Verstappen victorious in Canada despite late safety car and speedy Carlos Sainz.
P1 – VER
P2 – SAI
P3 – RUS
Max Verstappen gave a “Montreal Masterclass” in Canada on Sunday after claiming his fifth win in the last SIX races. Despite a late safety car that had fans salivating over the potential of Carlos Sainz’s first F1 race win, the Ferrari couldn’t get past the reigning world champion.
Verstappen held off the fresher tires of Sainz and crossed the finish line less than a second ahead of the speedy Spaniard.
It was the Silver Arrow of 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton who made a valiant return to the podium after what many thought would be another tricky weekend after he called the car “undriveable” in Friday’s free practice sessions.
Best of the Rest
Mercedes’ teammate George Russell continued his “Mr. Consistency” streak finishing P4 for the day.
Driver of the Day, Charles Leclerc, finished an admirable P5 after starting nineteenth on the grid thanks to several power unit penalties for the Monegasque.
It was the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso who crossed the line sixth and seventh, with Alonso later being demoted to P9 after a five-second time penalty for weaving ahead of Valtteri Bottas. A surely disappointing finish for Fernando after his breakout P2 qualifying finish the day prior.
The Alfa Romeos of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu finished P7 and P8 (thanks to the Alonso penalty) – an epic double points weekend for the team!
The Aston Martin of Lance Stroll rounded out the points, surely a cherry on the top for the Canadian driver in the first race back in Montreal since 2019.
Looking Ahead
The grid returns to Silverstone in two weeks’ time for the historic British Grand Prix. Last years’ race had quite the controversy – how will this year fare?
