Today's post-race press conference with Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and George Russell.

Track Interviews - Conducted by Martin Brundle

Max, a challenging weekend, a dramatic race, and through it all, you emerged with a great victory. That was a champion's drive.
Max Verstappen: Yeah, it was a pretty crazy race. A lot of things were happening, and we really had to be on top of our calls. And I think as a team, we just did really well today. We remained calm. I think we pitted at the right time. Of course, the Safety Car worked out nicely for us, but even after that, I think we were managing the gaps quite well. Yeah, I love it. That was a lot of fun. Those kind of races, you need them once in a while.

You always say you love to race hard. I mean, McLaren and Mercedes really took it to you today.
MV: Yeah, in different stages of the race as well, so it was a lot of fun out there.

Any scary moments? You also talked about some kind of suspension issue.
MV: Yeah, not particularly an issue. We know what it is, so we just need to work on it. But nevertheless, we won. That's the most important, and we still have a lot of room to improve.

Lando, brilliant. What a wild, wild race that was for you.
LN: It was. Yeah, it was chaos. It was eventful. To be honest, I felt like I drove a good race, the whole time, from start to finish. The first two stints were very strong. I had an amazing pace. But then the Safety Car had me over. Just like it helped me in Miami, it's now had me back over. So honestly, I thought it was a pretty perfect race from my side. just a bit unlucky but that's what it is. But it was good fun. These conditions, so stressful inside the car but very enjoyable at the same time.

You went a little bit longer on the Intermediates. As you say, earlier on the Safety Car picked you up, didn't it, and just cost you that time into the pits, but you're happy with how that all played out?
LN: Yeah, I mean, the first stint I was in the lead by what 10 or 12 seconds, pulling away, probably two three seconds a lap, so things were going beautifully but of course it's Montreal, so there's always something that's got to come into play. But it was good. Fair play to Max. He drove a good race, no mistakes. But it's good fun. I'm happy with the second, good points for the team. So a good weekend for us.

So you don't feel it's the one that got away?
LN: Yeah, I mean, that's what it is. It helped me out in Miami. So I'm not going to be the one to complain. It happens. That's racing sometimes. But I drove a good race. The car's been great all weekend. So thanks to the team. And we're close. It's nice to be so close once again and on the podium. So we'll keep fighting.

George, tenacity is a word that springs to mind. I mean, you stuck with it. You had a few adventures during that race, but you're on the podium.
George Russell: Yeah, it felt like a missed opportunity, to be honest. We were really quick at the beginning of the race on the Inters, and then obviously Lando came through really fast, and then we jumped back onto the slicks, made a couple of mistakes out there, just pushing the limits and paid the price for it. But nevertheless, first podium of the year, we truly had a really fast car this weekend, and to be back in the mix fighting for victory was really fun. That's what Formula 1 is about, and that's why we go racing.

Before that little slip at Turn 8, did you think you might be able to catch Max? Do you think you could have?
GR: I think so. I mean, we had the pace. Max was very strong at that point of the race. But then when we put the Mediums on at the end, we were really, really fast. I think that mistake with Oscar when I tried overtaking him and I lost the position to Lewis cost us at least P2 and maybe going to fight with Max later in the race. But, you know, we'll take all the positives from this weekend. First podium, first pole position of the year and excited moving forward.

Pretty feisty, side-by-side with Oscar. How did you see that one playing out?
GR: Yeah, it was pretty tight out there with Oscar and then obviously Lewis at the end as well. So I think it was hard, fair racing. So difficult when there's only one dry line. So you've got to be committed and trust your rivals.

Press Conference

Very well done, Max. It was a breathless, spectacular race. How rewarding is a win like this?
MV: Yeah, it's for sure. It's very rewarding. I mean, it's never an easy race. It's easy to make mistakes, especially on the Inters when they were almost becoming slicks. It was very easy to go off because the track was drying in most places. But in some corners, it was still a bit too wet to go to slick tyres. And yeah, that made it just very, very difficult. Yeah, it's a lot of fun to drive these kind of races now and then. You don't want it all the time because that's too stressful, but I had a lot of fun out there today.

As you say, it was stressful. There was a lot going on, but how calm was it inside the cockpit?
MV: I think, yeah, of course, you are very focused, but you try to remain as calm as you can be. And also, the communication to the pit wall and them to you, to ask what are the conditions. And I definitely think as a team, you know, we did make the right calls today. And yeah, that, of course, is also very important.

