Canadian Grand Prix-view: Will Piastri or Norris shine brighter in Montreal?

Formula 1 returns to Montreal this weekend for the Canadian Grand Prix.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will look to continue the team’s dominance this season, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen aims for a record fourth consecutive victory at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Meanwhile, the pressure is on fan favourite Ferrari to deliver results.

Here’s a look at the top storylines to follow leading up to Sunday’s race.

Will Piastri or Norris shine brighter in Montreal?

McLaren is rolling in its title defence of the constructors’ championship, winning seven of nine GPs and topping the charts with 362 points, more than double that of second-place Ferrari (165).

Even in the two races where Verstappen was victorious, Norris and Piastri still finished 2-3 on the podium both times.

Norris led the McLaren renaissance over the previous two seasons, but it’s Piastri who enters Canada with a 10-point lead in the drivers’ championship.

After a slip-up in the rain during the season opener at his home track in Australia, the 24-year-old Piastri has earned eight consecutive podium finishes, including five wins.

Norris has two wins and eight podiums, with his miss coming in Saudi Arabia due to a crash in qualifying that put him 10th on the starting grid. The 25-year-old British driver bounced back on race day and crossed the line fourth.

Here’s a head-to-head look at their stats.

The edge goes to Piastri, who had never qualified on pole for a Grand Prix before this year and has taken a big step forward this season. Norris is only a year older, but has four more years of experience in F1 and finished runner-up to Verstappen in the championship last season.

The last time McLaren finished 1-2 in the drivers’ championship was 1989, with Alain Prost outduelling Ayrton Senna for the title, but sparks were flying that season and things ended on a sour note. Their rivalry reached its apex when the two collided during the penultimate race of the season in Japan, and Prost departed for Ferrari the following year.

Piastri and Norris haven’t clashed on the track (yet), but this is only Round 10 of a 24-GP season. A lot can happen between now and December’s finale in Abu Dhabi. Papaya rules — with the team favouring one driver over the other — haven’t come into play with the team allowing their drivers to go for it. Sooner or later, there will be a conflict.

Will Mad Max be a good boy?

The four-time reigning world champion should be on his best behaviour in Montreal. Verstappen collected three penalty points, bringing his 12-month tally up to 11, after colliding with George Russell of Mercedes during the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix two weekends ago. If Verstappen gets one more penalty point before the end of the month, he will receive an automatic one-GP ban.

Not only will Verstappen want to avoid that in hopes of keeping his “drive for five” world championships alive, but the following race takes place at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. It would be an embarrassment for the team if its superstar driver missed its backyard event.

The 27-year-old Dutch driver has had more than his share of frustrations with his car but has still managed to find a way to fend off the McLarens and pick up a pair of victories this season. Verstappen converted from pole position at Suzuka, while a brilliant manoeuvre to swoop past Russell and Piastri on the opening lap was key to securing the lead and victory at Imola.

Verstappen matched Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton last season after winning his third consecutive Canadian GP and could become the first to win four in a row at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Pressure on Ferrari, Hamilton?

It was one of the most shocking moves in F1 history when Hamilton announced he was joining Ferrari for the 2025 season.

It seemed like the ultimate pairing with the winningest driver and the winningest team. Well, the honeymoon phase is over and the rumour mill is bubbling with team principal Frederic Vasseur reportedly on the hot seat.

Hamilton sits sixth in the championship, 23 points back of teammate Charles Leclerc, and is coming off a Spanish Grand Prix where he said on the team radio it was the “worst feeling car” he’d ever experienced.

Leclerc has outperformed Hamilton in all but one GP this season and has turned it up of late with back-to-back podium finishes. The 40-year-old Hamilton has yet to score a podium with his new team, with his best result a fourth-place finish at Imola. He was victorious during the sprint in China — which should have translated to success in the actual race — however, after crossing the line sixth, he was disqualified due to excessive plank wear (i.e. his car was too low to the ground).

