Category: Motor Racing

George Russell defeated Max Verstappen to take his first victory of the season at the Canadian Grand Prix, while Lando Norris was forced to retired after making contact with his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.

Mercedes driver Russell fended Verstappen off at the start after claiming pole and then produced a measured drive, with his lead never under serious challenge.

In a predicted two-stop Formula 1 race, Russell always had an answer to Verstappen’s pitstops and built up a decent gap over the second stint to delay his final stop until lap 43 of 70, which then allowed him to keep his rival at length until the chequered flag to take his and team’s first win of 2025.

Behind Russell and Verstappen, who settled for second, the battle for the final podium podium heated up over the final stint. Russell’s teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli produced his finest Grand Prix drive of his impressive career and even passed Verstappen right as the Red Bull driver went into the pits.

Verstappen’s earlier pitstop allowed him to keep position and, in the second half of the race, Antonelli’s challenge for second faded. The Mercedes rookie instead had to look in his mirrors to fend off McLaren’s Piastri, whom he had overtaken for third on lap one and held off until the finish to take a maiden Formula 1 podium and hand Mercedes a 1-3 finish.

Piastri and McLaren did not enjoy their usual race pace or tyre wear advantage in Canada, despite Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve being a track that focuses on rear tyre management.

As such Piastri was unable to benefit from having fresher hard tyres than Antonelli to find a way past the Mercedes driver, with the championship leader instead coming under pressure from McLaren teammate Norris.

After a disappointing qualifying session to seventh, Norris was having a strongest race pace following an alternative strategy as a way to fight his way back into contention.

Norris started on hards, extended his first stint and then put himself in a position to put pressure on Piastri. After pressuring Piastri for several laps, Norris initially passed the championship leader at the hairpin on lap 46 before the pair went towards the final chicane side by side.

Piastri kept the position by being later on the brakes, but on the main straight Norris then made an error of judgement as he attempted to pass his teammate on the left into a closing gap. The McLaren driver then drove into the back of Piastri and hit the pitwall to suffer terminal suspension damage and a missing front wing.

Norris immediately admitted his mistake on the team radio, saying it was “all on me”, as he suffered a big points loss in the drivers’ championship.

Ferrari suffered a disappointing afternoon, with Charles Leclerc furious as his team abandoned what appeared to be a manageable one-stop strategy and instead settled for sixth, which became fifth after Lando’s retirement.

Lewis Hamilton had a tricky afternoon with disastrously slow race pace, which undid a solid fifth qualifying position and saw him finish behind Leclerc in sixth. The seven-time world champion is believed to have suffered damage after he hit a groundhog, which cost him downforce.

Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg both produced another combative drive to grab their second consecutive points-scoring results in seventh and eighth respectively.

The final points went to the Haas of Esteban Ocon and Williams driver Carlos Sainz, who overcame a disappointing qualifying session where he started P16 on the grid.

Williams teammate Alexander Albon was less fortunate after having to park up on lap 48 with a Mercedes power unit issue, while Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson also retired to conserve engine mileage.

In the drivers’ standings Oscar Piastri extends his lead on Norris by 12 points to take a 22-point advantage heading into the Austrian Grand Prix, which takes place on the Red Bull Ring in two weeks’ time.

So congratulations to Mercedes with a double podium. George Russell winning the race and Andrea Kimi Antonelli scoring his first podium result. Defending world champion Max Verstappen finished between the Silver Arrows pair as the team’s home race is up next.

As for the McLarens, it was predicted that an on-track clash will take place at some point this season due to the highly competitive nature of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. This turned out to be true with the Papaya pair collided into one another. Lando was forced to retire and this has harmed his points in the drivers’ standings. Oscar was able to continue and took fourth but this is the first time this season that neither McLarens finished on the podium.

Canadian Grand Prix, race results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:31:52.688
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull+0.228s
3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +1.014s
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren +2.109s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +3.442s
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +10.713s
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +10.972s
8 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +15.364s
9 Esteban Ocon Haas +1 lap
10 Carlos Sainz Williams +1 lap
11 Oliver Bearman Haas +1 lap
12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +1 lap
13 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1 lap
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber F+1 lap
15 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1 lap
16 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +1 lap
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin A+1 lap
Lando Norris McLaren DNF
Liam Lawson Racing Bulls DNF
Alexander Albon Williams DNF

George Russell grabbed pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix and will start on the front row alongside his Barcelona rival Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver was hit with a ten-place penalty and three penalty points after colliding with Russell’s Mercedes during the Spanish Grand Prix. Now, the duo’s battle will head to extra time as the pair will start on the front row in Montreal.

Russell looked strong all weekend and took his first pole since the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a race he went on to win, with a lap time of one minute, 10.899 seconds.

