Max Verstappen took advantage of a late safety car to turn back Lando Norris and pole-sitter George Russell to win the AWS Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday (June 9th). Verstappen’s safety car luck turned the tables on Norris, who won in Miami over Verstappen on May 5th, thanks partly to a timely safety car. The race was devoid of any challenge from the Ferraris, as double DNFs in the race compounded poor qualifying efforts from Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
“It was a pretty crazy race,” said Verstappen. “A lot of things were happening, and we had to be on top of our calls. I think as a team, we just did really well today, we remained calm, and I think we pitted at the right time.
“Of course, the Safety Car worked out nicely for us, but even after that I think we were managing the gaps quite well. I loved it – that was a lot of fun. Those kinds of races, you need them once in a while!”
Norris finished third, while George Russell passed Lewis Hamilton two laps from the end to take the final podium spot. Hamilton was fourth, Oscar Piastri finished fifth, while Aston Martin posted their first double-points race since Australia, with Fernando Alonso in sixth and Lance Stroll in seventh.
RB’s Daniel Ricciardo scored points for only the second time this season, and the Alpine’s of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon closed out the points-scoring positions in ninth and 10th, respectively.
In the driver standings, Verstappen leads over Leclerc ballooned from 31 points to 56, 194 to138. Leclerc’s scoreless day leaves him only seven ahead of Norris, 138 to 131.
In the constructor standings, Verstappen single-handedly outscored Ferrari 25 to 0, and Red Bull leads Ferrari 301 to 252. McLaren holds third with 212 points.
The Race
Russell won the traction battle with Verstappen at lights out as the wet track dictated the need for intermediate tires, with the threat of more rain determined to add more uncertainty to the track, as well as strategies.
Russell took the lead, leaving Verstappen to deal with his rooster tail of spray. Alonso and Hamilton both slipped by Ricciardo, who started fifth. Sainz struggled on the start and lost three spots.
As rain started to fall, Magnussen, who started on full wets, was…
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