Who will take the checkered flag at the Grand Prix?
70 laps. 70 times by the “Wall of Champions” to determine the winner of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix.
George Russell stormed to pole position on Saturday and will start at the front of the field, but things could get dicey into Turn 1. Starting just behind him in second is Max Verstappen, in the first race after the two clashed in the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen was penalized for causing a collision with Russell in that incident, and is just one penalty point shy of a one-race suspension. The Red Bull driver needs to navigate both the Canadian Grand Prix and the Austrian Grand Prix later this month without incident to avoid a suspension.
Just behind them and waiting to pounce? None other than Drivers’ Champion leader Oscar Piastri, who starts third.
We’ll have the race covered for you live all afternoon, so check back early and often for updates!
Note: Updates are either in Eastern time, or by Lap number.
Canadian Grand Prix Race Notes
Lap 40: Piastri reports a bit of graining on his front left tire. At the moment he is in second, eight seconds behind Russell.
Norris has closed to within 4.5 seconds of Piastri, still in P3.
Lap 38: Antonelli pits again, coming out on another set of hard tires. That releases Piastri into P2 and Norris into P3.
Lap 37: Verstappen pits again, and comes out on another set of hard tires.
Lap 37: Ferrari reports some “damage” to Hamilton’s car. He is currently running in P7.
Lap 35: Ocon is the lead driver among those yet to pit, running up in P8. Sainz, Tsunoda, Bortoleto, Lawson, and Gasly are the other drivers who still need to make at least one stop.
Lap 32: Norris has just posted the fastest lap of the race on his fresh medium tires, for what it’s worth.
(Nothing, as F1 did away with the bonus point for the fastest lap this season. But it is a reference point for the current state of play).
Lap 32: Aston Martin instructs Alonso to be “gentle” into Turns 3 and 8.
“We are racing. Not testing,” replies the veteran driver.
Fantastic.
Lap 31: Death, taxes, and frustration over strategy at Ferrari. Leclerc questions why the team stopped, when he was saying the tires were “fine.”
We’ll see how this pans out for Leclerc and Ferrari.
Lap 29: Norris calls McLaren in to cover off Leclerc. But interestingly enough they release him on a set of medium tires. He comes back out running in P5, but the highest medium-tire runner.
Lap 29: Ferrari has put another set of hards on Leclerc’s SF-25.
“I don’t understand this choice,” says Leclerc.
Lap 28: Ferrari calls Leclerc in. We’ll see what compound Ferrari opts for.
Lap 25: Russell gets by Leclerc coming out of the hairpin, and slides into P2.
Lap 25: In a pivotal moment for the race, Russell is in P3, within DRS range of Leclerc in front of him. The quicker Russell can get by Leclerc, the better his odds of pulling out the win.
Verstappen is 1.4 seconds behind Russell, sitting in P4.
Lap 25: On Lap 25 here are the drivers who have not made a pit stop: Norris, Leclerc, Ocon, Sainz, Tsunoda, Bortoleto, Lawson, and Gasly. Each driver is on a set of C4 hard tires.
Lap 24: Albon finally comes into the pits, and on go a set of hards.
Norris has just posted his best lap of the race on 23-lap old hard tires.
Lap 23: After starting in P18 due to a ten-place grid penalty, Yuki Tsunoda has worked up into the points, currently in P10.
Tsunoda has yet to stop, however.
Lap 21: “I don’t really know why you don’t listen to me. It really annoys me,” gripes Albon on the radio.
Albon has yet to pit, and started the day on a set of used medium tires.
“They’ve fluffed this, Williams,” says Palmer on F1TV.
Lap 19: Piastri gets by Hülkenberg as well. You current top six: Norris, Leclerc, Russell, Verstappen, Antonelli, and Piastri.
Both Norris and Leclerc still need to make at least one pit stop, but this could shape up to be a two-stop race.
Lap 16: Piastri does not stay out much longer, as he pits at the end of Lap 16.
Jolyon Palmer notes on F1TV that he is a bit “underwhelmed” that Piastri did not go longer on his medium tires.
Lap 15: Hamilton comes in as well, and we have the McLaren duo out front as both Piastri and Norris stay out. Norris is planning to go long on his set of hard tires, but we will see how long Piastri can manage his medium tires, as the bulk of the medium-tire runners have made stops.
Remember, McLaren has done a masterful job so far this year at keeping tire degradation down, when compared to their rivals.
Lap 15: Mercedes calls Antonelli in as well. Piastri is running in P1 right now, followed by Hamilton, Norris, and Leclerc.
Russell is back into P5 at the moment, with Verstappen down in P8.
Lap 15: “Russell has pitted. This is Plan A. We need one of those amazing races from you,” says McLaren Race Engineer Will Joseph to Norris.
Lap 13: Russell pits to cover off Verstappen’s undercut threat. But with Verstappen back in traffic, Russell remains ahead of the Red Bull driver on the lap. Russell comes out in P7, and Verstappen is down in P9.
Lap 13: Verstappen is the first driver to pit, and comes out on a set of hard tires.
Lap 12: Verstappen pits on Lap 12, releasing Antonelli into P2.
Lap 11: Verstappen reports that his tires are “fragile.”
Norris down in P7 gets by Alonso, with Norris on a set of hard tires.
Lap 10: Interestingly, Verstappen has slid back to around 1.8 seconds behind Russell, and Antonelli is almost within DRS range of Verstappen.
Lap 9: Piastri reports that front tire degradation is “better” than it was for him in FP2, but rear tire degradation is “worse.”
Lap 8: As you can see on that replay, the door opened for Kimi Antonelli to pick up a place off the line, and the Mercedes rookie has settled into P3 behind Russell and Verstappen, and ahead of Piastri.
Lap 6: Here is a replay of the race start:
George Russell gets the launch he was hoping for
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 15, 2025
The lights go out in Canada! #F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/XlER3vHZOq
Lap 6: Russell has extended his lead over Verstappen, and is now over a second ahead of the Red Bull driver.
Lap 5: Verstappen is all over the rear wing of Russell here on Lap 5.
Lap 4: Nico Hülkenberg is the early leader in positions gained, as the Sauber driver has picked up two spots over the first few laps and is inside the Top 10, sitting ninth at the moment.
Lap 3: Verstappen remains within DRS range of Russell in front of him.
Lap 1: We are underway in Montreal! Russell holds onto the lead into Turn 1, and maintains an advantage over Verstappen on the lead lap.
Pre-race Notes
2:01: The formation lap is underway in Montreal.
Outside of the Top 10, Nico Hülkenberg, Isack Hadjar, and Oliver Bearman are all on the mediums, starting in P11, P12, and P13 respectively.
The rest of the grid from Esteban Ocon in P14 and back start on the hard tires.
2:00: Out of the drivers in the top ten eight of them (Russell, Verstappen, Piastri, Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, and Franco Colapinto) are starting on the C5 medium compound.
Only Lando Norris (in P7) and Charles Leclerc (in P8) are on the C4 hard tires.
1:59: Both Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson will start from pit lane after their teams made changes to their respective cars under parc ferme conditions.
Comments
Post a Comment