A confirmation from Ferrari was expected after Charles Leclerc’s success in Monaco and, instead, in the Canadian GP Max Verstappen returns to prominence with Red Bull and the red team collects two retirements as has not happened since Baku 2022. The Dutchman (after the pole ex aequo with George Russell) gave another demonstration of his crystalline class by winning the third time in Canada, the sixth this year and the 60th of his career.
Montreal was a crazy race conditioned by rain and Max Verstappen found a way to exalt himself with a Red Bull that doesn’t seem, at the moment, to be the most competitive car. The difference was made by the three-time world champion who initially let the poleman, George Russell, let off steam, but then had to deal with a McLaren that seemed overall stronger than Adrian Newey’s car, critical in climbing on the curbs.
It was an exciting race with constant changes of position dictated by changing weather conditions with intermittent rain which made the progress of the race unpredictable. The final podium ultimately respects the values seen on the track, giving Verstappen the ability to know how to change pace every time it was needed: at the restart from the safety car on lap 58, following the contact caused by Sainz in spin that hit the innocent Alexander Albon, Max gave a jerk that took his RB20 out of the DRS window, aware that behind the two McLarens following him were the Mercedes who had played a free pit stop to mount fresh tires (medium Russell and hard Hamilton). Lewis only earned the fastest lap on the last lap in 1’14″856.
Lewis had to settle for fourth place, while Russell climbed to the podium thanks to a very hard and courageous overtaking in Piastri, after a previous episode in which George had been forced to cut the last chicane by a very determined Australian (Oscar was placed under investigation by the FIA).
Verstappen puts things right in Montreal: the Dutchman now has a 56-point lead in the drivers’ championship over Leclerc, meaning he has at least a two-race margin, while Sergio Perez dropped to fifth place after retiring due to a crash into the barriers with the rear. The Mexican was out of the points, revealing how critical the RB20 has become and certainly did not repay the trust of the Milton Keynes team who renewed his contract.
Lando Norris, second, has something to complain about because while he was leading the race with a decidedly superior pace to the competition, he paid for the team’s non-call for the safety car by keeping him out two laps more than the others which allowed Vrstappen to regain the lead of the race right out of the pit lane. Lando did not cause controversy by admitting that in Miami he had had an advantage from the neutralization and took home a second place which took him up to third place in the drivers’ championship.
Behind the “papaya” car are the two Mercedes which are making a clear recovery. Russell is happy for the podium, while Hamilton did not fail to mention some hints of controversy towards the team that fitted him with hard tires in the last pit, while Russell had benefited from the mediums. In order to finish third, George did not hesitate to battle with the teammate (Wolff had given the green light from the wall), overtaking with a very decisive action that Hamilton didn’t like. The seven-time world champion felt left out and treated as such. You have to get used to it…
Oscar Piastri, after the tough battle with the Mercedes, pulled out all the stops and settled for fifth place, but Zak Brown’s boy was the loser of the leading group. He will have opportunities to make up for it.
The Aston Martin race was positive with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both in points, sixth and seventh, giving the feeling that the “green” has found the thread of development again. Daniel Ricciardo gives an eighth place to the Racing Bulls after the Australian was penalized 5 seconds for an early start (which no one saw!). Alpine also smiles again with two cars scoring points thanks to Pierre Gasly, ninth, and Esteban Ocon, tenth.
Ferrari was never in the game: the two drivers were outside the points unable to find a decent pace. Charles Leclerc suffered a problem with the power unit (he lost 1.2 seconds on the straights) which the technicians tried to resolve by giving instructions to the Monegasque to use the steering wheel. It wasn’t enough, so a pit stop was decided to switch to slick tires hard on lap 28 to restore the electronics hoping to restart by erasing the problems which, however, did not disappear. With cold slick tires Leclerc made a series of long runs which advised the team to stop the red one.
Carlos Sainz never found the pace: he would have had damage to the floor after the start (reported by Vasseur, but not by Carlos…) and then broke his front wing in a contact with Valtteri Bottas while he was in the second part of the group. The Madrilenian with a very unbalanced red lost it on lap 53 causing contact with Albon’s Williams. The retirement was right and put an end to a weekend to forget for Maranello.
The Scuderia disappointed in qualifying and had no pace in the race: in Maranello they lost the path to development with an SF-24 that showed its worst while confirmation was expected after Monte Carlo. The team made a mistake with the decision of the single-seater which has never been fast in any conditions, also suffering Aston Martin, Racing Bulls, and Williams. It’s clear that nothing worked…
Ferrari took a heavy slap: it is better to turn the page quickly because the red did not work in Canada, re-proposing a problem with the power unit which is worrying, given that there have been frequent engine rotations due to reliability problems. The Maranello team missed an away match, but must not be discouraged after a heavy flop….
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