In its long history, the grand prix of Canada has often been considered one of the most exciting in the entire championship. The 2011 edition, won by Jenson Button, is historic for being the longest race and one of the most crazy for weather conditions. This year the Montreal Grand Prix gave different emotions: started in wet conditions ended on dry. In the middle of the race there were five cars that could have fought for the top step of the podium. It was always him who won: Max Verstappen who, with a phenomenal car but no longer as dominant as last year, showed the world why he holds the number 1 on his single-seater.
The qualifying on Saturday had already given us a taste of what could be the next day, with a very close battle for both pole position and the group center. The winner was George Russell, who took the second pole position of his career, after that in Hungary in 2022. He recorded the same time as Max Verstappen, with a Redbull that appeared more difficult than expected. However, thanks to the talent of the dutch driver, the team managed to win the front row.
In the history of Formula 1 a pole position with the same time has occurred only once, at Jerez in 1997. Jacques Villenueve was in pole position, ahead of Michael Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc, winner of the last Grand Prix in Monaco, and Carlos Sainz, 11th and 12th respectively, were absent from Q3. The two drivers complained particularly about the poor feeling with the car because of the lack of grip that did not give the possibility to the Italian team to fight for the top positions.
After the first lap, the top positions remained unchanged. In group center, the two Haas of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg, the only drivers to have chosen as starting tyre full wet, managed to recover several positions. When the track began to dry up, they were forced to go back to the pits to put the middles.
A few laps before the safety car, Norris managed to pass Verstappen and Russell and take the lead with a margin of almost 10 seconds. The safety car, however, penalized the driver McLaren. The britain had to stay behind it for a lap, coming back behind Verstappen and Russell who, together with Piastri, were able to stop a lap earlier and recover all the gap that the British driver had built.
Meanwhile the Ferrari of Leclerc and Sainz are struggling more than expected due to some technical problems. The Monegasque driver, from the initial laps, had an engine problem, which earned him a loss of 80 horsepower, equivalent to about a second per lap. As for the Spanish driver, there did not seem to be any anomalies, but after the race the team principal Vasseur reported that had damage. Both ferrari did not see the checkered flag, ending a miserable weekend
As for the starting positions, the first drivers decide to go to the pits to change tires and mount the slick. From that moment, Verstappen was able to stretch the gap on his rivals.
The race seems to stabilize, but it is a matter of minutes. On lap 55, the safety car enters the track, after Perez has gone in the wall, but especially after the contact between Sainz and Albon. During the safety car, both Mercedes decided to go to the pits and change the tires with both drivers, riding the yellow with Russell and the white with Hamilton.
The race starts again with a wonderful battle between McLaren and Mercedes, which reaches the maximum tension level on lap 63, when Piastri and Russell have slightly touched. In the end, Max Verstappen managed to win in front of Norris and Russell. The latter was able to overtake in the end Hamilton, with Piastri in fifth position, ahead of Alonso, Stroll, Ricciardo, Gasly and Ocon.
It therefore ends in the worst way for Ferrari, with a double withdrawal, which did not occur from the 2022 Baku Grand Prix, leaving the bitter taste after the exciting weekend in Monaco. But now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get back to being cynical, because this world, especially the builders, might not be expected.
