The Late Braking F1 Podcast - 2026 Canadian GP Sprint Race & Qualifying Review

Episode Date: May 23, 2026

Despite familiar faces at the top, it was a spicy Saturday at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Ben and Sam cover the day's drama from the Mercedes teammate clash in the sprint through to the last-gasp flyer that locked in pole for tomorrow's race... Get involved in F1 Fantasy this season! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the Late Braking league⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and see if you can beat us... LEAGUE CODE: C6Y6R4ZUY02 Want more Late Braking? Support the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get:Ad-free listeningFull-length bonus episodesPower Rankings after every raceHistorical race reviews& more exclusive extras!Don't forget! You can also gift a Late Braking Patreon subscription—perfect for loved ones or your own wish list. Choose anything from 1 month up to a full year of top-notch F1 content: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/latebrakingf1/gift⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Late Braking:You can find us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Come hang out with us and thousands of fellow F1 fans in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ server and get involved in lively everyday & race weekend chats!Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠F1 Fantasy League⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and see if you can beat us!Get in touch any time at [e-mail]  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Hello and a very warm welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking. Saturday of a sprint weekend can only mean one thing. We have got two sessions to review the sprint race that happened earlier on today and the qualifying session that has just unfolded as we're recording this episode. Sam, we've got a lot to talk about. a lot to talk about because dare I say it, it's been quite exciting.

The spice. A little bit, yeah, you know, you're like, you know, I'm not the local Indian. I'm looking for a curry to choose. Do I go for a corn, and a little bit of spice, maybe a booner, maybe a McCarney. There's some real options on the menu, and I want it a little spicy. And that is what Canada has delivered. I don't know, it's because we've just had this gap, which feels like we've been out of F1 for eternity. So watching a Pirelli tire roll round the blooming Argos catalogue might be,

interesting, but this was fun. I had fun today. Circuit Jill Villeneuve, the lemon and herb of the F-on world. Who'd have fought it? One step up on the spice scale. Exactly. We'll get to the qualifying session a little bit later on in this review. We're going to start out with the sprint race that happened earlier on, so just to make sure we're doing this chronologically, and as mentioned, a little bit of spice. So in the end, George Russell from first place managed to win the sprint Grand Prix, but not without some controversy with a battle with his teammates, Kimmy Antonelli. But Kimmy Antonelli not finishing second on the road because Lando Norris was in between them,

again related to the battling that the two Mercedes had. Sam, we've had a lot of Mercedes domination so far this year. But one thing that has been absent to this point has been battling between those two Mercedes drivers. but if we can take this as the race went, a good start or a reasonable enough start from both of them meant the scene was set for that sort of thing. Today was the day that they stopped being teammates and they started being competitors.

It felt like they crossed a line into... Well, thank you. They do call me... I was going to say Sam Shakespeare, but that's what you're going to say. A pun. So it remotely close to a pun. They'd just call him Sam Shakespeare.

That's like it gay on the streets. Yeah, they crossed the lines again And I think we're now aware that there are two camps in that Mercedes garage You can hear the outcry, the outbursting Antingelli over the radio how frustrating he was He lost his head for a bit there And Papa Toto and Bono had to come over the radio

To simmering down just a little bit But it was a spicy incident Because Kimi Anting Annie all over the back of George Russell For a lot of the Grand Prix Up until the point where Russell seemingly slow coming through the hair pin, which means that Antingelli is much closer, two or three tenths away.

We go through the chican. Great ragangang, for Antingley. And Khrung Shangot gave a really good breakdown of this incident after the spring qualifying about why this probably should have been looked into as a bigger review. And it wasn't by the Stewart.

It wasn't looked into in any way. But Kimi Antigelli was fully alongside as they hit the apex for turn one. And fully alongside the wing mirror with his front axle as he entered turn two. So more than comfortably alongside to be given the space

and was not given any space. And I do think if this is not an intra-team battle, if this is, let's say, McLaren versus Mercedes, that is protested almost immediately. And yet Kimi Antenny is told to basically shut up, stop winging and get on with driving the car, which I thought was a stern hand for someone who's been doing so well.

But I guess when it's against teammates, you kind of been significant in the pub pretty quickly. What did you make of that incident, Ben? Well, even before that, what I thought was significant was the fact that these two Mercedes were so far clear of everyone that it was very much a case at that point that they could go battling. Like Lando Norris and the rest had kind of been left in the dust.

