2025 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal - F1 Fantasy Race Preview, Strategy, and Analysis

Euan Leith's preview of the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix for F1 Fantasy includes weather updates, differentials for your squads, and predictions for qualifying and the race.

Happy Canadian Grand Prix, RotoBallers! We are creeping toward the halfway mark of the season, and Montreal could spring some madness. With injuries, updates, and weather to look out for, F1 Fantasy managers will need to keep a close eye on all things Formula 1 and F1 Fantasy this weekend.

The deadline for the Canadian Grand Prix in F1 Fantasy is Saturday, June 14, at 4 p.m. EDT, when Qualifying starts. Also, check out the rest of our excellent DFS racing coverage to get you through every NASCAR and Formula 1 race.

Want to build a winning fantasy F1 lineup? Check out our How To Play F1 Fantasy (Formula 1): Overview Guide, Tips, Chips, and Rules for all the essential tips and strategies to get you started on the right foot.

Join our 2025 F1 Fantasy League

That's right! We are putting our reputations on the line and creating an F1 Fantasy League for the 2025 season. If you go to the Leagues tab on the F1 Fantasy home page, you'll find our league in the Featured Leagues tab. Click "Join League" and you will be set for the 2025 season.

We've also got this shiny banner to stand out! Use code P1JOTPHDW09 to join the 2025 league!

Previous Canadian Grand Prix Winners

• 2024: Max Verstappen, Red Bull
• 2023: Max Verstappen, Red Bull
• 2022: Max Verstappen, Red Bull
• 2019: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
• 2018: Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari

The 2020 and 2021 Canadian Grand Prix were not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canadian Grand Prix Schedule

Friday, June 13

• Practice 1: 1:30 p.m. EDT
• Practice 2: 5:00 p.m. EDT

Saturday, June 14

• Practice 3: 12:30 p.m. EDT
• Qualifying: 4:00 p.m. EDT (***F1 Fantasy lineup lock***)

Sunday, June 15

• Race: 2:00 p.m. EDT

Canadian Grand Prix Weather

Canadian Grand Prix Predictions

Qualifying

1. Lando Norris, McLaren
2. George Russell, Mercedes
3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Race

1. Lando Norris, McLaren
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3. George Russell, Mercedes

One BIG Prediction

For the first time this season, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen will not be on the podium.

Injury Watch: Lance Stroll

After Saturday's qualifying session at the Spanish Grand Prix, Lance Stroll was forced to withdraw from Sunday's race due to a wrist injury. The Canadian driver initially injured his wrist in a cycling accident during the 2023 preseason. It forced him to miss the initial testing week, but he was back in the car for the first race of the campaign.

It was initially reported that Stroll was to undergo a procedure to help with his recovery. However, Aston Martin has remained quite vague about exactly what procedure its driver underwent. His status for the Canadian Grand Prix remains uncertain, but The Race is reporting that he's on track to recover.

🚨 Lance Stroll appears to be on course to return to #F1 action at the Canadian GP after all, but a final decision is unlikely to be made until next week as he recovers from a wrist operation.

Full story ➡️ https://t.co/pOEaFXBtLrhttps://t.co/pOEaFXBtLr

— The Race (@wearetherace) June 6, 2025

If the 26-year-old recovers in time, then it's the same old, same old for F1 Fantasy managers. However, if he misses the race in Montreal, he will be declared an inactive driver and incur a 25-point F1 Fantasy penalty due to not having set a time in Qualifying or the race.

Whomever Aston Martin decides to replace Stroll with will become an active driver in the game and be available for selection this weekend. Still, I wouldn't waste any precious transfers on the green team because you're essentially locking yourself into two transfers (Stroll out, replacement driver out) if you go down that route.

Smashing In Nico Hülkenberg

The results of the Spanish Grand Prix have provided a gift for F1 Fantasy managers in the form of Nico Hülkenberg. The German driver emerged from nowhere to claim 32 points while finishing fifth. It was a phenomenal drive and unexpected from someone driving a Kick Sauber.

As a result of Hülkenberg's points explosion, he is about as sure a bet as they come to rise in price after the Canadian Grand Prix. Those $0.6m price rises are like gold dust in the F1 Fantasy world. The 37-year-old needs -12 points for a good price rise ($0.2m) and -6 points for a great price rise ($0.6m).

He is currently in 15.4 percent of the Global Top 500 teams. I expect that number to be above 85 percent by the time the deadline for the Canadian Grand Prix arrives.

The F1 Fantasy community staring at Nico Hulkenberg for 2 weeks before the Canadian GP pic.twitter.com/fZbKxsWzTJ

— Euan Leith (@F1FantasyEuan) June 2, 2025

Building Budget vs. Pursuing Points

We've determined that bringing Nico Hülkenberg into our team is a no-brainer. However, for someone to come in, someone has to get out. I asked the F1 Fantasy community who they would transfer out to bring in the German driver, and these were the results after 1,045 votes.

52.2 percent of y'all said you'll be transferring out Hülkenberg's teammate, Gabriel Bortoleto. While I anticipated Bortoleto and fellow South American Franco Colapinto to lead the voting, I was surprised by the margin of victory for the Brazilian driver.

Bortoleto and Colapinto could both rise in price, whereas fellow $4.5m asset Fernando Alonso would need a masterclass in Montreal to reach his thresholds for a price rise. I'm torn between pursuing the points (Alonso) and chasing the budget (Bortoleto and Colapinto).

For me, it comes down to how many transfers you have before the Canadian GP. Suppose you have mastered your strategy and enter the weekend with three free transfers. In that case, I believe you can swap Bortoleto out for Hülkenberg and use a luxury transfer to remove Colapinto and acquire Alonso (if he's not already on your team).

This route still gives those savvy F1 Fantasy managers three free transfers for Austria, and more flexibility to adjust for any changes up and down the grid.

However, for those managers with only two free transfers, my preferred move will be to transfer out one of Bortoleto or Colapinto (I'm leaning Colapinto), and bring in Hülkenberg. Then, I'm rolling my other transfer and also having three moves for the Red Bull Ring in Austria in two weeks.

It's the biggest (and possibly only) decision F1 Fantasy managers will have this week. Stay tuned to the practice times and my updated Predicted Finishing Order and Power Index for the most up-to-date predictions ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.

F1 Fantasy Drivers to Target and Avoid

Drivers to Target (A Tier, >$18.5m)

• Lando Norris, McLaren
• Oscar Piastri, McLaren
• Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Drivers to Avoid (A Tier, >$18.5m)

• Max Verstappen, Red Bull
• Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
• George Russell, Mercedes
• Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Drivers to Target (B Tier, <$18.5m)

• Esteban Ocon, Haas
• Nico Hülkenberg, Kick Sauber
• Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls
• Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
• Franco Colapinto, Alpine
• Gabriel Bortoleto, Kick Sauber

Drivers to Avoid (B Tier, <$18.5m)

• Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull
• Alex Albon, Williams
• Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
• Pierre Gasly, Alpine

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