George Russell defeated Max Verstappen to win the Canadian GP and hand Mercedes its first win of the 2025 F1 season. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli finished third, securing his maiden F1 podium result.
For the first time this year, no McLaren driver made it to the podium. Lando Norris had to retire after making contact with his McLaren teammate Piastri, who ended up fourth.
- Russell wins ahead of Verstappen, Antonelli
- Piastri extends F1 championship lead
Russell scores Mercedes’ first win of F1 2025
Antonelli bags first F1 podium
Starting from pole position, Russell defended his lead into the first corner. The Mercedes driver made the two-stop strategy work to take a fairly comfortable win ahead of Verstappen, as the race concluded behind the Safety Car.
Russell’s victory was in doubt for a while as Red Bull lodged a protest for what team principal Christian Horner described as “erratic driving” behind the Safety Car. However, Russell’s victory was officially confirmed over five hours later, with the stewards rejecting Red Bull’s protest.
“I am really pleased to take the team’s first victory of the season,” said Russell. “I felt in control throughout and was able to manage the race to bring home the win. With the slightly higher temperatures, we thought we may struggle a little more than we saw on Friday. We did a good job of managing the tyres though and had the pace to hold off the chasing pack.”
It was a double celebration for Mercedes, with Kimi Antonelli landing his first podium finish. The rookie passed Piastri to move up to third place on the opening lap itself and successfully defended the position till the chequered flag. This also makes him the third-youngest podium finisher in F1 history, behind Verstappen and Lance Stroll.
Norris out after colliding with Piastri
Ferrari finish P5 and P6
After a poor performance in qualifying, Norris opted for the alternate strategy and started on hard tyres. This worked out well for him and he caught up to his teammate Piastri in the closing stages. Norris initially passed Piastri at the hairpin on lap 46, but Piastri re-took the place into Turn 13. Norris then tried to find a way past down the straight, but misjudged the gap and ran into the back of Piastri. While Piastri was able to continue to finish P4, the incident forced Norris to retire on the spot.
Norris admitted his fault almost instantly. “I apologise to Oscar and the team. I thought I had a small opportunity, but with hindsight, I should never have gone for that move,” he said. “I’ve paid the price and I’m glad nothing adverse happened to Oscar. I will put it behind me and learn from today’s mistake to come back stronger as a team in Austria.”
Ferrari endured another difficult race. Radio broadcasts showed Leclerc wanted to go for a one-stop strategy, but Ferrari opted to pit him twice and he ended up finishing fifth. Lewis Hamilton’s car suffered a broken floor and brake pedal trouble after hitting a groundhog. He crossed the line in sixth place, over seven seconds behind his teammate.
Fernando Alonso added to his points tally after finishing P7, followed by Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon. Carlos Sainz completed the top 10.
2025 F1 championship standings
Despite not finishing on the podium, Piastri has extended his championship lead to 22 points – thanks largely to Norris’ retirement. Verstappen is third overall, 43 points off the lead.
F1 will now head to the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian GP on June 27-29.
2025 Canadian GP results
Suraj Viswanathan
