Round 10 of the 2025 F1 World Championship at the Canadian GP saw a dramatic twist in the title race in the closing laps, and you can view Pit Debrief’s driver rankings here.
2025 F1 Canadian GP Driver Rankings
1 | George Russell
Qualifying: P1; Race: P1
This was one of George Russell’s best weekends in F1. He pulled out a stunning lap in Q3 to take pole from Max Verstappen by 0.160s as Mercedes delivered when it mattered most using the medium tyres.
In the race itself, a perfect start, excellent pace and the fact the W16 was good on the tyres in Montreal led to the British driver completely controlling the race. Russell took his fourth career win and did so in a great manner.
It was a masterclass. If Mercedes can give him a car like this more often, expect more wins this season for the driver of car number 63.
2 | Kimi Antonelli
Qualifying: P4; Race: P3
Italian driver Kimi Antonelli scored his first F1 podium on Sunday with a truly outstanding performance. It was the first for Italy since Jarno Trulli at the 2009 Japanese GP.
Following a brutal triple-header for the 18-year-old as Mercedes lacked pace and the fact he was incredibly unfortunate with unreliability, he bounced back in the best way possible.
In qualifying he took a big step forward, putting his car P4 on the grid with a used medium tyre run at the end of Q3. Critically he turned that into P3 on lap 1 as he cleared Oscar Piastri into turn 3 following a better exit out of turn 2 on traction.
Antonelli was looking forward in the first two stints. After dropping back from Verstappen in the early phase of both, he used the extra tyres he had to close right in on the Dutchman before he pitted on both occasions. It was a perfect showing in managing tyres early in the stint for benefits later.
As Verstappen got more control of his deg in the final stint, Antonelli was looking more in his mirrors as the McLarens started to apply pressure. He never got flustered and ultimately kept P3 as Lando Norris hit Oscar Piastri to end the race a few laps early.
All being well, this is the first of many rostrum appearances for Kimi Antonelli. It was a very strong weekend, and he deserved the Driver of the Day vote by fans for his race performance.
3 | Max Verstappen
Qualifying: P2; Race: P2
Two weeks on from the Spanish GP where Verstappen lost his head and got a deserved penalty for his road rage, he was back to his excellent level in Canada.
A fine qualifying lap on mediums in Q3 put him on the front row, although George Russell had a little bit extra when it counted.
After applying big pressure to his rival in the opening laps, the RB21 and its tyre wear struggles appeared in the first and second stints once again. In fact a podium looked unlikely when he made an early second stop.
However, the four-time World Champion coaxed over 30 laps out of the final set and never looked in bother for P2 either during the final stint. Verstappen used his tyre management skills perfectly.
Even before Piastri and Norris clashed, he was ahead of both McLarens. A P2 in Canada was a fine effort as he took six points out of the Aussie on Sunday.
4 | Fernando Alonso
Qualifying: P6; Race: P7
Two-time F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso had a very strong weekend as Aston Martin continue to make progress following their updates at Imola. It’s the first time since 2022 that the team has made genuine progress with upgrades brought to the car.
In qualifying he put his car on the third row as mistakes and dirty air for Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc saw the Spaniard get ahead of them.
Although Alonso had huge degradation at the end of his opening stint on mediums as the tyres completely fell off, the Spaniard did a fantastic job to get through the drivers who started on hards and make his way back into P8. It was not an easy task due to a large DRS train that formed behind Gabriel Bortoleto.
That certain 8th place became P7 once Lando Norris took himself out of the race.
Alonso might be turning 44 next month but his level is still very high. It was a fine performance from the 2005 and 2006 World Champion.
5 | Nico Hülkenberg
Qualified: P13 (P11 after grid drops); Race: P8
For a second consecutive race, Nico Hülkenberg scored points after starting outside the top 10. Following a ridiculously close Q1, he got through. Ultimately he qualified P13, with Yuki Tsunoda’s penalty moving him up a spot on the grid.
On the opening lap it was elbows out between Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto at turn 9. As the Thai rejoined following a rough run through the grass, with the Argentine driver needed to take avoiding action, Hülkenberg took advantage and overtook both on the run down to the hairpin to leap into 9th.