Verstappen had early topped the leaderboard until Russell’s final run upstaged the defending champion, while championship leader Oscar Piastri will start third for McLaren.

Piastri’s title challenger and teammate Lando Norris suffered a tough afternoon and is down in seventh, starting on the fourth row alongside the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli will start fourth, with Lewis Hamilton fifth and Fernando Alonso taking an excellent sixth for Aston Martin. Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon round out the top ten.

Yuki Tsunoda was take a ten-place grid drop and three penalty points during the session after the race stewards ruled on a red flag infringement during FP3. This means he will start from the back of the field having been P11 in Q2.

Franco Colapinto improved on his weekend so far and will start in the P11 vacated by Tsunoda, with Nico Hulkenberg and the Haas pair of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon following close behind.

There were some surprising drivers out in Q1, with Pierre Gasly the slowest and Liam Lawson also knocked out in P19. Home favourite Lance Stroll struggled on his return from injury and is down in P18.

There was a delay during the session with a red flag needed after Albon’s Williams shed a large part of bodywork – engine cover – down the back straight.

His teammate Carlos Sainz was then left frustrated with Hadjar, who had clearly impeded the Williams driver as he narrowly missed the cut, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto also eliminated.

So a great qualifying session for Mercedes and George. It will be interesting if Russell has the pace to stay ahead of his Spanish Grand Prix rival Verstappen and the championship leader Piastri. Bring on the race!

Canadian Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:10.899
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:11.059
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:11.120
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:11.391
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:11.526
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:11.586
7 Lando Norris McLaren 1:11.625
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.682
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:11.867
10 Alexander Albon Williams 1:11.907
11 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:12.142
12 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:12.183
13 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:12.340
14 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:12.634
15 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:12.385
16 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:12.398
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:12.517
18 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:12.525
19 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:12.102*
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:12.667
*Ten-place grid penalty due to overtaking under the red flag in FP3

Oscar Piastri extends his championship points lead following race victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, leading home to a McLaren 1-2 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as Max Verstappen received a ten-second time penalty for clashing with George Russell.

Piastri led from pole into Turn 1, while Verstappen jumped Lando Norris by sweeping around the outside.

Behind them there was an intense battle between the Ferraris and the Mercedes cars, with Lewis Hamilton emerging ahead and seventh-starting Leclerc soon passing Russell as well to take fourth and fifth. Leclerc was soon ordered past Hamilton by Ferrari while the seven-time champion struggled from a lack of rear grip.

Verstappen couldn’t keep second for long, though, with Norris breezing past the Red Bull driver on lap 13 into Turn 1. At that point Lando’s gap to his leading teammate had extended to five seconds, a gap which Norris couldn’t reduce before the first round of pitstops.

Verstappen responded by making an early pitstop for another set of soft tyres, the tyre compound everyone bar his pitlane starting teammate Yuki Tsunoda had begun the race with.

With the advantage of fresh rubber being huge at the tyre-hungry circuit, Verstappen quickly undercut Norris and after both McLarens pitted around lap 22 and 23 the Red Bull driver emerged in a net lead, despite with an important tyre life deficit.

Verstappen was vocally frustrated with the Red Bull’s lack of grip, compounded by clutch issues, as he quickly converted from a two to a three-stop strategy to drop behind the McLarens once more.

That second set of softs allowed the four-time world champion to stay in the mix by cutting into the second-placed Norris, who suffered from front-left tyre graining but still managed to keep the gap to his teammate stable. At the halfway point Piastri led from Norris by four seconds, with Verstappen another two seconds behind. Leclerc was a lonely fourth followed by a battling Hamilton and Russell.

Verstappen continued gaining on Norris until his mediums were past their best and both McLarens started upping their pace. The Red Bull final roll of the dice was another undercut attempt with a third pitstop for used softs, but both McLarens responded with stops of their own to keep the top three positions as they were.

Having battled past the lapped Alonso, Lawson and Bearman, the race was then neutralised following the retirement of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who went off with an apparent technical issue to bring out a full safety car.

Most drivers came in again – making it three stops for McLaren and four for Verstappen – with Red Bull’s lead driver dismayed by being put on the much slower hard tyres, having no other tyres left.

On the lap 62 restart, a hefty delay after letting lapped cars unlap themselves, Piastri controlled from Norris at the front.

Meanwhile, Verstappen had a huge slide out of the final corner that saw him lose momentum to allow Leclerc to jump ahead on the restart. Verstappen still struggled on the hard tyres into Turn 1 as Russell lunged down the inside, with Verstappen taking to the escape route.

Verstappen went into Mad Max mode when told to let Russell past by his race engineer and after appearing to give the position back into Turn 4 it then looked like he clashed the Mercedes out of the way deliberately, an incident that was then investigated by the stewards.

