The 2026 Canadian Grand Prix delivered a dramatic afternoon of racing, leaving the grid shaken up with structural retirements, software gremlins, and aggressive data gathering. However, the drama didn’t stop when the chequered flag waved, as the FIA stewards had an incredibly busy Sunday evening sorting out a series of on-track incidents, collisions, and bizarre formation lap antics.
Here is your fully updated breakdown of how yesterday’s race unfolded, including the official FIA penalties handed out in Montreal.
The Big Headlines
Heartbreak for Russell: A Power Unit DNF & An FIA Fine
George Russell looked completely untouchable all weekend. After snapping up pole positions for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix, and winning the Sprint, his Sunday was shaping up to be a masterclass. The opening 30 laps provided a spectacular, wheel-to-wheel duel with his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, trading the lead multiple times.
Catastrophe struck on Lap 30 when a sudden Power Unit failure forced Russell to retire while leading. Frustrated by the sudden exit, a crestfallen Russell threw his cockpit headrest onto the track area as he climbed out of the W17.
FIA Verdict: The stewards took a dim view of the headrest throwing, noting it created a potentially dangerous situation on track. Russell was handed a €5,000 fine (suspended for 12 months) after expressing his deep embarrassment and apologizing to the marshals and stewards.
Leclerc Slumps to P4 Amid Software Woes
For Charles Leclerc, the Canadian GP was a severe exercise in damage control. Ferrari struggled heavily with persistent electronic and software anomalies on the SF-26 throughout the race, preventing Leclerc from unlocking the car’s true performance. Despite being physically hamstrung by his steering wheel displays and engine mapping configurations, Leclerc put together a highly resilient drive to bring the car home in P4 salvaging critical points on a day where he lacked the smooth technical platform to fight Antonelli or even a hard-charging Lewis Hamilton.
Bottas and Cadillac: Driving a Rolling Laboratory
Valtteri Bottas and the Cadillac team had a miserable day on paper, ending in a DNF after 25 laps. However, their weekend was less about the final position and entirely about real-world research and development. Bottas spent his time on track running extensive live tests targeting the chassis’ stubborn body roll issues.
With Cadillac trying to dial in their mechanics and aerodynamics for the high-intensity European leg of the season, Bottas’s car was effectively used as a moving instrument. While the physical retirement cuts their track time short, the data gathered on body roll and mechanical suspension transfer will be foundational for upcoming upgrades.
Official FIA Penalty Round-Up
The stewards’ room was packed post-race as they untangled a highly unusual starting sequence and a major midfield collision:
- Oscar Piastri (10-Second Time Penalty): McLaren gambled poorly by starting on intermediate tires, forcing an early stop for slicks that dropped them into a furious midfield battle. Piastri’s afternoon got worse when he misjudged an overtake at the hairpin, tagging the rear of Alex Albon’s Williams and forcing Albon into retirement. The FIA handed Piastri a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision, dropping him to a P11 finish—just outside the points.
- Nico Hülkenberg (Suspended Stop/Go Penalty & Reprimand): Prior to the race start, a delayed grid sequence caused by Arvid Lindblad’s broken-down Racing Bulls required an extra formation lap. Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg was slow getting away from his slot and fell behind Liam Lawson. Because Hülkenberg crossed the Safety Car 1 (SC1) line out of position, regulations technically mandated a pit-lane start or a Stop-and-Go penalty. Citing “unusual mitigating circumstances” regarding the chaotic formation lap, the FIA chose to issue a reprimand and a suspended Stop/Go penalty for the rest of the season.
- Liam Lawson (Official Reprimand): Lawson was also swept up in the formation lap confusion. Stewards noted that the New Zealander moved “sooner than expected” around the slow-moving Hülkenberg when he should have waited longer, earning him an official reprimand alongside Hülkenberg.
Constructor Standings & Points Rundown
Despite the post-race penalties, the point-scoring positions remained largely intact, cementing a nightmare double-DNF/zero-point day for McLaren and a historic breakthrough podium for Lewis Hamilton in his Ferrari.
Here is exactly how many points each team added to their total yesterday:
| Team | Points Added | Race Result Details |
| Mercedes | +25 | Antonelli took the victory (25 pts) after surviving the battle with Russell, who scored 0 pts due to his DNF. |
| Ferrari | +30 | Hamilton secured a brilliant P2 (18 pts) ahead of Verstappen, while Leclerc managed P4 (12 pts) despite software issues. |
| Red Bull Racing | +25 | Max Verstappen took his first podium of the season in P3 (15 pts), with Isack Hadjar executing a strong P5 finish (10 pts). |
| Alpine | +12 | A double-points haul with Franco Colapinto securing P6 (8 pts) and Pierre Gasly adding P8 (4 pts). |
| Racing Bulls | +6 | Liam Lawson put on a defensive clinic to secure P7, adding a vital 6 points to their season tally. |
| Williams | +2 | Carlos Sainz Jr. salvaged a P9 finish (2 pts), while Alex Albon suffered a DNF. |
| Haas | +1 | Ollie Bearman rounded out the top ten in P10, grabbing the final available single point. |
| McLaren | 0 | A complete disaster. Triggered by a poor intermediate tire gamble, Lando Norris DNF’d, and Piastri finished P11 following his 10-second penalty. |
| Audi | 0 | Gabriel Bortoleto (P13) and Nico Hülkenberg (P12) finished outside the points. |
| Aston Martin | 0 | Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso both finished well outside of point contention. |
| Cadillac | 0 | Sergio Pérez finished laps down, and Bottas DNF’d while running technical chassis tests. |
