Russell crossed the finish line at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in a time of 1:31:52.688, earning not only his first win of the season but also the first for his team, Mercedes. 

It marked the first time in 2025 that neither McLaren nor Red Bull stood on the top step of the podium. In fact, it was also McLaren’s first race this season without a podium finish.

George Russell. Photo: FIA

To make matters worse for the team, the current Drivers’ Championship leader, Oscar Piastri, and his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, collided during the race. While Piastri managed to finish in fourth and salvage some points, Norris was forced to retire.

Russell narrowly edged out reigning world champion Max Verstappen to the chequered flag, winning by just 0.228 seconds. Andrea Kimi Antonelli followed closely in third to give Mercedes a double podium on the day.

Despite the incident with Norris, the Australian driver Piastri brought his car home in fourth place. Norris was one of three drivers who failed to finish the race, alongside Alex Albon of Williams and Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls.

Full footage of the battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri that ended in a crash!#F1 #Formula1 #CanadianGPpic.twitter.com/VI37PJQjg4

— Extreme Cars (@extremecars__) June 15, 2025

Speaking after the race, Russell said the win might be the turning point Mercedes need to build momentum heading into the Austrian Grand Prix. 

“I’d love to get our hopes up, but I think the strength of our car is in these cooler conditions. Let’s see how we go in the upcoming races, but for now, we’re just going to enjoy this,” said Russell.

“Time will tell. I mean, we won in Austria last year, so maybe that’s a good omen. We came into this weekend with high expectations, and it worked out as we hoped.”

The next stop on the F1 calendar is the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Salzburg, from 27 to 29 June.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek mvh