Verstappen victorious in Canada GP to give Red Bull 100th win
18th June 2023Max Verstappen claimed yet another victory in Canada to provide his team, Red Bull Racing, with their 100th career victory as an F1 constructor.
- Williams’ Logan Sargeant was the first to retire from the race on lap seven as the young American’s FW45 suffered terminal problems
- Mercedes’ George Russell brought out the safety car with a shunt into the barrier, the British driver was able to continue on but retired in the dying laps
- Verstappen’s 41st career victory in Montreal now equals the same tally as F1 legend Ayrton Senna, sharing fifth place as the most successful driver of all time with the famous Brazilian
How the race unfolded…
It was a perfect start from Verstappen who managed to go into the opening corner unchallenged whereas Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso got a poor getaway, and was quickly overtaken by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who started third on the grid.
Alonso was quickly put under further pressure by Mercedes’ George Russell but the Spaniard kept the young Briton at bay to keep third place.
Slightly further back, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz jumped across the kerb on the apex of turn eight which cost the Spaniard momentum on the exit. This allowed Perez to pass Sainz down towards the turn 10 hairpin.
However, the two drivers quickly reverted as Sainz retook his lost position down the back straight.
On the exit of turn six, on lap seven, Williams’ Logan Sargeant was ordered by his pit wall to stop the car as the team radio provided a ‘critical message’ over the radio. The Virtual Safety Car was soon deployed at the beginning of lap eight and after a quick clear-up job from the track marshals, the VSC was quickly lifted.
After the VSC Verstappen remained out in the lead, three seconds ahead of Hamilton, Alonso and Russell who occupied second, third and fourth respectively.
The full safety car was deployed after Russell was seen with damage on his right-rear tyre after he made a hard shunt. Replays showed that the sausage kerb, which he mounted on the apex of turn eight, bounced across the track and into the barrier.
The young Briton was able to return to the pit lane, after a quick inspection and a change of tyres Russell was released back out on track, albeit at the back of the pack.
As a result of the safety car intervention, the top three pitted for a cheap stop. While Verstappen went in and out without issue, Hamilton was released very late and nearly collided with the front wing of Alonso. Race control noted the incident as a potentially unsafe release.
The incident was later deemed worthy of an investigation, as was a similar incident for Lando Norris during the same time.
The safety car finally returned to the pit lane at the end of lap 16. When Verstappen got back to racing conditions, the top three went into the first corner unchallenged and completed the first restart lap without issue.
Alonso finally found a way to get past the Mercedes of Hamilton, for second place, into the final chicane on lap 23. Despite the improved track position, Alonso still remained a few seconds behind the race leader, Verstappen.
At the same time, it was deemed no further action will be taken against Hamilton’s unsafe release on Alonso and Norris’ incident.
On lap 35, Russell found himself behind the Alpha Tauri of Nyck De Vries and Haas of Kevin Magnussen down the pit straight. In the opening corner, the Alpha Tauri and Haas driver tangled and compromised their corner exit which allowed Russell to slip by for 11th place.
However, the tangle between De Vries and Magnussen didn’t end there as the two came together and ran into the escape road at turn three. The Haas driver temporarily blocked the Alpha Tauri inside the escape road but both drivers were soon back out on track, at the bottom of the order.
Norris was slapped with a five-second time penalty for Unsportsmanlike behaviour which was suspected to have been a result of backing the pack up under the safety car.
On lap 41, Hamilton peeled into the pit lane for a free pit stop this ignited a chain reaction from the remaining drivers in the top three; Verstappen and Alonso.
The seven-time world champion exchanged his worn hard tyres for a fresh set of mediums. Alonso pitted soon after to cover off the Mercedes and replaced his worn hards for another set of the same compound.
At the end of lap 42, Verstappen peeled into the pit lane to swap over the hard tyres for a medium set and returned to the track clear of Alonso in second.
On lap 55, Russell’s recovery drive which saw him inside the championship points came to a premature end as the Briton was ordered back into the pit lane to retire. It was reported the #63 Mercedes brake wear was too high as Russell crawled back to the pits.
By the end of the race, Verstappen cruised to victory ahead of Alonso and Hamilton who finished in second and third respectively.
That’s all for the article: Verstappen victorious in Canada GP to give Red Bull 100th win!
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Tsunoda and Stroll given three-place grid drop for Impeding in Canada GP Qualifying
- Hulkenberg loses Canada front row start with three-place grid penalty
- Sainz slapped with three-place grid drop for Canada GP
- Hulkenberg summoned to stewards for Canada GP red flag infringement
- Hulkenberg joins Verstappen on the front row after wet Canada GP qualifying
- Verstappen untouchable in soaked F1 final practice of Canada GP
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
