Canadian GP: Verstappen scores Red Bull’s 100th F1 win

Max Verstappen took a dominant lights-to-flag win in Canada to equal F1 legend Ayrton Senna’s tally of 41 wins. He also handed Red Bull its 100th F1 win. Just 18 years after making its F1 debut, the team joins the ranks of Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Mercedes.

Armed with Aston Martin’s upgraded package, Fernando Alonso defeated Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to finish second.

1. Verstappen wins, 9.570 secs ahead of Alonso
2. Alonso just nine points behind Perez
3. Albon finished P7 for Williams

Verstappen wins Canadian GP to extend F1 title lead

Verstappen continues his dominant streak. After making a clean getaway from pole position, the Dutchman led every single lap to claim his sixth win in eight races. As a result, he’s now extended his championship lead to a solid 69 points from teammate Sergio Perez.

Speaking after the race, Verstappen admitted that the race wasn’t all plain sailing for him. “It was not a very straightforward race, because the tyres were not really getting in their window. It was very cold today compared to Friday and we were sliding around quite a bit, but we made it work,” he explained. “To win again [and] win the 100th Grand Prix for the team is incredible.”

Alonso defeats Hamilton to take P2

Mercedes grabbed attention in Spain, having scored a double podium with the updated W14. But Aston Martin arrived in Montreal with some major upgrades. Hamilton initially beat Alonso off the line, but the Aston Martin driver recovered and used DRS to overtake Hamilton on Lap 22. He held on to second place till the chequered flag.

Hamilton admitted that Aston Martin has taken a step ahead with the new upgrades, but also stressed that Mercedes expected Canada to be a difficult venue since the team struggles with lower speed corners. “We’ve got a lot of work to do just to add rear downforce to the car, and a little bit more efficiency. But we’re chipping away and I do believe we’ll get there at some stage,” he added.

An early crash for George Russell brought out the Safety Car, and Ferrari was one of the few teams that opted to stay out. Capitalising on the track position gained, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fifth fourth and fifth, respectively.

For the third consecutive race, Sergio Perez was left having to do damage control after a poor qualifying performance. He made his way from 12th on the grid to finish sixth and even bagged an extra point for setting the fastest lap.      

Albon, Williams finish P7

Alex Albon made the most of his top 10 starting position. He stretched his hard tyre stint to 57 laps and fended off the likes of Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll to hold on to seventh place. Ocon, Stroll and Bottas rounded out the top 10.

2023 F1 championship standings

While Verstappen continues extending his championship lead, the battle for the remaining positions is only tensing up. Alonso is now just nine points behind second-placed Perez in the standings. Hamilton, meanwhile, is 15 points behind Alonso in fourth place.

Up next on the F1 calendar is the Austrian GP on June 30-July 2.

2023 Canadian GP results