MAX VERSTAPPEN stormed to victory to win the Canada Grand Prix for the FIRST time.
While Lewis Hamilton picked up a podium place by finishing third in a much-improved display for Mercedes.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was second, with Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell fourth.
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That’s a wrap
Thanks for sticking with us for our F1 coverage on our blog.
It was a thrilling Canadian Grand Prix, won convincingly by Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman now extends his lead at the top of the Drivers Championship.
Join us again for the British Grand Prix next.
Drivers standings after Canadian Grand Prix
1) Max Verstappen – 175
2) Sergio Perez – 129
3) Charles Leclerc – 126
4) George Russell – 111
5) Carlos Sainz – 102
6) Lewis Hamilton – 77
Leclerc frustrated
Even though he managed a fifth placed finish, Charles Leclerc was frustrated by his Canadian Grand Prix race.
“It was very frustrating actually,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“The last part was nice but obviously the very first part I was stuck in a DRS train and couldn’t do anything. Then in the middle part of the race I found myself stuck behind Esteban [Ocon] on much newer tyres so he had very good traction and that was enough to keep me behind.
“Then we had a slow pit stop and fell behind another DRS train, but the end was quite fun. I had to be aggressive to get more points and fifth is the best we could manage today.
“Overall the feeling was good and that’s a good sign. Whether it would have been enough to Red Bull today I don’t know, but it has been close all season and I felt like Carlos [Sainz] was quite strong today. This shows that it would have been close.”
Sainz reacts
Carlos Sainz is pleased with his second-placed finish.
He reacted: “I can tell I didn’t leave anything on the table today. I was the fastest car today – it was very difficult to mount an overtake on the RB. I gave my maximum.
“We tried our best and as a team we executed the race.”
Winners and Losers
Red Bull are obviously the big winners from the Canadian Grand Prix with Verstappen clocking up another victory, but it is not a faultless win.
Sergio Perez’s retirement due to a suspected gearbox issue suggests gremlins remain in their car, an issue that was prevalent early in the season.
It’s a great day for Mercedes who showed a marked step forward, and Ferrari will be happy to have both cars finishing and both making up positions, even if they’ve fallen further behind Red Bull.
Meanwhile, Haas’ day unraveled from the first lap as Magnussen sustained front wing damage which caused him to lose time and pit early, while a competitive-looking Mick Schumacher lost out on the chance of points due to a mechanical issue.
It was an equally bad day over at Alpha Tauri, as Yuki Tsunoda left the pits to drive into the wall while Gasly had mechanical issues from early on and never really got going.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reacts to the race
“Within the team, [Hamilton] was always positive in the mindset. It’s astonishing. I’m happy for Lewis as he had bad luck on his side and would have been on the podium if not for the safety car a couple of times.
[On whether Mercedes can win at the next race at Silverstone] “If we can run the car low, we should be competitive.”
Making a point at home
Lance Stroll sneaked in 10th with a late overtake over Daniel Ricciardo, gaining a point in his home race.
Top step of the podium
Verstappen listens to the national anthems at the top step of the podium, with this win being his 5th win in six races.
It’s also Red Bull’s sixth race win in a row.
With Perez retiring early on and Leclerc only making his way up to 5th, this now firmly seems like Verstappen’s title to lose.
Preparing for the podium
Verstappen, Sainz and Hamilton are chatting in the cool-down room with F1 boss Stefano Domenicali.
They all seem to be in good spirits, with the result particularly good for Verstappen and Hamilton who both stopped under the first virtual safety car, which now clearly seemed to be the best strategy. This race also marks the first time Hamilton has finished above his teammate Russell since the opening race.
As for Carlos Sainz, this is his 5th-second place finish in F1 but he is yet to win a race. Today seems like a missed opportunity.
Hamilton on his 3rd place finish
“We’ve had such an awesome crowd here this weekend. It’s quite overwhelming to get this 3rd place this weekend but we continue to be vigilant and not give up so thank you to the team and everyone back at the factory.
