Canada Race Reaction
Image: Red Bull Oracle Racing
The 58th running of the Canadian Grand Prix presented some amazing battles and impressive strategy calls. There was so much going on up and down the grid that we could barely keep up! So, to help you digest one of the most exciting Canadian Grand Prix in recent years, here are the key talking points of the race.
On the shoulders of giants
With this win at Montreal, Max Verstappen has as many wins as Ayrton Senna (41), a feat that many deemed inevitable.
Starting on pole for the race, a win was almost 100% certain. Whilst the Dutchman managed to pull away from the rest of the pack, his progress was hampered by a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) brought out by an engine failure for Logan Sargeant. After the VSC period came to an end, Verstappen continued to power on whilst Alonso, Hamilton, and Russell tussled for position.
Verstappen continued to dominate the race track despite a full course Safety Car coming out due to Russell making contact with the barriers, causing him major, but not race-ending, damage to his car.
Verstappen reported “I have no grip on this tyre,” at the start of the second stint. The Dutchman did say that the “grip is getting better,” but failed to get the fastest lap of the race, which was eventually snapped up by his teammate, Sergio Perez.
Speaking of Sergio Perez, the Mexican driver made good progress after a dismal performance in qualifying. Perez went wheel-to-wheel with many drivers, slotting himself into P6, behind the Ferrari cars of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. Unlike his teammate, Perez didn’t make the progress Red Bull was hoping for, achieving yet another lacklustre performance.
Perez expressed concerns that there is a serious lack of pace between his car and Verstappen’s car.
“I have the confidence in myself and know what I can do but today we were not good. Right now, I am more concerned about my drop in performance than my place in the championship because the pace is just not there.”
Verstappen came home to finish nearly ten seconds ahead of Alonso, taking his 41st win, equalling him with the great Ayrton Senna. He now sits in joint-fifth place in the all-time winners list, ten wins away from four-time champion Alain Prost.
Celebrations continued at Red Bull as this win marked its 100th race win, just 14 race wins behind Williams, and 25 behind Mercedes.
Old sparring partners
When some drivers go wheel-to-wheel, we can’t help but get excited due to the drivers having either an exuberant racing style or fantastic defending skills. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are such drivers that, when they go wheel-to-wheel, we can’t keep our eyes off the screen.
Hamilton had a much better start than Alonso and quickly displaced the Spaniard for P2, when Russell attempted to follow suit but sensibly aborted his overtake.
It seemed as if Alonso didn’t have an answer for the pace of Hamilton’s W14. Alonso managed to get ahead of the Brit, making an impressive move into the final chicane. George Russell was behind Alonso for a large part of the opening stint, putting pressure on the Aston Martin driver. However, following his brush with the barriers, Hamilton lost the support of his teammate.
A tense mood enveloped the Mercedes garage as the team tried to use tyre strategy to get ahead of Alonso. This was all in vain as Alonso had the answer to Hamilton’s pace and didn’t seem to be struggling.
Towards the end of the race, Hamilton continued to close the gap to Alonso and was almost within DRS range of the Aston Martin. This was until Alonso was told to push and use up all the grip his medium-compound tyres had. This resulted in Alonso increasing his gap to Hamilton by almost five seconds, displaying his speed and tyre management skills.
Overall, we’d love to see these two legends go wheel-to-wheel more often, as their latest battle was an unforgettable one.
Best of the rest
Despite the usual battles at the front of the pack, there was action throughout the entire race, with the midfield shuffling positions. Nico Hulkenberg, who started the race in fifth, tumbled down the field with his teammate, Kevin Magnussen, losing positions too. It seems to be a running theme with Haas, qualifying great on Saturday and suffering on Sunday.
The Haas cars were the cause of a train that ran from P7 all the way to P15, causing drivers like Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon to rethink tyre strategy. The Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas held station, challenging for the final points position, defeating Oscar Piastri, who chased down the Finn towards the end of the race.
Speaking of McLaren, Lando Norris drove an excellent race but was awarded a five-second time penalty for what the FIA deemed as ‘unsportsmanlike behaviour’. The Brit ultimately came home in P13, giving McLaren its seventh consecutive pointless Canadian Grand Prix run.
Thanks to Russell retiring from the race due to a front brake issue, home hero Lance Stroll finished P9, narrowly beating Bottas, who crossed the finish line separated by 30 milliseconds. The Canadian driver delivered a solid performance, ultimately shadowed by Fernando Alonso’s superb form.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon put in a great drive, finishing P8, within a second of seventh-place Alexander Albon. Although it was clear the Alpine was a quicker car than the Williams ahead but struggled to make a move, ultimately missing out on two potentially vital points.
Arguably the best performance of the race came from Williams’ Alex Albon, who drove a brilliant race, achieving Williams’ highest finish in Montreal since Valtteri Bottas’ podium in 2016. The Thai driver did well to hold off attempts from Lando Norris, Lance Stroll, and Esteban Ocon.
“To get these points on the board and move up to ninth in the Championship is a nice place to be and it’s great to be able to say thank you to the team and have this reward for everything that everyone has done.”
With Albon’s impressive drive, Williams is now P9 in the constructor’s championship, displacing Alpha Tauri, who only have two points on the scoreboard.
After many overtakes, it was yet again Max Verstappen who took the top spot. Whether drivers like Alonso, Hamilton, or Perez can challenge the Dutchman soon, will have to be seen.
Final race results
1st - Max Verstappen (NED)
2nd - Fernando Alonso (ESP)
3rd - Lewis Hamilton (GBR)
4th - Charles Leclerc (MCO)
5th - Carlos Sainz (ESP)
6th - Sergio Perez (MEX)
7th - Alexander Albon (THA)
8th - Esteban Ocon (FRA)
9th - Lance Stroll (CAN)
10th - Valtteri Bottas (FIN)
11th - Oscar Piastri (AUS)
12th - Pierre Gasly (FRA)
13th - Lando Norris (GBR)
14th - Yuki Tsunoda (JPN)
15th - Nico Hulkenberg (GER)
16th - Zhou Guanyu (CHN)
17th - Kevin Magnussen (DNK)
18th - Nyck de Vries (NED)
DNF - George Russell (GBR)
DNF - Logan Sargeant (USA)