After the chequered flag, the stewards decided to apply a ten-second penalty for Max Verstappen. So the Red Bull driver drops down to P10.

At the front Piastri led Norris home by 2.4 seconds to take his fifth win of the 2025 season, extending his championship lead on Norris to ten points.

Leclerc took the final spot on the podium ahead of Russell and Verstappen, but the Red Bull man then received a post-race penalty that dropped him to tenth and a single championship point.

In the background Nico Hulkenberg was a brilliant fifth for Sauber after a late pass on Ferrari’s Hamilton. Isack Hadjar kept his nose clear to finish seventh, adding to his impressive run of results with Racing Bulls. Pierre Gasly lost out but still scored important points for Alpine in eighth.

Fernando Alonso finally got off the mark with his first points of the season in ninth, the last driver to be elevated ahead of an angry Verstappen.

As well as Antonelli, Williams driver Alex Albon retired from the race following contact with Liam Lawson. Aston’s Lance Stroll didn’t start the race, withdrawing on medical grounds due to recurring pain to his right hand and wrist.

So a crazy restart following a late safety car. Max’s bash against George was not ideal and even with the ten-second penalty, the four-time champion will receive further punishment.

As for McLaren, a double podium is fantastic for the constructors’ standings. Oscar Piastri scoring his fifth win is significant in terms of the championship.

Spanish Grand Prix, race results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:32:57.375
2 Lando Norris McLaren +2.471s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +10.455s
4 George Russell Mercedes +11.359s
5 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +13.648s
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +15.508s
7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +16.022s
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine +17.882s
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +21.564s
10 Max Verstappen Red Bull +21.826s*
11 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +25.532s
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +25.996s
13 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +28.822s
14 Carlos Sainz Williams +29.309s
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine +31.381s
16 Esteban Ocon Haas +32.197s
17 Oliver Bearman Haas +37.065s
Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes DNF
Alexander Albon Williams DNF
*Ten-second time penalty for causing a collision with George Russell

Oscar Piastri defeated his McLaren teammate Lando Norris to pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The championship leader made the difference in the final run of Q3, putting two tenths on Norris after the pair had been closely matched before.

On the first run in the top-ten shootout Piastri opened with a time of one minute, 11.836 seconds lap, with teammate Norris replying with an effort of one minute, 11.819 seconds, just 0.017 seconds quicker than Oscar.

They resumed battle on the final run, with a superb second sector from Piastri key to his pole winning run of one minute, 11.546 seconds. Norris only marginally improved his lap time to settle for second as Oscar took the fourth pole of the 2025 season and his Formula 1 career.

Max Verstappen and George Russell set identical lap times to take the second row, with the Red Bull driver ahead of the Mercedes as he was first to cross the finishing line.

Lewis Hamilton beat his Mercedes replacement Andrea Kimi Antonelli to fifth, as well as Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, who only completed a single Q3 run that left him seventh place.

Pierre Gasly qualified an excellent eighth for Alpine as he hopes to repeat his Bahrain Grand Prix performance, while Isack Hadjar continued his outstanding form with another top ten result in ninth for Racing Bulls.

Alonso offset his run plan by setting his only Q3 lap time in between everyone else’s two sets of runs, temporarily beating Verstappen to fifth much to the Aston Martin’s driver delight, but after the final series of runs Fernando dropped down to P10.

In Q1 it was plain sailing for the frontrunners, with Piastri leading the way from Verstappen and Norris, although the tiny margins meant there was less than two tenths separating Leclerc in sixth from the drop zone.

Before claiming P12 in Q2, Sauber’s Bortoleto had already starred by getting there in P10, with Bearman was also delighted to make it through in the Haas. Nico Hulkenberg was less successful after missing out on Q2 by half a tenth.

Ocon was also beaten by his rookie teammate, while Carlos Sainz was eliminated in P18 in front of his home fans. Franco Colapinto was eliminated by an issue on his Alpine that saw him unable to perform a final run, leaving him P19 on the grid.

But the biggest victim in Q1 was Yuki Tsunoda, who lost time in each sector to start last on the grid.

So well done to Oscar Piastri by beating his Papaya teammate to an important pole position. It will be interest if Lando Norris can fight back in the race. Bring on the Spanish Grand Prix!

Spanish Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:11.546
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:11.755
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:11.848
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:11.848
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:12.045
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:12.111
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:12.131
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:12.199
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:12.252
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:12.284
11 Alexander Albon Williams 1:12.641
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:12.756
13 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:12.763
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:13.058
15 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:13.315
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:13.190
17 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:13.201
18 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:13.203
19 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:13.334
20 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:13.385

Lando Norris took victory at the famous street circuit for McLaren even though the mandatory two pitstops at Monaco was unable to provide a spectacle.

