Verstappen wins F1 race again! This time he took his triumph in a chaotic and shocking Canadian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen took another win of the season in a thrilling and rain-affected Canadian Grand Prix! The three-time world champion survived pressure from the drivers behind him to take his sixth triumph of the year ahead of Lando Norris and George Russell. In contrast, Ferrari had a shattering grand prix, losing both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz out of the race after a strategy error and a crash.

In an inherently traditional detour in the ongoing European season, Formula One took place at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Canada’s largest city, Montréal. The ninth round of this year’s season brought unbiased fans strong hopes of a continuation of the surprisingly interesting championship run so far.

After the opening triumphs of reigning world champion Max Verstappen, the Dutchman has won only once in the last three Grands Prix. The race preceding the VC Emilia Romagna was dominated by Lando Norris in an mclaren. Although Verstappen won at Imola, it was not a comfortable 25-point haul. His sixth place in the following race in Monaco, however, narrowly pipped the competition in the standings.

Despite Red Bull’s apparent loss of dominance, the three-time champion managed to pull his car up to the front row in Canada. However, this was in an absolutely unusual situation, as Verstappen set an identical time to poleman George Russell! The Mclaren monoblocs lined up on the second row of the grid. However, both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri lost only about one tenth of a second to pole position.

A wet start to the race

The threat of showers lingered over the Gilles Villeneuve circuit all weekend. The rain finally let up a few minutes before the start of the race, which meant that the start was mainly on intermediate tyres. The only exceptions were Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg, who opted for extreme wet tyres.

The opening laps after lights out belonged to these drivers. While Russell, Verstappen and Norris maintained the positions they had gained in qualifying, the Dane and the German overtook one driver after another on the blue-marked tyres. By the end of the second lap, the pair had earned several positions, with Magnussen and Hülkenberg managing to climb to fourth and eighth respectively.

However, the rain eased and the pace quickened each lap, especially for those on the intermediate sets. This slowed the Haas daredevils, forcing Magnussen to pit on lap eight. Here he unfortunately lost time when his team didn’t have the intermediates ready. Hülkenberg held on until lap 12, though, by which time he was passed by the group he had previously delayed for some time. However, he too stopped at the mechanics and also requested green-marked tyres from them.

Meanwhile, veterans of the sport Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were battling it out. The Spaniard went off the track at the end of lap seven, which the Briton tried to take advantage of, but made a mistake himself at the start of the next one. At the same time, at the front, Russell resisted pressure from Verstappen. The Mercedes driver eventually gained a small advantage on lap 17 thanks to a mistake by the reigning champion. He was hooked by the onrushing Norris.

Variable conditions caught the winner of the last race

The Briton, with the help of DRS, was able to get past Verstappen three laps later, and in the very next lap he also got the better of his compatriot Russell. The latter, having lost the race lead, drove through the final chicane and relinquished the position to Verstappen as well.

But just as Norris was building a bigger and bigger lead by leaps and bounds, Logan Sargeant crashed. His crash forced the exit of the safety car, which race directors allowed onto the circuit just as Norris missed the pit entrance. His closest pursuers, on the other hand, made it to the pits in time for the brand new intermediate tyres. As a result, Norris dropped to third after his own stop a lap later.

More rain clouds were approaching, but without the certainty of their collision with the circuit. So a miracle was attempted by the struggling Ferrari with Leclerc sent out by the team for dry tyres before the restart. A few drops did indeed fall. So much so that Ferrari’s gamble didn’t pay off and Leclerc headed for the green tyres again. His third stop of the race sent him a lap back behind leader Verstappen, who held on to first position after the safety car left at the end of lap 29, much to the chagrin of the tifosi.

After the restart, Alex Albon took care of the manoeuvre of the season, who had a stroke of luck on two drivers in the run-up to the circuit’s final chicane.

Red tragedy complete, Verstappen the leader

The track was gradually drying out and on lap 41, Alpin’s Pierre Gasly was the first driver to go for dry tyres. A lap later, Norris made a mistake which sent him back behind Russell. The moment Leclerc, winner of the last Monaco Grand Prix, retired, the first group of drivers headed to the mechanics, led by Hamilton, Sainz and Pérez. The dry tyres were then picked up by Piastri or Alonso on lap 44, and Verstappen and Russell on lap 45.

However, Norris remained circling on intermediates and delayed his stop until lap 47. His overcut was enough for second place Russell, but not for leader Verstappen. Unfortunately for McLaren, the strategic move was ultimately nullified after a minor miss by Norris, which Russell took advantage of by moving back up to second.

The final drama was due to an incident involving Pérez, who was eliminated from the race by the clock at turn six. Sainz, who completed the Ferrari disaster in the Canadian VC, spun in the same spot. But on his return to the track, he was hit by poor Albon. Both were knocked out of the race, which cut the number of active drivers to 15. After Sainz and Albon collided, the slowing car returned to the track.

A chaotic race saw a return to normal, Verstappen the winner

The second restart of the Canadian race came at the end of lap 58. Verstappen calmly took the lead after that and was able to watch the main action of the last laps of the race on the screens, with McLaren and Mercedes drivers getting in on the action.

With nine laps to go, Russell attacked Piastri for third place. An attempt to catch his rival on the next lap resulted in contact on the run-in to the final chicane, which the Briton had to drive straight through after making contact with the Australian. That opened the door for Hamilton, who took on the second-placed McLaren in the standings and climbed to the podium himself.

Just as Russell’s retaliation on Piastri came out, Yuki Cunoda spun dangerously in his RB stable car. It was a wonder that he didn’t hit the wall on the inside of turn nine and that a passing Kevin Magnussen didn’t crash into him.

In the end, Russell still managed to pass his stablemate in the battle for third place. However, despite a chaotic and indeed entertaining race, the race was dominated by Verstappen, for whom victory in this year’s VC Canada will go down on his CV as his 60th overall. The Dutchman triumphed for the sixth time this season ahead of Norris and Russell. Mercedes thus scored its first podium of the year. Both Aston Martins, Ricciardo and both Alpinas still reached the points.

Canadian Formula One Grand Prix results (Race 9/24, 70 laps = 305.270 km; top 10 only):

1. Max Verstappen (Niz., Red Bull) 1:45.47.927
2. Lando Norris (Brit., McLaren) +3.879
3. George Russell (Brit., Mercedes) +4.317
4. Lewis Hamilton (Brit., Mercedes) +4.915
5. Oscar Piastri (Aus., McLaren) +10.199
6. Fernando Alonso (Span., Aston Martin) +17.510
7. Lance Stroll (Can., Aston Martin) +23.625
8. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus., RB) +28.672
9. Pierre Gasly (Fra., Alpine) +30.021
10. Esteban Ocon (Fra., Alpine) +30.313

2024 Formula One Drivers’ Standings (after 9/24; top 10 only):

1. Max Verstappen (Niz., Red Bull) 194 points
2. Charles Leclerc (Mon., Ferrari) 138
3. Lando Norris (Brit., McLaren) 131
4. Carlos Sainz (Span., Ferrari) 108
5. Sergio Pérez (Mex., Red Bull) 107
6. Oscar Piastri (Aus., McLaren) 81
7. George Russell (Brit., Mercedes) 69
8. Lewis Hamilton (Brit., Mercedes) 55
9. Fernando Alonso (Spa., Aston Martin) 41
10. Yuki Cunoda (Jap., RB) 19

Sources