Verstappen claims sixth win of 2023 to extend championship lead; Fernando Alonso back on podium after managing brake issue, with Lewis Hamilton coming home third.
Max Verstappen made it six victories from eight races in 2023 with a dominant display during Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix, leading home the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, as Red Bull maintained their 100% winning record for the season so far.
Verstappen’s lights-to-flag triumph also gave Red Bull their 100th victory in the sport, 18 years on from the team’s debut, while Verstappen made more history by drawing level with the legendary Ayrton Senna on 41 wins – extending his championship lead in the process.
With the win, Verstappen extended his world championship lead to 69 points, over his teammate Checo Perez, as he picked up his sixth victory of the season in seven total races.
“Of course, I’m very happy right now,” said race winner Verstappen. “It was not a very straightforward race, because the tyres were not really getting in their window. It was very cold today compared to Friday and we were sliding around quite a bit, but we made it work. To win again [and] win the 100th Grand Prix for the team is incredible.”
Verstappen has now led the last three grands prix from start to finish, with no other driver having held the lead since he overtook Perez on lap 48 of the Miami GP.
From the start, Verstappen was in control from the moment he got away well from pole position to see off any threat behind and, despite an apparent bird strike, had opened up a three-second advantage within 10 laps.
His early advantage was wiped out when the Safety Car was deployed for Russell’s shunt, but the championship leader aced the restart, immediately getting himself out of any DRS threat behind.
Indeed the stiffest challenge would once again be himself, with Verstappen saying he “nearly knocked himself out” with a rough ride over the track curbs with just five laps remaining. Along with other racing factors. “I expected more or less what we had today but it was really difficult to keep the temperature into the tires, so there was not much grip. Maybe that was why the gap was not that big,” said Verstappen post race.
After matching Senna’s win tally and delivering Red Bull their century of wins, Verstappen said: “I’m of course very happy to win here in Canada. It wasn’t an easy or straightforward race though, it was quite difficult to switch on the tyres and get them to the right temperature. This is our 100th win and it’s an incredible moment for the Team, the hard work doesn’t stop here though, the new target is 200 now! Right from when I was a young kid karting, I was always dreaming about being a Formula One driver and I would have never imagined to actually win so many races, so to tie with Ayrton Senna is incredible and I feel really proud of that. Hopefully we will have plenty more wins in the future, I don’t want to stop now.”
But while Verstappen may have had a serene drive out front, there were plenty of battles taking place throughout the field behind as Red Bull’s margin of victory was also the smallest it has been all season, with Alonso finishing 9.5 seconds behind Verstappen with Lewis Hamilton completing the top three.
The opening lap also saw hard racing between Perez and Sainz in the midfield. Perez, starting 12th, had got ahead of the Ferrari through the opening corners, but Sainz fought back to reclaim 11th down the back straight. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen also nearly hit the wall as he raced up behind the squabbling pair.
Alonso then hit the wall fairly hard with his rear right on lap five as he pushed to keep the pressure on Hamilton in the early stages.
While Hamilton was unable to get consecutive second-place finishes, the seven-time world champion could be satisfied with another podium for the W14 that is progressing after its Monaco upgrade.
Hamilton said: “It’s been a great weekend for us. We are slowly chipping away. We knew this weekend it wouldn’t be our strongest circuit because we struggle in the slower corners, particularly.
“That was where I was losing to Fernando and Max – just on traction out of pretty much every corner.
What’s next
The next stop on the 2023 F1 calendar will be Spielberg’s Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, which takes place from June 30 to July 2.