Formula 1 ®
Max holds off Lando for his third consecutive victory at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve!
Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen produced a brilliant performance in testing conditions to finish ahead of Lando Norris and extend his championship lead. The Dutch driver started from second on the grid but took the lead on lap 47 after a well-timed pit stop and held off the challenge of the McLaren driver to secure a third consecutive victory at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
George Russell beat Max to the first turn in a super slow start in the wet, with Norris and Oscar Piastri slotting in behind them to maintain an unchanged top four.
Conditions were treacherous. Intermediates were the choice tire for 18 of 20 cars, but both Haas drivers had gambled on full wets, and the decision appeared to be paying off handsomely.
While the rest of the field had to crawl around on the drying line, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg were racing freeform, overtaking cars wherever they chose to rise to a barely believable fourth and eighth, up from 14th and 17th on the grid.
The gains weren’t to last, however. By lap six the track had dried enough for the intermediate tire to excel. Magnussen stopped at the end of the following tour to try to preserve his gains, but the team wasn’t ready, and a slow 8.6s stop dumped him back out of the points.
Hulkenberg extended hoping to switch to slicks, but by lap 13 he’d lost too much time and likewise dropped down the order after a pit stop.
Max
“It was a really rewarding victory today, these kind of races are a lot of fun as you don’t know what is going to be thrown at you and I enjoyed racing today. With the weather so bad it was so easy to make a mistake; we had to be really focused as one tiny move off the racing line could result in us going off the track into the wall. The Team made all the right calls at the right time and remained really calm.
If you look at the last few weekends that we have had in these conditions, we have typically always done well, so that gave me a lot of confidence going into today. We also got quite lucky with the safety car, sometimes it can work for you and sometimes against you but that is racing! Once we were on the slick tyres at the end, the car had pretty decent pace and we managed to keep it going until the end. It was a tough weekend but I am really proud to bring home my 60th win.”
Lando
“The first two stints were very strong, I had amazing pace. Then the Safety Car had me over… Just like it helped me in Miami, it’s now had me back over.
“Honestly, I thought it was a pretty perfect race from my side, just a bit unlucky, but that’s what it is. It was good fun, these conditions are so stressful inside the car, but very enjoyable at the same time.
“The first stint I was in lead by, what, 10, 12 seconds, pulling away probably two to three seconds a lap. Things were going beautifully and of course it’s Montreal, so there’s always something that’s got to come into play.
“But it was good, fair play to Max, he drove a good race, no mistakes. It’s good fun, I’m happy with second, good points for team so a good weekend for us.”
Asked if he felt like it was a race that got away, Norris added: “That’s what it is. It helped me out in Miami, so I’m not going to be the one to complain. It happens, that’s racing sometimes.
“I drove a good race, the car’s been great all weekend, so thanks to team. We’re close, it’s nice to be so close once again and on the podium, so we’ll keep fighting.”
George
I’m disappointed with myself today. I made too many errors that set us back and cost us a chance of victory. I was really pushing the limits out there. That said, it feels great to be disappointed with P3. We’ve made small steps over the past few races and to come to Canada, get pole position and a podium is really encouraging. We’ve been one of the fastest cars on track all weekend, so we’ve definitely made progress. There are many positives to take away from here.
The conditions were incredibly challenging out there. Put a wheel even one millimetre off line and you would be in trouble. Unfortunately, the errors I made came with consequences as it let other cars past. Other drivers made errors too, but they didn’t come at the same cost. We were still able to battle back to the podium though with the pace we had. We will continue to work hard, develop the car, and I’m looking forward to heading to Barcelona.
Fernando
RACE P6
“It was a good race for the team and finishing in sixth and seventh positions in an extremely challenging race weekend is a good result. I think we can be more optimistic heading into Barcelona. It ended up being a lonely race for me despite the mixed weather conditions. There wasn’t much we could do with the top five cars ahead as they were a little bit too fast today and there were not too many threats behind us. It was stressful with the changeable conditions, and you had to avoid making a mistake and also switch the tyres at the right time. Most importantly, we brought both cars home and scored double points for the team.”
