F1 | Race | Canadian GP | Russell wins from Verstappen after McLarens collide - Motorsport

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With George Russell again starting from pole for the F1 Canadian GP, the race got underway with Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly starting from pitlane after using additional power unit elements and modifying the car under parc fermé conditions.

Antonelli picks off Piastri

At lights out the top three go throught the first few corners in sequence before Andrea Kimi Antonelli picks off third place from Oscar Piastri into turn 3. Further down the order Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto fight it out into turn 8, where Albon has to take to the grass. This gives Nico Hülkenberg not one but two spots.

Max Verstappen immediately gets into Russell’s DRS range, but cannot attack yet. Antonelli drops back a little, as the rest of the top eight in the same sequence as on the grid.

Verstappen cannot manage to find a way past Russell, so he decides to take a little more distance to the Mercedes driver. It seems as though it has damaged his tyres a little as the gap increases and Antonelli closes in on the Dutchman.

Lando Norris in the meantime has closed the gap to Fernando Alonso, as multiple drivers are complaining about the tyres. Alonso goes wide in the hairpin and with the help of DRS Norris takes sixth place.

Medium tyres are degrading worse than expected

As Antonelli is trying to overtake Verstappen the Red Bull driver darts into the pits for the first stop of the F1 Canadian GP. He switches to the hard tyres and comes back ahead of Colapinto. Esteban Ocon passes both team mate Ollie Bearman and Isack Hadjar in one lap.

Russell covers Verstappen a lap later and gets back ahead of Hülkenberg, and thus Verstappen. Norris immediately gets spurred on to increase his pace.

Antonelli follows yet another lap later and he gets out behind Verstappen. Norris overtakes Lewis Hamilton as he also switches to the hard tyre. Verstappen in the meantime has passed Hülkenberg and is directly behind Russell again.

Piastri is the last one of the top drivers on the mediums to stop and he gets back behind Antonelli, meaning hard tyre starters Norris and Leclerc are leading the race.

Albon left out to dry

Carlos Sainz takes a deep dive into hairpin to overtake Gabriel Bortoleto, which gives Yuki Tsunoda the opportunity to pass the Kick Sauber driver into the final chicane.

Hamilton currently is stuck behind Ocon and Albon, who both haven’t pitted yet. Albon gets overtaken by Ocon on the back straight, and Hamilton does the same on the start/finish straight. The Thai also has let team mate Sainz by. At the end of the lap Hamilton finally makes it past Ocon.

Alex Albon’s struggles don’t end as his team wants to pit him at an inconvenient moment, and Tsunoda passes a moment later. Bortoleto also passes him, followed by Alonso. At the start of lap 24 Albon finally stops for hard tyres, dropping him to the back of the field of the F1 Canadian GP.

Up front Verstappen slowly is closing the gap to Russell, who in turn shrinks the gap to the leaders. Leclerc is again aiding his engineers with the strategy, as the driver is suggesting ‘Plan C’ instead of ‘Plan B’. He however cannot prevent Russell from blasting by on the back straight, dropping him back to third.

Verstappen gets into Leclerc’s DRS range a lap later, but cannot pass the Ferrari driver yet. Leclerc stops at the end of the next lap, followed by Norris a lap later. This puts both drivers ahead of Hamilton. Norris however is on the medium tyre, taking a slightly different approach than Leclerc.

Second stops for everyone

A DRS train behind Liam Lawson has formed, with Bearman making a small mistake in turn 8 as the last car in line.

Alonso overtakes compatriot Sainz into the chicane for ninth, as up front Russell is opening up a gap to Verstappen. With half of the race still to go, the question is whether a second stop will be made by the top four.

As Hülkenberg manages to go past Lawson, Colapinto and Gasly swap positions, as the Argentine driver has the fresher tyres at this stage of the F1 Canadian GP

Verstappen again backs out of a fight with Kimi Antonelli as he stops for the second time. He comes out ahead of Hamilton. Antonelli follows a lap later and almost gets out ahead of Verstappen, but the Dutchman has a good enough out lap keep the position.

The DRS train at the tail of the field is now led by Gasly, who still has to make his first stop.

Russell makes his second stop of the Canadian GP at the end of lap 42, giving the lead to Piastri and coming out comfortably ahead of Verstappen.

Hadjar overtakes Gasly into the chicane, followed by Bearman doing the same a little later.

Piastri stops at the end of lap 45, as Stroll forces Gasly on the grass during his overtake, prompting an investigation by the stewards. Hamilton stops a lap later, bringing him out ahead of Alonso.

Norris makes his second stop of the F1 Canadian GP, handing the lead over to Leclerc. The Monegasque driver still has to take a different compound, so he will have to stop a second time as well.

Top 5 converging after second stops

Albon’s race comes to a premature end after his car fails on him. He makes sure to park behind the barriers at the hairpin, making sure no (Virtual) Safety Car is deployed.

Hülkenberg finally manages to pass Tsunoda as Stroll gets a 10 second penalty for his incident with Gasly.

The front runners are getting closer together, as Leclerc has a little discussion again with his engineer. Piastri has the most chance for an overtake at the moment, as he is in DRS range of Antonelli.

Leclerc stops at the end of lap 53, handing the lead back to Russell. Leclerc comes out about ten seconds behind Norris, but with the faster tyres.

Antonelli is under pressure of Piastri and has to make a defensive move at the end of the back straight. This also means Norris can get closer to the fighting duo, as Lawson retires the car.

Russell up front seems to control the race, despite Verstappen closing the gap now, as the fight for third has cooled down for the moment.

Norris runs into team mate

After the backmarkers are cleared Russell seems to have found some additional pace, as Norris is in the DRS range of his team mate. Piastri however is able to fend off his team mate at the moment.

Ocon in the meantime has made his only stop of the F1 Canadian GP for mediums, dropping him back in tenth, just ahead of Sainz.

Piastri is now also in Antonelli’s DRS range, making it more difficult for Norris to have an advantage in straight line speed. He does however not back down, giving it absolutely everything, as the top 2 seems to be settled at the moment.

Norris tries a dive bomb into the hairpin and both drives have a drag race to the chicane. Piastri keeps the car on track but, has compromised his traction. He immediately defends towards the pit wall, where Norris drives into the back of his team mate.

The Safety Car is deployed and Piastri makes a precautionary stop, whereas Norris immediately accepts the blame for the incident.

Russell and Verstappen have a little kerfuffle behind the safety car, but nothing changes as the race will finish behind the Safety Car. This means Russell takes his first win of the season from Verstappen. Antonelli takes the first podium of his career, as Piastri and Leclerc complete the top 5. Hamilton is sixth from Alonso, Hülkenberg, Ocon and Sainz.