The Sauber had better degradation than the Aston Martin of Alonso and he went a further four laps, turning his race into a 1-stop. Unfortunately for the German, he got stuck in the aforementioned DRS train longer then Alonso.
On 31-lap fresher tyres, the Spaniard overtook Hülkenberg inside the final ten laps for P8. However, the 37-year-old ultimately finished in 8th because of Lando Norris’ crash.
Sauber’s updates brought to Barcelona have moved the team forward. Hülkenberg has taken full advantage of it to score 14 points across Spain and Canada. His experience and class has showed.
6 | Carlos Sainz
Qualifying: P17 (P16 after a grid drop); Race: P10
It looked like the weekend for Carlos Sainz was over on Saturday afternoon after he got blocked by Isack Hadjar in Q1 at the start of sector 2. Despite that costing him 0.3-0.4s, he missed out on Q2 by only a couple of hundreths. That was certainly not his fault.
In the race itself, Sainz ran long, very long on his set of hard tyres. A whole 57 laps. An aggressive but brilliant overtake on Gabriel Bortoleto during that opening stint in the hairpin was extremely key, allowing him to get into clean air and use his pace, although even that could not be maximised due to having to manage a car issue.
From there he overcut Bearman, Colapinto and Hadjar to be P11. The crash for Lando Norris gave him a point following a very fine drive in the Grand Prix.
If Sainz had a normal qualifying session, he would have been at least right in the mix for P7 with Alonso and Hülkenberg come race day.
Nonetheless, it is a valuable point for Williams as they look to maintain P5 in the Constructors’ Championship.
7 | Oscar Piastri
Qualifying: P3; Race: P4
On a weekend where McLaren struggled compared to their usual 2025 standards, Oscar Piastri also had his own difficulties in Montreal.
The whole of Friday was difficult for the McLaren team, but Oscar Piastri hurt himself in FP3 as he clipped the Wall of Champions, damaging the tyre rim. Fortunately for him he could continue once he limped back to the pits.
Qualifying was a good rebound as he put it on the second row with P3. Nonetheless he lost out to Kimi Antonelli at the start and spent the whole afternoon behind the Italian. Sometimes a couple of seconds away or a bit more, other times very close or in DRS.
While his race pace was not on the level of his teammate in the final stint, Oscar Piastri showed his quality in wheel-to-wheel. As Lando Norris sent it up the inside at the hairpin on lap 66, he got the switchback and they ran side-by-side up to the chicane. Incredible late braking by the driver from Melbourne meant he maintained P4 on exit as he had the inside line.
As they went down the main straight on lap 67, Norris ran into the back of Piastri and took himself out of the race. The Australian was fortunate not to pick up any damage himself. P4 would be the final result. It was excellent defending.
On a weekend Oscar Piastri was not performing at their best, gaining 12 points on Lando Norris was huge for his title hopes. Nonetheless, P4 in a car that has such very strong race pace counts as an underachievement.
8 | Esteban Ocon
Qualifying: P15 (P14 after a grid drop); Race: P9
On their 200th Grand Prix start, Haas had a Sunday to remember as Esteban Ocon delivered a tyre whispering performance befitting of the team under Ayao Komatsu. Race pace and tyre management has come on leaps and bounds since he took over.
Overtakes on Bearman, Hadjar and Albon before they boxed to get off the mediums were key. From there he displayed excellent pace to hold off Carlos Sainz on both types of tyre. He did not pit until lap 57 as the hards lasted a long time.
A point was his for the taking until Lando Norris ended his race following the contact with Piastri, gaining an extra position and points in the process.
While his race performance was excellent, Ocon’s Q2 lap was 0.294s slower than teammate Bearman. He’ll be looking to find more qualifying speed in Austria to be ahead of his teammate, even if Haas are struggling as a team over a single lap.
9 | Ollie Bearman
Qualifying: P14 (P13 after a grid drop); Race: P11
In a way, qualifying ahead of Esteban Ocon actually hurt Ollie Bearman in the F1 Canadian GP. He put 0.294s into his teammate in Q2.
However, for many of the midfield runners the hard-medium strategy would have worked out better due to the massive tyre troubles those who started on the mediums faced.
Nonetheless, the 20-year-old did the maximum he could in the end. On the same strategy as Hadjar and Colapinto, who also got bottled up in the DRS train, he managed to overtake both through that long second stint. Ultimately, however, he also lost too much time there, losing out to his teammate and Carlos Sainz.
