Racing Series Formula 1 - In Canada, Rainy Weather Leads to Verstappen's Victory: "A wild race"
Max Verstappen rejoiced in his hard-fought victory in the chaotic weather of Montreal, hugging his crew members. "It was a wild race with a lot of things happening," he said, smiling. "We kept our cool as a team and managed it well."
With his sixth season victory, the 26-year-old Dutch driver increased his lead in the Formula 1 championship standings. In unpredictable conditions with two rain showers and safety car sequences, Verstappen triumphed as he did last year at the Canadian Grand Prix. British driver Lando Norris came in second place in the McLaren. "It was madness," said Norris, astonished at his not winning: "I drove a good race from start to finish. I thought it was close to perfect."
Third was pole sitter George Russell from Mercedes, followed by teammate and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Thanks to his 60th career win, Verstappen now has a more comfortable lead in the standings with 56 points ahead of Charles Leclerc from Ferrari. The Monegasque had to retire his car two weeks after his celebrated victory at his home race. Earlier, Leclerc had even been in last position - also due to his team betting on tires.
During the race, it rained heavily. Russell, who defended his first starting position in the rain, managed to keep Verstappen behind in second place, waiting to make his move. On the slippery track, the risk of crashing was high at the start, with water clouds forming. Haas' drivers, who were the only ones to start with rain tires, took advantage of this. Nico Hülkenberg quickly jumped from 18th place to eighth, while Kevin Magnussen was even fourth at one point.
After six laps, it got drier. Magnussen changed tires rapidly, while Hülkenberg experimented by staying on the rain tires. A mistake. The German was suddenly last and finished in 11th place.
Russell led comfortably at the front for two seconds ahead of Verstappen, with Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri right behind. Verstappen drove aggressively and put pressure on Russell. The gap shrunk to less than a second, but overtaking was challenging. Anyone who left the dry asphalt was at risk of sliding off. When Verstappen made a driving error in the 17th of 70 laps, Norris came closer to the world champion.
In the 21st lap, Norris passed Verstappen to take the lead. Russell couldn't catch up to the strong McLaren and had to overtake Verstappen as well. Norris, who won his first career race in Miami in early May, drove at an incredible pace and instantly pulled away from the rest of the field by more than eight seconds.
However, things didn't stay this way for long. Williams driver Logan Sargeant caused an accident from a driving error in the runoff area, resulting in a safety car phase. After the tire changes in the leading group, Verstappen led and maintained his position as the rain returned. However, Ferrari made a blunder with Leclerc, who couldn't keep up with his rivals on dry tires in wet conditions and eventually lapped. In the 43rd round, it was over for him.
The asphalt dried up quickly after the brief shower. Verstappen made full use of his opponents' errors and pulled away by more than four seconds. The champion then used the same dry tires as Norris to rebuild his advantage.
But it didn't end there. Sergio Pérez in the second Red Bull retired, and a second Safety Car phase was necessary due to Alexander Albon in the second Williams also crashing in the gravel. Eleven laps before the end, the race resumed. Verstappen made no further mistakes, earning his next triumph on the way to his fourth consecutive World Championship title.
