George Russell gave Mercedes the first Grand Prix victory this year. For McLaren, the race in Montreal ended in a scandal.
Lando Norris got out of his McLaren completely frustrated and immediately took blame for the accident with his team -mate Oscar Piatri. “I’m sorry, that was all my mistake. It was stupid of me”, said the Brit.
Four laps before the end ended a hard-run duel between the World Cup second Norris and Formula 1 leader Oscar Piatri with a bad crash. Norris had to leave his car standing on the home stretch, and Piatri saved himself fourth to finish.
Lando Norris rises from his F1 car at the Grand Prix of Canada.
“He apologized to me“, said Piatri after the finish ride at RTL. It was a “Hard fight“Has been, but he did not consider a stable order to be necessary. Team boss Andrea Stella found clearer words with a serious look. “We never want to see that two McLaren touch. This is a clear principle with us”, the Italian said at Sky.
Verstappen tears together
In view of the McLaren drama, the fact that George Russell won the Grand Prix of Canada in front of world champion Max Verstappen in Red Bull. At least Verstappen was unimpressed by an impending racing lock and this time it was emotionally dominated with a second place.
The Formula 1 world champion in Montreal missed his fourth triumph one after the other, but showed a flawless appearance in the Red Bull. The 27-year-old from the Netherlands also caught up points in the World Cup fight with the weakening and then even crashing McLaren.
Youngster Antonelli becomes third
Antonelli as third made a strong day for Mercedes. The German Nico Hülkenberg headed for eighth place and won the second time in a row.
Russell effortlessly defended his pole position against Verstappen. The duel in the first series of start was eagerly awaited, since the defending champion had driven the silver arrow pilot on the car two weeks ago. Verstappen had not only received a ten-second penalty for the ramming, which at the end threw him back to tenth in Barcelona. He also received three penalty points in the sinners. If he collect only one more at the upcoming Grand Prix in Austria, this would result in a lock for the Grand Prix in Silverstone.
George Russell dominates the Grand Prix of Canada
McLaren at the start with problems
In any case, in Montreal, the four -time world champion made no dropout and drove Russell in front of him. Verstappen had all won the previous three big prizes.
Surprisingly, the most recently dominant McLaren had nothing to do with the fight for the top at the beginning. The World Cup runner-up Norris made driving mistakes in the qualification and could not improve from its seventh place at first. Leader Piatri even lost a rank and was only fourth in the beginning.
Verstappen did not get past Russell, behind him Antonelli became a danger in the second Mercedes. Verstappen decided on the high -speed course for an early change of tire to put the competition under pressure. Shortly afterwards Russell, Antonelli and Piatri came to the box.
McLaren duel shortly before the end
Even 15 laps before the end, the allocation of the podium places was still completely open. None of the top five made a decisive mistake – but suddenly there was a duel between the McLaren. Norris went on close to Piatri – and then there was an accident between the two. Nobody wanted to give the other room. The race ended behind the Safety Car.