After being left off the schedule during the previous two seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Formula One returned to Montreal with much fanfare particularly due to the rise in popularity of Netflix’s Drive To Survive. The Canadian Grand Prix was well worth the wait as fans were treated to an entertaining event that came down to the final lap.
Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen fended off Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to win at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Here’s what you need to know from Sunday’s race.
NO RAIN ON VERSTAPPEN’S PARADE
All I can say is Max Verstappen’s life isn’t pretty plain. Puddles gathered rain over the weekend and the track was soaked during practice and qualifying but the Canadian Grand Prix is a race, not a splish-splash show.
And what a race it was as Verstappen’s Red Bull had the quicker pace over Sainz — despite the Ferrari driver pitting later and having fresher tires — and crossed the finish line by a margin of less than a second.
The reigning world champion has now won six times this season including five of the past six races. Overall, Red Bull Racing has won six straight with Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez’s victory in Monaco last month sandwiched in there.
Verstappen has now built a comfortable 46-point cushion on Perez in the standings as the Mexican driver was forced to retire Sunday due to what appeared to be a gearbox problem. Perhaps Perez should have borrowed that Zamboni again.
SILVER LINING FOR SAINZ
“To finish first, you must first finish” is a popular racing quote and applicable to Ferrari and Sainz right now as both the Italian manufacturer and the Spanish driver should be pleased with the runner-up result following last week’s DNF in Azerbaijan. Sainz also scored the fastest lap bonus point.
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc made a valiant effort to chip away at the field to finish P5 despite starting last due to an engine swap penalty. Losing 10 grid places was a tough one to swallow, however, considering his power unit blew up last week in Azerbaijan while leading the race, the change was needed to ensure Ferrari wouldn’t experience another meltdown and throw away more points.
Leclerc also inched closer to Perez for second in the standings, now just three points back.
VINTAGE ALONSO
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso started P2 and on the front row for the first time since the 2012 German Grand Prix. It would have been nice to see the two-time world champion and 2006 Canadian GP winner contend again, but Verstappen sprinted away at the start. Alonso appeared to experience engine problems late in the race and crossed the line seventh, however, he received a five-second penalty after the race for blocking Valtteri Bottas and dropped to ninth.
Alonso proved he can still captivate the crowd although it probably helped he showed up this weekend in a Montreal Canadiens jersey.
Combined with Esteban Ocon’s P6 result, Alpine will be happy with their overall performance as they closed the gap on McLaren for fourth place in the constructors’ standings. Just eight points separate the two teams now as neither McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo nor teammate Lando Norris finished within the top 10.
HAMILTON BACK IN BUSINESS
After suffering severe back pain in Baku a week ago, with rumours rumbling about having to sit out, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton appeared fine on his trek to claim a spot on the podium in third.
Mercedes has been the most vocal about the “porpoising” issue and the cars were bouncing again around Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. However, Hamilton told Sky Sports analyst Jenson Button after the race that his back was fine. Having won the Canadian GP seven times, including the first GP victory of his career in 2007, Hamilton was also quick to praise the crowd: “I love it here in Montreal.”
It’s just the second podium this year for Hamilton and only the second time he’s outperformed new teammate George Russell, who was right behind in P4.
What proved to be the difference was Hamilton pitted for the harder compound tires during the first Virtual Safety Car period while Russell remained out. Although Russell also got a cheap pit stop under VSC conditions later in the race, Hamilton had the pace to remain ahead of his teammate.
Russell continued his streak as the only driver to finish every race in the points this season — and all in the top five no less.
HAAS OF PAIN
Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher looked poised to finish within the points, qualifying P5 and P6 respectively, but both left Montreal empty-handed.
Magnussen got tangled up with Hamilton at the start and sustained front wing damage that required an unscheduled trip to the pits to knock him out of contention.
It was Schumacher’s best qualifying effort — on the track his father Michael won a record-tying seven times — as he was not only aiming for points but his first-ever points in F1. The wait shall continue, however, as the younger Schumacher experienced mechanical problems and was forced to bow out from the race.
STROLLING INTO THE POINTS
Montreal’s very own Lance Stroll started on the second last row of the grid right beside compatriot Nicholas Latifi. Stroll and his Aston Martin team opted for a one-stop pit strategy and managed to turn their P17 start into a P10 finish and claim a point after passing Ricciardo late in the race. It’s the third time in the 23-year-old’s career that he’s been able to pull off a points finish from starting near the back of the pack at his home event.
Latifi, who was born in Montreal and grew up in Toronto, wasn’t as fortunate in his Williams car. Already lagging behind the field, Latifi suffered a problematic pitstop when his front right wheel wasn’t placed properly. The final Virtual Safety Car helped bunch things up, and Latifi was able to pass Magnussen to finish P16.
UP NEXT
it’s off to historic Silverstone in a fortnight for the British Grand Prix and Round 10 of the season. Hamilton has won the race a record eight times including seven of the past eight years. The only other previous winners on the grid are Alonso (2006 and 2011) and Sebastian Vettel, who is the outlier of Hamilton’s aforementioned streak as the 2018 victor.
