Tag Archives: Franco Colapinto

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Antonelli wins fourth on the trot in Canada as frustrated Russell DNFs; Hamilton makes late pass on Verstappen for P2; McLaren gamble on tires and come up snake eyes

Mercedes rising star Kimi Antonelli prevailed for the victory at a chaotic Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, surviving a fierce 30-lap intra-team battle with his most serious rival, George Russell, that was spicier than a vindaloo curry and then sailing to an easy win after Russell’s Silver Arrow called it quits on Lap 31 of this 68-lap contest. No other cars could challenge Antonelli en route to his fourth victory on the trot and the teen sensation bumped up his points lead over Russell to 43 after five rounds in 2026. Russell’s DNF opened the door to second and third place wide open and Ferarri’s Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had a ding dong battle for second place as then laps ran down. After hunting his old rival’s Red Bull over the course of several circuits, Hamilton was finally able to overtake the Dutch master on Lap 62 while using his full momentum from the start finish straight and steaming past into Turn 1. Verstappen did his best to regain P2 over the course of the final seven laps but Hamilton was able to keep the position for his and the Scuderia’s best finish of the young season. Despite being relegated to third on the day, that final podium spot was also Verstappen and Red Bull’s best finish so far in 2026.The second Ferrari’ of Charles Leclerc was never quite on top of the vicissitudes of Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in the masterful manner of Hamilton, a seven-time winner here, and came home a respectable but rather forlorn P4. Verstappen’s teammate Isack Hadjar survived a raft of penalties to take a solid P5, making it a strong double points day for what has been an inconsistent Red Bull campaign so far.

On the other side of the coin, McLaren had a disastrous day, beginning when they decided that the damp but rapidly drying conditions on Île Notre Dame warranted a gamble on wet weather Intermediate Pirellis, making them the only team in the top ten starters to see things that way. While the Papaya duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri did get away quickly from their slick grid spots, with Norris even passing both Mercedes for the lead on Lap 1, any benefit was going to be extremely short lived and the team baled as the track was clearly going to be dry for the foreseeable future. Piastri, who had been complaining about the risky tire choice from even before the formation lap, came into the pit for a switch to slick Mediums before completing his first race lap and Norris followed on the end of Lap 2. From there, McLaren were well and truly behind the eight-ball, with both drivers now having to fight their way back into the points after  qualifying on the second row. Things went from bad to worse when Norris was forced to retire on Lap 40 with a terminal gearbox issue and Piastri, after an incident-filled attempt to flight back to the front, including incurring a ten-second penalty for punting Alexander Albon’s Williams out of the race at the hairpin midway through, could only manage to scramble his way back up to P11. McLaren will be keen to turn the page on their pointless Canadian nightmare as they head to another grand casino in Monaco in two weeks. They’ll be hoping their self-made luck runs better at the principality than the unforced snake eyes they rolled in Montreal.

Top 10 finishers of the Canadian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:28:15.758 68 1 1:14.210 (68)
2

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +10.768 68 1 —
3

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +11.276 68 1 —
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +44.151 68 1 —
5

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +1 Lap 67 3 —
6

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +1 Lap 67 1 —
7

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 67 1 —
8

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +1 Lap 67 1 —
9

Carlos Sainz

 Williams +1 Lap 67 2 —
10

Oliver Bearman

 Haas +1 Lap 67 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight as the F1 circus heads to its most glamorous venue, the Monaco Street Circuit The cars will wend their way through the famously tight streets of the principality for the calendar’s slowest race where qualifying is essentially everything. With Anotnelli looking imperious, it will be interesting to see how the young Italian can pedal it in such tight quarters, and with Russell desperate for a bit of hope, Hamilton and Verstappen surging and the home favorite Monegasque Leclerc. Hope to se you then to find out how it all shakes out!

 

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Russell nabs pole at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve with last-second flier, Antonelli P2 as Mercedes lock out front row; McLaren claim second row with Norris ahead of Piastri, P3 to P4

Having already aggressively diced with and prevailed over his Mercedes teammate in the Sprint race, George Russell came from down in tenth place to seize pole at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve with a stunning final flying lap during Saturday Qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. Desperate to reestablish his championship aspirations and get back on terms with his points-leading Silver Arrows stablemate, Kimi Antonelli, Russell was all arms and elbows in the Sprint en route to victory there, earning the ire of the young Italian in the process, and then pulled one out of the bag in the dying moments of Q3 to relegate Antonelli to second on the grid here in Montreal. The opening lap battles between the two Mercedes men should set the tone for a potentially epic internecine fight for glory that could well end in tears for one or both men and potentially open the door for another contender to take advantage of any potential race-altering contacts between the two lead Mercs.

