Canadian GP: George Russell wins as McLaren team-mates collide
George Russell has won the Canadian GP as the McLaren drivers crashed.
George Russell won the Canadian Grand Prix with a fine drive, however, his performance was overshadowed by late contact between the two McLaren drivers.
Lando Norris crashed out of the race with three laps remaining after making contact with Oscar Piastri while battling for fourth place, skating into retirement down the pit wall.
Championship battle heats up as McLaren drivers make contact
A better run from the final corner saw Norris nose into Piastri’s left-rear tyre down the front straight, plucking his front wing off and sending him into the pit wall and retirement.
Kimi Antonelli completed the podium with his first career win, a result set up on the opening lap, with Piastri fourth at the line.
At the race start, Russell jumped well to remain clear of Verstappen to head the pack into Turn 1. Verstappen slotted into second where he came under pressure from Piastri, who ultimately lost out to Antonelli as they fed into Turn 3.
Then came Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso with Norris safe in seventh from Charles Leclerc, Nico Hulkenberg, and Franco Colapinto.
Midway around the opening lap, Alex Albon bounced through the grass at the Turn 8 chicane, the field scattering to avoid the Williams as he rejoined, losing three places in the process.
In second, Verstappen remained in hot pursuit of the race leader while Piastri had dropped back from Antonelli, around 1.5s between the championship leader and the Mercedes ahead.
There was no such margin for Russell to enjoy as the Red Bull behind him pursued relentlessly in the early laps, the Dutchman comfortably in DRS range as they eked away from the rest of the pack.
Verstappen was unable – or unwilling – to get close enough to truly attack, pulling out of the slipstream to get extra airflow into his RB21 with temperatures soaring at 50 degrees.
After six laps, the imminent threat Russell found himself under abated, Verstappen dropping out of DRS range to sit 1.3s back.
The high temperatures led to drivers managing their cars through the early laps, with the leaders quickly spreading out as a consequence.
Running 11th, Isack Hadjar was within half a second of Colapinto ahead, the Alpine driver at the head of a DRS train that stretched back to Carlos Sainz in 16th.
Having to do more management than the McLaren behind him, Alonso soon began to lose contact with Hamilton ahead and found himself under pressure from Norris.
A mistake at the Turn 10 hairpin on Lap 11 was enough to allow Norris to ease up the inside, the Aston Martin driver not challenging the move as the McLaren quickly skipped away.
Meanwhile, Verstappen was also beginning to struggle and, on Lap 12, was under attack from Antonelli before diving into the pits at the end of the lap.
He’d noted his medium tyres he’d started on were extremely fragile, the four-time champ feeding back in ahead of the Colapinto crocodile.
Mercedes covered off the threat of the undercut next time around, boxing Russell to send him back out in seventh on the road – Hulkenberg between he and Verstappen behind.
Antonelli was in at the end of Lap 14 to complete the opening round of stops for Mercedes, the Italian rejoining ninth on track, behind Verstappen having lost some ground in the intervening laps.
Norris cleared Hamilton at the end of Lap 15, breezing by with DRS as Ferrari called the Brit into the lane.
The McLaren driver was one of two drivers to have started on the hard tyres, together with Leclerc, as he found himself second on road behind Piastri.
That lasted only until the Australian pitted at the end of Lap 16, the team turning him around in 2.1s.
Norris assumed the race lead as a result, with Leclerc second, while early race leader Russell sat third, the first driver on track to have taken his first stop.
Hamilton rejoined following his first stop in traffic, caught among Esteban Ocon and Albon to lose a second a lap versus those he’d been racing earlier.
He finally cleared that queue on Lap 20, though the time he’d spent behind the Haas and Williams had cost him around 10 seconds.
It was Leclerc’s turn to stop after 27 laps, taking on a second set of hard tyres that left the Monegasque driver confused over the choice of compound.
McLaren responded by calling Norris in from the race lead, the Woking squad fitted the medium tyres to open up a potential one-stop strategy. Conversely, Ferrari had bolted on hards for Leclerc, much to his consternation.
However, with more than 40 laps remaining, it was a significant ask to drag the tyres to the chequered flag – Alonso had managed only 24 on the mediums in the opening stint, which saw him drop considerable time in the final laps before his first stop.
The alternate strategy worked well for Norris as he quickly reeled in Piastri ahead during the middle third of the race.
The McLaren duo ran fourth and fifth, Piastri on hard tyres versus the mediums on Norris’ MCL39. Unlikely to reach the end, Norris was obliged to push on – he was the only driver on the yellow-walled rubber during the middle stint.
Both Ferrari drivers had slipped off the pace, Leclerc running sixth ahead of Hamilton, the latter having picked up damage on Lap 13 which, according to the team, cost him 20 points of downforce.
It left him without the pace of his team-mate ahead, the seven-time world champion 8.5s off the back of Leclerc.
