Canadian Grand Prix

Lance's hometown

RACE REACTION
Saturday Canada GP portrait

At the Canadian Grand Prix, Lance finished in P15. Unfortunately, a seat issue for Fernando meant he was unable to continue in the race.

Read on to get the reaction from the team trackside.

  • Prior to lights out, rain fell and the track temperature was 25°C less than Saturday's sessions at only 16°C, resulting in low grip.

  • Both drivers began on Soft tyres due to the track having dried out. While Lance changed the battery of his AMR26 and therefore started from pitlane, Fernando started the race from P19. 

  • By the end of Lap 1, Fernando was up to P14. He continued to gain and battled for the points positions during the opening laps.

  • On Lap 16, Lance pitted for fresh Softs. Five laps later, Fernando also switched to Softs.

  • After 23 laps, Fernando had to retire the car as a result of a problem with his seat.

  • On Lap 53, a VSC began. At the same time, Lance came into the pits and returned to the track on Mediums. Ultimately, he finished the Grand Prix in P15.

  • Mathilda Paatz was also back on track earlier in the day, placing fifth in the F1 ACADEMY Feature Race. She comes away from the weekend with 35 points gained.

THE LATEST FROM THE TRACK

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
  • Postion

    17TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:16.978 (SOFT)

  • Laps

    30

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    305.0

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
  • Position

    10TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:15.863 (SOFT)

  • Laps

    31

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    304.9

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
We'll see where we can improve and hopefully make some progress tomorrow.

"We did what we could to get out for one final lap after the Red Flag, but the tyres were too cold after sitting in the pitlane and we couldn't improve the lap time. That's just how it goes sometimes.

"We'll go through the data, see where we can improve and hopefully make some progress tomorrow."

  • Postion

    18TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:16.354 (MEDIUM)

  • Laps

    9

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    309.3

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
We'll see what we can learn tomorrow.

"Unfortunately I locked up the fronts into Turn 3 and I was a passenger.

"We were fighting above our expectations before that incident. We’ll see what we can learn tomorrow with the Sprint and another Qualifying session."

  • Position

    16TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:15.760 (MEDIUM)

  • Laps

    7

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    308.3

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
  • Position

    16TH

  • Started

    22ND

  • Fastest lap

    1:17.120 (Lap 17)

  • Tyres

    Soft

  • Laps

    22

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    336.6

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
  • Position

    DNF

  • Started

    15TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:17.543 (Lap 8)

  • Tyres

    Medium

  • Laps

    15

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    328.2

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
It's been a tough day.

"It's been a tough day. We started from the pitlane after finding a suspension issue on the grid this morning, so that compromised things straight away for the Sprint Race.

"In Qualifying, I just didn't have confidence in the car because of the lack of grip, which made it difficult to really push.

"Rain is expected tomorrow, so that could mix things up a bit and maybe help the lower downforce cars."

  • Q1

    1:16.195 – 21ST (SOFT)

  • Laps

    10

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    314.7

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
It will be a demanding race for everyone, but let's see what we can do.

"I always enjoy driving here in Canada and I have felt a little bit more competitive this weekend.

"There are some small steps for us in the right direction, but we still need more performance to get through to Q2.

"In the Sprint race, we had some contact into Turn 1 and in the end, we retired the car.

"If it does rain tomorrow, it will be interesting as we haven't run in wet conditions with these new regulations, and the grip levels here will be very low. It will be a demanding race for everyone, but let's see what we can do."

  • Q1

    1:15.196 – 19TH (SOFT)

  • Laps

    11

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    320.0

Mike Krack
MikeKrack
The drivers gave it everything to extract as much performance as they could.

"A busy day in Montréal.

"The drivers gave it everything to extract as much performance as they could, but the results reflect our performance level right now. Our battle tomorrow will be with the Cadillacs.

"It was not a straightforward day operationally with several issues holding us back. That's an area where we must improve going forward.

"Let's see what tomorrow brings: the weather forecast suggests wet conditions, which might open up some opportunities for us."

Lance Stroll
18
LanceStroll
There's still a lot of work to do.

"It's been a difficult weekend in Montréal. 

"We couldn't get the temperatures we needed into the tyres and we were struggling for grip throughout the race.

"We didn't have the pace we needed on the straights either.

"The car performance isn't where we need it to be and there's still a lot of work to do to get us there."

  • Position

    15TH

  • Starting position

    22ND

  • Fastest lap

    1:18.721 (LAP 39) (SOFT)

  • Tyres

    Soft-Soft-Medium

  • Laps

    64

  • Max. speed (KM/H)

    315.9

Fernando Alonso
14
FernandoAlonso
We had a good start and we were fighting into the top ten positions.

"We had a good start and we were fighting into the top ten positions.

"We made the right call starting on the Soft tyres, with a few others opting for Intermediates and then having to pit early.

"Unfortunately, we had an issue with the seat in the race, so we decided to retire the car.

"We seemed to be faster here than we were in Miami with the same package. We need to wait for performance to come with our upgrades around the summer break, but we will look to keep optimising this package until then."

  • Position

    DNF

  • Starting position

    19TH

  • Fastest lap

    1:19.635 (LAP 10) (SOFT)

  • Tyres

    Soft-Soft

  • Laps

    23

  • Max. speed (km/h)

    336.0

Mike Krack
MikeKrack
Unfortunately, we do not have more pace at the moment.

"We made a decent start to the race with both drivers making up ground in the opening laps. But it was difficult to stay there, especially with the threat of rain reducing.

"Fernando's race ended early due to a seat problem, making things uncomfortable in the cockpit, so we chose to retire the car on Lap 24.

"Lance's race was a conventional two-stop race [Soft-Soft-Medium] finishing in P15 ahead of Bottas.

"Unfortunately, we do not have more pace at the moment and this is our position.

"Separately, I would like to congratulate our colleagues at Honda for the pole position and win in the Indy 500."

Welcome to Montréal

Our season-opening stint of flyaway events extends with an earlier-than-usual trip to Canada – though Montréal, tongue firmly in cheek, is often referred to as the most European race of the season.

That's not simply a commentary on language and architecture, but also about the circuit, the atmosphere and the sheer buzz around the place. The old school Circuit Gilles Villeneuve doesn't take prisoners with its narrow, tunnel-like layout and rarely does a race pass without high drama. It's always been a good track for us in the past, but there are new intrigues for 2026.

This is, of course, a home race for Lance, and we expect to see a lot of green in the massive, packed bleachers at opposite ends of this long, thin circuit in the St Lawrence River. It's also another chance to see Mathilda in action as F1 ACADEMY returns to Montréal for a triple-header – and we have the bonus of seeing F2 in Canada for the first time, with Mari back in action.

RACE STARTS IN:

00days
00hrs
00mins
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Official Timing Partner
Session Times
FP1
SQ
SPR
Quali
Race
Track map
  • Sectors
  • Turns
  • Straight-line Mode
  • Overtake Mode
Turn 10 arrives very fast. You brake and then have a 180-degree turn onto the back straight. It's iconic.
Mathilda Paatz – F1 ACADEMY Driver
  • Circuit length
    4.361km
  • Number of corners
    14
  • Race distance
    305.270km
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