Track Interviews - Conducted by Nico Rosberg

George, what an amazing drive by you and by the team this whole weekend. Was that the best one of your whole career?
George Russell: It's amazing to be back on the top step. Obviously, last time for us was back in Vegas. I felt last year was a victory lost. And then obviously we got the victory today probably due to the incredible pole yesterday. And obviously, so happy to see Kimi on the podium as well. So amazing day for the team. Thanks to everybody back at the factory who's been working so hard to get us back fighting for victories. And yeah, it feels good.

Has something fundamental changed on the car, or what's going on now? Is Mercedes back?
GR: No. It's a little bit cooler around here. You know, we saw it last year in Canada. I'd love to get our hopes up, but I think the strength of our car is in these cooler conditions and, you know, let's see going into the coming races, but we'll just enjoy it for now.

So you're not quite sure? You don't think you can maybe keep this going for the next race?
GR: Time will tell. Time will tell. I mean, we won Austria last year, so maybe that's a good omen. But, you know, we'll enjoy it for the time being. We did have high expectations coming into this weekend, and it worked out as we thought. So yeah. Good day. Good day.

Max, P2. Was that the maximum, do you think, this weekend?
Max Verstappen: Yeah, I think so. It was quite a good race even though I think the two stints we were struggling quite a bit on the tyres. So we were doing quite an aggressive strategy. But luckily in that final stint, we managed to hang in there and actually the pace was a bit better on the bit lower fuel load. So that was good. I think we drove an attacking/defending race—attacking with a strategy, defending of course with the cars behind. But it worked out for us and I think that was the maximum possible for us today.

On a day like today, do you still think about the championship though, because it's good points you made up - some on Piastri and a lot on Lando?
MV: It's a long, long season, you know. So you need to go race by race, and we'll always do the best we can.
Looking forward to your Red Bull home race with all your fans in Austria?MV: Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's always a great weekend there. We've had a lot of great results, and hopefully, we can have another strong weekend there.

Kimi Antonelli, you are a Formula 1 podium race finisher. You did it! Is that awesome?
Kimi Antonelli: I mean, it was so stressful, but super happy. Had a good start, I managed to jump into P3. And yeah, just stayed up there at the front. And the last stint, I pushed a bit too hard behind Max, and I killed a bit the front left. I struggled a bit at the end, but really happy to bring the podium home.

Everybody is chanting your name! You have so many supporters here! We just watched your pass on Piastri, which is what set you up for the podium. Take us through that.
KA: Yeah. I mean, I had a good launch, and I managed to get alongside. And then in the corner, I just tried to carry as much speed as possible. And then when I was alongside him in T2, I knew I would have had the advantage, especially going into T3, and really happy to stick that.

It looks like Mercedes is may be back. Your car looks awesome. Are we going to see a race win from you next?
KA: I mean, that's the goal. But yeah, definitely, this track has been good for us. The car has been incredible all weekend. And yeah, hopefully, we can carry the same momentum into the next few races.

Press Conference

George, off the back of a tough triple header for the team, just how satisfying is this result?
GR: Yeah, it's been great to get the win and, you know, seeing Kimi up here as well on the podium. Really, really pleased for him. And, you know, as a team, we've been performing so well this year. Up until the last triple header, we'd maximized every single race weekend, whether, you know, that was the P2 in Bahrain or the other podiums we had. But coming into Canada, we knew we did have the potential to fight for pole and for the race win, and, ultimately, it came down to that quali lap yesterday. There was obviously not much movement in terms of positions shuffling around but really pleased with the job.

Given the hot temperatures today, were you surprised by the pace and the consistency of the car?
GR: I was, to be honest. There wasn't much tyre overheating even though it was hot. It's a very smooth tarmac here in Canada. There are quite low speed corners, so the tyres aren't under much stress. I think we expected a bit more tyre overheating considering the track temperature, but we're under no illusions that this really suited the strengths of our car the same way as it did last year. But for the majority of the circuits, we know it's a bit of a challenge, and that's why this is the first weekend both of us are on the podium. But it's great to see that when we get that chance, we take it.

