The Formula 1 edit

Hello everyone! After a weekend off of racing, the 20 best drivers in the world are back at it! The last grand prix, viewers cheered on hometown heroes Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz. This grand prix, the grandstands cheer on fellow Canadian Lance Stroll, who will fortunately race this weekend despite having to miss the last one due to a wrist injury that required surgery.

qualifying

q1

With a little less than five minutes left on the clock, Williams driver Alex Albon found himself in a car that was giving away all of the British team’s secrets. The white and blue car’s engine cover essentially exploded right then and there on the Canadian track, leaving both mechanics and marshalls alike quite the clean-up. Albon took his car to the pit lane to secure a new engine cover.

27 seconds remain in the first sector of qualifying. Haas rookie Oliver Bearman came ripping through the final Chicane in hopes of turning his 19th grid place into a higher position. He took the Chicane a little too quickly, but he maintained control over the car and jumped to 11th!

All heads turned to the drivers that were hashing it out at the bottom of the grid. Nico Hulkenberg managed a 12th position, but Esteban Ocon landed 14th, which put him in real danger of getting eliminated. Alex Albon, now with a repaired car, shot up out of 20th to an astounding P6!

Albon’s teammate, Carlos Sainz, rounded the final corners in a desperate attempt to make it out of P20, which he landed when his teammate was bumped out of 20th. He crossed the finish line but only managed a 4 place jump up, which is still in the disqualified positions!

With the checkered flag now waving, the drivers made their way to the pits. On the way, Carlos Sainz found himself driving up behind young rookie Isack Hadjar. Around a turn, Hadjar slowed down quite a bit, causing Sainz to almost run into him! Sainz told his race engineer that Hadjar impeded, while Hadjar told his race engineer that Sainz ran into him. Only time will tell which driver is in the right and which is in the wrong, it’s up to the FIA now.

The unfortunate drivers eliminated in Q1 were Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber), Carlos Sainz (Williams), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), and Pierre Gasly (Alpine).

q2

Young Italian Kimi Antonelli, much like his fellow rookie Oliver Bearman, struggled to maintain control over his car in the final Chicane, but he did so! Not only recovering quickly, but also moving up to P8! His teammate, George Russell, set the fastest lap time.

The bottom five drivers pushed relentlessly in hopes of making it to Q3. Isack Hadjar, P13, crossed the finish line just as the checkered flag flew, catapulting him to P9!

Here comes Fernando Alonso! He passed the finish line with a final time that sent him to P6. Not bad for a rookie! 😉

Nico Hulkenberg, fresh off a P5 finish in Barcelona, was looking to match his last grand prix finish. But sheer will and determination aren’t enough to send the German to Q3. He managed a 2nd-place improvement, but that doesn’t help much when you are already in 15th!

The drivers eliminated in Q2 were Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull), Franco Colapinto (Alpine), Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber), Oliver Bearman (Haas), and Esteban Ocon (Haas).

The 10 remaining drivers have one last chance to prove themselves, onto Q3!

q3

Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Charles Leclerc started their first laps of Q3. Leclerc finished his lap first and took pole position. Next comes Lando Norris. Around the final Chicane he essentially drove off the track, which deleted his time. Norris then passed the metaphorical ‘hunt down Leclerc’ baton to his teammate, Oscar Piastri, who was next to pass the finish line. He secured the victory for the fastest second sector before also taking pole position from Leclerc. Piastri to pole!

The four-time world champion was out for blood, Verstappen was desperate to take pole position from the man who will possibly take the drivers championship winning streak away from him. Verstappen passed the finish line with an outstanding time of 1:11:248, which put him at the front of the field! Verstappen to pole!

Next to drive are the Mercedes boys, George Russell in 3rd and Kimi Antonelli in 10th. George completed his lap but maintained 3rd position, but 10th just won’t suffice for young Kimi! He crossed the finish line and made it into P4, right behind his teammate.

With a little less than a minute left in Q3, Verstappen started his final lap. Still in pole position, this last lap could mean life or death for Verstappen. But the drivers in Papaya were hot on his tail, also completing their final laps. Piastri passed the finish line first and took pole from his soon-to-be world champion predecessor! Piastri once again to pole!

Next comes Lando Norris! He ripped through the final Chicane but wasn’t able to improve from his original position, he stayed in 7th.