And I figured at that point, without anyone directly on the back of these two fighting, that they might go a little bit more aggressive than maybe what we've seen from them so far this year. And it was quite clear to me at least that Antonelli of the two of them had the pace. He was able to not only stay in touch with George Russell in terms of staying within a second of him, he was quite frequently within half a second or so. And you felt like an opportunity like the one he got was on the horizon.

The incident itself, I can see it from both perspectives. From Antonelli's perspective, it's quite clear. He will say he was alongside George Russell and was entitled to the space that he didn't get. And as a result of that, Russell should have got a penalty. And that seems to be the position that many have taken. I do think there's a case from Russell's side as well. And it's not the first time we've seen this type of incident where Antonelli has broke far later than Russell in order to get side by side into the corner.

Russell will claim he's already in the breaking zone. when Antonelli is slightly behind him, and he's already planning on his exit, which is the racing line, which is where Antonelli wants to go. And Russell will claim I've already made that call before we're side by side. So I understand it from both perspectives. For me, Antonelli did enough to warrant space to the point where it should have been investigated. There is no reason why it shouldn't have been. And I've got no idea whether the fact that their teammates dissuaded the stewards from doing so. If that is the case, that is a word I'm not going to use.

Don't do that. That's nonsense. But they should have at least investigated this. And in my opinion, penalised George Russell. I think Hansenelli did enough on this occasion to deserve the space. Problem is the way these rules are written first to the apex on the inside nonsense that we've gone through multiple times with other incidents. The rule set still isn't particularly clear, is it?

There's still too much room for arguing. It's still difficult to know who is properly in the right, who is properly in the wrong. It does feel like when an instant arrives between teammates, there almost isn't a completely impartial stewardess. It's whether you just go, we've seen an on-track instinct, I don't care who you are. We will be looking into this to see if the rules have been followed.

There is a lot of, we're going to make a formal complaint as a team to the stewards. And if they're within the same team, the formal complaint doesn't get made, neither get punished. Both drivers are happy to move on, because obviously they wouldn't want the legal. to be lost, even if it isn't Kimmy Antigelli's and they believe that Antigali was in the right. They wouldn't want to throw away a one-three with Russell potentially picking up a five or ten

second penalty if that was deemed the correct verdict and dropping further down the field. So Antigening a bit of a sticky situation there where arguably he's doing everything he needs to do, gone on the offensive, shown great pace, delivered what looked like it killed by a really great overtake to be shown the door, pushed off the track, and now no one's got his corner in terms of backing him up and possibly giving George Rossler penalty. So I can't say I agree with the way it was handled. No. And the fallout from this, I think, was one of the few pieces of evidence so far we've had this year

of Antonelli still being a teenager. And the head loss he had into turn eight, wasn't it? Yeah, the second chagame. Yeah, he steams into that and has no chance whatsoever of getting the car slowed down at that point. and you feel like he's not trying that move unless turn one has happened. And at this point, there are still two thirds of this sprint to go. He has already proven he can stick to the back of George Russell and give himself an opportunity. Of all of the potential overtaking chances on this track, turn eight doesn't feature in the top three.

Like that's not an area typically where overtakes happen. Let's not say you can't make overtakes there, but if you're Antinelli, you've got to think this through and go with a better spot because ultimately that costs him the spot to Lando Norris. And I think from there, his job was just made way more difficult than it needed to be. I must admit, I was really quite unhappy with how he handled that turn-out move. There's a little apartment that thinks he was never intentionally trying to make the corner with the level of speed that he went through the increase into that chican.

I'm not saying he was trying to cause a damage to George Grasman, saying he was trying to cause a collision. but I think he was so out of his mind with the way that their situation was handling. He was so angry at that moment, that specific moment, that I do think he has essentially lost his control over the car in that moment. And that is something that the team do need to speak to him about because he cannot be driving at 200 miles an hour and risk himself. Russell, people around him,

because he doesn't want to slow down properly for a corner because he's let the emotions get the better of him. He's a young man, he's of coaching, he's get the better of him. We've seen the likes of Hajjar as well, have these lashing out moments where they've let their emotions really take control of them. We need to make sure it's harness the right way and we don't see any more of this behaviour where something's gone wrong. And his reaction is to throw the car into a dangerous situation and not actually gather himself, take a lap to get it together again and use that anger almost to harness a better result rather than lashing out. But my sympathy for Mercedes more than Antonelli is very limited in this, in that, Yes, Antonelli today has, I think, acted like a teenager.