In a race was turned into an odd game of chess by a one-off mandate to use three sets of Pirelli tyres, and therefore make two pitstops, Norris avoided the spectre of unfortunately timed neutralisations to convert his pole into his second win of the season.

Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri joined him on the podium, with Max Verstappen fourth after banking on a late red flag to no avail.

At the start Norris locked up his tyres to keep the lead from Leclerc into Turn 1’s Ste Devote, while Piastri stayed ahead of Verstappen after the Red Bull driver looked around the outside.

At the rear Gabriel Bortoleto found the wall on the exit of Portier after duelling with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the Sauber driver continuing but not before triggering a virtual safety car.

The leaders stayed out, but the yellow flag was shown so Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly and Oliver Bearman to make an early first pitstop. Gasly’s efforts to make an alternate strategy work ended into the back of Tsunoda’s Red Bull at the Nouvelle Chicane, with Gasly reporting “no brakes” as he smashed up his front-left corner, with Tsunoda fortunate to escape damage.

On three wheels Gasly made his way back to the pits to retire, with a local double yellow flag for a piece of Alpine front wing. Piastri dodged the piece of wing which gave Verstappen a chance to stick his nose alongside, but much to the Red Bull driver trying to get past, Piastri promptly closed the door in the fight for third.

Liam Lawson created a buffer for fifth-place starting teammate Isack Hadjar, who then made a cheap pitstop for softs, only losing two positions thanks to his teammate.

The front of the midfield pitting changed the dynamic of the race, with the leaders now no longer being able to afford cruising around. Norris and company immediately upped the pace by several seconds per lap to keep their pitstop gap intact.

Hamilton was able to jump Hadjar, who soon boxed a second time for hard tyres so he could go to the end.

Norris was the first of the lead group to blink, pitting on lap 20 for hard Pirellis. Piastri followed him in on the next lap to undercut Leclerc but the home hero responded on the next lap to keep position.

A couple of tense laps followed for the McLarens as Verstappen was released into free air, hoping for some sort of safety car as he lacked the outright pace to threaten the Papaya cars. But the race stayed green until the Red Bull driver made his first stop on lap 29, re-emerging where he started in fourth.

Norris carried on in the lead with a six second gap to Leclerc and another handful of seconds on Piastri and Verstappen, with Hamilton the biggest mover at the halfway point from seventh to fifth.

The race order was stable until the second and final round of pitstops provided the next chance for some chaos.

Piastri moved first on lap 49, which triggered a reaction from Leclerc’s Ferrari pitcrew on the following lap, and Norris on lap 51. Meanwhile, Verstappen stuck to his plan by staying out, increasing the pace and hoping for a safety car once more.

Norris and Leclerc soon closed the gap to Verstappen, which meant the only hope for Red Bull had left was a red flag for a free tyre change. With Hamilton also pitting, Verstappen was under no pressure to take his final stop before the very end.

Verstappen’s slow pace backed Norris into the Leclerc and Piastri, which made Lando’s final series of laps fairly uncomfortable.

But the world champion’s second pitstop with one lap to go finally allowed Norris back past to claim his second win of the season ahead of Leclerc and Piastri, with Verstappen and Hamilton in the top five.

Hadjar finished an excellent sixth thanks to Lawson’s early teamwork and Racing Bull’s clever strategy. Esteban Ocon’s Haas team also perfectly planned with two pitstops to finish seventh, while Lawson was rewarded for his efforts with eighth.

Williams duo Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz took the final points, which was also the result of the pair backing up the chasing Mercedes cars.

Both Russell and Antonelli were unable to make their way into the points after qualifying outside the top ten, gambling on chaos by delaying their two pitstops after those of their rivals.

Frustrated with Albon’s blocking, Russell decided to pass the Williams by cutting the chicane, intentionally taking a time penalty instead of giving the position back. But the race stewards responded by handing Russell a drive-through instead of a time penalty to stop his plan.

Alonso lost out on his first points of the season by retiring with suspected power unit issue, parking his Aston Martin behind the wall at Rascasse to avoid any disruption to the race.

In the championship Norris closes the gap to points leader Piastri to just three points. Verstappen lost three points to Oscar and heads to next weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona 25 points behind.

So not the most thrilling Monaco race even though the sport’s governing body added the two pitstops as mandatory to improve the spectacle. The teams just stick to their strategy plan with the drivers managing the tyres.

Congratulation to Lando Norris in winning the most famous race on the Formula 1 calendar. He closes the points gap to McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri by three points. Roll on Spain.