Here comes Verstappen, probably not too happy with just being robbed of pole! Hopefully, he can take this final lap and absolutely kick his competition in the rear! He managed to pass Piastri once again for pole by six-hundredths of a second!

George Russell, another of Max’s on-track enemies, had something to say about Verstappen on pole position! He ripped through the track and stole pole from Verstsappen! George Russell to pole! And with the checkered flag starting to wave, there’s was no chance for the other drivers to redeem themselves for first!

George Russell takes Pole Position for the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix! He is followed by Max Verstappen in 2nd and Oscar Piastri in third! With two drivers who are known to have beef in real life on the front row, this is sure to be interesting! Especially after the stunt that Verstappen pulled at the Spanish grand prix. If you need refreshing, Max was told to let George pass him. Max argued but eventually gave in. Just as George was going to pass him, Max rammed into George’s car, earning him a 10-second time penalty. From the looks of it, the crash was deliberate, so it will be very entertaining to see how this race plays out!

Max Verstappen may not try anything at the race, to be honest. The Dutch driver currently has eleven penalty points. If he receives another one, he is banned from the next race. So he will most likely play fair. George, on the other hand, made a comment to reporters after quali and told them he had a few points on his license to play around with!

Isack Hadjar also received a three-place penalty for impeding Carlos Sainz in Q1, guess the Smooth Operator was in the right after all!

the grid

Here is the grid for the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix!

1. George Russell (Mercedes)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
4. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
5. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
6. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
7. Lando Norris (McLaren)
8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
9. Alexander Albon (Williams)
10. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
11. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
12. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
13. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
14. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
15. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
16. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
18. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
19. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
20. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

the race

Hello and welcome to the 2025 F1 Canadian Grand Prix! Much like last year, Mercedes driver George Russell starts on pole position. Hopefully, unlike last year, George can hold onto first and secure a 3rd grand prix win! He is trailed by four-time world champion Max Verstappen in second and the strongest candidate for the championship this year, Oscar Piastri, in third.

The five red lights go out and we’re racing in Montreal! George Russell had a quick reaction time and held onto first through the first turn. Kimi Antonelli tried with all his might to pass the Man from Melbourne, but was unsuccessful through the first few turns. He then went around the inside and took 3rd from Oscar Piastri! Antonelli to third!

Farther back on the grid, Alpine driver Franco Colapinto overtook Williams driver Alex Albon. Albon pushed hard to retrieve his stolen place, but Colapinto was not going down without a fight! They drove wheel to wheel for a couple seconds before entering a Chicane, where Albon tried to go around the outside of Colapinto but ended up driving off the road and into the grass! He rejoined the race at the exact same moment Colapinto came racing around the corner, so there was still a battle occurring between the two drivers! Colapinto proceeded to pass a Racing Bull car, leaving Albon in his dirty air, but hidden behind the drama of Alex Albon versus Franco Colapinto, was an awesome move by Nico Hulkenberg! As Albon rejoined the race, Hulkenberg seized the opportunity and proceeded to pass both Albon and Colapinto! Quite the move from the German driver!

It seems that Max Verstappen always has something to complain about. At this particular grand prix, it was his tires! In lap 11, Red Bull’s race engineer asked Max his thoughts on his tires, he replied with “Yeah, not good, very fragile.” Apparently, holding second place isn’t a good enough pace for the Dutch driver, he needs tires that can propel him past his teammate, or he’s just dramatic!

Lando Norris, 7th place, was chasing down Fernando Alonso for 6th. Fernando took a turn wide and Lando went around the inside to secure 6th place!

Over the span of 3 more laps, Lando made 3 more passes! Sending him up into 3rd. Both Mercedes cars and Max Verstappen pitted, sending Oscar Piastri into first. The current lineup is Piastri (1st), Lewis Hamilton (2nd), and Lando Norris (3rd). Hamilton got the call to pit, but he was passed by the driver in Papaya before he had a chance to do so! Lando Norris takes 2nd!

In lap 17, Carlos Sainz went around the inside to pass Stake driver Gabriel Bortoleto. While making the move, his brakes locked up! He still managed to pass the Brazilian driver, but not without a struggle! After being passed by Sainz, Bortoleto was also passed by Yuki Tsunoda, losing two positions in only a couple turns of the track.