And it shouldn't be much of a surprise, given he is a teenager. But you take the good with the bad. Like, when you make the decision to hire Antonelli, like, as a rookie into the sport last year, and he is now being thrust into this potential championship quest this year, it's already gone well multiple times this year, and it will continue to go well. He'll win races, and who knows, he might win the championship. but the other side of the coin is you will also get episodes like this,

but you should know that going into it. So my sympathy for Mercedes about the, particularly the radio conduct, is pretty limited. I hated the way that they spoke to Anthony Alley over the radio. It felt really patronising. It felt like they were trying to talk to a child at that point. It's kind of, you know, when you're growing up with your parents, and when you go, I want to be treated like an adult.

And so they start talking to you like an adult, but the moment you do something wrong, you're treated like you're the little kid again at home. And that's what it felt like. It felt like the first mistake he properly made that put Mercedes in a difficult position, suddenly he's being spoken to in a way that I didn't love. I feel like there was a level of mutual respect there. It was sexually shut up. We'll talk about this when you get home.

That's kind of the vibe that I got. Didn't love it. I do think they need to be like I prepare themselves better for a tricky situation like this. We probably will repeat itself at some point in the future. He's only 19 years old. is an incredibly high in intensity situation. Mistakes will be made. Pressure will rise.

He's probably going to make a mistake again. Antonelli recovers this somewhat. Damage limitation still on the podium in that race behind Lando Norris, obviously in second place. It was looking like it could be worse at one point after the incident. Lewis Hamilton was putting him under pressure, but ultimately gets P3. George Russell, after this incident,

this has allowed Lando Norris to catch up. Antonelli's still there. What did you make of the fact that Russell couldn't then break away from those two? It was interesting, wasn't it? It was, he was unable to get his brakes and front tires into the right window, which allowed him to maximise performance. And that tells me that with these upgrades that Mercedes have brought in, potentially the initial pace is lightning, you know,

and everyone else is building themselves up. But the moment that the race really gets underway fully, we're talking between 15 and 25 laps into a Grand Prix here, which of course will have multiple times. in tomorrow's race, it feels like McLaren have got the more comfortable race package out of the pair of them. And we're yet to see if that's going to come true, of course,

in the main Grand Prix. But the taster we got showed me that the Mesegis at lower temperatures was struggling, struggling to make sure it was unlocking all of its capabilities, all of its maximum. And the rear banding on the rear left tire of Russell, the grain was huge. It showed you that he was really going through his tires. Now, of course, he was under pressure for the whole Grand Prix.

So he's obviously pushing by a really, was surprised that he and the car were unable to have the insurance to sustain that challenge. Norris a lot closer than I expected it to be. Yeah, it was interesting, especially given it was a juxtaposition between the first sort of five laps where they were so much, both of them, both Mercedes, much quicker than Norris and everyone else behind. And then as soon as Norris is able to catch up, thanks to the Mercedes battling, they aren't able to break away again. And I think Russell will be happy on the one hand because he's taken the eight points, the maximum eight points here, when maybe he wasn't the fastest of the two Mercedes drivers out there.

But that might also worry him to know that he was being pressured by his teammate. He stood up to the challenge. He got the job done, but I'm sure he much would have preferred a race where he was able to demonstrate a pace advantage and win by four seconds or something like that. So he's got the most out of qualifying session so far. he'll be scratching his head a little bit as to why that didn't quite carry over, even though he's won,

in the way that he would have liked in the sprint. We're doing this now slightly in the wrong order, but I also want to talk about maybe their biggest issue so far this season, their starts, they can start now, both cars off the grid properly. Yeah, I think Russell's start in particular

was very encouraging. Antonelli, I figure in a longer run down to term one, he would have been under pressure for P2, but we've seen him drop like five spots. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think he would have dropped one, possibly two, with a longer run down to term one. But yeah, it's encouraging for Mercedes

because that's been the sticking point all year. Yeah, positives and negatives there, that is great that Mercedes are able to work out that problem, but equally as a viewer, that does remove some of that fun that we got from the starts where we suddenly saw the fastest car having to battle its way back through some of its competitors. What did you make of the battle for fourth place down a sixth place featuring the two Ferraris and Oscar Piastri?

