F1 Canada: Verstappen clinches rain affected grand prix

Max Verstappen won the slippery when wet Canadian Grand Prix potboiler and successfully kept McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ George Russell at bay. The defending champion crossed the finish line 3.8 seconds ahead of Norris and scored a hattrick of wins at the Circuit Giles-Villeneuve. Amidst the turmoil of shifting weather, multiple Safety Car interventions, and strategic shifts, Verstappen expressed gratitude to the Red Bull team for their composure.

F1 Canada: Battle for supremacy

Verstappen started second behind the pole sitter Russell and cautiously followed the Mercedes driver as the weather kept changing. Verstappen was on Russell’s heels and was trying to put a lot of pressure on him, but the Red Bull man only managed to go wide. This gave Norris the belief to overtake the Dutchman and on Lap 20 he managed to do so with his eyes set on Russell.

The Englishman had gathered momentum and was breathing down Russell’s neck and finally forced an error. Norris was leading and in all confusion, Verstappen also gained a place overtaking Russell. Just then McLaren driver was getting ready to extend his lead, the skies opened up, and Logan Sargeant of Williams lost control and crashed out. This forced the safety car into play, which allowed Verstappen, Russell and even Piastri to pit and change tyres. McLaren’s plan for keeping Norris out a bit longer on the track backfired because when he pitted he lost two places to Verstappen and Russell. 

The second pitstop made by Verstappen and Russell on Lap 45 paid dividends for the Red Bull man as he continued to lead the race. This McLaren again delayed Norris’ pitstop and the coast was clear for the Dutchman to take the chequered flag as the two Englishmen battled for second. 

F1 Canada: Double disaster for Ferrari

Ferrari was expected to push Red Bull and McLaren at the Canadian Grand Prix after their success in Monaco. Unfortunately, the wheels came off for the Italian team as they simply lacked the pace. This was the reason why they couldn’t qualify for Q3 and Charles Leclerc started 11th while his teammate Carlos Sainz was right behind him.

To make matters worse, Ferrari also got the tyre strategy wrong as Leclerc was running on slicks while the rest on the grid were on intermediate tyres. With engine issues and the tyre gamble not working, Leclerc was forced to retire.

Sainz wasn’t having a great race either as the Spaniard lost control of the car and took out Alex Albon of Williams. It was a disappointing double DNF for Ferrari. 

It was a complete nightmare for Red Bull’s Sergio Perez as he crashed on Lap 53 damaging his car. The Mexican managed to slowly drive back to the pit and retire, but he received a rude awakening from the race stewards. Due to the damaged car leaving debris of carbon fibre on the track, Perez was fined 25,000 Euros and a three-place grid penalty for the next grand prix in Spain. Later Red Bull admitted that the Mexican was only following team orders as he was told to bring the car back to pit to avoid a safety car incident which could jeopardise Verstappen’s win.