Chief among those trailing rivals appear to be a resurgent McLaren, whose tandem of reigning champion Lando Norris and the always capable Oscar Piastri steadily progressed on pace throughout quali and put themselves firmly ahead of both Ferraris with a P3 for Norris and a P4 for Piastri.  While the McLaren duo couldn’t quite match the pace of mighty Mercedes, team Papaya are inching closer to parity with some already significant early season upgrades. Lewis Hamilton flew the flag for Ferrari at a circuit he loves and where he has seven career victories. While his hopes for pole faded as Mercedes and McLaren showed their true one-lap pace, he put in a time good enough for a solid P5. That was quite a bit more rapid than his normally equal stablemate, Charles Leclerc, who struggled throughout qualifying with the balance of his Prancing Horse and ended up merely P8 on the time sheets. The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar split the Scuderia in P6 and P7 respectively, despite Verstappen’s vociferous gripes about the abilities of his RB22. Rounding out the top ten qualifiers for Canada, rookie Arvid Lindblad pedaled his Racing Bull to an impressive P9 and Franco Colapinto was the lead Alpine in P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Canadian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:13.953 1:13.079 1:12.578 24
2

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:13.380 1:13.076 1:12.646 24
3

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:13.503 1:13.049 1:12.729 28
4

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:13.559 1:13.285 1:12.781 29
5

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:13.767 1:13.041 1:12.868 27
6

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:14.067 1:13.479 1:12.907 23
7

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:13.654 1:12.975 1:12.935 22
8

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:13.825 1:13.496 1:12.976 29
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:13.895 1:13.548 1:13.280 28
10

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine 1:14.466 1:13.857 1:13.697 27

Complete qualifying results available via Formula.com.

Sprint Race results are here.

Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix airs live beginning at 4pm Eastern on AppleTV and Netflix here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Russell can keep Antonelli behind him or if the two come to grief amidst their increasingly heated rivalry and open the door to another contender to take victory!

2024 F1 Grand Prix of the United States — Results & aftermath

Ferrari ambush rivals in Austin as Leclerc surges to victory, Sainz P2; Verstappen holds off Norris for last podium spot to extend Championship lead

After being flummoxed and frustrated by their lack of pace in Saturday’s Sprint race and Grand Prix Qualifying, Ferrari unlocked what they thought they had all along in Sunday’s United States Grand Prix at the beautiful, flowing Circuit of the Americas. Charles Leclerc came from P4 on the grid to overtake both the pole-sitting McLaren of Lando Norris and the P2 Red Bull of Max Verstappen, as well as his P3 teammate Carlos Sainz, on the exit of the steeply uphill Turn 1. Norris and Verstappen, with the tunnel vision of the two main Drivers’ Championship contenders, took their personal battle out wide there, with Norris taking evasive action into the runoff, allowing Leclerc to scamper through the open space unimpeded and instantly take the lead of this 56-lap contest on the opening lap. Verstappen recovered enough to keep Sainz at bay and maintain P2 but Norris lost enough momentum to relegate him to P4 behind the Spaniard’s Prancing Horse. The frantic action continued until not long after DRS was enabled  when Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, starting on the Hard Pirelli tires after a poor qualifying result saw him mired down in P17 on the grid, lost it heading into Turn 18 and beached his Silver Arrow in the gravel trap there. In an abrupt instant, the seven-time champ’s day came to a premature end and a Safety Car was deployed to retrieve the stricken Mercedes.