To me it looked like Lewis Hamilton pretty racy early on, but struggled towards the end of the race with pressure from Piastri and ultimately LeCler getting on the back of that battle too. Yeah, I think the Clare is out of it this weekend. I'm not going to lie. I think he was able to just hang on the back of that battle, stayed within the overtake zone, of course, the boost mode that allows you to have the extra energy. when you're in one second of the car in front. And he was just sat there. And he ever felt like he was putting pressure fully on Piastri to make a move? It was always just, I'm here, but can't go any further.

Piastri, you know that McLaren is as fast, if not faster than the Ferrari. And we saw that Hamilton got Piastry off the line. So it was always going to be a question of, can the race pace of the McLaren come back against the fast-starting Ferrari? And I think that's fine. Hamilton looks really good so far this weekend, really strong. And the first 10 laps felt great. then the pressure started to build. He handled that really well for a while.

And suddenly he misses the final chican. I think it was on lap 18 or 19. He misses the final chican. Nothing really seems to come of it. No one seems to mention it. He doesn't seem to give a position back going to Piazzi. Skewings haven't brought that up. I'm assuming he gave up the time somewhere and it was fine.

But the move that Piuschri makes on Hamilton is sublime. It is so precise, so well executing. It's so difficult to run a car up alongside that wall in the final corner. not put them in the wall, not get yourself tangled, not go on the grass, and get the exit needed to get the job done. Now, of course, the Claire there has just got the momentum. He's able to swoop through and pick off a slow-moving Hamilton, who's under that pressure from the move from Piastri.

So well done for the Claire taking that position back. I think otherwise he wouldn't have a chance to move up. But Piastri got the job done at the end there, and I was really impressed with it. I was impressed too, but equally just not surprised. It's so typical of what we've seen from him with these clinical overtakes. And I think the start ultimately cost him. Maybe not in terms of position, but at least the opportunity to get in that battle with...

I think he could have been in that top three fight. I think he would have been, honestly, without that start. But, yeah, interesting between fourth and sixth. I have to say, like, we've got Vestappen, who's finished P7 a few seconds back, kind of never really in the fight. Lindblard, after that, picks up a point. I think one of the bigger issues we have with sprints right now, it's a long list, folks.

The old way in which the Sprint format worked, I'm thinking when it was introduced, Sprint used to set the grid for the grace. And it wasn't a perfect system and I wouldn't go back to it. But one of the benefits of it was that everyone had something to fight for. There was always a grid spot available to you if you pulled off an overtake regardless of whether you were in fifth trying to get fourth or you were in 17th trying to get 16th. the issue we have right now with the new regulations is that the field has split out so much, particularly with the top four teams being much better than everyone else. These midfield teams and these back market teams have nothing to fight for in these sprints. How many pit stops did we see?

It was bizarre. But I get it was bizarre, but equally, it kind of just made sense because why wouldn't you if you're Pierre Ghazley or Behrman? We haven't seen that before. To that extent. No, no. You know, we're now, what, four seasons into sprint races? Now, we've done a good few years of sprint races.

And this is the first time I've ever witnessed multiple teams, pitting cars multiple times to get a run on a set of tires to kind of make sure that they've done a full heat system, heat flow through the tie so it's been able for qualifying. The fact that they just abandoned the competitive session, probably about 15 lapsing. It tells you that for 50, 60% of this whole grid, it's a worth us exercise.

And they don't get anything out of it. And that is sad. That's the way it is the moment. And it's not even though like we're talking about 22nd and 21st came into the pits. These guys were like 14th and 15th. Like they were in the mix, but equally they knew they had no chance of points. So you might as well use this for a test session, particularly with the likes of Alex Albin, for example, who basically had no running to this point.

We had, was it four cars start in the pit lane? Oh, I guess it ended up being five, but Stroll wasn't supposed to start there. So we've got Liam Lawson, who didn't even take part. in qualifying. 17th immediately. But that's the problem, right? These teams just don't, and why would they care?

There's just nothing to fight for at the moment for them. What would you propose, Ben? Any initial thoughts? I'm what's all you to get a deep dive here. But first thing, they came to your mind? Go on. Roll something up.

