Canadian Grand Prix – Verstappen (Red Bull) wins ahead of Sainz (Ferrari), Hamilton (Mercedes) regains the podium

It is entrenched, fixed in the first place like a mussel to its rock. On the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) never doubted. Even when his teammate Sergio Pérez threw in the towel after nine laps, the gearbox was tired.

Even when Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) huddled in his diffuser in the last 16 laps with the dogged idea of ​​securing his first success after 149 races. The two drivers offered a thrilling final to the thousands of spectators delighted to return to Formula 1 after three years of absence, while this Grand Prix of Canada has mainly been played in the pits until then.

The Dutchman had kept the advantage when the lights went out, despite the desire of Fernando Alonso (Alpine), second, to “overtake him at the first corner”. Fine calculator, he had understood that Montreal provided an opportunity in or increased his lead in the championship. Penalized for changing the power unit, his fiercest competitor Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) limited the disadvantages by orchestrating a crazy rise from 19th place to the Top 5. After nine Grands Prix, the Monegasque finds himself 49 points behind the world leader and 3 unfortunate Pérez’s units.

Hamilton returns to the podium

We were waiting for a strategy at a pit stop, we finally had some money. With three race neutralizations, the brains of the drivers and their engineers were close to overheating. Verstappen repeatedly complained about a worrying loss of grip on lap 43, as Sainz’s car museum grew in his rear-view mirrors. What was his surprise to come out of the pits behind Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), whom he ended up overtaking after passing a blower to the Red Bull wall.

The Briton doesn’t have the car to worry about the Batavian, but he managed to sign his second podium of the season after Bahrain. The seven-time world champion beat his garage neighbor George Russell, who continues his good run in the Top 5. Alonso, he tumbled in the standings, dropping from a promising second place to 7th behind Esteban Ocon (Alpine), but ahead of the Alfa Romeos of Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou.

And what about the Haas, present in the third row: Mick Schumacher retired on the 20th lap for a mechanical problem; Kevin Magnussen was frustrated by a damaged wing by Hamilton early in the race. The Dane finished last, while Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) clinched the last point in play thanks to a nice move on Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren).

It was not the race of Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) either. P14, the Norman gained only one place on his starting position and never seemed able to aim better. The head is already at Silverstone, in two weeks.