Max Verstappen took another useful step towards winning a second world championship by resisting lap after lap of pressure from Carlos Sainz Jnr to win the Canadian Grand Prix.
On a day when his two closest championship rivals started outside the top 10, Verstappen did everything he needed to maximise his advantage.
Before the race, anticipation was high as to what irrepressible veteran Fernando Alonso might do from his first front row start in a decade. Championship leader and pole-winner Verstappen would surely not risk going wheel-to-wheel with the Alpine driver.
But within moments of the start, that prospect fizzled out. Alonso’s reactions were fractionally slower down the pole winner’s and Verstappen never looked in danger of losing his lead. Carlos Sainz Jnr, from third place, tried to go the long way around Alonso at turn two but had to file in behind the Alpine.
Lewis Hamilton got away well from his best starting position of the season so far, fourth, and soon found himself going wheel-to-wheel with Kevin Magnussen, as the pair had in Spain. Again there was contact but this time the Haas driver was the only one to suffer, incurring slight damage to the right-hand side of his front wing endplate. Esteban Ocon and George Russell both gained places from Mick Schumacher on the first lap, while Daniel Ricciardo maintained ninth place ahead of Zhou Guanyu.
Sainz immediately latched onto Alonso’s tail and it was clear that as soon as DRS was activated the Ferrari driver would pass. Sure enough on lap three he claimed second place. However he was unable to draw away from the Alpine. Sainz complained his front left medium tyre was graining and Alonso remained in his mirrors, continuing to activate DRS, which helped him keep Hamilton at arm’s length.
Meanwhile Charles Leclerc in the other Ferrari was making progress from his starting position on the back row. He took Nicholas Latifi on lap one followed by Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll over the next two laps. By the fifth tour he had passed the other Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel and lay 15th. He then picked up two more places as dramas unfolded ahead of him.
Magnussen had fallen to fifth place after being passed by Russell. He now lay ahead of Ocon, who made a clear bid to the race director by complaining about the Haas driver’s front wing damage. In short order Magnussen was shown the black and orange flag, requiring him to pit for a new front wing. “We…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RaceFans…