Abolished spreads. Not constructive. That's very constructive. I can't think of anything more constructive than that. Honestly, it's going to be one where we just need to wait for these midfield teams to catch up. I don't know, the dilemma is you either make them more important,

in which case sprints become more important and I don't want that, or you get these midfield scraps over nothing. Something I saw proposed, which I don't know if I agree with, is changing the way that points work and doing a minus one for every point all the way down to the bottom of the grid. So first place would pick up 22 points and 22nd will pick up zero points and you go one, two, three all the way through. So even if you're 15th and you can get up to 13th, you are gaining championship points properly.

I don't know if I agree with it. It would need me to sit down and looking it properly, but it's an interesting proposition. I don't like that just because the winner of the sprint would be getting 22 points. And if you were to perform brilliantly well in the race and pick up the same result of first, you would have put in three times the number of laps to get three more points. I just, yeah, it's not for me. You need some work. Then again, probably not the time.

target market, am I? Did you have a driver of the session for the sprint in particular? Oh, did I have a driver of the session? I'm going to go Limblad, I think. Hold on to that final point. On the hard tyre, was able just to stay clear everyone around him really well. I was really impressed with it. The pace this weekend, especially, but in the spring, I thought he was great. I was pretty impressed by Lando Norris in that Mercedes sandwich. That could have easily gone back to P3. He could have been in that battle between Pastery and the two Ferraris. I felt it was pretty impressive that he was in that mix. It's been good this weekend.

Yeah, he has. And shout out to Colopinto as well, who didn't quite in the end have the pace to get the point, but he at least found his way back into the top 10 and really where we saw him throughout Miami as well. Let's take a quick break. On the other side, we're getting into the qualifying session. Support for today's episode comes from Square,

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TV sets because if you were watching yesterday's qualifying session, you would have seen George Russell take pole position by 0.0-068 ahead of Kimmy Antonelli. You're watching today's qualifying session, you would have seen exactly the same thing. It is a Mercedes front row, and just like yesterday, it's a McLaren 3-4 with Lando Norris ahead of Oscar Piastri. Should we start with Mercedes here? George Russell gets the same result, probably not quite as simply as he got it the first time. No, I know.

It's like, oh, I'm going to walk down the road to the shops, but instead of just going the easy way and walking down the pavement to the shops, I've decided to parkour over the neighbour's houses, you've got to the same result, but why did you make it so difficult for yourself? Yeah, yeah, right? Like, I don't understand why you've decided to make it, well, why he's deciding to make it so difficult. He was clearly a little bit surprised with his team radio when he came over saying how all of a sudden out of nowhere, you jump up the timing lines and your, your on pole position. It felt like he was expecting to be able to pull that result out.

Abandon's his first run of the Q3 session, which was interesting, but of course had a mistake where the grip seemed to really fall away from him going through. I think it was turned six and seven. And then has to, leaving all on the field, essentially on the final run, which he does. And he's unable to be beaten by his teammate again.

So this is his third pole position here in a row? A fourth. Fourth thing a row. Well, third main plus the sprint. My boy loves Canada, doesn't he? So, yeah, I was mighty impressive that lap he was able to put in.

But before that, never look comfortable. And actually, from just a, you know, a spectator's point of view, a little bit disappointed. Like it has ended up exactly the same way. Because in Q2, when we had Isaac Hager sitting at the top of the table,

Lewis Hamilton next to him, I was thinking, this is great. I'm really excited. This is looking really fun. And it's just turned out to be the same top four we had yesterday. Yeah, weirdly, I still had a lot of fun in the way that we got there. It was a really good day of F1, I thought. It was still a surprise, not a surprise, but it wasn't a foregone conclusion that we were going to get this.

And I think, you know, Russell and Antonelli really brought it out at the end of that session. Like you say, it's just a very difficult way of getting there from George Russell's perspective. Didn't look particularly great in the early part of qualifying. It looked all right as we got into, you know, the latter part of Q2. And then like you say, with Q3, the first run doesn't go to plan. But that almost encourages Mercedes to do something different because we know with how close to the walls are here. Yellow flags, red flags, very common. And what they didn't want was essentially George Russell to get caught with no lap time on the board and him to start 10th. So they

essentially sent Russell out first. No one else out on the track at that point. What that allowed him to do, I believe, was to do push lap, cool lap, push lap to end the session. And he was one of the very few drivers, maybe the only driver, who had the time to do that exact plan. I think. I think a couple of drivers managed to... Hamilton was doing the same thing, but bailed, of course. Yes, yeah. I just think actually it might have worked in Russell's favour that... I think so.

