THE BIG PICTURE: Was Montreal an oddity? Or are we really beginning to see a change, even if slightly, to the pecking order? It's always nice to see these questions raised as we head into the summer European swing.

EVENT: Montreal is always a great event. Will be interesting to see the effects of this event with next year's schedule change. In any case, the race is now signed through 2035.

TRACK: The Wall of Champions was left relatively unscathed.

QUALIFYING: Who had Russell for pole on their bingo card? Verstappen is not fazed and starts next to his "nemesis." Norris chokes again. Albon and Hadjar are strong. Tsunoda fails again to get to Q3. Gasly mysteriously is last.

RACE: Just when you think it won't, Montreal always wakes us up with a race to talk about.

START: Russell gets the jump he needed to prevent Verstappen from causing any problems, Piastri gets a little feisty but it's Antonelli who ends up stunning Oscar, and Albon is involved in all kinds of excitement.

RUSSELL: Some are saying it's George's best win of his career. Who are we to disagree?

ANTONELLI: No backing into this podium. Kimi deserved his first one all the way, withstanding the pressure from Piastri.

MERCEDES: A Montreal anomoly? Or an actual improvement thanks to their suspension upgrades?

VERSTAPPEN: It was pretty obvious he wasn't going to win. But Max still finished second. Let's not forget that.

TSUNODA: Oy, vey.

RED BULL: It's their constant pissant protests and bitching and whining which makes them the most hated team on the grid.

PIASTRI: A championship contender grabs the points which are available to him.

NORRIS: While Lando continues to make too many mistakes.

LECLERC: Charles is thinking, if Mercedes can make those improvements...

HAMILTON: This year's victim of the local groundhogs.

FERRARI: Remember back when the Italian press insisted Jean Todt should be fired? Yeah, fun times... We think they should just shut up and allow the Prancing Horse some stability to improve.

ALONSO: The Verstappen of Aston Martin.

STROLL: The Perez/Lawson/Tsunoda of Aston Martin.

HULKENBERG: Watched the first lap chaos happen in front of him and just sailed on by for another excellent finish.

SAUBER: Certainly not the Sauber of last year.

OCON: Likes those long stint strategies.

WILLIAMS: Back to the drawing board.

ALPINE: After some promising weekends, they had no pace in Montreal.

F1 ACADEMY: The cancelled second Miami race moved to Montreal, so American Chloe Chambers was on pole, but she tangled with her front row teaammate, allowing Frenchwoman Doriane Pin to eventually pass for her third win of the season. The normal first reverse grid race had some wild first few laps and a crazy last lap shootout as Austrian Emma Felbermayr pulled out the win. Chambers was again on the pole for the final race, and this time she held off the field, including two restarts, to become the first pole sitter to win this year. Pin is now the points leader, 20 ahead of Chambers.

LE MANS: For the majority of the race, it was a failed BOP borefest with a dominating 1-2-3 Ferrari performance. But some strategic gambles put Porsche in second, 14 seconds behind the winning Ferrari, who still pulled off the three-peat, with three different Ferrari cars winning over the three years. And kudos to Robert Kubica, for reaching the top of the sports car world.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Movie.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Kimi Antonelli is now the third youngest podium finisher. Max Verstappen is the youngest. But what is so mind blowing, is the fact the second youngest podium finisher, by just 12 days, is Lance Stroll! A third place at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a Williams.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The previous last Italian to finish on the podium was Jarno Trulli at the 2009 Japanese GP with a second. All told, Trulli grabbed 11 podium finishes in his career with just one victory. That came in the 2004 Monaco GP from pole in a Renault (and teammate to Fernando Alonso). That season was his best finish in the championship, sixth.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: From @Planet_F1:

For #F1 fans who know Robert Kubica's story, file this under 'things you love to see'

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Fernando Alonso after being told by his Race Engineer to take it easy in some of the turns, "We are racing, not testing."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: George Russell after qualifying when asked what can we expect for the start versus Verstappen, "I got a few more points on my license to play with."

SCHEDULE: The 2026 schedule is out. Conflicts are always inevitable with all the racing worldwhile. But why would F1 want to fight over TV ratings with two of the biggest non-F1 events in the world -- the Indy 500 (conflicting with Montreal in the same time zone) and Le Mans (conflicting with Barcelona in the same time zone)? It makes no sense.

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