MONTREAL - The Canadian Grand Prix had drama from start to finish, not only on the track but off it too. theScore's Daniel Valente makes sense of all the fallout from the paddock in Montreal.
Russell faces career-defining moment
Canada was the first time the gloves came off between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. And while the former had the slight edge throughout the weekend, it amounted to nothing after Russell exited with a 43-point disadvantage due to a power unit failure.
Russell said Thursday he views himself as his main competitor, and he believes the best version of himself can beat anyone. It's hard to doubt that, even with his retirement. Russell bagged pole, a sprint win, and was leading the race until his car took victory out of his hands.
"It feels like somebody doesn't want me to fight or compete for this championship," Russell said after the race. "Three out of the last five races there's just been something really going against us. Just a bit lost for words right now."
Russell believes nothing is going right for him. However, every championship journey comes with a major setback or two. Ask reigning champion Lando Norris, who retired in Canada last year, and then again at the Dutch GP. Russell should remember his own words from earlier in the weekend. After all, he said he didn't need to panic because had a similar deficit when he fought and won the F2 championship years ago.
Montreal was billed as the start of Russell's redemption tour. Instead, it's his darkest hour. If the Mercedes veteran wants to become world champion, he's going to need to dig deeper than he ever has before. He should relish the challenge ahead. There will be no questioning his worthiness if he can pull it off.
Mercedes crafted a star in Antonelli
There's a feeling that a podium combination of Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen will one day be looked back on fondly. Perhaps, as one of the greatest podiums ever. In a setting with two generational talents, the 19-year-old, who keeps marking off unprecedented feats, fit right in.
That's partially because Mercedes have put Antonelli in a position where he can be the best version of his teenage self.
That means keeping an easy-going attitude amid a four-race winning streak because all the expectations of claiming a title are put on his older teammate. That means not backing down, like in Saturday's sprint, and sticking by his guns when asked what happened. And that also means being fearless, to challenge his teammate with the same intensity again Sunday. Russell's retirement ended the fight early, but Antonelli already proved he wouldn't be intimidated.
Mercedes has pieced together the perfect environment for a wonderkid like Antonelli to succeed. Dating back to last year and continuing this season, Antonelli is allowed to make mistakes and find boundaries for himself while Toto Wolff makes sure he maintains the confidence to push the limit again.
Hamilton alluded to how Mercedes has properly insulated Antonelli compared to his initial attempt at a championship.
"I don't think I had the same support system (in 2007) that (Antonelli) has," Hamilton told theScore. "Toto (Wolff) did a great job of surrounding (him) with the right support and I definitely didn't feel that."
McLaren's costly mistake
It didn't take long for Oscar Piastri to clue in that McLaren made a massive mistake by fitting both its cars with intermediate tires as the rest of the top 10 sported slick compounds. That grave error snowballed into the reigning constructors' champions scoring zero points.
How did McLaren get it so wrong?
Team principal Andrea Stella said it was a perfect combination of unpredictable events in tricky conditions that led to McLaren locking in intermediates.
"The rain stopped pretty much after the five-minute signal, and then the double extra formation lap added a clear penalty to starting on inters," Stella shared after the race.
Piastri and Norris defended the gamble, with the Australian saying they would have looked like "heroes" if the rain increased a bit more.
"It didn't, so we looked like idiots," he added.
"It wasn't like it was stupid to be on that tire," Norris said after the race. "1% more rain, or a few little bits of drizzle here or there, and it really would have suited us a lot more."
Piastri and Norris, who was leading, pitted shortly after the race start due to the team's mistake. Norris' tough day came to a quick, but painful end, as a gearbox issue forced him to retire. But Piastri endured a torturous recovery drive, receiving a penalty for crashing into Alex Albon and finishing 11th.
In the world of F1, 1% can be the difference between a championship won and lost. Norris, who claimed the title by two points last year, knows that better than anyone. McLaren is now 113 points off Mercedes, leaving the team no room for more mistakes.
Hamilton reveals secret to success
The seven-time world champion stood on the podium in both races his mom attended this season. Hamilton described her as his "lucky charm." But there was more than just good vibes that fuelled the 41-year-old to his best result as a Ferrari driver.
Hamilton ditched using the simulator in his preparation of setting up his Ferrari for Montreal. He used the same approach ahead of the Chinese GP earlier this year. Both races resulted in podiums. That's why Hamilton says he likely won't use the simulator again. He will, instead, rely on a data-based approach with his engineers.
"Whether or not I use it to prepare for another race? Probably not," Hamilton explained. "There are just too many risks. If you look at the two best races I've had, I didn't use a simulator. Pretty much all the championships before, except for probably 2008, I didn't use the sim. So it's not a necessity. It's a tool that can be powerful. But for me, I'm old school. I'm probably better without it."
F1 has no time for victory lap after entertaining race
The Canadian GP delivered F1 its first classic of the 2026 regulations. Battles for the lead, and fights between old rivals and new foes culminated in a great race.
That doesn't mean the sport should be doing a victory lap, though. As Verstappen said Sunday, a good race doesn't mean a fundamental flaw has been fixed.
"Even if you would give us a rental car, we'll give you a good show and we'll race each other very hard and well," Verstappen said.
Hamilton echoed the Red Bull driver's feelings.
"I think it still continues to be a weird feeling," Hamilton explained. "You go down the power, you open up (straight mode) and then the power dies like halfway down the straight and the RPM starts dropping. It doesn't feel what motorsport should be. The engine should be ringing its neck off right to the end of the straight and just pulling and pulling. That's what they used to do in the V8 times or the V10 times."
Next on F1's agenda is voting on a set of agreements for 2027 that would increase engine power and lower electrical output. Despite being agreed in principal, buzz in the paddock suggests there's concern whether all parties will align to vote it through, much to the dismay of Verstappen, who previously mentioned he can't stay in the series if it remains in its current state.
"F1 just needs to be more pure, and I really hope that what they try to do next year will go through, because I think that is necessary to make it a bit more natural and a bit more back to normal, or at least a bit more pure racing," Verstappen remarked Sunday.
It's rumored that paddock politics could derail the proposal, though Verstappen's boss told reporters Sunday he's confident that wouldn't happen.
"I'm optimistic we'll find majority of people agreeing on improving the race," Laurent Mekies explained. "When it comes to what matters for the sport, I think at some stage, we will all put on the side what we feel it may or may not do to our relative competitiveness."
Daniel Valente is theScore's lead Formula 1 writer. Daniel has covered the sport for multiple years, conducting analysis and interviewing key figures inside the paddock. His expertise is breaking down data and discovering unique stats. Follow Daniel on X at @F1GuyDan.