They decided to get him out there for a reason that they wouldn't have been expecting. That first lap that he did on that last run made a lot of sense in that he was, I was about three temps down on the best time, but he just needed a bank... Like, he needed something on the board that would have been competitive enough to get ahead of Limbaud, Lecler maybe. And then he's able to go for it on that final run. And it's a great lap. I thought Antonelli might have had it with the lap that we saw him,

I was just to say on board, but we saw a lot of from the side of the track. I think he kicked up dirt about three times on that lap. So he was really going for it. And yet Russell's just about been able to eke out that performance. Yeah, two comments from me. won this Canadian Grand Prix. The track really makes it feel exciting with the dirt being kicked up

that we're seeing so often. It feels really visceral. And I like, you're really there. The second thing is, Pirelli, why are these soft tires lasting until the end of mankind? They just never stop being competitive. Quite honestly,

because the softer tires that we brought last year aren't being used anymore. So these are the softest in the range. You saw Perez run the whole sprint race like a set of soft tires and he was competitive for the entire sprint race. I didn't actually comment on the sprint, but I think Perez's performance on those soft tires,

I know that's strength of his, probably led the top few teams to go, maybe we should have put one of our drivers on the soft tire. We might have actually been a good show. We might see it in the Grand Prix. Yeah, who knows. But yes, they do seem to go on forever. I don't actually mind that in qualifying sessions because...

I like the repeat lap, stay out. knock-a-ming, you know? Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, Russell, we're ahead of Antonelli by the same margin as what we had yesterday. The McLaren's in third and fourth were actually a little bit closer than what they were yesterday. Sure. I mean, still exactly the same though, aren't they? Unfortunately, Landon Norris just pipping Oscar Piacry in terms of that teammate battle there. And in theory, Piaschry's got to look over his shoulder again because Lewis Hamilton could once again become the fast starter. We could have quite literally repeat of what happened at the start of the Grand Prix,

happening in the main Grand Prix. And this is the issue with sprint races. The fact that we have seen the same top five in spring. We might see the same top five again in the spring in the race coming true. I don't want to see the same race unfold. Even with a slight change set up, you've got to hope we get a little bit of rain or something. But fair play to McLaren, it felt like a gang throughout this qualifying session.

They were there or thereabouts, but never setting the track alight. you know, you had high-shot pop-up, as I mentioned, Hamilton regularly on the front row. Both the Mercedes guys are always there or they're about. And it felt like they were kind of just missing out. And yet, once again, they'd be able to be both Red Bulls, both Ferraris, comfortable in terms of them being the closest competitor to the Mercedes guys. And ultimately, of course, they would have liked to have had one of their drivers, at least on the front row of the grid. And they came close, but no cigar on this occasion. I think the good news for them is, with the sprint, we saw that it's,

not just going to be, it's not going to be Mercedes running off into the distance. There is a chance that doesn't happen with what we saw in terms of pace from Lando Norris. So I think this qualifying session became quite important to make sure that at least that second row was locked out. And therefore, they are in touching distance if we get a similar sort of pace to what we had today. And like you say, we might get some rain as well. So as we know, when rain sets in, people think when we have rain, like it becomes more unpredictable and therefore easier to overtake. It often works the other way in that it's really tricky to get overtakes done in wet weather conditions. So getting a couple of extra grid spots is always handy.

Do you think there was, with some of the drivers, we're going to discussing a minute, a risk that they set the car up for a wet weather setup. And that's why we've seen a bigger gap than expected between some teammates. I don't know. It should, based on the likelihood of rain, I would be shocked if these teams and these drivers haven't at least taken that into account, at least somewhat. But they can't have gone full cent towards a wet weather setup because if you look at the lap times, they're that close, you know. But also just in terms of like what the lap times were versus yesterday's sprint session

in that George Russell's poll time was just about in the one minute 12. So I think it was a one minute 12, 9. The poll today was four times faster than that. So they are still for a dry setup going for it. it will be intriguing to see if any of these drivers have particularly gone for something wet weather-based. Fastest in the second part of qualifying was Isaac Hadjar, and whilst Verstappen did pip him right at the end, it was pipped, it was a quarter of a tenth or so, but both of them

again a little bit closer to the front. We were looking more at sort of five, six temps yesterday, looking at about three temps today, showing a little bit more. Hagjar needed this. After Miami, That was a Vastappen versus Sengoda level performance, I think. Well, you know, the crash in the main Grand Prix, of course, but the qualifying gap was just extraordinarily large. To turn up to Canada and be right with him in every session so far, and to only be half a tenth away in the main qualifying, I think is spectacular.

