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Max Verstappen kept his cool and completed a nice Sunday drive in Montreal as the Red Bull Racing power unit was just a bit stronger than the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.
A crash by Yuki Tsunoda made things a 15-lap shootout in Canada, and time and again Sainz Jr. tried to pull along side and past Verstappen, but just was not able to get the deed done, not quite having enough power to catch the defending series champion.
"That safety car at the end didn't help," Verstappen said. "Carlos was charging and pushing, charging and pushing. Luckily we were really quick on the straights. Overall, they were very strong in the race. ... Luckily it all worked out."
Behind them in the field were Lewis Hamilton, who had his best finish on the season by capturing third place, followed by his teammate, George Russell.
Then came more drama as the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso looked to be just a bit too much for the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who had charged up the field from 19th spot, but the Ferrari driver was finally able to make the passes work and finished fifth.
"I was pushing flat-out," Sainz Jr. said. "I tried everything to pass Max, but we just didn't have enough. ... We were happy with the race pace and how we were able to keep pressure on Max, so we'll take the positives and try again at the next race."
That will be July 3 at the British Grand Prix.
Unofficial results
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
- Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- George Russell, Mercedes
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- Esteban Ocon, Alpine
- Fernando Alonso, Alpine
- Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
- Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
- Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
- Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
- Alexander Albon, Williams
- Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
- Lando Norris, McLaren
- Nicholas Latifi, Williams
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas
- Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
- Mick Schumacher, Haas
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
What we learned
Ferrari looked like they were guessing at what sort of strategy could possibly bring Leclerc to the front of the field, and quite frankly they appear quite lucky to see him finish where he did. Sainz Jr. was quicker at the opening sector of the track but Verstappen had him covered over the rest of the circuit, and they will need to figure out how to close that power gap.
Hamilton's third was the salve that he needed to soothe his nerves for this season, but there is plenty still left to learn for Mercedes. F1 TV stated that Hamilton's car was dreadful on Friday until they changed the setup to be exactly like George Russell's, and that is interesting. Could it just be these new cars are not to Hamilton's liking?
Alpine look ready to challenge as leader of the rest with a fantastic weekend that saw Alonso start second and end up with a double-points finish by Alonso and Ocon.
As for Red Bull Racing, they can be happy with the race win but not with the gearbox failure on Sergio Perez's car. They remain in control for the driver's championship with Verstappen but will need Perez to claim that Constructor's title.
