There are many tracks on the F1 calendar that represent something special, but for us Canadians, the fastest show on earth took place on home soil at the beautiful Circuit Gilles Villeneuve — named after one of the greatest Formula One drivers, Canadian Gilles Villeneuve.
The Canadian Grand Prix has seen many phenomenal races: the comeback of Jenson Button from last to win in 2011, the wet weather masterclass of Ayrton Senna in 1990, the first victory of Lewis Hamilton in 2007, and the triumphant comeback victory in 2008 for Robert Kubica after his frightening crash the previous year just before the Turn 10 hairpin. This past weekend, F1 took to the track in what was predicted to be a wet weather race, but even in dry conditions, things were beyond unpredictable, making last weekend an exciting Canadian Grand Prix.
Sprint Qualifying
It’s no surprise that Mercedes came out flying and ended Sprint Qualifying on top. After an already dominant start to the season, noted by Kimi Antonelli winning the last three races consecutively, the start of the session saw Ferrari, Mercedes, and (surprise!) Red Bull battling it out for the top spot. In the end, it would be a Mercedes front row, with George Russell getting the job done and Kimi Antonelli in P2. The McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were right behind in P3/P4, followed by the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in P5/P6 and the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar in P7/P8. Breaking up the pairing madness was the RB of Arvid Lindblad in P9 and the Williams of Carlos Sainz in P10.
Sprint Race
There was so much action on track; the launch off the line from Lewis Hamilton led to the epic battle between Ferrari and McLaren, but I don’t think anyone was prepared for the inter-team battle between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. Lap after lap, both drivers gave no inch of room and almost caused an accident between them. Antonelli made a move around the outside of Turn 1 to try and get the inside line for Turn 2 but got pushed off track as Russell closed the door. Getting impatient, Antonelli tried another move down the inside of Turn 8 but caught himself out, causing the brakes to lock up and sending him off track, allowing Lando Norris to overtake for P2 and leaving Russell driving away in P1. The sprint ended with Russell winning, leaving Lando Norris in P2 and a frustrated Kimi Antonelli in P3.
Qualifying
Once again, Mercedes proved they’re the team to beat. I should have mentioned that Mercedes brought some additional upgrades to Montreal this past weekend, improving handling, aerodynamic balance, increased rear downforce, and enhanced brake cooling. It seems to be working well. Russell crossed the line to take pole with an impressive 1:12.578, with teammate Antonelli in P2 (+0.068), followed by the McLaren of Lando Norris in P3 (+0.151) and Oscar Piastri in P4 (+0.203). Lewis Hamilton was the top-performing Ferrari in P5 (+0.290), with Max Verstappen in P6 (+0.329), Isack Hadjar P7 (+0.357), Charles Leclerc P8 (+0.398), Arvid Lindblad P9 (+0.702), and Franco Colapinto in P10 (+1.119). Less than four tenths of a second separated P1 from P8, so we knew race day had a lot in store.
Race
After two false starts, we finally had “lights out and away we go!” After the skirmish between Russell and Antonelli in the Sprint Race, fans were on the edge of their seats heading into Turn 1 and couldn’t wait to see events unfold over the next 68 laps.
Lando Norris took the Mercedes by surprise with a phenomenal start, but a questionable strategy saw both Norris and Piastri on intermediate tires on a drying track. After taking the lead early, Norris would pit for slick tires, followed by Piastri — this call would set the tone for the remainder of their race, with Norris having a car failure partway through and Piastri finishing a disappointing P11.
The battle was on once again, with Russell and Antonelli battling hard for the lead, the tension building lap by lap, pass by pass. On lap 30, fans would see Russell leave the track on the way through Turn 8 and grind to a halt on the exit of Turn 9 due to an engine failure, leading to Russell throwing his headrest out of the car in frustration, ending his day and handing the win to Kimi Antonelli for his fourth consecutive win this season.
We saw a battle on track that brought some flashbacks to 2021, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battling it out for P2. While we saw some aggressive (and not necessarily clean) racing between the two in the past, they put on a masterclass of racecraft in Montreal, with Hamilton claiming P2 after a beautiful pass to put Verstappen in P3.
The 2026 Canadian Grand Prix was one of the best races from Montreal in years. If this is the kind of racing we can expect this season, then Monaco will be interesting to say the least. Will the smaller cars be good around the winding streets of Monte Carlo? We’ll have to wait and see in two weeks’ time for the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix.
FEATURE IMAGE: CANADIAN GRAND PRIX PIT LANE WALK, RED BULL F1 TEAM. PHOTO BY JUSTIN MASTINE-FROST.
