Post by : Meena Ariff

Photo: AFP

George Russell drove like a true champion and won his first Formula 1 race of the 2025 season at the Canadian Grand Prix. Racing for Mercedes, Russell held off a strong challenge from Max Verstappen, last year’s winner, to take the top spot on the podium.

This win marks the fourth career victory for the British driver. He started the race from pole position for the second year in a row at Montreal's famous Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and stayed strong in the lead for most of the race.

The race ended under a yellow flag after a dramatic incident between McLaren teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. With just a few laps left, both drivers were racing hard against each other. On lap 67 of 70, Norris tried to pass Piastri multiple times, but in the end, he hit the wall after clipping his teammate. His car was badly damaged and stopped by the trackside.

Norris quickly took the blame, saying over the team radio:

"I'm sorry. All my bad. All my fault. Stupid from me."

The crash brought out the safety car, and the race finished without any more overtakes. Piastri had pitted and got new tires, but couldn’t use them as the race didn't restart. He ended up in 4th place, breaking his eight-race podium streak that started in the second race of the season.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the young rookie from Mercedes, had a proud moment by finishing third. It was his first F1 podium finish.

Behind them, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc came fifth and Lewis Hamilton took sixth. Fernando Alonso finished seventh for Aston Martin, and Nico Hulkenberg grabbed eighth place for Sauber with a strong drive.

After 10 races out of 24 this season, Piastri now leads Norris in the drivers’ standings by 22 points.

he next big race is the Austrian Grand Prix, set to happen on June 29.