F1 - Canadian GP

This weekend F1 was finally back with the Canadian Grand Prix at the always beautiful Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. We had a driver winning for the first time this season, a first-time podium finisher and a collision between two teammates that are fighting for the championship. With just about 6 seconds separating the top 6 when they were racing! Lots to unpack in this one!

Performances

McLaren - their pace definitely was much much weaker this weekend, and Lando had a pretty bad quali. But obviously they had the massive incident at the end of the race between the teammates and yeah... what was Lando really thinking here? The space was just not there for a move! He probably thought Oscar was going to move to the right but he just... didn't. (the incident was practically the same as Hamilton and Button in 2011 which everyone mentioned lol) At least Lando took full responsibility for it afterwards - unlike other teammate collisions in the past (Hamilton and Rosberg, Webber and Vettel). It's not going to turn into a big mess which is good for him and the team. But it's very very bad for his championship now - Piastri has a 22 point lead! Oscar had decent pace and maybe could have fought for a podium in the final laps with the strategy but honestly he's probably still happy to have gained more points over his teammate. Their worst weekend of the season so far though.

Mercedes - WHAT A WEEKEND! They had such a bad triple header but a great way to bounce back with a double podium! George was fantastic from start to finish and had a great drive to claim the win from pole! He's been outstanding this season. And Kimi also had a fantastic start off the line and on the opening lap which helped him to seal his first podium in Formula One! (First Italian on the podium since 2009 and 3rd youngest podium scorer ever!) He also had really good pace and made a few nice moves. Excellent weekend for the team and for both drivers.

Ferrari - another pretty frustrating weekend tbh. Lewis had some major damage and brake issues throughout the whole race and basically was losing half a second per lap and finished well off the pace, far behind the leading pack. After a decent quali this was literally the opposite of what he needed! But it's not totally terrible considering the damage. (Apparently the damage was created by him accidentally running over a groundhog which is actually quite sad :(). Charles did another good race to stay close to the front runners after a disappointing quali result but still not enough pace to be where they want to be. There was a lot of talk this week about Fred Vasseur getting fired but honestly he's not the main problem - the team hasn't won a championship since 2007/08 - clearly there are deeper issues!

Red Bull - Max had another good performance to stay close to George but they ultimately didn't have the pace to challenge for the win. He still gains points on both McLarens though so he will probably take that. Yuki had better pace this weekend but still nowhere near good enough and still didn't score points.

Aston Martin - Alonso once again with a mega performance to finish P7 and get some good points for the team to ensure they remain above Sauber and Alpine. He pretty much maximized the result - nothing more he could have done. Stroll was Stroll as per usual.

Williams - Sainz did a very nice recovery with the one-stop after a poor quali to get a point in the race. Albon had power unit issues (Mercedes again!) and also probably had damage after going on the grass on lap one. Their pace has kind of fallen off in the last few races and honestly it seems like they are not really developing this year's car much further to focus on 2026 (which makes total sense imo!).

RB - Pretty messy weekend with Hadjar's penalty in qualifying and then Lawson basically tanking his race by taking a new item of every engine component. Their race pace also wasn't that great.

Haas - Ocon did very well do pull the one-stop off and get some points, very nice job there. Bearman had alright pace too. They moved above RB to P6 in the WCC with Ocon's points, so good job there.

Sauber - Nico Hulkenberg did another amazing race to finish P8 and get 4 more points for Sauber! This was supposed to be a really bad year like 2024 for them but they are actually fighting amongst the midfield at times which is great to see.

Alpine - once again this team just has completely no pace. Franco did better this weekend however compared to Gasly. But still just terrible.

Race rating - 7/10 - honestly there were portions of this race that were very boring but the counter strategies produced by the softer Pirelli tyres made it more interesting. And of course any race with a teammate collision at the front gets bonus points.

Team radio of the race - Alex Albon basically summing up my home life

Driver of the race  - Well done to Hulkenberg, Alonso and Russell all deserve shout outs here. But I have to give it to Kimi Antonelli for a superb opening lap and a very composed drive to score his first ever F1 podium! Well done!

Next weekend - Austrian GP at the lovely Red Bull Ring. One of the most beautiful tracks on the calendar - the scenery is stunning! The lap is immensely quick - probably the fastest lap on the calendar and the racing is always good here. Lots of overtaking opportunities. Some good races held here in the past include : 1982 (the margin of victory was 0.050s!), 1999 (McLarens colliding  but recovering to almost steal the win from Irvine), 2016 (Rosberg vs Hamilton again!), 2019 (great Leclerc vs Verstappen battle).

Also not related to the race but HUGE CONGRATS TO ROBERT KUBICA FOR WINNING LE MANS!!!!!!!!!