Kimi Antonelli won his fourth consecutive race, taking the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montréal, and several retirements led to seven teams earning points. Lewis Hamilton made his second podium for Ferrari, finishing P2, 10 seconds behind Antonelli, and holding off Red Bull's Max Verstappen by a half-second, the Dutch driver making his first podium in five races.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) finished P4 and Verstappen's teammate, Isack Hadjar, finished P5. Alpine had two cars in points, with Franco Colapinto in P6 and Pierre Gasly P8. Liam Lawson earned points for Racing Bulls in P7 — his third time in points in the last four races. Williams' Carlos Sainz was P9 and Haas' Ollie Bearman was P10.
All through qualifying, it was Mercedes with the best car after an upgrade package was put in place. George Russell was on pole and won the sprint race, and he sat on pole for the grand prix. But Russell didn't finish the race, his power unit (battery related) failing on Lap 30 — a real frustration for Russell, who was defending champion in Montreal and looking strong to repeat at that point in the race.
Also not finishing:
• McLaren had déjà vu from last season, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri racing each other hard, and it cost them again when Norris ended up in the back of Piastri on lap 40, with Norris forced to retire after losing his front wing.
• Piastri suffered a 10-second time penalty for his role in a collision with Williams' Alex Albon that forced Albon to retire on lap 13. The penalty forced Piastri out of points to P11.
• It was another rough day for Aston Martin. Fernando Alonso was forced to retire on lap 25 because his seat was not secure and unsafe.
• Sergio Perez's Cadillac lost its front right suspension on Lap 43, forcing him to crash. He escaped injury. • Arvid Lindblad didn't even get to race, his Racing Bulls car having a clutch malfunction on the grid before the race.
My take: Antonelli's fearless. He drives like Max, elbows out, and he doesn't care who he's racing, even teammate Russell, who he collided with in Turn 1 at the start. He's got an early 43 point lead in the drivers championship over Russell. Monaco is next, a short circuit needing 78 laps. Most difficult circuit to pass, so it's all about pole position there. Leclerc is desperate to win his home race and the Ferrari has been good on corners this season. But it's impossible to ignore Mercedes, which has won all five races this year.
THE ASYLUM
F1: High drama in Canada
Kimi Antonelli won his fourth consecutive race, taking the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montréal, and several retirements led to seven teams earning points. Lewis Hamilton made his second podium for Ferrari, finishing P2, 10 seconds behind Antonelli, and holding off Red Bull's Max Verstappen by a half-second, the Dutch driver making his first podium in five races.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) finished P4 and Verstappen's teammate, Isack Hadjar, finished P5. Alpine had two cars in points, with Franco Colapinto in P6 and Pierre Gasly P8. Liam Lawson earned points for Racing Bulls in P7 — his third time in points in the last four races. Williams' Carlos Sainz was P9 and Haas' Ollie Bearman was P10.
All through qualifying, it was Mercedes with the best car after an upgrade package was put in place. George Russell was on pole and won the sprint race, and he sat on pole for the grand prix. But Russell didn't finish the race, his power unit (battery related) failing on Lap 30 — a real frustration for Russell, who was defending champion in Montreal and looking strong to repeat at that point in the race.
Also not finishing:
• McLaren had déjà vu from last season, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri racing each other hard, and it cost them again when Norris ended up in the back of Piastri on lap 40, with Norris forced to retire after losing his front wing.
• Piastri suffered a 10-second time penalty for his role in a collision with Williams' Alex Albon that forced Albon to retire on lap 13. The penalty forced Piastri out of points to P11.
• It was another rough day for Aston Martin. Fernando Alonso was forced to retire on lap 25 because his seat was not secure and unsafe.
• Sergio Perez's Cadillac lost its front right suspension on Lap 43, forcing him to crash. He escaped injury.
• Arvid Lindblad didn't even get to race, his Racing Bulls car having a clutch malfunction on the grid before the race.
My take: Antonelli's fearless. He drives like Max, elbows out, and he doesn't care who he's racing, even teammate Russell, who he collided with in Turn 1 at the start. He's got an early 43 point lead in the drivers championship over Russell. Monaco is next, a short circuit needing 78 laps. Most difficult circuit to pass, so it's all about pole position there. Leclerc is desperate to win his home race and the Ferrari has been good on corners this season. But it's impossible to ignore Mercedes, which has won all five races this year.
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