Max Verstappen led all 70 laps of the Canadian Grand Prix as he won the racing tournament, making it his sixth win in eight races.
Verstappen started first and had the lead entering Turn 1 ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. He then sprinted away from the field again after a safety car for George Russell’s early race crash and remained at the top over the course of the Grand Prix.
However, his win wasn’t entirely without any challenges Verstappen radioed Red Bull during the race to say he had hit a bird on track.
“The biggest moment he had was hitting a bird that did half the race behind the front right brake duct,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said on Sunday evening. “A very, very controlled race by him.”
Alonso finished second after getting past Hamilton shortly after the restart. Hamilton finished the race on a set of medium compound tires compared to the hard tires on Alonso’s car, but Alonso was able to pull away over the final 10 laps after Hamilton closed in as Alonso managed his car’s brakes.
Ferrari drivers – Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz ended the race in fourth and fifth position respectively, using a one-stop strategy.
The two started outside the top five but moved up during the safety car period when they didn’t pit. They were able to each make their starting set of medium tires last over 30 laps before stopping for hard compound tires to run the rest of the race.
Verstappen, Alonso, and Hamilton like much of the rest, pitted twice. The win makes it the 100th victory for Red Bull Racing in Formula 1 as the team works towards winning another driver’s title with Verstappen and another constructors’ title too.
Russell who was in the top 10 spot at a point was forced to retire because of brake issues. He finished 19th ahead of Logan Sargeant.
Alex Albon led the massive DRS train which had formed outside the top six over the final half of the race. He finished the race in seventh position, ahead of Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris, and Lance Stroll. Norris officially finished in 13th spot due to a five-second penalty.
Verstappen now has 69 points lead over teammate Sergio Perez after Perez finished sixth. Perez has 126 points to Verstappen’s 195. Alonso also has closed the gap to six points behind Perez in third. Hamilton is 15 points back of Alonso in fourth.
Canadian Grand Prix 2023 Final Result
1. Max Verstappen
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Charles Leclerc
5. Carlos Sainz
6. Sergio Perez
7. Alex Albon
8. Esteban Ocon
9. Lance Stroll
10. Valtteri Bottas
11. Oscar Piastri
12. Pierre Gasly
13. Lando Norris
14. Yuki Tsunoda
15. Nico Hulkenberg
16. Zhou Guanyu
17. Kevin Magnussen
18. Nyck De Vries
19. George Russell
20. Logan Sargeant
