Max Verstappen takes the 41st win of his career at the Canadian grand prix, drawing level with Ayrton Senna’s tally, as well as providing Red Bull’s 100th win in F1.
The start of the race saw Lewis Hamilton manage to jump Alonso for second on the grid, whilst Leclerc was able to bring himself up into the points after a disappointing qualifying. Alonso was able to stick close to Hamilton and was looking for an opportunity to re-overtake in the opening laps.
Lap 8 saw the first retirement from the race as Logan Sargeant’s Williams suffered a critical issue, bringing out a virtual safety car, though only briefly.
The first pit stop came from Pierre Gasly as he looked to take his softs off, being the only driver to have started on that compound. However he wasn’t the only one struggling with tyre wear, as medium runners such as Hulkenberg, Stroll and De Vries started to pit only a couple of laps later.
However these drivers ultimately timed their stops poorly as George Russell would hit the wall on lap 12, bringing out a safety car because of the debris left behind. Russell was able to limp back to the pits and continue for the time being, though he would be last place. The majority of the grid pitted as a result, which caused drama as Hamilton and Norris were sent out awfully close to other cars. However, they were both able to avoid penalties for this.
The two Ferraris were the only medium runners who chose to stay out. They had struggled to overtake the traffic they had found themselves in before the safety car, and hoped to use the clear air to make gains, which they were successful in doing once green flag running resumed.
Fernando Alonso had been breathing down Lewis Hamilton’s neck even more so following the safety car, and it was on lap 23 where the Spaniard regained 2nd place. Though Hamilton tried to fight back, Alonso was able to stay ahead, and then begin to pull away from his former teammate.
Magnussen and De Vries had a run in on lap 30, as they jostled for 12th. De Vries had slightly forced Magnussen off track on the exit of turn 1, then he locked up on the entry of turn 3, bringing Magnussen along to the run off, with the Haas driver finding himself blocked on the outside. Both drivers avoided damage and were able to continue the race.
There were still a lot of tyre wear issues affecting most drivers, forcing most to come in again around the middle of the race. Both Ferraris were able to drag their medium tyres to lap 39 and 40 respectively, having the longest stints on the tyre all race. This allowed them to avoid the extra stop that most around them were doing, allowing them to keep 4th and 5th.
Alex Albon had managed to work his way up to 7th and was proving himself to be a nuisance to those behind, as his speed in a straight line made him difficult to overtake. Russell was stuck behind the Williams for a number of laps, before he was forced to retire his car on lap 55, with the damage from earlier in the race having caught back up to the Mercedes. Esteban Ocon took over as the lead driver in the train forming behind Albon, but found it equally as difficult to pass. Albon would finish the race in 7th, picking up 6 points and bringing Williams up to 9th in the constructors.
Norris had gained a five second penalty for going needlessly slowly during the safety car, but had now found himself involved in the Albon train. This meant the longer he stayed behind losing time, the more positions he would potentially lose. As a result, the McLaren driver made some strong attempts at moving forward in the dying laps. This included a move around the outside of Bottas at turn 10, as well as attempting an overtake on the outside of Ocon at the final chicane on the last lap, though he was made to take avoiding action. In the end, Norris fell from 9th to 13th with his penalty.
Further ahead, Hamilton was doing his best to chase down Alonso, and had pulled within two seconds of the Aston Martin. However, Alonso was managing a brake duct issue that had come about from grazing the wall earlier in the race. Once he picked up the pace again, Alonso put himself out of sight from Hamilton.
In the end Verstappen was able to beat 2nd placed Alonso by 9.6 seconds, which is on the slightly less dominant end for the dutchman this season. This win means that Verstappen has equalled the number of wins Ayrton Senna had in his career, as well as being Red Bull’s 100th as a constructor.
Verstappen has now scored 195 points after 8 rounds, 69 points more than Perez in 2nd place. F1 next flies to Spielberg for the Austrian grand Prix, taking place 30th June – 2nd July.
