Cool, calm and collected, Mercedes driver George Russell beat the heat and the field to score the victory Sunday at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Russell took the checkered flag for the first time this season from pole position, crossing the finish line under a safety car following late contact between McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was denied a record-breaking fourth consecutive victory at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and settled for second, while Russell’s rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli finished third to claim his first career podium finish.

A storm was brewing with Verstappen running into Russell two weeks ago during the Spanish Grand Prix and the two starting side-by-side on the front row in Montreal. Russell even added a pinch of spice to the hate cauldron as he teased about clashing with Verstappen, cheekily telling the crowd after Saturday’s qualifying: “I’ve got a few more (penalty) points on my license to play with.”

But with clear skies, it was a clean getaway for Russell as the British driver got out to a faster launch to snake through the opening corners and take off.

Verstappen couldn’t close the gap and Russell remained in complete control, holding an advantage of over 2.5 seconds with four laps to go when Norris collided with Piastri and out came the safety car to parade the field to the finish.

Russell earned his fourth career victory and his first since Las Vegas last season, which was also Mercedes’ most recent double-podium finish.

Of course, he celebrated with his signature T-pose.

Is it too early to proclaim this the Summer of George? As we saw last month in Imola, the Mercedes car struggles in the heat, so a double-podium finish was quite unexpected at the start of the weekend. We’ll have to wait and see, although the next race takes place in Austria, where Russell picked up the win last year, so that may bode well.

One thing that’s for sure to heat up: Russell remains a free agent for next season and with a dominant win in the books, expect things to bubble to a Marner-esque level of interest.

It was bound to happen with McLaren letting their drivers go for it.

Norris attempted to squeeze past Piastri down the front straight but ran out of room. Although Piastri escaped without critical damage and finished fourth, Norris’s day was done.

That helped Piastri extend his lead over Norris in the drivers’ championship from 10 points to 22.

To Norris’s credit, he took full responsibility, saying over the team radio: “Yep, I’m sorry. It’s all my bad. All my fault. Unlucky, sorry. Stupid from me.”

Perhaps now is the time for the team to have that difficult conversation and establish “papaya rules” again, only this time with the roles reversed from last season to favour Piastri.

It was an uncharacteristic weekend for McLaren even before the accident as the team was shut out from the podium for the first time this season.

Things came apart during the third and final round of qualifying as Piastri and Norris stayed out on their worn soft tires while Russell and Verstappen had both switched to the more durable mediums. That proved to be the right compound as first Verstappen then Russell pipped Piastri for pole position.

Considering 11 of the past 13 winners at the Canadian GP started on the front row — now make that 12 of 14 following Russell’s victory — Norris was facing an uphill battle starting from seventh.

It had been done before, and by a McLaren driver no less, with Jenson Button winning after starting seventh in 2011. Norris just needed a torrential downpour, a two-hour red flag period, a collision with his teammate, a drive-through penalty, a collision with Fernando Alonso … it’s not complicated.

Well, one of those boxes got checked off.

Antonelli also became the third-youngest driver to score a podium finish, slotting in the record books behind Verstappen and Canadian driver Lance Stroll.

The 18-year-old rookie qualified fourth and set the table early for a podium finish with a smooth move around Piastri on the opening lap.

Antonelli had both McLarens hunting him down during the closing stages, but their incident ensured a safety car finish and another milestone for the young Italian.

Don’t worry, the drinking age in Quebec is 18, so Antonelli was fine taking a champagne shower on the podium.

Verstappen on his best behaviour

Verstappen avoided adding to his penalty points total, but he’s not in the clear yet.

The four-time reigning world champion collected three points when he collided with Russell in Spain, bringing his tally to 11 over a 12-month period. One more before the end of June and Verstappen will receive an automatic one-race ban.

Verstappen will still have to be a good boy as there’s one more race before the calendar flips to July and a big one for him at that. The Austrian Grand Prix is set for June 29 and takes place at his team’s playground, the Red Bull Ring.

The Dutch driver was looking to become the first driver to win the Canadian Grand Prix in four consecutive seasons. Verstappen will have to settle for a tie with Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, which isn’t bad company to share a record with.

Russell and Verstappen set identical times during qualifying last year to start 1-2 and were both back on the front row (although Russell was .160 seconds quicker this time).

Deja vu? More like Groundhog Day, especially with the marmots scurrying across the track all weekend.

Apparently, one wasn’t so fortunate as Hamilton sustained floor damage to his Ferrari, which is believed to be a result of running over a groundhog. Hamilton was remorseful while reflecting on the incident post-race.

“That’s devastating,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. “I love animals, and I’m so sad about it. That’s horrible. That’s never happened to me here before.”

As his former team celebrated a double-podium finish, Hamilton came in sixth right behind current teammate Charles Leclerc, which won’t help quiet the growing noise surrounding Ferrari’s struggles. Expectations were high when Ferrari lured Hamilton away from Mercedes, but F1’s winningest driver has yet to reach the podium with the prancing horse.

Leclerc and Hamilton also happen to sit fifth and sixth, respectively, in the standings as the Monegasque driver continues to outperform the seven-time world champion.

Ferrari is expected to bring upgrades to Silverstone and Hamilton’s home race at the British GP next month, but if those don’t work out, it may be time to start focusing on next season.

At least Ferrari’s hypercar is getting the job done, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the third consecutive year.