INDIA in F1

Tag: Canadian GP

  • Max Verstappen overcomes rain and safety cars to take a special victory: Canadian GP

    Max Verstappen overcomes rain and safety cars to take a special victory: Canadian GP

    Montreal, 9 June 2024: Max Verstappen navigated rain showers and Safety cars, and made the right call on a move to slick tyres to take his third straight Canadian Grand Prix win at the end of an enthralling race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Second place went to McLaren’s Lando Norris, while George Russell took Mercedes’ first podium of the year with third. 

    “It was a pretty crazy race. A lot of things were happening, and we really had to be on top of our calls,” said Verstappen afterwards. “As a team, we just did really well today. We remained calm. I think we pitted at the right time. Of course, the Safety Car worked out nicely for us, but even after that, I think we were managing the gaps quite well. I love it. That was a lot of fun. Those kind of races, you need them once in a while.”

    When the lights went out at the star, pole sitter Russell got away poorly on the wet track and for a moment it looked like Verstappen might steal the lead on the run to Turn 1. However the Mercedes driver recovered and he held the lead through the following corners ahead Verstappen, Norris and the second McLaren of Piastri. 

    Rain then began to fall and while bulk of the field tiptoed around on Inters, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg, who had gambled on full wets, began to charge through the order. 

    By lap six Magnussen had climbed from 14th on the grid to fifth place and was putting pressure on Piastri. Hülkenberg, meanwhile, was in P8 after starting from 17th  and he was all over the back of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. 

    However, after seven laps the shower halted. The Intermediate runners began to find more pace and the Haas drivers’ brief cameo came to a swift end as Magnussen pitted and Hülkenberg’s march slowed. 

    At the front, after 10 laps, Russell held a 1.2s advantage over Verstappen who had pulled out a nine-second gap to Norris. Verstappen then began to reel in Russell and the tussle allowed Norris to narrow the gap. And when Max went wide at Turn 1 at the start of lap 18, it suddenly became a three-way fight. 

    At the end of lap 20 the Dutch driver was ambushed by Norris who powered past under DRS on the run to the final chicane. The McLaren driver then passed Russell at the same place. The Mercedes driver tried to fend off the attack but as Norris took the lead Russell was forced to cut the chicane and as he rejoined, Verstappen swept past to take second place. 

    On lap 25, Williams’ Logan Sargeant spun into the barriers in Turn 4 and the Safety Car was deployed. Norris was immediately picked up by the SC and stayed out on track. However, Verstappen, Russell and Piastri pitted, with all three fitting new Intermediates. McLaren brought Norris in at the end of the following lap, but the delay behind the SC cost the Briton dearly and as he exited the pit lane Max powered past to take the lead ahead of Russell, with Norris slotting into third. 

    When the Safety Car left the track Verstappen held his held butat the end of lap 41, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly sparked a move to slick tyres. Hamilton was the first of the leaders to switch, and at the end of lap 45  Verstappen pitted, fitting Mediums. Norris, however, stayed on track to try the overcut and at the end of lap 47 the Briton made his move. 

    Norris’ stop was solid but he rejoined just as Verstappen was entering Turn 2 and the Duxcthman was able to power into the lead. Then, as Norris struggled to get temperature into his tyres, Russell also closed in and when Norris went marginally wide at the hairpin on lap 49, the Mercedes driver passed the McLaren on the way to the final chicane. On lap 51 though, Russell ran wide and jumped the kerb and Norris was able to slide past to take P2 again. 

    Soon after, Carlos Sainz made a mistake in Turn 6 and as he spun he hit the Williams of Alex Albon. Both were forced out of the race and with Albon’s car stuck by the barrier the SC was deployed again. 

    Verstappen again controlled the restart well and with the lead secured he quickly dropped the McLarens. 

    Thereafter, it was comfortbale for the championship leader and with Norris locked in second and with Russell, Piastri and Hamilton squabbling over third, the champion took the flag for his sixth win of the season. 

    Behind the top two the battle was more fierce. Russell and Piastri clashed, resulting in the Mercedes driver dropping behind team-mate Hamilton. 

    Hamilton got past the struggling Piastri and in the final stage Russell passed both to claim a hard-won podium finish. Hamilton was left with fourth place ahead of the second McLaren, while Fernando Alonso claimed sixth place ahead of Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll. Daniel Ricciardo took a solid eighth place for RB ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the final point went to the Frenchman’s team-mate Esteban Ocon. 

    2024 FIA Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 70 1:45’47.927 
    2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:45’51.806 3.879
    3 George Russell Mercedes 70 1:45’52.244 4.317
    4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 70 1:45’52.842 4.915
    5 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:45’58.126 10.199
    6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:46’05.437 17.510
    7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:46’11.552 23.625
    8 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 70 1:46’16.599 28.672
    9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 70 1:46’17.948 30.021
    10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 70 1:46’18.240 30.313
    11 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 70 1:46’18.751 30.824
    12 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 70 1:46’19.180 31.253
    13 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 70 1:46’28.414 40.487
    14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 70 1:46’40.621 52.694
    15 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 69 1:46’41.455 1 lap /53.528
         Carlos Sainz Ferrari 52 1:19’48.472 Accident damage
         Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 52 1:19’49.040 Accident
         Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 51 1:18’30.768 Accident damage
         Charles Leclerc Ferrari 40 1:04’03.308 Retirement
         Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 23 36’04.519 Accident

  • Verstappen wins 100th race for Red Bull; Alonso pushes Hamilton to third

    Verstappen wins 100th race for Red Bull; Alonso pushes Hamilton to third

    Montreal (Canada), 18 June 2023: Max Verstappen scored a lights-to-flag win at the Canadian Grand Prix to seal Red Bull Racing’s 100thvictory in Formula 1, as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso shrugged off late-race brake issues to take P2 and restrict Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to the final step of the podium

    “The 100th Grand Prix win for the team, that’s incredible,” said Verstappen afterwards. “I never expected to be on these kind of numbers myself as well, you know, so, yeah, we keep enjoying, we keep working hard. But today has been a great day again.”

