Race preview: Canadian Grand Prix

Find out everything you need to know about Albono’s upcoming trip to Montreal

Published

12 JUN 2025

Est. reading time

3 min

Alex will be aiming to get back on track at this weekend’s Canadian GP, following a challenging few days in Spain last time out.

Albono was unable to finish at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after sustaining damage to his FW47, meaning he left Montmeló without adding any more points to his season tally.

Fortunately, that scenario has been a rarity for our Thai racer in 2025, having placed inside the top 10 in seven of his nine outings.

He should therefore be confident of getting back amongst the points in Montreal, to continue an impressive campaign with Atlassian Williams Racing.

Previous visits to Canada

Alex has scored points in Canada once before, while driving for Williams back in 2023.

That stint at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve was AA23’s joint-best performance for the team until this season, as he placed P7 — having started ninth on the grid in Quebec.

Albono won F1’s Driver of the Day on that occasion, and was understandably delighted after the race.

“It’s been a very strong weekend and I have to thank the team first and foremost,” he said, before adding:

“To get these points on the board and move up to ninth in the Championship is a nice place to be and it’s great to be able to say thank you to the team and have this reward for everything that everyone has done.”

Williams will be hoping to finish even higher in the Constructors’ Championship this season, of course. They currently sit in fifth place, with 54 points on the board.

Track guide

The picturesque island of Île Notre-Dame is home to one of Formula 1’s most exciting venues, with the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve adored by drivers and supporters alike.

That’s because of its combination of high-speed straights and challenging chicanes — not to mention the track’s iconic Hairpin Curve and famed ‘Wall of Champions’.

Stretching across 4.361 km (2.710 miles) and containing 14 turns, a lap of the circuit kicks off with a Sector 1 that requires low-speed cornering and pinpoint acceleration. Turns 1 and 2 are known as the Senna 'S', due to their shape from a bird’s eye view.

Sector 2 will see Alex navigate a set of chicanes and straights — and the high-speed Pont de la Concorde corner — before heading into the Turn 10 hairpin of Sector 3.

The aforementioned Wall of Champions (the exit to the track’s final chicane) has caught out plenty of drivers in the past, so provides a challenging finale to a lap of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Alex’s thoughts

"Canada is a race with a lot of opportunity, and I have some nice memories of my overtakes around here last year.

"The weather can be changeable but we've been performing well in all conditions so far this year, so we’ll be looking to capitalise on this.

"We didn’t close the triple header in the way we wanted, so we’re determined to come back fighting in Montreal."

Keep up to date

The AA23 website and app is the place to stay up to date with all of Alex’s progress at the Canadian Grand Prix.

We’ll be covering the action on our live blog — from Free Practice 1 right the way through until Sunday’s race.

FP1 gets started at 1.30pm local time (EDT) on Friday, before Free Practice 2 later that day at 5pm.

Then it’s FP3 (12.30pm) and Qualifying (4pm) on Saturday, ahead of Sunday’s main event at 2pm EDT.

And while you’re waiting for the action to unfold, make sure to add our latest ‘Albono’ stamp to your Fan Passport collection. You can download it via the link below now!