Max Verstappen emerged as victorious in F1 Canadian GP after rain played disruption, with Lando Norris in P2 and George Russell P3.
It was a wet start to F1 Canadian GP at Montreal with everyone expect the Haas pair starting on the intermediate tyres. Mercedes’ George Russell got away nicely to lead from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the Top 4.
A slow getaway from Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo caught him off track to lose out to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in fifth and sixth. The Australian noted for false start and subsequently handed a 5s penalty for it.
He came under pressure from Haas’ Kevin Magnussen who used up his wet tyre in full swing to be eighth after Lap 1 from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the Top 10, with Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in 11th.
There was a minor collision between Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez at the exit of Turn 2 where the Frenchman was spun around and the Mexican losing his endplate, but both managed to continue on albeit at the back end.
Williams’ Logan Sargeant also had a moment but managed to continue on, as Magnussen passed Ricciardo, Hamilton, Alonso and Piastri to be fourth. But with the sun starting to shine, the Dane decided to pit to switch to intermediate tyres from fourth.
A slow stop dropped him outside the Top 10 as teammate Hulkenberg too started to get into trouble which forced him to a pit stop. At the front, Russell started to come under pressure from Verstappen for the lead of F1 Canadian GP.
Norris started to close in on them with Piastri in fourth ahead of Alonso, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Stroll, Leclerc and Tsunoda in the Top 10. The Monegasque, though, was losing half a second on the straights due to a potential power unit issue.
The fight for lead intensified after a Turn 1 moment for Verstappen which allowed Norris to get on his tail. With the DRS enabled, it took him only few laps to make a move on the Dutchman in the lead-up to the final corner and snatch second.
A lap later, Norris passed Russell to lead the F1 Canadian GP, overtaking at the same place as Verstappen. The Brit had to take the evasive action in the final corner and lost to the Dutchman for second, with Piastri catching the trio ahead.
Norris started to stretch out and his gain of nearly 12s worked against him when the safety car was deployed for Sargeant’s tapping the barrier at the exit of Turn 9. It slowed Verstappen, Russell and Piastri which allowed them to pit under the safety car.
Norris had to go around which dropped him to third as Verstappen assumed the F1 Canadian GP lead from Russell. Piastri was fourth from Hamilton who pipped Alonso in the pits. Before the safety car, Albon and Tsunoda passed Leclerc to be ninth and 10th.
But the safety car changed the order with Tsunoda up to seventh, gaining two places on teammate Ricciardo and also Stroll. The Australian had to serve his penalty which dropped him to 10th behind Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who moved up to ninth.
Albon dropped to 11th from Stake F1 Team’s Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, as teammate Leclerc gambled using the slick tyres by dropping dead last with an ailing engine. But he has to pit again post re-start due to rain returning.
The re-start worked well for Verstappen who continued to lead F1 Canadian GP from Russell, Norris, Piastri, Hamilton and Alonso in the Top 6. Tsunoda steadied in seventh but on the used tyre being chased by Stroll and Albon in eighth and ninth.
The Thai racer cleared not just Ricciardo but also Ocon to jump up to ninth in the final corner. The Frenchman too ran on the used intermediate as was Bottas in 12th, defending from Sainz who hit the back of the Finn to lose an endplate.
It allowed Gasly to get on the tail of Sainz but unable to make a move. With rain going away and sun started to shine, Verstappen stretched away in the lead leaving Russell, Norris, Piastri and Hamilton in close fight for second.
Norris had a Turn 1 moment but retained third despite Russell and Piastri having to avoid him. As this continued, Gasly started the slick tyres gamble which was followed by Magnussen, Bottas, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Sainz, Perez and Piastri.
The other cars came around the second time to pit but Norris stayed out for couple of laps. It helped him to gain a place on Russell who had Piastri on his tail. A lock-up in the hairpin allowed Russell to pounce on Norris and take second away from him.
Norris then had to defend from Piastri, with the Brit under investigation for Turn 1 moment. The scrape between Russell and Norris continued as a wide moment at Turn 5 allowed the McLaren driver to come back on him and retake second.
Verstappen, meanwhile, complained about riding on the kerbs which was hurting him. Before they could settle down, there was another safety car period to clear Albon’s car who was caught out in the spin from Sainz ahead at Turn 6 on his own.
As he tried to do a 360 to get on the track, he mistakenly hit Albon. Just before this, Perez had a moment of his own to hit the barrier and damage his rear wing. In a space of two laps, it was DNF for Leclerc, Perez, Albon and Sainz.
At the front, it was Verstappen in the lead from Norris and Piastri, with Mercedes eclecting to pit for Russell to be fourth from Hamilton who led Alonso, Stroll, Tsunoda, Ocon and Ricciardo in the Top 10, with Gasly just outside the points position.
Verstappen stretched a lead over Norris but Piastri came under tremendous pressure from Russell who tried a move couple of times. He did so in the final corner but was sent off the run-off which allowed Hamilton to take fourth from his teammate.
The collision is under investigation. The two Mercedes cars eventually got through Piastri, as Hamilton then lost third to Russell in an aggressive move in the final corner. Verstappen took the F1 Canadian GP win in a hard fought fight with Norris retaining second.
Russell came through to be third from pole with Hamilton in fourth and an extra point for the fastest lap. Piastri had to be content with fifth from a lonely pair of Alonso and Stroll. The battle behind was juicy which was eventually won by Ricciardo in eighth.
It was Ocon with two laps remaining but eventually lost to Ricciardo and teammate Gasly who was ninth, but Ocon still scored in 10th. All of these cars had to avoid a spinning Tsunoda at Turn 8 exit, where Hulkenberg held him well to scape a hit.
The German was 11th from teammate Magnussen as Bottas was 13th from Tsunoda and Stake F1 Team’s Zhou Guanyu, who was the only driver to be a lap down.
UPDATE: Along with the summon for Perez along with Russell/Piastri for their incidents, the stewards put out a summon for Tsunoda for being late to the national anthem and also promoters Octane Racing Group for track invasion before the end of F1 Canadian GP.
The stewards cleared Piastri and Russell of any action where they found no one wholly to be blamed for their incident in the final corner. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Canadian%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Decision%20-%20Car%2063%20-%20Incident%20with%20Car%2081.pdf
Visa Cash App RB, meanwhile, has been fined €10,000 for Tsunoda being late to join the National Anthem. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Canadian%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringement%20-%20Car%2022%20-%20Late%20attendance%20of%20National%20Anthem.pdf
The FIA has fined Red Bull of €25,000 for allowing Perez to return to the pits despite heavy damage to his car post his Turn 6 incident. The Mexican was also handed a 3-place grid drop for the next event he races in. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Canadian%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringement%20-%20Car%2011%20-%20Unsafe%20condition.pdf
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