Hamilton 'all smiles' & Antonelli 'not afraid to fight' - driver ratings

Kimi Antonelli (right) replaced Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes when the seven-time world champion moved to Ferrari in 2025
- Published
Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli secured his fourth consecutive win of the season with victory at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Italian teenager battled with team-mate George Russell for the lead but he was given a clear run to the chequered flag when Briton Russell, who beat Antonelli in the sprint race on Saturday, retired from the grand prix.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton finished second, overtaking Red Bull's Max Verstappen to take the runners-up spot, while the Dutchman claimed his first podium of the campaign in third.
World champion Lando Norris was also a DNF in Montreal, with the McLaren driver's day ended by a suspected gearbox failure.
The title battle finally came alive - then Antonelli took control
- Published1 hour ago
Antonelli wins again to capitalise on Russell retirement in Canada
- Published5 hours ago
Kimi Antonelli - 8.5/10
He showed he's not afraid to try to fight to the bitter end. Punchy on the radio and you can debate if at times he went a bit too far. Either way, he walks away from Canada with a fourth consecutive grand prix victory and a 43-point lead in the championship.
Lewis Hamilton - 8/10
On top of Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc from the get go. Happy, all smiles and the best we've seen Hamilton across a weekend so far. Nice battle with Max Verstappen and second was the best he could've hoped for.
Max Verstappen 7/10
Not the follow-up weekend we thought would happen after Miami but, even so, to take his first podium of the year, and with a great battle with Hamilton, gains him points on the board.
Charles Leclerc - 6/10
Fairly decent recovery for the race on Sunday but, outside of that, looked ill at ease and still found himself catching his car moments from the wall in the race. Very much put in the shade by Hamilton this weekend.
Isack Hadjar - 6/10
A much better Canada compared to Miami. On par with Red Bull team-mate Verstappen in qualifying, but a few silly errors leading to penalties in the race he can do without. Ultimately, it didn't really cost him much, but he wasn't in the podium fight with Verstappen.
Franco Colapinto - 8/10
Following up his best weekend to date in Miami with an even better weekend. This is practically a win for Alpine, certainly in the midfield. Made even more remarkable from the fact Colapinto missed the entirety of Friday practice.
Liam Lawson - 7/10
Great comeback from a disastrous Friday for the Kiwi and picks up crucial points. Now scored in four of the first five rounds.
Pierre Gasly - 5/10
Picks up an extra point for a nice drive to the points on Sunday but, overall, a poor weekend from the Frenchman. Not happy with the car. Seems to have lost a bit of his mojo with it having started so brilliantly and has now been beaten by Alpine team-mate Colapinto two weekends in a row.
Carlos Sainz - 6/10
Solid, keeping the car together and picking off points when they become available to him. Giving Williams something to smile about from the weekend.
Oliver Bearman - 6/10
The Haas upgrade not to his liking straight away and a quiet weekend overall. Kept it tidy for the race to pick up a crucial point, his first since China.
Oscar Piastri 6/10
Another solid weekend, very quick and there wasn't much between him and McLaren team-mate Norris, but more often than not behind. Clearly wasn't happy with the intermediate tyre choice and perhaps that led to frustrations boiling over with a silly incident with Williams' Alex Albon.
Nico Hulkenberg - 6/10
Looked quick over one lap and was unfortunate to miss out on a top-10 start for both the sprint and the grand prix. Speeding in the pit lane, though, is unnecessary and outside of that, doesn't have the car for points right now.
Gabriel Bortoleto - 5/10
Another anonymous weekend from the Brazilian. Looked quick in qualifying but Audi just not quite in the fight for points right now.
Esteban Ocon - 5/10
Was looking better against Haas team-mate Bearman in the first half of the weekend. A curious incident in practice losing his front wing was an easy fix, but out-raced once again by Bearman on a Sunday where points for midfield outliers were up for grabs.
Lance Stroll - 5/10
Doesn't have the one-lap pace required to get over the five-points mark. Didn't do much else to deserve getting any less.
Valtteri Bottas - 3/10
Couldn't get it together in either qualifying session and finished last of the runners in Sunday's race. Points may not be up for grabs yet but a trend is slowly starting to develop here and it's one that's favouring his Cadillac team-mate Sergio Perez.
Sergio Perez - 7/10
I'm really impressed by Checo so far. He has looked far more comfortable than Bottas and has comprehensively beaten the Finn in the past two races. Shame about the suspension failure leading to his first grand prix retirement of the year.
Lando Norris 7/10
Had the edge of team-mate Piastri for the whole weekend. The intermediate tyre start looked genius at lights out but ultimately the wrong call. Could have had a decent recovery drive on Sunday were in not for the reliability failure.
George Russell 8.5/10
Certainly showed Canada was much more to his liking than Miami but never looked clear and in control over his Mercedes team-mate Antonelli. Showed he was well up for the fight, however, and it's a shame we were robbed of what could've been in the race.
Fernando Alonso - 6/10
After the heroics of sprint qualifying, it very quickly unravelled for the Aston Martin driver. An uncharacteristic mistake saw him fly into the wall at Turn Three during sprint qualifying and then retiring with seat issues in the grand prix.
Alex Albon - 5/10
Possibly the unluckiest weekend for a driver I can remember. The groundhog incident ruined the majority of his weekend and then the innocent victim of Piastri's dive down the inside at the hairpin on Sunday.
Arvid Lindblad - 8/10
A starring weekend for the British Racing Bulls rookie, his best since Australia. Tough to see him not start the race with a reliability issue. For sure he would've been in the mix for that sixth-place finish.