Oscar Piastri reflects on poor F1 Canadian Grand Prix and George Russell in 'disbelief'

McLaren has "looked like idiots" after a bold tyre choice at the start of the Canadian Grand Prix backfired immediately for its two drivers.

Rain had fallen in Montreal in the lead-up to the fifth F1 grand prix of the season, with cold and windy conditions making Monday morning's (AEST) race a test for drivers.

There were forecasts for rain to fall during the grand prix, and as some drizzle fell in the minutes before lights out, McLaren made a bold and brave call to put intermediate tyres on the cars of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Both on the second row of the grid, the McLaren duo were the only drivers in the top-10 to not have dry tyres fitted to their car, with a few other teams down the order also willing to take the risk with much less to lose.

The rain did not fall and despite Piastri's suggestion to his team to pit at the end of the formation lap and cut their losses, McLaren still took the gamble and loss.

Piastri pitted at the end of the first lap while Norris, who was able to jump from third to snatch the lead on the opening lap, pitted at the end of lap two.

Norris would not finish the race after a gearbox failure ended his race on lap 40 of 68, while Piastri had an eventful afternoon to finish 11th, outside of the points.

Speaking after the race, Piastri said there was some logic to McLaren fitting its cars with intermediate tyres, but that logic quickly faded as the predicted rain never fell.

"It was raining. Between the anthem and getting in the car it was pretty wet on the ground," Piastri told Sky Sports.

"There was definitely no standing water, but you could clearly tell where it was wet and where it was dry.

"Getting to the grid was not easy on slicks. Getting to full throttle was pretty tough.

"Unfortunately for us, it stopped raining as the formation lap started.

"Just one of those things where if it rained a little bit more we would have looked like heroes. But it didn't, so we looked like idiots."

Deep down the order and needing to make his way past several cars just to get back into the top 10, Piastri was making progress until any hopes of points in Montreal ended on lap 12.

The Australian tried to overtake Haas driver Oliver Bearman at the hairpin, but he could not slow his car down quickly enough and clattered into the side of the Williams driven by Alex Albon.

Piastri was hit with a 10-second penalty and had to pit for a new front wing, while Albon had to retire following the damage sustained in the crash.

Piastri said he was not trying to pull off a risky move on both Bearman and Albon, and was caught out by the slippery conditions on the track.

"It was just so, so difficult out there. I felt like I was going into the corner pretty carefully, and locked the front [wheels]," he said.

"Obviously not my finest moment and apologies to Alex and Williams. It was unnecessary damage for both of us, especially for them."

George Russell feels like 'somebody doesn't want me to fight'

Mercedes driver George Russell has been left in "disbelief" after his car suffered a suspected power unit failure while he led the Canadian Grand Prix.

Russell's retirement allowed his teenage teammate Kimi Antonelli to claim a fourth consecutive grand prix win.

Mercedes came into the 2026 season as favourites and have lived up to that hype by winning all five grands prix, and two of the three sprint races.

However, it is Antonelli, a 19-year-old in his second season of F1, who now holds a 43-point lead over his more experienced teammate.

After winning the opening grand prix of the year in Melbourne, Russell has at times been powerless to stop his teammate's momentum as the teenager established himself as a genuine world championship contender.

Russell appeared to have found that momentum stopper this weekend, qualifying on pole for the sprint race and the grand prix, winning the sprint race, and holding the lead of the grand prix approaching the pit stop phase.

But the Briton was left furious as his car spluttered to a halt on lap 30 of 68.

Russell threw the headrest from his cockpit out of the car in anger, with a victory seemingly taken from him.

"It feels like somebody doesn't want me to fight or compete for this championship," Russell said.

"Three out of the last five races, there's just been something really going against us. [I'm] just a bit lost for words right now."

Despite the bitter disappointment, Russell will be able to reflect on many positives from his weekend in Montreal.

He was the leading driver for much of the weekend and was felled by a mechanical failure.

It was also a terrific bounce-back from the previous weekend in Miami where he was well off the pace compared to Antonelli.

"I was happy with how I handled it, how I drove and I'm just pleased with the weekend in terms of my own personal performance.

"There were a lot of doubters, maybe after Miami and a lot of chat, but I know what I can do. Pole in the sprint, win the sprint, pole in qualifying, leading the race.

"Hard battles, I really loved the battle and I wanted to continue for 30 more laps. I would have loved to see how it would have panned out."

F1 now heads to Europe for the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, June 7.