Max teetering on top
Posted on June 11, 2025
One Point Away from Trouble
F1 WORLD CHAMP Max Verstappen is on a knife edge this weekend as he finds himself going into Canada just one penalty point away from triggering an automatic one-race suspension.
After a less than stellar first third of the 2025 season, Max hit a new low at the Spanish Grand Prix with his mindless crash into George Russell’s Mercedes earning himself three penalty points – on top of a 10 second time penalty.
It bumped him from a likely podium to 10th – a single points finish adding to Red Bull’s woes.
And leaves him teetering on a precipice that takes the hapless Dutchman to 11 superlicence points for the current 12-month period.
Because accumulating those12 penalty points results in a mandatory one-race ban.
During the 2024 season Max picked up eight penalty points, two of which will expire automatically after June 30 – the day after the Austrian Grand Prix.
Which means Red Bull’s gun driver needs to be on his best behaviour in Montreal, as well as the following Austrian race.
And any suspension would severely damage any chance Max has of winning a fifth consecutive world title in 2025.
Max Verstappen has proven he is up there with some of the greatest F1 drivers there ever have been.
He needs to be very careful not to let a himself be remembered for a stupid brain fade.
2025 F1 World Championship Drivers’ Standings
(After Spain)
Pos. Entrant Points
1 Oscar Piastri – McLaren 186.00
2 Lando Norris – McLaren 176.00
3 Max Verstappen – Red Bull 137.00
4 George Russell – Mercedes 111.00
5 Charles Leclerc – Ferrari 94.00
6 Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari 71.00
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes 48.00
8 Alex Albon – Williams 42.00
9 Esteban Ocon – Haas 21.00
10 Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls 20.00
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
A beautiful part of the world
Montreal’s changeable weather
The Canadian Grand Prix is the tenth round of the season, the second in North America after Miami. Despite the weather It’s a popular venue with drivers and teams because there’s always a real buzz around the event, thanks to the enthusiasm of the local fans.
For the whole week, the city in the Province of Quebec comes alive with events linked to the Grand Prix.
The Gilles Villeneuve Circuit is a semi-permanent facility built on the manmade island of Notre Dame – on the Saint Lawrence river, home to the Expo ’67 World’s Fair and some events in the 1976 Olympic Games.
The 4.361km track was completely resurfaced last year, but it has retained its low abrasiveness and reduced grip that has always been one of its characteristic features.
It features a sequence of straights and tight chicanes, with 14 corners (six to the left and eight to the right). It’s a real stop ‘n go track where stability under braking and efficient traction are vital.
Overtaking is possible, partly down to the three DRS zones. The best bet has always been the braking point at the end of the straight that takes the drivers back to the start.
The following chicane, where drivers can still use DRS from the previous activation zone, has often seen some spectacular accidents, which has led to it being known as the “wall of champions”.
It’s where three world champions – Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve – all crashed into it during the 1999 race.
Lateral forces medium to low
The track surface is very smooth and not very abrasive and is never used for racing apart from the Grand Prix weekend.
Pirelli suggests graining, especially during free practice on Friday, could put in an appearance, but as the track gradually rubbers-in it shouldn’t be a factor.
Lap times come down really quickly, not just from one day to the next, but also during each session.
The Gilles Villeneuve Circuit is a track where the lateral forces exerted on the tyres are medium to low, while the longitudinal ones are a bit more severe, although not particularly high, because of the cars being subjected to strong deceleration followed by sharp acceleration.
Apart from being surrounded by the waters of the Saint Lawrence River and running alongside an artificial rowing basin used in the 1976 Olympic Games, the Canadian Grand Prix is one of the races that is most often affected by rain.
Pirelli’s C6 Back in Play
For the third time this season, the softest trio of compounds will feature on track. And that means, after appearing for the first time in Imola and again in Monaco, the C6 will be in use, alongside the C5 as Medium and the C4 as Hard.
This weekend teams and drivers will be able to make the most of the information and data gathered at its two previous appearances of the C6.
At every race weekend, Pirelli supplies each driver with five sets of Cinturato Green Intermediates and two of Cinturato Blue Full Wet.
The Inters can disperse up to 35 litres of water per second at a speed of around 300 km/h, while the Full Wets can deal with up to 85 litres per second.
The Cinturato Full Wet was updated this year, with the tread blocks given greater rigidity so as to generate less heat in the tread pattern. The construction has also been revised to deal with the higher aerodynamic loads generated by the current cars, making the tyre less prone to overheating and thermal degradation.
Development testing means the new Full Wet offers an improvement in performance, bringing it slightly closer to that offered by the Intermediate, while maintaining the same water dispersal values to tackle any eventual risk of aquaplaning.
Pirelli reminds us It’s also worth noting that, since 2023, the Full Wets can no longer be pre-heated, while the temperature of the blankets for the Intermediates is set at 60 °C.
Statistics
This year’s event is the 54th Canadian Grand Prix, with the first dating back to 1967. Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton top the tables for the most wins with seven apiece and most pole positions with six. The most successful team is McLaren on 13, followed by Ferrari (12) and Williams (7).
Denis Dekovic’s iconic cap #7
The top three finishers will wear a special edition of the Pirelli Podium Cap designed by when they step up for their trophies. This seventh version of the Podium Cap produced by Pirelli Design is already on sale on the dedicated e-commerce platform (https://store.pirelli.com/).
PERTH WA TIME
Canadian Grand Prix
Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve | 14 – 16 June
Practice 1
Saturday 14th June 01:30
Practice 2
Saturday 14th June 05:00
Practice 3
Sunday 15th June 00:30
QUALIFYING
Sunday 15th June 04:00
RACE
Monday 16th June 02:00
NEXT EVENT
Austrian Grand Prix
Red Bull Ring | 27 – 29 June
EDITED by AC
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