But it was a complete safety car that played into Sainz’s hands near the end, allowing him to attack Verstappen in the final stages, but he just could not find a way to get through. Read also:
Results of the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix
How the Canadian Grand Prix evolved
Verstappen kept his pole advantage in the run towards turn 1, getting there ahead of Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and Sainz. Lewis Hamilton just held on to fourth place for Mercedes after a wheel-to-wheel battle with Kevin Magnussen moments later in turn 3, with the Dane picking up some damage to Haas’ front right winger. Sainz DRS overtook Alonso for second place in Round 3, with Verstappen already 2.5 seconds ahead. George Russell’s Mercedes surpassed Magnussen for fifth place in the hairpin, with Magnussen showing the black and orange flag. He pitched from sixth place at the end of Round 8 for a new front wing. Sergio Perez’s weekend went from bad to worse when his Red Bull suffered an 8-lap gear problem and was forced to leave, causing a virtual safety car. Leader Verstappen entered a pit for hard tires, pushing Sainz and Alonso to run first and second. Hamilton also stopped, giving seats to Russell and Esteban Ocon (Alpine) as he returned to sixth place. The race resumed in the 10th lap with Sainz 1,5s ahead of Alonso, with Verstappen another 4 seconds behind. In the new hard, Hamilton overtook Ocon for fifth place. Verstappen overtook Alonso with DRS in the 15th lap for a second, but was now 5.5 seconds behind leader Sainz. Haas then lost his second car by points when Mick Schumacher left in the 19th lap at the same spot as Perez, causing another VSC that Russell put down. Sainz pitched just as the VSC finished, coming in front of Hamilton again in third place. After repelling Hamilton, Sainz overtook Alonso for second in the 23rd round, with Hamilton touring similarly later. Alonso entered the pit in the 29th round, falling to seventh place, behind an Ocon and a fighting Leclerc. Leclerc, who started 19th after a penalty change engine, started with hard tires and chose his way through the tails to run 13th after 10 laps. He then stood behind Valtteri Bottas’s Alfa Romeo, who struggled to get past Alex Albon’s Williams. But as soon as they stopped fighting, Leclerc managed to get ahead of both and steadily enter the points. Leclerc then got stuck behind Ocon, where he remained until lap 42 – and then suffered a slow break that cost him four seats, bringing him to the back of a DRS train in 12th place again. Verstappen entered the pit for the second time in lap 44 and returned just behind Hamilton in third place, but only spent one lap in the DRS, shortly before Hamilton stopped again. Sainz took a 10-yard lead with 25 laps to go. Leclerc returned to the points by then, climbing to eighth place when Yuki Tsunoda put his AlphaTauri on the wall coming out of the pits, causing a safety car. Sainz pitched for a new set of hards, starting again just behind Verstappen with tires that were six laps fresher and ahead of Hamilton, Russell, Ocon, Alonso and Leclerc in a 16-lap sprint to finish. Sainz remained in the DRS area of Verstappen as Leclerc overtook Alonso for sixth place in turn 10 and then repeated the move to Ocon a few laps later for fifth. Round by round, Sainz reached the tail of Verstappen, but the reigning world champion kept his nerves and his lead. Hamilton finished third, ahead of Russell, Leclerc, Okon, Alonso, Botas, Zou Guaniou (Alfa Romeo) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin). Read also:
