Russell Takes Mercedes’ First 2025 Win in Dramatic Canadian Grand Prix

George Russell secured Mercedes` first victory of the 2025 Formula 1 season at the Canadian Grand Prix. The race featured significant drama, including a collision between McLaren teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the closing stages.

Russell successfully defended his position against Max Verstappen throughout the race. His Mercedes teammate, Kimi Antonelli, achieved his first-ever F1 podium by finishing third.

The confirmation of Russell`s victory took nearly six hours after the chequered flag. This delay was due to Red Bull filing a protest, alleging that Russell drove erratically under the Safety Car period that was deployed following the McLaren incident. The protest was ultimately rejected.

Major drama unfolded in the fight for fourth place. Piastri and Norris made contact as they crossed the start line with just four laps remaining. Norris came off worse from the entanglement and had to retire from the race.

Norris later took responsibility for the incident, apologizing for his `stupid` attempt to overtake Piastri. Piastri continued and finished fourth, and now leads the championship standings by 22 points over Norris and 43 points ahead of Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc finished in fifth place, ahead of his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton, who raced with damage for most of the 70 laps around the Montreal circuit.

Fernando Alonso secured his best result of the season for Aston Martin in seventh. He was followed by Nico Hulkenberg for Sauber in eighth, Esteban Ocon for Haas in ninth, and Carlos Sainz for Williams rounding out the top ten.

Canadian GP Result: Top 10

Details of the Piastri-Norris Incident

Norris, who started in seventh after a disappointing qualifying session, was on an alternative strategy, beginning the race on hard tyres while the leaders used mediums. He briefly led the race when Russell, Verstappen, and Piastri made their pit stops, before dropping back after his own stop. This strategy meant he had fresher tyres for the final part of the race and began to catch his teammate.

Piastri encountered traffic in the final 20 laps while attempting to overtake Antonelli for a podium spot but couldn`t find a clear advantage.

As a result, Norris closed the gap and attempted an overtake on the inside of Piastri at the Turn 10 hairpin on lap 66. They then ran side-by-side down the back straight at high speed.

Piastri had the inside line for the challenging final chicane but had a poor exit. Norris then sought a non-existent gap on the inside approaching Turn 1, leading to contact between the teammates at high speed.

Norris immediately broke his front wing and stopped, while Piastri managed to continue, settling for fourth place.

“No one to blame but myself, so I apologise to the whole team and to Oscar as well for attempting something probably a bit too silly,” Norris commented after the race. “Glad I didn`t ruin his race. In the end, apologies to the team.”

Russell`s Dominant Drive Against Verstappen

At the front, Russell and Verstappen were set for a close contest, two weeks after their contentious moment at the Spanish Grand Prix.

A slow start from Verstappen allowed Russell to comfortably maintain the lead on the opening lap. Verstappen initially applied significant pressure on Russell but fell back as the first stint progressed.

In fact, Antonelli got closer to challenging Verstappen before Red Bull brought their driver in early on lap 12, initiating the first round of pit stops.

Mercedes responded by pitting Russell shortly after, covering Verstappen`s strategy. They repeated this for the second pit stops. Russell demonstrated sufficient pace to prevent a serious challenge from the reigning world champion.

“It`s amazing to be back on the top step,” Russell said. “The last time for us was back in Vegas. I felt last year was a victory lost and probably got the victory today due to the incredible pole lap yesterday. Obviously, so happy to see Kimi on the podium as well.

“Amazing day for the team. Thanks to everyone back at the factory for working to get us back fighting for victories. It feels good.”

Further down the field, Leclerc questioned Ferrari`s strategy. Like Norris, he started on the hard tyres and hoped for a one-stop race. However, he ended up following the same strategy as the leaders and finished fifth.

Hamilton had another challenging Sunday, finishing sixth after sustaining damage on lap 13 when he hit a groundhog on track. The damage is estimated to have cost him about half a second per lap, resulting in a relatively isolated race.

Home favourite Lance Stroll received the only penalty of the race for forcing Pierre Gasly off track at the final chicane.

Alex Albon retired with an engine problem after expressing frustration with his Williams team over strategy while running in the top 10. Liam Lawson also retired from the race.

Canadian GP Full Result

The next event in the 2025 Formula 1 season is the Austrian Grand Prix.