Sainz, Verstappen and Hamilton (together with Ben Gordon-Smith of Red Bull Racing), protagonists in Montreal. Photo Clive Rose / Getty Images / AFP
Sunday dawned with clear skies and full sun in Montreal, where Formula 1 took part in its ninth round of this 2022. And with an incredible audience, the Canadian Grand Prix – the first since 2019, after the cancellations of the last two years due to the pandemic – it was a show with many protagonists. Max Verstappen made the fans vibrate with an impeccable race, in which he exploited the strategy of his team and the great speed of his Red Bull to score his sixth win of the season and establish himself as the championship leader. But he had to defend that first position tooth and nail, because Carlos Sainz, with an impressive pace, fought for the victory until the last corner.
Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton finished third, against all odds, and got back on the podium after eight dates, and Charles Leclerc, who started from the back row, crossed the finish line fifth, to close with a smile a weekend that had been very black for him.
Verstappen had a flawless start and at the first corner he made a difference to Fernando Alonso (Alpine), who started second and barely held out until the fourth lap. Then Sainz fell behind the reigning champion and began a relentless fight for victory, which kept everyone in attendance on the edge until the last lap.
Twice he gave in Crazy Max the management. The first, entering the pits on lap nine, when the yellow flag appeared after the car of his teammate, the Mexican Sergio Pérez, remained at turn eight, with gearbox problems. The second time, when he had to change the worn tires on lap 43.
On both occasions Sainz inherited first place. But he gave it back to the Dutchman both times, entering the pits. First, on lap 20, with another Virtual Safety Car for the abandonment of Mick Schumacher (problems with the engine of his Haas) and then in 49, when he renewed the tires taking advantage of the entry of the Safety Car due to a fall (without major consequences) of Yuki Tsunoda against a containment barrier.
A wise choice for the Spaniard from Ferrari, who was in the lead at the time of the Japanese accident, but with much more worn tires than Verstappen, and saw how the Red Bull driver was getting closer and closer.
Verstappen took his sixth win of the year and has a good lead in the championship. Photo Clive Rose / Getty Images / AFP
“The Safety Car didn’t help this time,” Verstappen commented after the race. It is that the neutralization of the race left him a minimal advantage over Sainz, who in the restart used his fresh tires to aim for victory.
The Madrid man fought, pushed as far as possible and was just three tenths of a second behind the Dutchman. But Mad Max was a champion and he knew how to contain his rival’s overtaking attempts in every DRS zone, even though he only secured victory at the last corner.
“I was able to maintain a good pace despite the pressure from Carlos. His Ferrari was very fast and I felt like he was pushing and loading, pushing and loading. The last few laps were a lot of fun,” said Verstappen, who had just won in Azerbaijan and scored another victory for leading the championship with 46 points more than Pérez and 49 more than Leclerc.
“I pushed hard. I tried everything to overtake Max, but I couldn’t. The good thing is that in the race I was faster and I was able to put pressure on him. I think I’ve never been as close to winning as I am. today, “analyzed the Spaniard, who despite his great performance, wanted to once again add his first F1 victory.
The one who did not cancel the smile after crossing the finish line was Hamilton. The Brit took an unexpected third place and climbed up for the second time this season (he had also been third at the opening date, in Bahrain).
After Friday’s free practice, the seven-time world champion was very tough on his team when he said: “This car is bad.” However, this Sunday, he got the most out of a Mercedes that is not yet a very competitive car.
Hamilton smiled again, with his first podium in eight races. Photo Paul Chiasson / The Canadian Press via AP
After starting fourth, he moved up to third on lap 24 as Alonso began to lose ground. And after a second entry into the pits, in 45th place, he won the internal fight against George Russell to return to the last step of the podium. Furthermore, it was the second time this year (after Bahrain) that he finished a race higher than his teammate, who finished fourth and has not yet dropped out of the top 5.
“It is very nice to have this third place after so many battles and so many problems with the car. We never gave up. Hamilton acknowledged.
The other great protagonist on Sunday was Leclerc, who after starting late due to a bad ranking and a position penalty, made a great comeback. Not even a mistake ferrariwho lost him 5.3 seconds in a pit stop on lap 42 when he was seventh, was able to curb his momentum.
Despite being back on track again out of scoring positions (12th), the Monegasque was not discouraged and continued to press. And as he had done in the first half of the race, he made up positions to overtake Alonso’s Alpines on lap 62 – he was penalized and finished 9th – and Ocon, to finish fifth. Thus, he shrugged off his anger at leaving last weekend in Azerbaijan and closed with good feelings and the recognition of the people who chose him. “Driver of the day”– a race that, before the start, seemed complicated.
From the victory of Verstappen and his incessant fight with Sainz for the top positions, passing through the good performance of Hamilton, who gave some respite to Mercedes, to the good recovery of Leclerc, the Canadian Grand Prix was a spectacle for many protagonists. But the overall winner was the Dutchman from Red Bull, who will arrive later than ever at the next round of the year, in a few weeks, at the prestigious Silverstone circuit.
Source: Clarin
