a bit at the end, but I’m really happy to bring the podium home.”

Overall, I thought the race was good. I liked the different tire strategies, which kept it interesting, and it was nice to see Kimi get his first podium. I am not sure what is going on with Ferrari, but there just seemed to be communication issues, and I do not understand the logic behind their strategies at times. As for Norris, I am sure he is kicking himself for that reckless move, and I am not quite sure what was going through his mind. If he had just been patient, he would have overtaken Piastri; there was very clearly no room for him to pass, and he could have taken them both out of the race, which I would have liked, but still. I think the team really needs to sort out what happens when the two of them close the gap, as letting them fight for themselves is not working, and it was only a matter of time before such an incident occurred. Norris has now widened that gap. As a Max fan, I think it shows that all you need is a few races like that, and who knows what could happen!

2025 Driver’s Standings

POS.	DRIVER	NATIONALITY	TEAM	PTS.
1	Oscar Piastri	AUS	McLaren	198
2	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren	176
3	Max Verstappen	NED	Red Bull Racing	155
4	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes	136
5	Charles Leclerc	MON	Ferrari	104
6	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Ferrari	79
7	Kimi Antonelli	ITA	Mercedes	63
8	Alexander Albon	THA	Williams	42
9	Esteban Ocon	FRA	Haas	22
10	Isack Hadjar	FRA	Racing Bulls	21
11	Nico Hulkenberg	GER	Kick Sauber	20
12	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin	14
13	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Williams	13
14	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Alpine	11
15	Yuki Tsunoda	JPN	Red Bull Racing	10
16	Fernando Alonso	ESP	Aston Martin	8
17	Oliver Bearman	GBR	Haas	6
18	Liam Lawson	NZL	Racing Bulls	4
19	Gabriel Bortoleto	BRA	Kick Sauber	0
20	Franco Colapinto	ARG	Alpine	0
21	Jack Doohan	AUS	Alpine	0