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Reactions from the Team
1 min
Laurent Mekies sums up our weekend in Canada
1 min
Our Team's Race Reaction from the Canadian Grand Prix
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Max powers to first podium of 2026 in Montreal as Isack takes P5
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Race Report
Max Verstappen took a hard fought first podium finish of the season at the end of a thrilling Canadian Grand Prix that also saw Isack Hadjar overcome a brace of penalties to take fifth place, his best finish of the campaign to date.
The second half of Max’s race was defined by an edge-of-the-seat tussle with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and though tyre temperature struggles on the Medium tyres meant he couldn’t hold the Ferrari back, the Dutchman was pleased to be back in the top three.
“I had some cool battles out there,” he said afterwards. “Racing back up front is always better, right? And for us to have our first podium, of course, is really positive. Very happy with that. Cool battle with Lewis as well at the end, and on a weekend where it’s not that easy to get things right, for us to be on the podium here is extremely positive.”
The race got off to a stuttering start, with two extra formation laps, but when the lights eventually went out Max got away well to hold sixth place as Lando Norris, on Intermediate tyres, took the lead ahead of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. Behind them Isack was passed by Charles Leclerc and dropped to eighth.
The order quickly changed, however. The rain expected ahead of the start failed to materialise and McLaren’s gamble on Inters failed to pay off. Oscar Piastri pitted at the end of lap one and he was followed a lap later by Lando. That boosted Max to fourth place, with Isack in P6.
The lead changed again on lap 6 when Russell flew past Antonelli on the run to the final chicane. Behind them, Max was making moves stick. At the start of lap 9 he closed right up to Lewis and with more pace in hand he muscled past the Ferrari driver into Turn 1 to claim third place.
Max set about trying to shake Lewis but as the first stint unfolded the Ferrari driver stuck to the back of the RB22’s gearbox. Max wasn’t putting a foot wrong, however, and though the gap hovered at half a second, there was no way the Ferrari driver could find a way past. And eventually it was Lewis who faltered, with the Ferrari driver outbraking himself into the hairpin to hand Max an almost five-second cushion as they headed to one-third distance. Behind them, Isack was shadowing Charles Leclerc, but the Monegasque driver was resolute and as the first stint evolved Isack found himself stuck in sixth place.
At the front, Kimi and George were battling furiously but on lap 30 George slowed, went off track and stopped at Turn 9, his race ended by a PU failure. With the Briton’s car stopped on track, a VSC was deployed and that sparked a flurry of pit stops. Max made the switch to Mediums, as did Kimi, and the Dutchman emerged in P2 behind the Italian, but almost eight seconds clear of Lewis.
Isack also made the switch to Mediums during the VSC and the pit crew’s alertness allowed the Frenchman to get out ahead of Leclerc, in P4. The Ferrari driver was quickly on the attack, however, and despite some robust defending by Isack, Charles made a move stick on lap 39 to reclaim fourth place. The Stewards ruled that Isack’s defence had been too strong and he was handed a 10-second penalty for more than one change of direction.
Further ahead, Max was reporting problems with keeping temperature in his Medium compound tyres. Behind him, Lewis began to close the gap and on lap 52 Max had just two seconds in hand over the third-placed Ferrari driver.
Max’s defence was aided the following lap when another VSC was thrown to clear debris at Turn 11. Under the caution, the Team chose to bring Isack in to serve his penalty and fit a set of Soft tyres. He rejoined in fifth and even though he was handed a second penalty – a Stop-and-Go for failing to heed yellow flags – he had enough time in hand over Franco Colapinto to keep fifth to the flag.
With 10 laps left Max’s defence was beginning to look solid, but Lewis was biding his time. On lap 62 he attacked again and this time the four-time World Champion could not resist. Though he fought back and pushed his great rival all the way the Dutchman crossed the line in third place, just 0.5s second behind, taking his first podium finish of 2026 as the Team banked 27 points from its strongest weekend of the year.
We have to keep working and improving better than our competition! That’s the target. But we’ll see over the coming races what we can do.