Monaco Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:40:33.843
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +3.131s
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +3.658s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull +20.572s
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +51.387s
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +1 lap
7 Esteban Ocon Alpine +1 lap
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1 lap
9 Alexander Albon Williams +2 laps
10 Carlos Sainz Williams +2 laps
11 George Russell Mercedes +2 laps
12 Oliver Bearman Haas +2 laps
13 Franco Colapinto Alpine +2 laps
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +2 laps
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +2 laps
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +2 laps
17 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +2 laps
18 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +3 laps
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF
Pierre Gasly Alpine DNF

Lando Norris will start the Monaco Grand Prix in pole position for McLaren beating the home favourite Charles Leclerc and championship leader Oscar Piastri to the top grid spot at the famous street circuit.

Norris looked set to lose out to P1 to Leclerc, who had led every practice session, after the second round of laps in Q3. But continuing on his set soft tyres Norris found another tenth and a half to clinch the top grid slot with his third flying lap, beating last year’s race winner by 0.109 seconds.

Lando’s time of one minute, 09.954 seconds lap was a new track record around the 3.3km venue, and earned the McLaren driver’s first pole since the opening Australian Grand Prix.

Norris had also led the first run from teammate Oscar Piastri, with the championship leader eventually settling for third on the grid after losing time in the Nouvelle Chicane.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth on the grid for Ferrari, four tenths behind, but the seven-time world champion may still be demoted after impeding Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Q1. Verstappen could only manage fifth on the grid for Red Bull, seven tenths behind pole position.

Isack Hadjar was an excellent sixth for Racing Bulls, overcoming two taps with the wall in free practice to end up as the most impressive rookie on the difficult street circuit.

Fernando Alonso was seventh for Aston Martin, just 0.001 seconds behind Hadjar, with Esteban Ocon also putting in a solid effort for Haas to clinch eighth. Liam Lawson took ninth, with Williams driver Alex Albon completing the top ten.

Norris and Piastri led the running in the early part of qualifying, before Leclerc eventually topped Q1 with a time of one minute, 11.229 seconds.

Most cars were fuelled for a longer stint, using cool-down laps to keep the softs in the window. The narrow margins and significant track evolution meant none of the frontrunners could afford to stay in the garage at the end.

There was pressure on Lewis Hamilton to advance, having dropped to P15, but the seven-time world champion did enough to make it to Q2.

It was Gabriel Bortoleto who was the first to miss out in P16, followed by Oliver Bearman, who will start at the back due to a ten-place grid penalty for ignoring red flags in FP2.

Pierre Gasly was out in P18 ahead of Lance Stroll and Franco Colapinto, but the Alpine driver will move ahead of Stroll due to a one-place penalty for Stroll.

The session was also over for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who squeezed through in P15 but then tagged the wall at the Nouvelle Chicane and suffered terminal damage on his Mercedes, bringing out a late red flag.

There was more drama for Mercedes at the start of Q2 when George Russell reported a loss of power and then ground to a halt in the tunnel with a suspected electrical issue, meaning both Silver Arrows will start in P14 and P15.

After a lengthy red flag to get rid of the stricken Mercedes, Norris led the running ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc, but times continued to tumble rapidly.

The four cars from Ferrari and McLaren continued to trade blows at the top, with Verstappen third until a brilliant last-ditch lap by Albon that put him ahead of the four-time champion.

Albon’s teammate Carlos Sainz was less successful, blaming a lack of grip on the softs as he was pipped to the final Q3 berth by Haas driver Ocon.

Yuki Tsunoda was also out in P12, complaining about impeding from Isack Hadjar, with Nico Hulkenberg and the Mercedes cars eliminated as well.

Sunday’s 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix will be very interesting as there will be a mandatory to run three different sets of tyres, which will force drivers to make two pitstops to open up strategic options. Hopefully this will make the racing exciting as overtaking is very limited.

Monaco Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:09.954
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:10.063
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:10.129
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:10.382
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:10.669
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:10.923
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:10.924
8 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:10.942
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:11.129
10 Alexander Albon Williams 1:11.213
11 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:11.362
12 Yuki Tsunoda Williams 1:11.415
13 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:11.596
14 George Russell Mercedes 1:11.507
15 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:11.880
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:11.902
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:11.994
18 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:12.597
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:12.563*
20 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:11.979**
*Stroll penalised one grid position for causing a collision during practice.
**Bearman penalised ten grid positions for overtaking under red flags in practice.

Max Verstappen scored his second race victory of this highly competitive Formula 1 season at Imola, finishing ahead of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

This was Red Bull Racing’s 400th race and the key to Super Max’s win was on the opening lap as Verstappen was late on the brakes to pass both George Russell and Oscar Piastri heading into Turn 1 on the first lap.

From second on the grid Verstappen attacked Piastri into the first braking zone of Tamburello, going late on the brakes around the outside to sweep past the championship leader with a brilliant move.