Perhaps Montreal will cure what ails Hamilton. Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was where he captured his first win during his sensational 2007 rookie season, and he’s won at the track a record-tying seven times. The British driver has also finished on the podium on three other occasions. Couple that with the fact that no team has won more times at the track than Ferrari, with 11 victories, and the team’s fanbase, the Tifosi, should be out in full force again. Wouldn’t it be nice if the pieces fell together?

Canadian content

Montreal’s own Lance Stroll has been given the green light to compete in his home race.

The Aston Martin driver withdrew from the Spanish GP after qualifying due to pain in his hands and wrist, believed to have stemmed from surgery he had two years ago after a cycling accident.

Stroll had a solid start to the season, finishing in the top 10 in Australia and China. However, he’s earned points just once since then from the sprint in Miami and sits 12th in the standings.

The 26-year-old has always performed well on home pavement, scoring points five out of six times he’s raced at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with his best of the bunch coming last year in seventh place.

The team owned by his father, Lawrence Stroll, is near the bottom of the constructors’ championship in ninth place and in need of a boost.

Aston Martin’s upgrades worked out well last time out in Spain for teammate Fernando Alonso, who snapped his season-long pointless streak at his home race, and could be a positive sign for Stroll to follow suit.

Crash course: What to know for Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

The 4.36 km track is known for its fast straights and heavy braking corners. The casino straight offers great overtaking opportunities, but drivers then have to be extra careful navigating around the final chicane, otherwise they’ll end up in the “Wall of Champions.”

Turn 13 lived up to its unlucky superstitious number when Schumacher, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve all hit the wall in that spot during the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix. Perhaps the billboard at the turn that read “Bienvenue au Quebec” should have said “Au revoir.”

Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel are among those who have also crashed into the infamous spot over the years, while Verstappen almost joined the list last season during practice as the wall said “bonjour.”

Qualifying is crucial as ever this season, with eight of nine winners starting on the front row, including six from pole position. (Miami is the outlier as Piastri won from P4 on the starting grid.)

That trend should continue in Montreal. Since 2010, 11 of the 13 winners at the circuit have started on the front row, including eight from pole position.

Verstappen was victorious from second on the grid last year, though he had posted an identical time as pole-sitter Russell during qualifying. Russell set the time first and remained ahead on the starting grid.

Weather has also been a major factor in the past. A torrential downpour in 2011 paused proceedings for two hours, leading to the longest race in F1 history. Button stormed from the back of the field and picked off race-leader Vettel on the final lap to score an incredible victory.

What does the future hold for the Canadian GP?

Although this year’s event hasn’t even started, next year’s Canadian Grand Prix has already generated controversy.

F1 unveiled its schedule for the 2026 season earlier this week, with the Canadian GP swapping places with Monaco in May. That part was expected, to couple Montreal up with Miami for travel and environmental reasons, but what raised eyebrows was setting it for the same weekend as the Indianapolis 500.

This wasn’t a problem with Monaco due to the earlier start time in Europe, but now F1 and IndyCar will face off in the same time zone. Even if the races start at different times, fans who have previously attended both races will have to choose a side. F1 might not even be the main attraction in town in May if the Montreal Canadiens are still in the playoffs (hey, never say never).

Sure, the Canadian GP could start later in the afternoon, like 4 p.m. ET, but any weather delays could be problematic.

F1 might be more popular than IndyCar worldwide, but the Indy 500 remains the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” and nobody wants to see a repeat of the U.S. 500 blunder. During the open-wheel split in 1996, CART went head-to-head with the Indy 500 by hosting its race on the same day. Although CART had the star drivers and teams, it lacked the allure of Indy. It also didn’t help that the U.S. 500 stumbled out of the gate with a 12-car crash on the pace lap and an hour-long delay at the start. Long story short, CART didn’t try to compete with the Indy 500 again.

Whether F1 or IndyCar wins this round, one thing is for sure: it’s the fans who are on the losing side.

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