MONTREAL – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen held off Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to win the Canadian Grand Prix and celebrate his 150th Formula One race by surging 46 points clear in the world championship.
The 24-year-old Dutch driver took his 26th career win just 0.9 of a second ahead of frustrated Spaniard Sainz, who was able to close the gap thanks to a safety car deployment but whose long wait for a first win continues.
Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton completed the podium for Mercedes in a remarkable turnaround for the Briton who had described his bouncing car as undriveable only days before.
Sainz collected the bonus point for fastest lap as the Italian team at least managed to trim the gap to runaway leaders Red Bull in the constructors’ championship to a hefty 76 points from a previous 80.
“It was really exciting at the end. I was giving it everything I had and, of course, Carlos was doing the same,” said Verstappen after his sixth win of the season and Red Bull’s sixth in succession.
“I could see he was pushing and charging, but when you’re on the DRS (drag reduction system) it’s a lot easier to charge. The last few laps were a lot of fun,” he added according to Reuters.
Sainz said he had tried everything he could to win at a circuit named after Canada’s late Ferrari great Gilles Villeneuve.
“We were very, very close to winning. I will take the positives and keep trying in the next one,” he added.
Verstappen’s Mexican team mate Sergio Perez, who remains second overall, retired after just eight of the 70 scheduled laps when his car’s engine failed and was stuck in gear.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc started 19th after engine penalties and ended the day fifth, but now 49 points behind Verstappen.
“When I gave it all, I was risking everything,” Sainz said. “I can tell you I was pushing. I left everything out there. For the first time this season I can say I was fastest man on track, which gives me confidence and some hope for the next races.”
Mercedes had a tremendous rebound from its season-long struggles, which included a terrible practice, as seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton scored his first podium since the season-opening race in March.
George Russell was fourth as Hamilton beat his new teammate for just the second time in nine races this season.
“It feels great to be amongst the battle and at the end there I was keeping up with these guys, but it does give me and the team a lot of hope,” Hamilton said. “The potential is truly there if we can get the setup right and I think that’s been the most difficult thing this year.”
Hamilton received a rousing ovation after his finish and said he had no problems with his back, which has been plaguing him all season because of how the new Mercedes bounces all over the track.
“It’s good, I’m back to being young,” said the 37-year-old. But he added “we still had bouncing, but it’s night and day the difference.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admitted after the race the team had raised the ride height on its cars to make them more drivable and eliminate the “porpoising” effect that has bogged down Hamilton and Russell all season. The bouncing has caused back pain and headaches for its drivers.
“The (wind) tunnel has told us that the lower the car, the faster you go, the more ground effect it will have,” Wolff said according to AP.
“But in effect, you can’t drive the car there so you need to lift it, and lift it, and lift it, and then on paper you are losing half a second or so in downforce.
“We raised it already (Saturday) but the more you raise, the more performance you lose. So it’s always a compromise.”
Verstappen, meanwhile, has now won six of the first nine races in his title defense season.
It was Verstappen’s best finish in Montreal, which F1 said hosted a record 338,000 spectators over the three-day weekend as the series returned to Canada after a two-year pause during the pandemic.