10 | Franco Colapinto
Qualifying: P12 (P10 after grid drops); Race: P13
Throughout practice Franco Colapinto struggled to get anywhere near the pace of teammate Pierre Gasly, finishing a whole second off in FP2.
Once qualifying arrived the young driver from Argentina did a tremendous job. Even if teammate Gasly was caught out by the red flags in Q1 as Albon’s engine cover took a bid for freedom, Colapinto looked to be right on the pace of his teammate as he was a shade quicker on mediums early in Q1. In the end he qualified P12 before penalties.
At the start of the race he got himself ahead of Alex Albon and held him off. However the battle between them that opened the door for Hülkenberg meant he remained P10 at the end of the opening tour.
As the mediums fell away for Franco Colapinto like the other drivers who started on them, he ended up in the DRS train. Unfortunately for him with his Renault-powered car, he simply did not have the top speed to pass Gabriel Bortoleto.
A P13 finish did not do Franco Colapinto justice. He had his best Saturday and Sunday at Alpine by a distance since replacing Jack Doohan. More of it will be required.
11 | Lewis Hamilton
Qualifying: P5; Race P6
On the track where he took his first Grand Prix and has a stunning record, it was another pretty underwhelming weekend for seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.
Although he outqualified teammate Charles Leclerc for a second straight weekend, a mistake/dirty air for the Monegasque driver on his final Q3 lap disguised the reality of the pace situation.
Hamilton’s race was as good as done by 13 as he hit a groundhog and picked up significant damage, losing 20 points of downforce per lap.
Ultimately he was forced to settle for a very distant P6 as that lap time loss from the damage put him in the middle of nowhere, although it would have been likely he could have only fought for 5th against teammate Charles Leclerc with a fully healthy car.
12 | Charles Leclerc
Qualifying: P8; Race: P5
The 2025 F1 Canadian GP will go as a what could have been weekend for Charles Leclerc. From the first lap in FP1 he looked very quick, but a rare crash into the barriers saw him miss almost all of Friday in the end.
In qualifying he looked like a front row contender after bouncing back from Friday to be on the pace immediately, but a couple of huge snaps in turns 6 and 7, with some distant dirty air from Isack Hadjar, left him down in P8 on the grid. Leclerc had just gone purple in the first sector.
Race pace was strong again for the 8-time race winner. Nonetheless once you start out of position when the cars are so close at the front, gaining lots of positions is virtually impossible. Could he have beaten Hamilton in a straight fight if the Brit did not have damage? Quite possibly as he is clearly a step ahead in performance at the moment versus his seven-time World Champion teammate.
A P5 represented an okay result, but it could have been a rostrum on another weekend.
13 | Isack Hadjar
Qualifying: P9 (started P12 after a penalty); Race: P16
Racing Bulls came away from Canada without any points. Isack Hadjar certainly did his best but strategy went against him.
In qualifying the French driver made Q3 once again as he did a fine lap in Q1 to beat Yuki Tsunoda to the final spot by 0.099s. Unfortunately for him, he started P12 thanks to a grid penalty for impeding Carlos Sainz in Q1. It was not his fault as he was informed that the Spaniard had aborted his lap.
On race day he was bottled up in traffic after his early stop, leaving him in that DRS train. With Racing Bulls lacking the top speed of other cars, he got completely stuck.
He was overhauled by Tsunoda and Gasly in the closing laps, finishing only ahead of Lance Stroll. Nonetheless, he did a good job on the driving side; strategy did not fall his way.
14 | Alex Albon
Qualifying: P10 (P9 after a grid drop); Race: DNF
Alex Albon’s performance at the 2025 F1 Canadian GP was a mixed bag. While the Thai driver made Q3 with a P9, he underperformed in the final qualifying session and was slower than Isack Hadjar. Ultimately it counted for nothing as the Frenchman got that grid penalty.
At the start, he lost out to former teammate Franco Colapinto. The Thai tried to regain the place heading into the turns 8 and 9 chicane. It was a move that was never going to be pulled off around the outside and he went through the grass, losing out to Hülkenberg as well in the process. That was a bad error of judgement.
