After an intensely dramatic race in Montreal during intermittent rain, Max Verstappen emerged victorious, leaving Lando Norris and George Russell to ponder their own dreams.
A fortnight after Red Bull’s miserable Monaco race, Verstappen impressively returned to winning ways with his sixth win of the season to re-establish a more comfortable lead of 56 points in the world championship. The race was an unpredictable 70-lap affair that featured four changes of lead and two Safety Car periods caused by crashes.
Norris of McLaren led the race twice, the first time after passing Verstappen and Russell. However, as the cards did not go in his favour, especially with the first Safety Car in place, he had to settle for second place.
Russell, the pole sitter for Mercedes, finished third and was quite disheartened during a wild race in which he made multiple mistakes and collided with Oscar Piastri of McLaren.
After the latter incident, Russell dropped to fourth place during the race’s second Safety Car period. Lewis Hamilton, his Mercedes teammate, then passed Russell and Piastri cleanly, taking the final podium spot with five circuits remaining.
In the ninth round of the season, Russell managed to overtake Hamilton on the penultimate lap and secure Mercedes’ first Grand Prix podium of 2024 after passing Piastri on the second try.
Hamilton qualified six positions behind Russell in seventh place, but even so, fourth was his best Sunday finish so far this year. Despite this, the seven-time Montreal winner called it “one of the worst races that I’ve driven”.
Piastri finished fifth in the second McLaren after being passed by both Mercedes, which had been the only leading vehicles to pit for a second set of dry tyres.
With homegrown drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
Daniel Ricciardo recovered from a five-second time penalty for a jump start to finish the greatest weekend of his underwhelming season thus far with ninth in a fierce battle for the last points spots throughout the race.
Moreover, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon of Alpine scored vital points in positions nine and ten. The team’s directive to allow Gasly to past him in the final laps in an attempt to chase Ricciardo, however, infuriated Ocon.
Although Ferrari is still Red Bull’s closest rival in the Constructors’ Championship, their Montreal weekend—which many analysts had deemed inevitable following their victory in Monaco—became the stuff of nightmares.
The Scuderia’s first pointless race since Australia 2023 occurred as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz struggled in the race and eventually retired. They had already collapsed to a double Q2 exit in qualifying, starting outside of the top 10.
Leclerc’s afternoon was derailed by a power unit issue, and Sainz lost what would have been ninth place after he skidded on a wet curb at Turn Six. The spinning Ferrari collected an unlucky Alex Albon, whom Williams Sainz had just passed.
Ferrari now trails Red Bull by 49 points, although the world champions only managed a point through Verstappen when Sergio Perez’s terrible weekend, which had seen the Mexican retire in the first round, did not help him perform better in the race. After spinning and striking the Turn Six barriers, he retired with a broken rear wing following his first-lap collision with Gasly.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull – 1st:
“It was a pretty crazy race, a lot of things were happening. We had to be on top of our calls.
“As a team, we did well today. We remained calm, pitted at the right time. The Safety Car worked out nicely for us but even after that, we were managing the gaps quite well.”
Lando Norris, McLaren – 2nd:
“To be honest, I felt like I drove a good race the whole time from start to finish. The first two stints were very strong. I had amazing pace. But 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. But it was good fun.”
George Russell, Mercedes – 3rd:
“It felt like a missed opportunity. We were really quick on the inters at the beginning, then Lando came through. Then we jumped back on the slicks. I made a couple of mistakes out there, pushing the limits and paid the price for it.
“Nevertheless, first podium of the year. We truly had a fast car this weekend and to be in the mix fighting for victory was really fun.
Other posts by Hiresh