Everything that happened between the laps of 18 and 37 was pretty basic, just 19 men and Kimi Antonelli racing around in an oddly shaped circle. Both Mclaren cars pitted for the first time, sending both Mercedes cars into the top two, since they already pitted! The current lineup in George Russel (1st), Kimi Antonelli (2nd), and Oscar Piastri (3rd). In lap 38, Max Verstappen pitted for the second time. Maybe Max really was onto something about the tires not being good! We’re only half-way through the race at this point and he’s already pitted twice, when some drivers hadn’t even pitted once!

1 lap later, Kimi Antonelli came into the pit lane for a fresh set of tires. He was looking to score his first ever podium in his F1 career so far. When I say that, it sounds like he’s been driving in the sport forever and is just now getting around to it. But let’s keep in mind, Antonelli is only 18 years old, he only got his license in January, and this is his 10th race in the sport, and the commentators already have the possible privilege of getting to declare him a podium finisher! Mark my words, Kimi Antonelli will go down in history as one of the greatest names in F1, and I will get to say I supported him his rookie year! He changed his tires then made to exit the pit lane. Upon his exit, he was 5th place. He exited the pit lane at the same time Verstappen came around the corner. Antonelli maintained his position, but the first turn after the pit lane exit gave Verstappen the advantage, so Verstappen overtook him and claimed 5th position, sending Kimi into 6th, still the highest place of any rookie!

In lap 45, at the back of the field, hometown favorite Lance Stroll went around the inside of Pierre Gasly and passed him! Even though this pass may seem small and insignificant, hundreds of fans cheered him on for the overtake! Just after the overtake, Gasly caught up to Stroll and drove side by side with him. Gasly then drove off of the track. He told his race engineer that Stroll pushed him, so his engineers told them they would look into it. Lance Stroll was then issued a 10 second time penalty for forcing Gasly off the track.

George Russell maintained 1st position for 9 more laps, and Verstappen gained 3 more places, putting him in 2nd place. Kimi Antonelli chased Max in third. Now, in lap 54, 4.1 seconds separated the top four. Oscar Piastri relentlessly chased Antonelli for third, but Kimi saw the championship leader in his rearview mirror and decided it was time for a change of scenery on the podium! Piastri tried to lunge on Antonelli but was unsuccessful. Antonelli holds onto third! In lap 62, the two McLaren cars started to get a little too close for comfort. Oscar was the first of the two Papaya teammates, but Lando looked like he wanted that to change! In almost every turn, Norris practically touched the rear of Piastri’s car, until finally Norris’s race engineer gave him the encouragement to make the leap and take 4th from his teammate. Right before the final Chicane of the track, Norris almost was able to pass Piastri, but wasn’t quite able to! After the final Chicane is a DRS zone, so there may be some action for the McLaren boys there! One lap later, Lando went around the inside and stole 4th from his teammate! Right after the overtake was another turn, in which Piastri made to regain his place back! This ended in the Papaya cars driving wheel to wheel! Heading into the final Chicane, Oscar barely had an advantage over Lando, but Lando pushed slightly harder and took over the advantage, only to go late on the brakes and give the placement back to Oscar! Then a few seconds later, Norris went around the outside to try and pass Oscar for 4th once again, only to find that there was no space for him to go around the outside! Lando Norris into the wall and out of the race! Not a smart move on his part, but he quickly recognized that and took full responsibility for his actions. What a sad, sad race day for the Lando Norris fans (myself included) and hopefully we can see a change in Austria and a comeback for the British driver. Safety car deployed!

With a Safety Car and only 3 laps left to go, the Merecedes driver was guaranteed to win this grand prix! George sees the checkered flag first! George Russell wins the Canadian Grand Prix! Max Verstappen brings home 2nd and 18 year old Kimi Antonelli secures his first ever Formula 1 podium! What a fantastic day for Mercedes fans! When George exited his car, he stood atop it and did his iconic T-Pose! The energy in the paddock once the two Mercedes drivers exited their cars was beyond contagious! A wonderful day for Toto and Susie Wolff!

Another funny side note, when an award ceremony is over, the three podium finishers break open bottles of champagne and spray it on each-other! Kimi chose not to drink his first victory champagne, but to pour it on his head! It was quite a hilarious scene and I hope we will see more of Podium Kimi in the future!

results

Here are the top 10 results for the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix!

1. George Russell (Mercedes)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
8. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
9. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
10. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

Next up is the Austrian Grand Prix! I’ll see you there!