You say the rear tyres weren't under much stress. Were you under much stress having Max in your mirrors for most of it?
GR: No. Not really. To be honest, for the last couple of weeks, obviously, there's lots of noise going on, after what happened in Spain as well. But from my side, you put it to one side, and you know that if you make a good start, you get into a groove. I knew I had potentially the fastest car today, you've got to dial into that and put all of the additional noise to one side. And, of course, it was a bit challenging at points when you had Charles and Lando on the offset strategy, and they were kind of getting in our way. But as soon as I had clear air, I could comfortably pull the gap out. It wasn't dead easy, but I felt confident in myself and the car. I was keeping a close eye on how Kimi was getting on, and on the TVs, and seeing Lando and Oscar closing down. But, no, it was a good day, and I feel proud of myself, feel proud of the team, especially after this time 12 months ago when it was a victory lost.

Now, George, you're still without a contract for 2026. Weekends like this must help the negotiations, right?
GR: It doesn't hurt! It doesn't hurt at all. But, you know, as I've said many times, I'm not concerned at all about next year. I know I'm going to be on the grid next year. I feel that I'm driving better than ever. I still feel I've got more in the tank. I feel ready to fight for a world championship, and I think results like today, results like Bahrain this year when we got half a chance of a good result, we're there to take it. And I'm pretty relaxed. Just enjoying the moment, enjoying my racing, and just taking it week by week.

Max, let's come to you. Very well done as well. You were close to George throughout. Without the Safety Car at the end, might an opportunity have arisen to go for the win?
MV: No. Not really, to be honest. The first two stints, I was struggling a lot with the tyres. Just too much degradation again. So we drove quite a defensive race, to be honest, because basically two times, Kimi was about to overtake me, and we boxed. So that worked out quite well for me. We did a very aggressive strategy. I think the last pit stop, I was a bit worried if I was going to make it to the end competitively because on the hard tyre in the second stint, I was already struggling as well. So I think just a lighter fuel load helped a bit. But the gap wasn't that big towards George, and I never really felt like I had the pace to do anything. It was more about just looking in the mirror, trying to maintain that gap, try to look after my tyres to not overstress them. It was not the easiest race, but I think as a team we managed it well. I think we definitely optimised everything we could because, honestly, throughout the whole race, I never really felt like I was actually holding on to second. So, yeah, we did a good job. I mean, the whole weekend, I think the car was reasonable. Strategy-wise, we did the best we could.

Does that give you a lot of confidence going forward?
MV: Well, I hope that we can start every weekend like this in terms of how I feel with the car, but overall, we do need more performance to be quick everywhere. I also think that this weekend was a bit, I won't say an off weekend, but McLaren wasn't as strong as normal. And, of course, we benefited a little bit. But if we go to all the other tracks now coming up, we definitely need more performance to even be close to them. This has been a good weekend for us, but we need a lot more to be able to fight with them for the whole season.

Kimi, you've done it. Your first podium in Formula 1. What does this third place mean to you?
KA: It meant a lot, especially after a difficult triple header on my side. Definitely took some confidence away, but this was the best way to bounce back.

It was far from easy. There was a lot of pressure, particularly from Oscar Piastri in those closing laps. What were you thinking in those moments as he was getting into your DRS?
KA: I was just hoping for the race to finish, to be honest. I was even looking at the screen counting the laps because it was very stressful. In the last stint, I pushed a bit too hard behind Max and eventually degraded the front left. The last few laps were a struggle, especially seeing Oscar getting closer and closer in the DRS range. At one point, he even tried to attempt the overtake in turn one. It took a lot of effort.

So, what does this do to your confidence going forward? Do you feel you're in a better place now as a result of this weekend?
KA: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I'm still aware there's a lot of work to do, especially when it comes to qualifying, trying to be quicker at the beginning of the session. But we're on a good path. The team is doing a great job. Also, with George, he's helping me to push myself even further. There's a really good dynamic in the team. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into the next few races.