In Verstappen’s wake Piastri decided to stop early for what was expected to be a one-stop race, exchanging his medium tyres for hards on lap 14.

A similarly early pitstop for third-starting George Russell also released Lando Norris into clear air, with the driver 10 seconds behind Verstappen at that stage.

Red Bull’s tyre wear appeared more promising than expected, with Verstappen shipping two to three tenths per lap to the chasing McLaren, which was not enough of a pace difference to worry the leading defending champion.

But the race then received a first plot twist on lap 29 with a virtual safety car for the stricken Haas of Esteban Ocon, who parked up between the Variante Alta and Rivazza.

The VSC situation massively benefitted those who hadn’t pitted yet, including Verstappen. Norris had crucially come in the previous lap, losing out in the process.

As the race went green again on lap 31, Verstappen’s lead had grown to 20 seconds, with Alexander Albon also benefitting to move up to third ahead of Piastri.

Norris was unable to gain back more than two seconds on Verstappen, while Piastri swiftly moved up to third but was already falling over 12 seconds behind his teammate.

The stalemate didn’t last, however, with another pivotal interruption on lap 47 when Andrea Kimi Antonelli retired from eighth position, this time bringing out a full safety car.

Verstappen pitted for a second set of hard tyres, as did Norris. Piastri stayed out, splitting the pair for the final ten lap shootout as the field was released on Lap 54.

On fresher tyres Norris made quick work of his McLaren teammate, but he was unable to stop Verstappen from marching to a second win of the 2025 season, while Piastri settled for third.

On split strategies the Ferraris produced a combative display following a disastrous qualifying session that saw Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton P11 and P12 on the grid.

Both made a good start, but Leclerc looked set to lose out under the first VSC situation, only to then be brought back into the race by staying out under the late safety car.

Leclerc ultimately failed to keep fourth on his older tyres, first shoving Albon off the road into Tamburello, which saw Albon lose out to the pursuing Hamilton as well.

Hamilton did pass Leclerc, who was then told to let Albon through in order to avoid any potential five-second penalty for the earlier incident. The Ferrari driver finished sixth behind the Williams driver.

Russell was another driver to lose out on strategy, although the high tyre wear didn’t help matters as the Mercedes driver started on the mediums he used in qualifying.

Sainz was eighth to complete a double points finish for Williams, followed by Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar. After a violent crash in qualifying, Yuki Tsunoda produced a spirited drive and made a one-stopper work to climb to P10.

Aston Martin was the afternoon’s biggest loser, with both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll dropping out of the points after a tyre gamble which allowed the pair to shine in qualifying, but saw them lacking a crucial set of hard tyres for the safety-car-interrupted event.

So a good, entertaining race at Imola and Piastri remains in the lead of the championship, heading Norris by 13 points and Verstappen by 22.

The Formula 1 paddock now heads down to Monaco for the second part of a European triple-header. Will be interesting if McLaren can strike back at the iconic street circuit.

Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:31:33.199
2 Lando Norris McLaren +6.109s
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +12.956s
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +14.356s
5 Alexander Albon Williams +17.945s
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +20.774s
7 George Russell Mercedes +22.034s
8 Carlos Sainz Williams +22.898s
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +23.586s
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +26.446s
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +27.250s
12 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +30.296s
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +31.424s
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +32.511s
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +32.993s
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine +33.411s
17 Oliver Bearman Haas +33.808s
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +38.572s
Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes DNF
Esteban Ocon Haas DNF

Oscar Piastri has grabbed his third career pole position for McLaren at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix by taking the P1 away from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Mercedes driver George Russell will start in P3 ahead of Lando Norris.

After the first series of Q3 runs Verstappen led the way with a lap time of one minute, 14.772 seconds, half a tenth up on Piastri and two tenths ahead of Norris.

On his final attempt, championship leader Piastri lost out to Verstappen in sector one, but a better second and third sectors allowed the McLaren driver to set a time of one minute, 14.670 secoinds to provisionally snatch pole away from the world champion, despite a messy final corner.

Verstappen threatened to challenge with a purple first sector but lost too much time in the final two segments and it became a full one-tenth deficit. The Red Bull driver improved second effort was 0.034 seconds shy of pole, with Piastri starting from the front for the third time in 2025.

Meanwhile, Mercedes driver George Russell beat the second McLaren of Lando Norris to third, with Fernando Alonso a sensational fifth for Aston Martin.

Both Aston Martin drivers advanced to Q3 by using Pirelli’s mediums – the C5 compound – which proved sturdier than the newly introduced C6 tyre, which was a handful to keep alive over an entire qualifying lap.

It allowed Alonso to claim his best starting position of what has been a difficult season so far, ahead of Williams duo Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.

