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It was a walk in the park for Max Verstappen as he cruised the 2.7-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in what was the Formula One equivalent to a nice Sunday drive in the country. Verstappen was never really harried by the chasers, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, who ran a strategy that seemed to be focused on being the next best finisher to the Red Bull driver around Trois-Rivières.
The win is the 100th for Red Bull in Formula One competition and tightens Verstappen's grip on a third straight drivers' title.
"Not a bad day at the office," the team radioed Verstappen at the finish.
"Yeah, not bad. It's not our strongest track, but it's a strong result," Verstappen answered. "It wasn't as straightforward a race as it looked. It was difficult to keep the grip in the tires."
Hamilton, teammate George Russell and Mercedes looked to ride the momentum of their 2-3 finish at Barcelona to Montreal, and even though team principal Toto Wolff warned fans they would not experience big gains at Canada, they rallied through a difficult practice and qualifying period on Friday and Saturday thanks to rain, and were running second and fourth for a good part of the race early on Sunday.
Then Russell had a wall-slapper that ruined his outing, and Alonso finally got past Hamilton on the track and quickly proved that while Mercedes has made up ground, Aston Martin are also improving race by race. While Red Bull clearly enjoyed a speed advantage, they are certainly aware that the racing behind them is getting better. And closer.
"We were hoping to challenge the Red Bull a little more, but in the end had enough to hold off the challenge from the Mercedes," Alonso said. "Lewis had a little more pace at the end. So maybe the next one we can put a little more pressure on Max."
Hamilton agreed.
"We are slowly chipping away, but the Astons took a step ahead of us with their upgrades," he said. "We didn't have the pace today. We knew this isn't our strongest circuit and we struggled in the slower corners. And the rear downforce on the car. But we are going in the right direction."
Of the teams chasing Red Bull, only Ferrari seems to be looking lost. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. did finish fourth and fifth, respectively, but it was a quiet run that saw them make the best use of a strategy just enough different that saw them not really challenge for a lead but safely finish in the top 10.
Unofficial finishing order
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
- Alexander Albon, Williams
- Esteban Ocon, Alpine
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
- Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
- Oscar Piastri, McLaren
- Pierre Gasly, Alpine
- Lando Norris, McLaren
- Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
- Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
- Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas
- Nyck DeVries, AlphaTauri
- George Russell, Mercedes
- Logan Sargeant, Williams