When racing resumed towards the end of Lap 5, Leclerc was just able to keep Verstappen’s charging Red Bull behind him and then attempt to build a gap from the point utilizing his SF24’s superior performance at this track. The car worked like a charm for the Monegasque and by Lap 20 he had pulled a whopping 8-second lead over the Dutch Master. The Ferrari pit wall then pulled their own successful strategy maneuver by calling in Sainz on Lap 22 for his first pit stop for fresh Pirellis, a swap off the opening-stint Mediums onto the durable Hards. The Scuderia braintrust were hoping the undercut here in Austin would be as powerful as their simulations, with Red Bull waiting until Lap 26 to pull Verstappen in. Indeed, it worked a treat for Sainz when Verstappen’s now Hard-shod car came out behind the Spaniard, Sainz having been able to put in some impressive laps on fresh rubber to build his advantage in the intervening laps. With enough of a cushion and perhaps anticipating that Verstappen might not be their main challenger this day, Leclerc came in a lap later for his own fresh Hards, emerging from the pits in P3, still ahead of his teammate and behind the yet-to-pit McLaren duo of Norris and Oscar Piastri .

McLaren continued to stay out over the next several laps, hoping that track position and running longer than their key rivals would give them the decisive fresh tire advantage in the race’s closing stanza. But when Leclerc made easy work of Piastri for P2 on Lap 31 Team Papaya new that it was time to pull the pin. Continue reading →

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Qualifying results

Leclerc claims pole in chaotic Baku qualifying; Piastri edges Sainz for P2 but Norris knocked out in Q1 shocker; Perez out-qualifies Verstappen for once, P4 to P6

On a fascinating and chaotic day of Saturday qualifying for the Azerbaijan Gran Prix at the always challenging Baku City Circuit it was Ferrari’s Chalres Leclerc who carried the momentum from his dream win at Monza two weeks ago and converted it into pole position for Sunday’s Grand Prix. The Monegasque’s excellent run of qualifying form at Baku also continued, as he earned his fourth consecutive pole here. Leclerc, however, has never concerted those into wins in Azerbaijan, something he will be more than eager to do come race day tomorrow. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri slotted in alongside the lead Ferrari with a time good enough for P2, while Leclerc’s Scuderia stablemate Carlos Sainz laid down the third fastest lap in Q3. Unfortunately for McLaren and their highest placed driver, Lando Norris was unceremoniously bounced out of Q1 after some confusion over lifting for a yellow flag that appeared in actuality to be the “slow down” white flag. Starting from a lowly P16, Norris and his brain trust will have it all to do tomorrow to try and keep his points pursuit of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on track. The young English contender will likely need help from a Safety Car and /or Red Flag, plus some canny strategy calls from the pit wall to get a decent result.

Speaking of Red Bull and Verstappen, it was another bewildering day for the Dutch master, as teammate Sergio Perez firmly bested him in quali, P4 to P6. It was the first time this season that the Mexican veteran, who is fighting to stay in his Red Bull seat after a massive midseason slump, has out-qualified his championship-leading teammate. Mercedes’ George Russell split the Red Bull’s with the fifth fatstest time, clinching the season’s qualifying battle with his highly decorated teammate Lewis Hamilton, 13 to 4. Hamilton could only muster P7 on the day, though the seven-time World Champion has a habit of coming good in the races. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso over-performed his rather tepid mount to the tune of a P8 starting spot, while raw rookie Franco Colapinto go the better of his senior Williams teammate Alex Albon in only his second F1 effort, P9 to P10. Colapinto, who was drafted into the team to replace the struggling American Logan Seargeant at Monza, has looked impressive throughout the weekend at this rather daunting circuit. He was also helped by Albon not being able to get a final lap due to inexplicably leaving the pits with the airbox fan still attached. It remains to be seen if Albon will face any penalties for tomorrow’s race due to that obvious unsafe release.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Azerbaijan GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:42.775

1:42.056

1:41.365

20

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:43.033

1:42.598

1:41.686

19

3

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

1:43.357

1:42.503

1:41.805

23

4

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:43.213

1:42.263

1:41.813

15

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:43.139

1:42.329

1:41.874

20

6

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:43.097

1:42.042

1:42.023

20

7

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:43.089

1:42.765

1:42.289

22

8

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

1:43.472

1:42.426

1:42.369

19

9

43

Franco Colapinto

Williams Mercedes

1:43.138

1:42.473

1:42.530

20

10

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:42.899

1:42.840

1:42.859

19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race aires live on ESPN beginning at 7 am Eastern here in the States. With the grid jumbled and a lot of drivers out of position, it should be an action packed start that Leclerc and Piastri will look to stay ahead of in pursuit of victory. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!