F1 Canadian Grand Prix 2025 Recap: George Russell holds nerve to lock in first season win

Mercedes picked up their first win of the 2025 Formula One season as George Russell won the Canadian Grand Prix.

The race had a dramatic finish as the two McLaren cars come together after a tense battle between themselves. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished second, with Mercedes making it a double podium as young Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished third.

Oscar Piastri, coming out unscathed from the intra-team coming-together, finished fourth, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Fernando Alonso, Nico Hülkenberg, Esteban Ocon, and Carlos Sainz rounded out the points places, with Williams, Haas, and Sauber picking up some crucial points.

Russell led off the line, while his teammate Antonelli got past Piastri to move into third place on the first lap. Alex Albon, who had an eventful Qualifying, had a moment on the opening lap as he went onto the grass, though he rejoined safely.

Verstappen was pushing Russell hard in the opening few laps on a hot surface, which led to him having to pit early — on Lap 13. The Dutchman re-joined in P9. Russell came in the next lap, with Antonelli inheriting the lead, and made the undercut work by emerging two places ahead of Verstappen in P7. Piastri came in for his stop a couple of laps later and came out setting the pace with the fastest lap.

By Lap 25, Norris held the lead, with Russell chasing him down and McLaren having seemingly put Norris on a one-stopper. Ferrari called Leclerc in on Lap 28, and he rejoined in P6. Russell took the lead when Norris came in for his stop on Lap 30, with Verstappen and Antonelli moving into the podium places.

Verstappen was called in for his second stop on Lap 38, just as he was dropping pace. A lap later, Mercedes covered Verstappen’s stop by having Antonelli pit. Although the 18-year-old was unable to undercut him, he was soon on Verstappen’s gearbox as the race entered its 40th lap.

Race leader Russell came in for his second stop on Lap 44, which allowed Norris and Leclerc to move into the top two positions. Russell rejoined in P3, while Piastri, pitting a lap after Russell’s stop, came out in P6.

The race saw its first interruption when the yellow flags came out on Lap 49. A struggling Albon had gone off again, and this time he couldn’t rejoin properly. After the Thai-Brit retired, Russell built on his advantage over Verstappen, moving three seconds clear of him, while Leclerc led at the top. The Monégasque eventually came in for his second stop on Lap 54, which allowed Russell to retake the lead. Leclerc rejoined in P5, ahead of teammate Hamilton.

With Leclerc and the rest out of the way, and only Russell ahead of him, Verstappen pushed hard and brought the gap down to just a second with 11 laps left. Behind the top two, Norris was chasing down his teammate for P4, with Antonelli just ahead of them. The McLaren drivers were given full liberty to fight each other — although it was more a case of Piastri trying his best to keep a charging Norris at bay — as Russell started pulling away from Verstappen heading into the final couple of laps.

As expected, the intra-team McLaren battle ultimately imploded. Norris crashed out as he was unable to handle the pressure of going wheel to wheel with Piastri. With three laps to go, the two came together and crashed on the main straight, which brought out the Safety Car.

There was more drama as Russell hit the brakes at the last minute behind the Safety Car, which saw Verstappen take the lead. Russell immediately complained on the radio and got the spot back. As the race ended under the Safety Car, the Brit picked up a fortunate win, with Verstappen and Antonelli unable to challenge him after the restart.

With Norris unable to finish, Piastri extended his lead in the Drivers’ standings. Verstappen and Russell also picked up crucial points to close in on Norris.

McLaren continue holding a 175-point lead in the Constructors’ standings, with Ferrari’s double-points finish putting them 16 points behind Mercedes.

Racing will resume in two weeks’ time, as the grid moves to Austria.