Lance Stroll was eighth, with Racing Bulls man Isack Hadjar and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completing the top ten.

Ferrari’s desire to show well at its first of two 2025 races on home ground, and potentially Imola’s Formula 1 farewell weekend, but unfortunately both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were eliminated out in Q2.

Leclerc and Hamilton qualified P11 and P12 respectively after failing to improve on their final flyer with the soft tyres – Leclerc missing the cut by less than a tenth, with Hamilton a further tenth and a half.

On the subject of home race disappointment, Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli also suffered a difficult afternoon, only in P13, followed by Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Colapinto.

Q1 was red-flagged twice for crashes by Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine debutant Franco Colapinto.

With 13 minutes on the clock Tsunoda suffered a violent accident into Turn 5’s fast Villeneuve chicane at the end of the first sector. Tsunoda lost control over his car and spun backwards into the gravel trap, which sent his Red Bull into a barrel roll. Fortunately the Japanese driver was able to jump out unhurt.

The final Q1 runs saw another crash for Franco Colapinto, who replaces Jack Doohan at Alpine from this weekend onwards.

Colapinto dipped onto the grass at the exit of the first corner complex of Tamburello, spinning off and hitting the tyre wall head on at reduced speed. The Alpine driver escaped unhurt, with his accident ending Q1 early.

Colapinto had advanced to Q2 and eventually qualified P15 but will likely get a grid penalty for being released into the pitlane early under the first red flag, with a similar incident in Bahrain costing Mercedes duo Russell and Antonelli a one-place grid drop.

As a result of Colapinto’s accident, Liam Lawson was unable to complete a final flyer, dumping him out in P16. The Racing Bulls man was joined by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Haas duo of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman.

Bearman felt he had completed his final lap before the red flag came out, but following checks by race control his lap time – which would have easily been enough for Q2 – was not reinstated.

So after two red flags, the qualifying session turned out to be exciting and yet the end result was that Oscar Piastri taking pole position for McLaren. With Max Verstappen on the front row, Sunday’s race will be interesting.

Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:14.670
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:14.704
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:14.807
4 Lando Norris McLaren 1:14.962
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:15.431
6 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:15.432
7 Alexander Albon Williams 1:15.473
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:15.581
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:15.746
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:15.787
11 Chalres Leclerc Ferrari 1:15.604
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:15.765
13 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:15.772
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:16.260
15 Franco Colapine Alpine 1:16.256
16 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:16.379
17 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:16.518
18 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:16.613
19 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:16.918
20 Yuki Tsuonoda Red Bull No time

Oscar Piastri achieved his three consecutive victory of the season after leading home his McLaren teammate Lando Norris at the Miami Grand Prix.

The championship leader took the lead with a pass on Max Verstappen on lap 14 of 57 and underline his title credentials by winning, with Norris also passing the struggling Red Bull to salvage second after losing out at the start of the race.

Starting alongside Verstappen in second, Norris took the inside into Turn 1, but Verstappen held firm and nudged Norris into the inside Turn 3 runoff, which dropped the McLaren driver back to sixth. “He forced me off, what am I going to do, drive into the wall? I was completely alongside,” Norris complained, but the race stewards decided no action was necessary.

Contact between Jack Doohan and Liam Lawson at Turn 1 brought out the virtual safety car to remove debris, and after the lap 4 restart McLaren’s true pace advantage became true, with fourth-starting Piastri easily clearing Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Norris moving past Russell into fifth.

Piastri started attacking Verstappen for the lead soon enough and got the job done into Turn 1 on lap 14, having been patient around the outside and thereby forcing Verstappen into a mistake locking the front tyres.

Their battle allowed Norris to close and he also got past the defending champion, although he made harder work of it than his teammate. On lap 18 Norris initially passed Verstappen in Turn 7 but forced both cars off, handing the position back.

One lap later Norris sealed the move much earlier on the straight, and swiftly dropped Verstappen as the Red Bull struggled with tyre wear, embarking on a chase on Piastri, who had gained nine seconds thanks to Lando’s battle with Verstappen.

Antonelli and Russell ran third, while being put under pressure by Alex Albon.

The next virtual safety car came out for Oliver Bearman’s stricken Haas after the Ferrari power unit seized, which handed an advantage to those who hadn’t yet made their one and only pitstop.

A quicker pitstop cycled hard-tyre starter Russell out ahead of Verstappen and Antonelli in third, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton also benefitted to make a cheap switch from hards to mediums.

From the lap 30 restart onwards, Piastri comfortably protected his lead against Norris, who shaved off a few seconds but never looked like closing the gap to his teammate. Piastri crossed the finishing line with a 4.630 seconds lead on Norris to take his third consecutive win, with Russell snatching a podium in third.

