Canadian GP 2025: Russell wins as Norris crashes into Piastri

George Russell won the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal from pole position, taking the flag 0.228 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen as the race finished behind the safety car. Kimi Antonelli made it a double podium for Mercedes in third, the first top-three finish of his career. The safety car was out because Lando Norris had driven into the back of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in the closing laps.

How Russell won in Montreal

Russell took pole on Saturday with a 1:10.899, 0.160 seconds quicker than Verstappen. Mercedes had brought back a rear suspension update it shelved after Imola, and on the smooth Montreal surface the car was easy on its tyres, which has not often been true this year.

Russell led from the start and was never really threatened. Verstappen stopped first, on lap 13, to try the undercut; Mercedes answered a lap later and Russell stayed in front. Red Bull pitted again on lap 38, Russell came in on lap 43 for hards in clear air, and he had stretched the gap to around two seconds when the safety car came out.

Confirming the win took until Sunday evening. Red Bull protested, arguing that Russell had braked erratically behind the safety car to bait Verstappen into an illegal pass and had dropped further back than allowed. The stewards rejected both points. It was Russell's fourth grand prix win and Mercedes' first of the season.

The teammate duels in Montreal

McLaren. Norris made two errors in Q3 and started seventh, four places behind Piastri. He began on hards, ran a long first stint and was on Piastri's gearbox late on. He got past at the hairpin, Piastri took the place back at the final chicane, and on the pit straight Norris went for a gap that was not there and hit the rear of the other McLaren. His car ended in the wall; Piastri carried on to fourth. "All my fault," Norris said on the radio. The race goes to Piastri in their head-to-head, which now stands 5–5 in qualifying and 6–4 to Piastri in races, in our count.

Mercedes. Antonelli, 18, started fourth and passed Piastri into Turn 3 on the opening lap. He kept third to the end and became the third-youngest podium finisher in Formula 1 history. Russell still beat him on both days, by 0.694% of a lap in qualifying, so their duel reads 9–1 on Saturdays and 8–0 on Sundays on F1 Duels.

Ferrari. Hamilton out-qualified Leclerc, fifth to eighth, after Leclerc crashed heavily in first practice and made a mistake on his last Q3 lap. Sunday went the other way. Early in the race Hamilton hit a groundhog, and the damage cost him a significant chunk of downforce. Leclerc started on hards, stopped twice and finished fifth, one place ahead. That makes it 8–1 to Leclerc in races in Hamilton vs Leclerc, with qualifying at 7–3 in his favour.

Aston Martin. Fernando Alonso qualified sixth and finished seventh, his second points finish in a row after a long wait for the first. Lance Stroll, back from a hand injury, went out in Q1 and finished 17th after a 10-second penalty for forcing Pierre Gasly off the track. Alonso vs Stroll is now 9–0 in qualifying and 6–0 in races.

Behind them, Nico Hülkenberg was eighth for Sauber and Esteban Ocon ninth in Haas's 200th grand prix. Carlos Sainz took the last point with a one-stop on hards after a Q1 exit. Alex Albon retired with a power unit problem and Liam Lawson also stopped, so neither of their team duels counts in our model this time.

What it means for the title

Piastri leaves Canada on 198 points, 22 ahead of Norris, who scored nothing. Verstappen is third on 155, 43 behind, and Russell fourth on 136. Norris lost those points to his own move, and said as much. Every verdict from the weekend is on the Canadian GP duels page.