You made the right calls, but I think the timing of the Safety Car helped as well. Do you see that as payback for Miami?
MV: Of course, it sometimes works for you and sometimes it works against you. So this time, yeah, it was working for us. So I guess in that sense, it's 1-1 now this year. But that's racing. It's a part of it as well.

Now, even with this win, you haven't been completely happy with the car here. We go to Barcelona next. Do you think it'll be stronger there?
MV: I would hope so, yes. I mean, yeah, the last few races have been quite difficult, but not only just difficult, too many problems as well, throughout the whole weekend. So we need to have a cleaner weekend. And yeah, for sure, like even in the race now, we're struggling a lot with the kerbing and the bumps. So we definitely have an area we can work on and definitely improve the car by quite a big margin if we get that under control.

Very well done today, Max. Thank you. George, we'll come to you next. Now, it was a great race, but you've said this is a missed opportunity. But when you think of the progress you and Mercedes have made in the last few races, there must be a lot of positives that you can take away from here?
GR: Yeah, absolutely, 100%. I think if you told us ahead of this weekend, pole position and P3, we may not have believed you, to be honest. But as Max said, it was such a tricky race out there for everybody. You put a millimetre wide and you're off. I think for me, it was just one too many mistakes at key moments that cost us a shot of fighting with these two towards the end of the race.

The car seemed extremely quick in all conditions. Just talk us through the decision to give up track position to Piastri when you made that final stop for them?
GR: Yeah, I wasn't... I was pushing to pit because I thought the new Medium would have been really competitive at the end. I need to look at it because to be honest, in hindsight, I think we had really great pace. Were you two on the medium? Yeah, those guys were on the Medium and me being on the Hard, I think we'd have probably been in a really strong position to fight, but, There's a lot of changes you have made if you know how things plan out retrospectively, but I'm happy with the progress we've made. Really proud of the team because we've been pushing these upgrades through and it's really paying dividends.

Happy with the progress, proud of the team. Can we say Mercedes are back?
GR: You know, I think Red Bull have had, you know... It's no secret they've struggled a bit with their car these last three races. So I think we need to see how their performance turns out in Barcelona, which is a little bit more of a conventional circuit. But this pace increase that we've seen from us this weekend, it hasn't been a surprise to us because all the numbers back at the factory told us we're going to be finding a big chunk of performance with these upgrades. So Barcelona is going to be interesting for everybody, but I'm confident we can be in the fight.

Very well done to you. Thank you. Lando, very well done to you as well. You were fast all afternoon. A little frustrated not to win?
LN: Yes. We should have won the race today and we didn't, so frustrating. We had the pace. Probably not in the dry at the end. It turned out it didn't really matter too much. But yeah, we should have won today. Simple as that. We didn't do a good job, I think, a good enough job as a team to box when we should have done and not get stuck behind the Safety Car. So I don't think it was a luck or unlucky kind of thing. I don't think it was the same as Miami. This was just making a wrong call. So, it's on me and it's on the team and it's something we'll discuss after. We should have won today. I think we're at a level now where we're not satisfied with a second, like the target is to win. And we didn't do that. So, frustrating, but a tough race and still to end up in second when it could always finish and could be worse is still a good result.

When you analyse this race, what hurt you more, the timing of the first Safety Car or staying out too long on the Intermediate time?
LN: No, staying out on the Intermediate helped me. It helped me have a chance against George, so I overcut him. I didn't do a good enough job afterwards, and he was clearly way quicker than us in the dry and even on the Hard tyres. So, no, that was completely the right call and a good decision from us to stay out. It gave me a lot of lap time, but... And it's not the timing of the first Safety Car. I had enough time to box and we didn't box. So this was a mistake on us as a team. And yeah, just something we didn't do a good enough job with.

Well, Lando, you've been true to your word. McLaren were once again quick. Are you looking forward to Barcelona?
LN: I am. I look forward to every track now because every place we seem to be performing well. Yeah, I mean, it's good to see where Mercedes are going to be, because they've clearly improved a lot. Like the last two weekends, they've been pretty close to probably being the quickest car. This weekend, they've been the quickest all weekend. So I think it was a positive. we finished ahead of them, because they've been the quicker team. So to always beat a quicker car and a quicker team is a nice thing. It's a rewarding thing. But if they're quicker in the next few races, too, and they've kind of joined the fight of Ferrari, Red Bull, and us, then it's only going to make our life, I think, more exciting. More tricky and more stressful because now there will probably be eight cars which are fighting up there and challenging us all together. So exciting for us, exciting for probably everyone watching. And yeah, another opportunity where we can try and make up for today.

Check out our Sunday gallery from Montreal here.