The Canadian weekend leaves us with two reflections. First, that the pecking order for this season seems to be definitive: Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari in third, a sequence that recurred in both qualifying and the sprint race. Second, that the championship battle is tight between Antonelli and Russell. Antonelli won his fourth consecutive race, but struggled throughout the weekend, while Russell, on the other hand, bounced back strongly, winning the sprint and keeping pace with the Italian, until his engine gave up during the race.
TOP
The battle between Russell and Antonelli: Only Toto Wolff doesn’t like the fight between the two Mercedes drivers, but for the fans, the silver medal battle is heavenly: qualifying down to the last second and overtaking and counter-overtaking in the race. Russell found himself in Canada and took AKA to the curb at certain points of the race, but unfortunately, the engine problem thwarted all his efforts and left him 44 points behind the world championship lead.
Verstappen: He continues to complain and say he wants to leave F1, but Max is the MVP of the Canadian GP, taking advantage of retirements and Ferrari’s less-than-stellar performance to finish third on the podium. Let’s hope he can stay in F1…
Colapinto: Franco was exceptional in his grit and performance, reaching Q3 in qualifying and finishing the race in 6th place. Briatore can finally say he’s satisfied with his decision, with Alpine continuing to consistently score points.
FLOP
McLaren: It’s not a complete flop, because the Papayas are back on the road, with Norris capitalizing on Antonelli’s mistakes to move up to second in the sprint. However, the race is ruined by a reckless strategy, which forces both drivers to pit after two laps to remove their intermediate tires (the track was a bit wet at the start of the Grand Prix, but not so wet for the intermediate tires). Then, during the race, Norris’s engine explodes. In the end, a lot of points are wasted.
Leclerc: While teammate Hamilton battles for second place with Verstappen (Hamilton deserves a mention among the top drivers for his second-place finish), Leclerc suffers throughout the weekend. Eighth in qualifying and fourth in the race, with the McLarens and Russell out of contention, Leclerc never finds the right feeling in a weekend that could have rewarded him.
Antonelli: He wins the race, but has consistently lost head-to-head matches with Russell. And, above all, he made many exuberant mistakes, which could have repercussions on the management of the next races in the World Championship.
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