That's what Red Bull are looking for every single racing weekend. And more often than not, Hajar is delivering at the moment. I'm really impressed with this great session from him. Red Bull's still having their problems, though. You know, Hervastappan complaining across the weekend about tires feeling like they're on ice they can't get them in the right window the straight line speed I believe

for stabbing use a rather lovely expletive so I'll just say it's buggered and they're not able to really maximise the performance out of the car at the moment but I do think if they can just adjust a few of these tweaks so they can really get the car operating how they want to I think it could actually be a very competitive package

I do think there may be two or three Grand Prix away from entering the fray with Ferrari McLaren comfortably I don't think they're that far off anymore It sounds similar to Ferrari in that they're just losing a bit too much speed at the end of these straights. And if they can sort that, they might be on to something. Hadjad, I'm so impressed by. Not only to get that one minute 12-9 in the second part of qualifying to go fastest there,

but then to be as close as he was in Q3 as well. That would be impressive in its own right. The fact that he kind of completed the sprint, but he was out of the running because of an issue and was a few laps down. And then they're quite late getting him out in Q1 as well. And yet he's still able to put it all together. And it wasn't, you know, the lap he did in Q2 wasn't a one-off. Like he did look pretty reasonable.

He was fourth in the first part of qualifying, where Vestappen was down, I think, in ninth place. So it wasn't a one-off. Very impressed from him. And obviously, Vestappen does what Vestappen does at the end of Q3 to get. get it just about in front of his team, mate. I'm interested to see if they can at least get in the fight. I'm very interested. I'm very.

My favorite bit about this from Hager is, I don't know if you cocked it, as he's coming up to the line, throwing his head forward to try and get the momentum of the car. Yes. So I couldn't work out whether it was that or it was like he has not done the final corner as well as he would have liked and almost like frustration. Like, ah. I saw it as him like, go.

Yeah, it could be. Yeah. What about elsewhere? We saw Limblud is ninth again. Colopinto this time is the one that joined them in Q3 rather than Carlos signs. But I think it's looking fairly similar in terms of a becking order, right? It is. But two time gaps that I want to comment on there between the teammates that you just mentioned,

Limblog 4 tenths fast in than Lawson, but Colopinto, four tenths fast in the gasoline, in that Q2 to get him through to the Q3. Colopinto's really rocked up in the last two Grand Prix. He's found something. He's worked something out in these cars. And suddenly he's able to operate at an equal, if not maybe better level than what Gas fee is able to do

in the last couple of Grand Prix. So fair play to them, big props. Sikes were able to maximize the way he was in the spring part of the weekend. But hey, you know, it's tricky up there. There's a lot of cars very competitive. The other one that I think deserves a shout-out is just missing out. at Holkenberg, who again, I think my man has had six 11th place qualifying positions in the first eight qualifying sessions of the season. Australia 11th, China 11th, China Spring 11th, Japan 13th,

Miami, Spring 12th, Miami 11th, Canada Spring 11th, Canada Main Grand Prix, 11th. My guy has made it his own. Also, it's irrelevant because he's going to be 16th after the first lap. Same thing again in the sprint. These two like... just keep going backwards. What were they like 15th and 16th after the first lap or something when they were 11th and 12th? They lined up like 12th and 13th at the end of the race again. It's so frustrating seeing Audi be so poor at starts. It's just giving up so many positions for them when they have worked so hard to get up to the top of Q2 in these qualifying sessions.

I also wanted to shout out Colopinto as well for getting into Q3. Certainly after the sprint, I think I can't remember the exact gap between him and Lindblad at the end of the sprint, but he would have been thinking, if I didn't have to make a few overtakes to get into this spot, maybe I would have had enough. My objective for qualifying has to be to eliminate the number of cars between us,

because we know that racing balls has been very handy over one lap, particularly with Limblud at the wheel this weekend. Now they are next to each other on the grid. So Colopinto's got a fancier chance of P9 and then taking advantage of anything else that happens in front. And yeah, like I said, like three and a half, four attempts between those two and their respective teammates.