PU issues meant he retired early, but he was unlikely to finish in the points after that poor first lap, plus the fact Williams stayed out way too long in the first stint on mediums with him.
15 | Gabriel Bortoleto
Qualifying: P16 (P15 after a grid drop); Race: P14
0.007s. That’s the fine margins in Formula 1 these days and it went against Gabriel Bortoleto in Canada as he exited Q1 with one of the smallest gaps you’ll see. He was only 0.062s slower than Nico Hülkenberg in Q1, too.
Bortoleto drove a very solid race on his first visit to the Canadian venue, holding off Franco Colapinto for many laps before switching to mediums.
Considering it was his debut around this circuit, you can class it as a good weekend for the Brazilian, even if he did not quite have the pace of most cars on the same strategy as him. Those first F1 points are not far away if Sauber continue to perform like they have in the last two races.
16 | Yuki Tsunoda
Qualifying: P11 (P18 start after a 10-place grid penalty); Race: P12
Points for Yuki Tsunoda always looked unlikely after receiving a 10-place grid drop from FP3 as he overtook Oscar Piastri who was limping back to the pits under red flag conditions. A 10-place penalty for it seemed unbelievably harsh considering the Aussie was returning to the box with damage, a 3-place one seemed fairer. However, that is what the stewards decided.
In qualifying itself, Tsunoda was almost half a second behind Verstappen in Q2 as he got knocked out in P11.
On race day, he made progress from P18 to finish P12. Ultimately he did not quite have the pace of Ocon and Sainz in front on the same strategy after all of them got into clean air.
The big breakthrough with the RB21 is still to be found.
17 | Pierre Gasly
Qualifying: P20 (started from pit lane); Race: P15
Although Pierre Gasly was extremely unfortunate to be caught out by the red flag thanks to Albon’s engine cover in Q1 when on a good lap, and ended up last in qualifying, he still had a chance at the end to improve and make Q2. He failed to do so.
Gasly had a very quiet race aside from a moment with Lance Stroll heading into the last chicane. Alpine simply lacked horsepower on the straights and points were never a possibility for him.
It won’t get any easier next time out in Austria.
18 | Liam Lawson
Qualifying: P19 (started from pit lane); Race: DNF
Liam Lawson had a tricky weekend once again in his Racing Bulls machinery. He could only manage P19 in qualifying, putting in a lap that was 0.314s slower than teammate Hadjar in Q1. The Frenchman went on to make Q3.
The Kiwi was anonymous in the race as well, before he retired on lap 57 because of cooling problems.
19 | Lance Stroll
Qualifying: P18 (started P17 after a grid drop); Race: P17
An uninspired Lance Stroll returned to action in time for his home in Canada. His performance on track hardly inspired, too.
A crash in FP2 put him on the back foot, and Stroll would get knocked out in Q1. He was over 0.4s slower than Fernando Alonso in that segment.
In the race itself, he picked up a 10-second time penalty as he failed to give Pierre Gasly a cars width on the outside heading to the last chicane.
He finished last of the runners who saw the chequered flag. A miserable home race for the Aston Martin driver.
20 | Lando Norris
Qualifying: P7; Race: DNF
The 2025 F1 Canadian GP could be a defining moment in the career of Lando Norris. Once again, this race weekend leaves many questions about him.
Having looked the faster of the McLaren duo for most of the weekend, the British driver had a horrendous Q3 as he messed up on all his push laps. It left him 7th on the grid when he should have been fighting for pole position or the second row.
For 66 of the 70 laps on Sunday, he drove really well and was faster than his teammate. His attempted overtake into the hairpin on Piastri was excellent. While the Aussie ultimately got the switchback and held position in the final chicane, the Brit had a run.
With Piastri defending the inside fairly, Norris tried to invent a gap that was not there and plain ran into him, damaging his own car and it was game over.
Ever since Norris became a title contender last year as McLaren came alive with their Miami update, his wheel-to-wheel driving has come up short more often than not. Yesterday he could have taken both McLarens out.
While his immediate apology was admirable and deserves respect, serious questions about his racecraft cannot be dismissed. His qualifying errors are far too frequent this year as well.
Norris now sits 22 points behind Piastri in the standings. A huge weekend is required in Austria: both for his confidence and his championship hopes.
