Three weeks after the Monaco GP the F1 teams were in Canada and the talk in the paddock was of a ban on traction-control and active suspension, the F1 Technical Delegate having decided that the systems were actually illegal since they were deemed artificial aids to the drivers.

The story on the race track was the same as usual with the two Williams-Renaults of Alain Prost and Damon Hill on the front row of the grid with Michael Schumacher third ahead of his Benetton team mate Riccardo Patrese and then the two Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Jean Alési. Martin Brundle was seventh in his Ligier-Renault while Ayrton Senna was a disappointed eighth, his McLaren not handling well on Friday and Saturday's qualifying being ruined by hot conditions. The top 10 was completed by Karl Wendlinger's Sauber and the second Ligier of Mark Blundell.

Hill made the best start and took the lead, while Prost went with him while Senna had an amazing first lap as he overtook Brundle, Schumacher and Patrese in the opening section. He overtook Alési in the fast corners on the way back to the pits and was fourth behind the two Williams-Renaults and Berger. The Austrian fell to Ayrton on the second lap. Hill led for the first six laps and then Prost moved ahead. Senna closed on Hill but there was not much that he could do. Schumacher moved up to fourth and stayed there. In the midrace pit stops Hill dropped to fourth because of a mix-up in the pits. Fifth-placed Patrese spun away his chances on lap 44 while in the final laps Senna hit trouble when his engine died and he stopped. Schumacher took second with Hill third, Berger fourth, Brundle fifth and Wendlinger sixth.