Round 5 in Montreal
Photo from Formula 1.
From May 22-24, Formula 1 was in Canada, making for an exciting weekend. Canada brought a sprint race, questionable tire calls, and Kimi Antonelli standing on the top step for the fourth race in a row. In just five rounds, Antonelli is 43 points clear of George Russell in the drivers championship.
The Sprint
Canada was a sprint weekend, which meant extra drama before Sunday even arrived. Russell took the sprint pole and won the sprint, but not before he and Antonelli got into a tense battle for the lead — the two made contact, Antonelli ended up briefly on the grass, and some pointed radio messages followed. Toto Wolff eventually had to step in and remind them they were "free to race, but with respect," which is the diplomatic way of telling your drivers to cut it out. Antonelli ended up finishing third. Norris came in second, and Piastri held fourth, giving McLaren some solid points before things fell apart on Sunday.
Race Results
Montreal had mixed conditions going into race day, so teams had to call their starting tires without knowing whether the rain would hold off. McLaren went with intermediates for both Norris and Piastri. Now, I’m no McLaren strategy team, but even I knew that was a poor decision.
Norris briefly got into the lead from third at the start before McLaren pitted both drivers within the first two laps to swap to slicks and lost all that ground. Norris spent the rest of the race recovering before retiring with a suspected gearbox problem. Piastri was clawing his way back up when he locked up at the hairpin on lap 13, hitting Alex Albon (who retired on the spot), and picked up a 10-second penalty for it. He finished P11, out of the points.
While that was happening, Russell and Antonelli were actually putting on a show — trading the lead back and forth multiple times over 30 laps. Then Russell stopped on lap 30 with a power unit failure, got out, and threw his gloves on the ground. He said afterward it feels like "somebody doesn't want me to fight for this championship." Given this is his second retirement while running well, it's hard to argue.
Antonelli inherited the lead and won by 10 seconds, marking his fourth straight victory. Lewis Hamilton finished second after passing Verstappen in the final laps and called it the happiest day of his time at Ferrari. Max Verstappen took third, his first podium of 2026 and a sign that Red Bull has been working to close the gap to the front. Charles Leclerc finished fourth but described the weekend as one of the worst in his career, which made for a very divided Ferrari garage on Sunday.
Franco Colapinto finished sixth, a new career best, after managing front wing damage that came from hitting a wet patch and sliding into the wall under the virtual safety car. It was his third points finish in four races, as he continues to outperform his circumstances. Arvid Lindblad, who scored points on debut in Australia, didn't even make it to the start here. His car stalled on the grid with a clutch issue before the formation lap. Aston Martin had another difficult weekend. Fernando Alonso retired mid-race with a seat issue, and Lance Stroll, who started from the pit lane after a power unit change under parc ferme, finished outside the points.
Looking Forward
Monaco is next, which is one of the, if not the most, iconic tracks on the calendar. McLaren continues to lose ground to Ferrari in the constructors' standings, and their decision-making needs serious improvement. Mercedes, and especially Antonelli, continue to dominate the track. Five down, 17 to go.
