Canadian GP: Verstappen wins for third year in a row with Norris coming in second
Max Verstappen, a three-time world champion for Red Bull, won his third Canadian Grand Prix on a wet, wild, and tricky Sunday at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Verstappen, who started on the front row alongside Mercedes pole sitter George Russell, stayed out of trouble on a day with constantly changing conditions, taking the lead from McLaren's Lando Norris during the final pit stops.
The Dutchman then grimly hung on for his sixth victory in nine races this season and his 60th in Formula One.
It was another brilliant drive from the 26-year-old, who dealt with a track that alternated between wet and dry conditions, pit stop battles, and challenges from McLaren and Mercedes while wrestling with his Red Bull suspension.
After Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Williams' Alex Albon collided, bringing out the safety car for the second time, Verstappen pulled away on the restart and finished 3.879 seconds ahead of Norris, while Russell won a nail-biting last-laps battle with teammate Lewis Hamilton to round out the podium.
"Not easy but we did it," said Verstappen over the team radio. "We had to be on top of our calls and I think, as a team, it went really well today."
"I think we pitted at the right time and of course the safety car worked out nicely for us but even after that I think we were managing the gaps quite well. I love it, that was a lot of fun. Those kind of races you need them once in a while."
The victory will undoubtedly boost Red Bull's confidence, as the team's once-unquestioned dominance has recently been challenged.
Red Bull had won one of the three races prior to Canada, as the battle for the drivers' and constructors' championships tightened.
However, the team returns to Europe in control of both, with Verstappen opening up a 56-point lead over Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in the drivers' standings and Red Bull 49 points ahead of Ferrari in the constructors' championship.
Both Ferraris failed to finish on Sunday, with Sainz losing control of his car on the wet track and colliding with a barrier, and Leclerc retiring due to an engine issue.
"I knew I had to score big so the other teams don't catch up a lot," said Verstappen, who accounted for all the Red Bull points after Mexican team mate Sergio Perez retired.
"I do think at the end of the day as long as you keep winning, you score 25 points, even if the others finish P2, P3, you don't really lose too much and can kind of afford these one-offs."
Mercedes will head to Barcelona for the next grand prix on June 23 with renewed confidence after a stellar qualifying effort that resulted in third and fourth place finishes.
The podium was Mercedes' first of the season, and Russell was pushed to the finish line by teammate Hamilton, a seven-time winner in Canada.
McLaren, who have had a driver on the podium in each of the last five races, also leave Canada with a strong points haul, with Norris finishing second and young Australian Oscar Piastri fifth.
Aston Martin, owned by Canadian billionaire Laurence Stroll, gave the flag-waving home crowd something to cheer about, with both cars scoring points.
Spanish double world champion Fernando Alonso took sixth place ahead of Lance Stroll, who grew up in Montreal and had his best result at this home race, finishing seventh.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who came under attack from former champion Jacques Villeneuve in Montreal over a lack of good results, answered his critics by scoring points for RB with eighth place.
Alpine grabbed the remaining points with Pierre Gasly taking ninth and Esteban Ocon, who was informed by the Renault-owned outfit last week that they would not be renewing his contract next season, 10th.
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