Verstappen won from pole at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to extend his lead to 46 points over his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, who retired early with a gearbox problem. “There is still a long way to go and I know that the gap is of course quite large, but I also know that it can change very quickly,” said the Dutchman about his points lead. He noted that he was 46 points behind Charles Leclerc after the third game of the season. Canadian Lance Stroll was 10th, while Toronto-based Nicholas Latifi, who admitted his place at Williams was unsafe, was 16th in his first career Grand Prix. “It’s great to finally have my first fight at home and the support I felt from my family, my friends and all the fans on the podium was amazing,” Latifi said. “As far as the track is concerned, we lacked a lot of pace and we have to try to understand why. Regardless of the result, this weekend was something we have to remember.” Verstappen had no problem clearing Fernando Alonso, who made his first start in the front row in a decade and then joked that he would attack Verstappen in the first corner to steal the win. But there was no challenge and by the time Sainz left Alonso second in the second round, Verstappen had already taken a 2.4-second lead over his Red Bull. Sainz was able to close the gap in the last 10 laps and push the F1 champion, but faded in the last lap and finished 0.993 seconds behind with his Ferrari. “It was a good race, it’s always more enjoyable to be able to really push instead of saving your tires,” said Verstappen, who added that Sainz had not “overtaken in terms, but was very close”. Sainz said the second was the best he could get on Sunday. “When I gave it my all, I risked everything,” Sainz said. “I can tell you that I was pushing. I left everything out. For the first time this season I can say that I was the fastest man on the track, which gives me confidence and some hope for the next races.”
Stirring applause for Hamilton
Mercedes had a tremendous recovery from racing during the season, which included a tremendous training session on Friday, as seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton scored his first podium since the start of the season in March. George Russell was fourth as Hamilton beat his new teammate for just the second time in nine games this season. “It’s great to be in the fight and in the end keep up with these guys, but it gives me and the team a lot of hope,” Hamilton said. “The potential is really there if we can do it right and I think that was the hardest thing this year.” CLOCKS Lafiti is looking forward to his 1st Candian Grand Prix:
Montreal-born Nicholas Latifi looks forward to competing in Canada’s first Grand Prix
Williams driver Nicholas Latifi will eventually race in Montreal as the Grand Prix returns triumphantly following the pandemic forced cancellation of both 2020 and 2021. Hamilton received a provocative applause after his finish and said that he had no problem with his back, something that bothered him all season because of how the new Mercedes bounces across the track. “It’s good, I came back young,” said the 37-year-old. But he added “we still had bounces, but it’s night and day the difference”. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admitted after the race that the team had increased the driving height of their cars to make them more driving and eliminate the “seal” phenomenon that has plagued Hamilton and Russell all season. The bounce has caused back pain and headaches to its drivers. “THE [wind] “The tunnel told us that the lower the car, the faster you go, the more ground it will have,” Wolff said. “But in reality, you can not drive the car there, so you have to pick it up and pick it up, and pick it up, and then on paper you lose about half a second in vertical force. “It simply came to our notice then [Saturday] but the more you upload, the more performance you lose. So, it’s always a compromise. “
Crowd record for a 3-day weekend
Verstappen, meanwhile, has now won six of his first nine games in his title defense season. It was Verstappen’s best finish in Montreal, which F1 said hosted a record 338,000 viewers over the three days of the weekend, as the series returned to Canada after a two-year hiatus during the pandemic. Sunday’s crowd had clear, sunny skies after two days of rain that toppled the qualifiers and created the smooth track that allowed Alonso – and other drivers, including Hamilton – to win top places this year. Leclerc rallied from a 10-seat penalty for a change of engine in his Ferrari to finish fifth in 19th place. Alpine’s Estaban Ocon finished sixth and Alonso’s teammate, who said he would be happy with fifth place, was seventh but was penalized five seconds after the weaving match. CLOCKS Fans excited as the Grand Prix returns to Montreal:
Montreal celebrates the return of the Grand Prix this weekend
The Montreal Grand Prix returned to the city streets at the weekend, to the delight of F1 racing fans and local businesses. This led Alonso to ninth place, while Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo moved up to seventh. Bottas was followed by rookie teammate Zhou Guanyu, who moved into eighth place after Alonso’s penalty and finished in points for the second time this season. Sergio Perez left the race after just nine laps with a gearbox problem, Red Bull’s fourth mechanical failure this season between Perez and Verstappen. Eleven laps later, Mick Schumacher stopped on the track – ending the Haas driver’s attempt to earn his first F1 points. Haas had equalized their best qualifying effort in team history a day earlier when Kevin Magnussen and Schumacher qualified fifth and sixth, but the team failed to convert. Magnussen destroyed his front wing in the first lap and finished 17th. “I feel like we made the cake, but we didn’t have time to put the icing on it,” Schumacher said. The British Grand Prix in Silverstone is scheduled for July 3. Hamilton won a year ago in what is considered the British home game.