Verstappen had to settle for fourth in the wake of the Mercedes driver, with Albon securing an excellent fifth for Williams ahead of Antonelli after having looked impressively quick all race.

Hamilton intended to use his quicker medium tyres to chase Antonelli, but was stuck behind hard-tyred team-mate Charles Leclerc for several laps, much to the seven-time world champion’s dismay, before finally being released. But Hamilton ran out of time to catch his Mercedes replacement, which led to Ferrari swapping the positions once more to let Leclerc retake seventh ahead of his annoyed teammate.

Carlos Sainz grabbed ninth for Williams after attempting a late but unsuccessful lunge on Hamilton into the final corner, followed by Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda. Tsunoda received a five-second penalty, added to his race time, for speeding in the pits. However, as he crossed the line 5.1 seconds ahead of Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar, he just about managed to save his point.

Esteban Ocon was a distant P12 after a disappointing race for Haas, with Alpine, Sauber and a woeful Aston Martin outfit also leaving without points.

Gabriel Bortoleto followed Bearman into retirement after the Sauber driver reported crippling power unit issues, while Doohan’s and Lawson’s Turn 1 clash also led to terminal damage for both, bringing the number of retirements to four.

In the drivers’ championship, Piastri’s fourth season win extends his lead on Norris to 16 points. Verstappen now trails Piastri by 32 points in third, with Russell another six points in arrears.

The Formula 1 paddock resumes in two weeks’ time in Imola for what looks set to be the final edition of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix for the foreseeable future.

So a dominant race by McLaren by finishing first and second. Congratulations to Oscar Piastri in achieving his third consecutive win. He looks the favourite for the championship by this consistent race results.

Miami Grand Prix, race results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28:51.587
2 Lando Norris McLaren +4.630s
3 George Russell Mercedes +37.644s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull +39.956s
5 Alexander Albon Williams +48.067s
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +55.502s
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +57.036s
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +60.186s
9 Carlos Sainz Williams +60.577s
10 Yuki Tsuonda Red Bull +74.434s
11 Isack Tsunoda +74.602s
12 Esteban Ocon Haas +82.006s
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +90.445s
14 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +1 lap
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1 lap
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
Liam Lawson Red Bull DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF
Oliver Bearman Haas DNF
Jack Doohan Alpine DNF

Defending world champion Max Verstappen will start the Miami Grand Prix on pole position after defeating Lando Norris by a small margin of 0.065 seconds.

The Red Bull driver achieved his 43rd career pole in Formula 1. Andrea Kimi Antonelli continues to impress for Mercedes by being third fastest and edging ahead of Oscar Piastri.

In Q3 Verstappen set provisional pole with a lap of one minute, 26.492 seconds, just thousandths ahead of Norris and Piastri, which had more to do with neither McLaren driver finding gains rather than any Super Max heroics.

But Verstappen produced his magic to find the fastest time across the session, a lap time of one minute, 26.204 seconds, which was enough to fend off a late improvement by Norris, who appeared to lose his pole opportunity by bouncing over the inside kerb in the final corner.

What is more remarkable, Max made a mistake into Turn 1 on his final Q3 run and yet was able to set quality sector times despite the error. To take pole position is a fantastic achievement.

Russell was fifth for Mercedes ahead of excellent Williams duo Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc a low-key eighth position. Haas driver Esteban Ocon excelled to grab ninth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the Red Bull.

Piastri led the running in Q2 by two tenths over teammate Norris. Before the final attempt Russell found himself in the drop zone – despite on used tyres – declaring he had no confidence in his Mercedes, but his second lap was more than good enough to go through.

The same cannot be said of Lewis Hamilton, whose second lap was worse than his first, dropping the Ferrari driver out in P12 just 0.039 seconds off P10. Hadjar missed the cut by a mere 0.020 seconds in P11, while Gabriel Bortoleto took an encouraging P13 for Sauber.

Jack Doohan was the best of the Alpines in P14, followed by a disappointing P15 for Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson who suffered from a battery problem.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg just missed the cut in P16, ahead of Fernando Alonso, whose Aston Martin was repaired in time after his sprint race crash. Gasly was P18, ruing traffic on his final lap, with Lance Stroll and Oliver Bearman also eliminated.

So a better outcome for the four-time world champion after a time penalty and no points in the sprint race earlier. Max Verstappen achieved an important pole position in qualifying. Going to be interesting if the Red Bull has the race pace next.

Miami Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:26.204
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:26.269
3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:26.271
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:26.375
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:26.385
6 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:26.569
7 Alexander Albon Williams 1:26.682
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:26.754
9 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:26.824
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:26.943
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:26.987
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:27.006
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:27.151
14 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:27.422
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:27.363
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:27.473
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:27.604
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:27.710
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:27.830
20 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:27.999