    When the lights went out at the start, championship leader Verstappen got away well from pole position to take the lead ahead of front-row starter Alonso. The Spanish driver, whose getaway was not the best, was passed into Turn 1 by Hamilton, with the second Mercedes of George Russell in fourth place.

    Verstappen soon began to edge away from Hamilton and at the start of lap eight he was 2.4 seconds ahead of the Mercedes. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed when Logan Sargeant parked his Williams at the side of the track, but when the American’s car was removed and the caution ended Verstappen’s progress away from the pack continued and by lap 10 he was almost 3.5s ahead of Hamilton, with Alonso a second off the Mercedes in third place. Russell held fourth ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri sixth ahead of the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg. 

    On lap 12 the Safety Car was released when Russell overcooked his entry into Turn 9 and hit the wall. He limped back to the pits and the SC period prompted Verstappen to pit and switch his starting medium tyres for a set of hard compound Pirellis. Hamilton and Alonso also changed tyres during the SC phase, leaving Verstappen to emerge from his stop in the lead. 

    Behind the top three, both Ferrari drivers opted to stay out on starting medium tyres and they rose to P4 and P5 with Charles Leclerc ahead of Carlos Sainz. Behind them, Sergio Pérez in the second Red Bull also stayed out, on hard tyres, and he climbed to sixth place. The Safety Car left the track at the end of lap 16. Max held his lead ahead of Hamilton and Alonso, and the twin Ferraris kept Checo at bay as the race went green again. 

    At the front, Verstappen again began to draw away and by lap 20 he was again almost three seconds clear of Hamilton. The Mercedes driver was coming under increasing pressure from Alonso, however, and at the end of lap 22 the Spaniard pounced, using DRS to slip down the inside of the Briton’s car as they approached the final chicane to take P2.

    The order at the front settled as the leaders worked their way through the stint on hard tyres, with Verstappen widening the gap to Alonso to 5.2 seconds by lap 33.

    Further back, lead Ferrari driver Leclerc was now three seconds behind third-placed Hamilton. Sainz was two seconds off his team-mate and Checo held sixth, five seconds behind Sainz and seven clear of Ocon. 

    Pérez made his sole stop of the race on lap 38, moving to medium tyres and emerging in P7 behind Albon. Ferrari reacted by pitting Sainz on the following lap and after a 2.8 switch to hard tyres he rejoined ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon who was targeting a one-stop race. Leclerc then pitted from P4 on lap 40 and after taking on hard tyres he rejoined ahead of Sainz. Checo was on the hunt, though, and as Leclerc emerged from the pit lane, the Mexican passed Albon to take P6 just 4.5 seconds behind Sainz and on quicker tyres. 

    Hamilton also stopped on lap 40, heading back to medium compound Pirellis, while Alonso stopped on the next lap, fitting another set of hard tyres. 

    Verstappen made is final stop on lap 42, moving to medium tyres and once again he took the lead for his final stint. 

    Behind the top six, Albon was doing a superb job of keeping Russell at bay. The Mercedes driver had recovered from his early crash and was attempting to wrestle seventh place from his fellow Briton. That battle ended on lap 54, however, when the damage Russell had shipped early on finally took its full toll and he was forced to retire. That left the way open for Ocon to reel in Albon and with 10 laps left the Alpine driver was just 0.4s off the Williams but could finds no way past. 

    The battle between Alonso and Hamilton was also hotting up and with the Spaniard nursing a rear brake problem, the Briton closed in and 10 laps from the flag the gap between P2 and P3 was down to 1.8s. Despite his mechanical woes, Alonso managed to find enough pace to rebuild the gap and he was soon more than two seconds ahead of the Mercedes. 

    At the front, Verstappen was in total control after 70 laps, he took his sixth win of the season ahead of Alonso and Hamilton. With two laps left, and with a significant gap behind him, sixth-placed Pérez pitted for a set of soft tyres and an attempt at the fastest lap. The Mexican delivered a 1:14.481 to add a point to the eight he scored for sixth place behind the two Ferraris. 

    Seventh place in the race went to Albon with the Briton defending well in the closing stages to keep Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in eighth. Ninth place went to Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin and the final point went to 10th-placed Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas. 

    2023 FIA Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 70 1:33’58.348 
    2 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Mercedes 70 1:34’07.918 9.570
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 70 1:34’12.516 14.168
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 70 1:34’16.996 18.648
    5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 70 1:34’19.888 21.540
    6 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 70 1:34’49.376 51.028
    7 Alexander Albon Williams 70 1:34’59.161 1’00.813
    8 Esteban Ocon Alpine 70 1:35’00.040 1’01.692
    9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 70 1:35’02.750 1’04.402
    10 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 70 1:35’02.780 1’04.432
    11 Oscar Piastri McLaren 70 1:35’03.449 1’05.101
    12 Pierre Gasly Alpine 70 1:35’03.597 1’05.249
    13 Lando Norris McLaren 70 1:35’06.711 1’08.363
    14 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 70 1:35’11.771 1’13.423
    15 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 69 1:34’15.291 1 lap /16.943
    16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 69 1:34’15.725 1 lap /17.377
    17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 69 1:35’08.607 1 lap /1’10.259
    18 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 69 1:35’13.315 1 lap /1’14.967
         George Russell Mercedes 53 1:13’07.798 Retirement
         Logan Sargeant Williams 6 8’10.072 Retirement