Verstappen beat McLaren’s Lando Norris and George Russell of Mercedes in an action-packed race held in mixed weather conditions.
2024 F1 Canadian Grand Prix results
2024 F1 Canadian Grand Prix report
Polesitter Russell led the charge to Turn 1 in wet conditions ahead of Verstappen and the McLarens of Norris and Piastri.
Daniel Ricciardo’s good work in qualifying was undone when he fell back from fifth to seventh, passed by Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). Ricciardo (RB) was also given a 5s penalty for a false start.
Unlike most of the field on intermediates, Kevin Magnussen started his Haas on full wets and charged up to eighth on the first lap from 14th on the grid. He then passed Ricciardo, Hamilton and Alonso for fifth.
Magnussen took fourth from Piastri at the hairpin on lap three and closed on Norris by setting a string of fastest laps until the sun came out on lap six and it crossed over in favour of in the intermediates again. Magnussen pitted on lap eight for inters, which weren’t ready – resulting in an 8.6s stop and him tumbling back to 14th.
Russell was a second clear of Verstappen by lap 10, 7s clear of Norris and Piastri. Alonso and Hamilton battled for fifth. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), who also started on wets, surged up to seventh, but began to fall back by lap 12 and pitted for inters a lap later.
Verstappen put pressure on Russell until he ran long at Turn 1, briefly cutting going across the grass, allowing Norris on to his tail.
As the track dried, Norris DRS-ed past Verstappen for second on lap 20 and set off after Russell, who had been as much as 2s ahead. Norris repeated his move on Russell to take the lead, but Russell went straight on at the chicane and lost second to Verstappen too.
The rain clouds gathered once more as they eked their inters to the next rainstorm but Logan Sargeant spun his Wiliams and couldn’t restart, causing a safety car.
Surprisingly, Norris didn’t pit as Verstappen, Russell and Piastri all stopped for new inters. Norris pitted a lap later, but that dropped him behind Verstappen and Russell.
At the restart on lap 30, Verstappen led Russell, Norris and Piastri, with Hamilton getting ahead of Alonso for fifth during the pit cycle. Yuki Tsunoda jumped up to seventh, as he didn’t pit for fresh inters, ahead of Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Esteban Ocon (up from 18th in his Alpine, also on his original inters) and Ricciardo (who took his 5s…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – Formula 1 – Stories…