Max Verstappen makes no concessions to anyone: the Dutchman wins the Canadian GP and gives Red Bull his 100th victory, winning his 41st victory which puts him on a par with a certain Ayrton Senna. The numbers tell what is the extraordinary season of the double world champion in his sixth success of the season, continuing the streak of the Milton Keynes team that leads to eight victories in 2023. No one questioned the supremacy of the world champions, but in Montreal the clamorous technical superiority of the RB19 seems to have evaporated. And if we were to judge the performance of the car by the performance of Sergio Perez, only sixth, one would say that something is happening and that Max’s immense talent covers any flaw. The Mexican chased the fastest lap at the checkered flag: he achieved a 1’14″481 on the softs, taking the extra point away from Lewis Hamilton. Checo sees the Dutchman’s lead grow to 69 points: Verstappen could stay at home for three races and he would probably stay in the lead, given that Sergio doesn’t seem to keep up with the leaders.
Verstappen, therefore, does not fear surprises and continues to grind kilometers in the lead, but Fernando Alonso with the renewed Aston Martin takes a beautiful second place after forcing an overtaking on the track to Lewis Hamilton who with the Mercedes had started better than the Spaniard. The “verdona” regains its role as the second force in the world championship, even if the star maintains its place of honor in the Constructors’ standings with a margin of 16 points. The Asturian was perfect: it is true that there was a safety car on lap 12 due to George Russell hitting the wall (the Englishman then restarted, before retiring definitively), but the gap from the RB19 was less than 10 seconds and Fernando is 9 points away from threatening Perez’s second place in the drivers’ championship.
The Black Arrow tried to keep pace with the Aston Martin, giving the feeling that the leading group is regrouping at the top. The three podium drivers made use of two stops, while the Ferraris finished close to the top three with a clever one-pit strategy. In the race, the SF-23 confirmed the good hopes seen in the long runs on Friday: the redhead didn’t eat the tires like in Barcelona, finding that consistency in the pace that was missing. The Scuderia failed in qualifying, otherwise it could have aspired to a place on the podium, but can go home with the conviction that it has found a way to develop the Evo version.
Leclerc, who started tenth, arrived four seconds off the podium. The Monegasque had Carlos Sainz behind him and both Ferrari drivers were easily ahead of Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull. More is expected from Ferrari, but the trend reversal seems concrete.
Beautiful performance by Alexander Albon who brought Williams to seventh place: the revised and corrected FW45 seems to have made an important leap in quality, so much so that the team led by James Vowles abandoned the last place in the Constructors’ standings, leaving the ‘AlphaTauri in the role of bringing up the rear. And the Grove team is one point behind Haas and two behind Alfa Romeo.
Esteban Ocon is eighth with the Alpine (he worried the single pylon of the rear wing that vibrated dangerously on the curbs in the last laps), ahead of Lance Stroll with the second Aston Martin. The Canadian outwitted the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas, overtaken in the photo finish by 30 thousandths. The Finn, however, brings home a precious point at Hinwil, given that Lando Norris slipped to 13th place due to the 5-second penalty that was inflicted on him for slowing down too much in the pit lane: the Englishman from McLaren had finished in the ten, but finished 13th.
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