Lawson and Gasly this weekend for different reasons, just not really having clean running. You think Hamilton picks up a penalty for blocking gasoline qualifying? Wouldn't surprise me. But who knows, because they've got about 12 other things that they refuse to look at during the session. All Fernando Longstrel-Relier-Relongstrel-related, apparently. Yeah, yeah. as if it really matters at this point. Oh, bless them.

Anything else outside of the top 10 that you wanted to comment on? If we're going to talk Q1, I want to talk about Behrman beating Ockon with a broken car. That's not a good look for Esquimann. Yeah, I mean, the margin itself is the worrying bit. My theory is that the thing on the side of the car was probably a misnomer. I don't think that was actually hampering him at all in that I think Berman's Q2 lap was the same as his Q1 lap after presumably they fixed it.

So I don't think that maybe played into it. But even so that's four attempts again between Berman and Ockon. And we said yesterday with Lawson and Albin not being part of Q1, that maybe one of the hash drivers would have been eliminated in a more normal session. Here we go. And it's Ocon that's on the wrong. side of it. It's happened.

And the trend continues with teammates that got limiting running in practice, right? Gassley, of course, behind his teammate. We mentioned Lorset, of course, behind his teammate. Alex Album, who you just mentioned, I think was six tenths away from Carlos Sites, Gweng. The flag dropped at the end of Q1. I had it at nine times, to be honest. Was it nine cents?

I could be wrong, but I... It was... No, you're right. No, you're correct, six stems. But still, six-tenths is still a drastic divide between those guys. And I'm hoping that it's because there's not something up right. in the car for Alex Albin. And it's due to that lack of ranging in comparison.

I hope if it's raw pacing, Alex was comfy. That's a big problem. Also, big up Fernando Alonzo. One second faster than your teammate gets you two spots. Good job. Asim Martin. Yeah, great stuff. I had lack as well.

Bottas didn't get that last run in, but Perez. Perez has been good. I only got the penalty, but he's good. Did you see that, by the way, in the sprint? What, they're pushing in wide? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, a little bit spicy.

Probably shouldn't do that, should you? Probably don't do that. Those two, get them away from each other, separate them at all costs. How is it always there? Tricky buggers. Yeah. Driver of the session here. Oh, tricky one.

I think it might have to go Russell, you know. I think the way he pulled it out the bag right at that last moment, when they were so close together, I think the top seven separated by three tents, and it wasn't looking great for him at the end. He did a great job getting over the line. Yeah, I think I'm going to go Russell today as well. Similar contenders really to yesterday.

Again, Lynn Blard's probably got all he can from the session. Colopinto getting into Q3 as well. But I think Russell maximising what he can do in that car, matching what he did yesterday deserves a lot of credit. It's also probably the first time that Hamilton has been properly better than Charlerc, I think, across our full session. So the fact it's a tenth between them, I think actually, Leclair might secretly take that.

It was kind of the same yesterday, to be honest, wasn't it? I think, again, it was just under a 10th yesterday. And it was like, that's the best it was looking, all qualifying session. So there is still some magic in that Lecler car. But yeah, he's not particularly happy this weekend. Not loving it. No.

Well, we know that Ferrari in the past has gone very well in the wet, which we might have tomorrow. So we'll have to see if we're reviewing a rainy Canadian Grand Prix tomorrow. I just want a sprinkle. Just want a little sprinkle. of rain, you know, just for like 10 laps or something. It'll be fun. It'll be fun, I promise. Do join us, folks, after the main Grand Prix.

Sit down, watch it, have a little drink or have a cup of tea, have a little snack. Get in the Discord. We're in there chatting away, and we'd love to chat with you as well. It's always a good bit of fun, good vibes in there. Links to the description, as I mentioned. So join us. And then come back and listen to the Race Review, which will go live on Sunday evening, UK time, if you're in the US, of course, it'll probably be late afternoon, early evening for you guys.

So choose straight in. And then if your extra content, Patreon. Patreon is available to you with Power Rankings and if you do subscribe, you massively help out this show and allow us to create more and better content to give straight back to you. So thanks to everyone that already does.

Join us for the Power Rankings for Canada where we go through every single driver and what we thought they did over the main Grand Prix. So we'll see you then. In the meantime, I'm Samuel Sage. And I've been Ben Hocking. And remember, keep breaking links.