An increasing threat from Antonelli in third prompted Red Bull to bring Verstappen in for a second time after 37 laps.
It allowed him to rejoin in clean air, between the two Ferraris and with a straight run to the flag.
Mercedes reacted with Antonelli, though it wasn’t enough to get the drop on Verstappen; Antonelli rejoined side by side with the Red Bull driver as they exited Turn 2, Verstappen taking the place to maintain the track position he’d enjoyed ahead of the stops.
Approaching a train of traffic, Russell was then hauled in from the lead to take service for the second time.
It was a slower stop but such was his advantage that he was able to maintain track position ahead of Verstappen, enjoying a 3.5s advantage once back out on track.
That left Piastri at the head of the race, though he was in battle with Antonelli who ran in an effective third once pit stops were accounted for.
The Australian pitted at the end of Lap 47, taking on a new set of hard tyres as he emerged just behind his Mercedes rival.
In the pack, a defensive move by Lance Stroll into the final chicane saw him squeeze Pierre Gasly into the grass.
While the Alpine driver was able to duck through the run-off area without great drama, officials opted to look at the incident.
At the end of Lap 47, Norris was in for his second stop, taking on a set of hard tyres for the run to the flag.
He fed out in sixth place, an effective fifth with Leclerc in the lead yet to stop.
A frustrating race for Albon came to an end on Lap 48, pulling his Williams behind the barriers at Turn 10.
Following his opening lap off, he’d endured power unit issues and a compromised strategy that left him out of contention and, ultimately, out of the race to become its first retirement.
As he did so, Stroll was handed a 10-second time penalty for forcing another driving off track in the clash with Gasly.
The race began to come together as Leclerc pitted at the end of Lap 53, taking to the lane as Piastri locked on to the gearbox of Antonelli in the battle for third.
Both on the hard tyres, Piastri’s seven laps newer that the Italian he pursued.
With 15 laps remaining, Russell continued to lead by 2.1s from Verstappen, who was in turn only 1.4s ahead of the battle for third.
Norris in fifth was only 2.6s further back as the front of the race began to condense – the Ferraris having dropped out of the fight.
Lawson then became the race’s second retirement when Racing Bulls called the Kiwi amid Honda power unit considerations.
Meanwhile, the leaders worked through traffic, Verstappen closing on Russell while Piastri lost time to Antonelli.
That allowed Norris to also close the gap, transforming the battle for third into a three-way scrap once they’d worked their way through the two Haas’, Sainz, and Colapinto.
Having broken free of that gaggle, Russell had extended his advantage over Verstappen, the Red Bull without the pace of the Mercedes ahead in clean air.
As that battle extended, the two McLaren drivers began to engage one another as Piastri struggled to claw back the time lost to Antonelli he’d lost in traffic.
Without DRS, Piastri was vulnerable to Norris, who clearly enjoyed greater car pace in the closing laps.
The presence of Antonelli ahead proved something of a saving grace as the Australian managed to gradually drag himself back into DRS range of the Mercedes – a valuable defensive tool against his looming team-mate.
Piastri finally got within the all-important one second of Antonelli on Lap 64, helping to cool but not extinguish the heat Norris applied.
That then ignited when Norris dived to the inside at Turn 10 to take fourth from Piastri, only to run wide on exit and allow his team-mate to draw back alongside.
In the drag race that followed, Piastri held the inside line and held the position into the final chicane, though his tighter entry compromised his exit.
With better exit off the final corner, Norris closed on his McLaren colleague, making contact down the front straight.
The Brit nosed into Piastri’s rear wheel, damaging his front wing which in turn forced him into the pit wall, where he damaged the left-front wheel of his car to end his race.
He immediately took responsibility for the incident as Piastri was able to carry on seemingly without damage.
The Safety Car was promptly deployed, McLaren hauling Piastri in for fresh tyres but, with only three laps remaining, the race would end behind Bernd Maylander.
That confirmed Russell a well-earned victory with a strong second place for Verstappen.
Kimi Antonelli picked up his first F1 podium in third as Piastri held on the fourth from Leclerc, Hamilton, Alonso, Hulkenberg, and Ocon.
Canadian Grand Prix Results
- 1. George Russell Mercedes 70 Laps
- 2. Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.2
- 3. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +1.0
- 4. Oscar Piastri McLaren +2.1
- 5. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +3.4
- 6. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +10.7
- 7. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin
- 8. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber
- 9. Esteban Ocon Haas +1 Lap
- 10. Carlos Sainz Williams +1 Lap
- 11. Oliver Bearman Haas +1 Lap
- 12. Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +1 Lap
- 13. Franco Colapinto Alpine +1 Lap
- 14. Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +1 Lap
- 15. Pierre Gasly Alpine +1 Lap
- 16. Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +1 Lap
- 17. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 Lap
- 18. Lando Norris McLaren DNF
- 19. Liam Lawson Racing Bulls DNF
- 20. Alex Albon Williams DNF