“We just have to keep pushing and hopefully we can be up there with them [Ferrari and Red Bull].
“Our pace was quite good, especially in the second phase so honestly I’m ecstatic. I didn’t expect [a podium] coming back this week. I love it in Montreal.”
Verstappen reacts
“The safety car didn’t help. Overall [Ferrari] were really quick but yeah it was really exciting at the end. I was giving it everything I had and so was Carlos. The last few laps were very fun.
“Luckily this year we seem really quick on the straights so that helps.”
What a win
Verstappen really had to fight for that one after the safety car restart.
Best of the rest
George Russell comes home 4th, meaning he continues his incredible run of top 5 finishes in every single race this season.
Charles Leclerc’s recovery drive takes him from 19th to 5th, with Ocon and Alonso coming home 6th and 7th. Disappointing for Alonso who started 2nd.
Bottas and Zhou come home to finish 8th and 9th in a double-points finish for Alfa Romeo.
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX!
The Red Bull driver holds off Sainz who takes second place.
Hamilton on the podium for the first time since the opening race in Bahrain.
Lap 69/70
Sainz was closer than ever to Verstappen on lap 68, but he still couldn’t get close enough.
He has two more laps to try and claim his first F1 win.
Lap 67/70
Twice in history the Canadian Grand Prix has been settled on the final lap, with Nelson Piquet victorious right at the end of the 1991 race and Jenson Button famously getting past Vettel when made a mistake.
Could the same thing happen today? Sainz is still stuck less than a second behind Verstappen.
Meanwhile its Alpine v Alfa Romeo in the battle for 6th, with Ocon leading Alonso who leads Bottas and Zhou.
Lap 64/70
Edge of your seat stuff at the front of the grid
Lap 63/70
Verstappen has managed to pull out of the DRS range of Sainz, who may have missed his best opportunity to take the lead off the Red Bull.
Sainz needs to pull something special out of the bag – or hope Max makes an uncharacteristic mistake – to win this one.
Lap 61/70
Sainz just won’t let go. He remains so, so close to Verstappen, who is looking for his 26th win in F1. Sainz is still looking for his first.
On his fresh tyres and with DRS, Sainz may just have enough pace to take the lead or try and force the Dutchman into a mistake.
Lap 60/70
Sainz is hunting down Verstappen! Every lap the Ferrari is within DRS range of the Red Bull, with the Dutchman unable to pull away on his holder tyres.
This one could well go down the wire.
Meanwhile the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc has passed Alonso for 6th, and is now trying to get past the other Alpine of Ocon for 5th.
Lap 57/70
Verstappen has a good safety car restart, and manages to keep clear of Sainz, with Hamilton and Russell close behind. There’s only around four seconds covering the top 4, with Verstappen not yet able to pull away.
No movement in the rest of the field either, although Guanyu tried unsuccessfully to put a move on Vettel.
Lap 54/70
Safety car in at the end of this lap! We are ready to go with the final 15 laps of this Canadian Grand Prix, and you don’t want to miss the ending to this one.
Lap 52/70 – Safety Car
So Yuki Tsunoda’s crash after leaving the pits has triggered the full safety car, the third intervention of this race after we earlier got two virtual safety cars.
Sainz may well feel he has nothing to lose and everything to prove as he prepares to gun for Verstappen at the rolling restart.
How racy will George Russell be feeling behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton? The Mercedes pair have previously had a great scrap in Miami after the safety car on that occasion.
Then we have two Alpines in 5th and 6th, with Leclerc keen to make up positions from 7th.
We have a wonderful script for the closing laps of this Canadian Grand Prix.
Lap 50/70 – Safety car
Sainz pits under the safety car, with Verstappen re-taking the lead but Sainz now on fresher tyres. The restart could be very interesting to watch.
Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso are pitting from 5th and 6th respectively under the safety car, with Bottas finally pitting for the first time.
Lap 49/70
Tsuonda has hit the wall at turn 1! We have a safety car, and this could be massive for the race!
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
