Max Verstappen Claims 60th Career Grand Prix Victory in Chaotic Canadian Grand Prix

Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc fermem during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 09, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

MONTREAL – Charles Leclerc’s emotional Monaco Grand Prix victory now makes him one of the favorites to fight for the title. Formula 1 now heads to Canada to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal for the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix. Ferrari hopes to continue their upswing, while Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen hope to take the fight back to the rest of the grid, attempting to catch up.

After setting identical times in the final round of qualifying, the Mercedes of George Russell starts on pole position, ahead of Verstappen. The Ferrari pair of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz failed to reach the final round of qualifying, while the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez could not make it out of the first round for the second race weekend in a row. Meanwhile, both Kick Sauber pair of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu will be starting on the pit lane after the team made rear-wing specification changes after qualifying.

A rainy weekend continued to Sunday, and as the teams prepared on the grid, a wet race start was on the table. The teams were ready to choose between the full Wet Weather and Intermediate compound tires. As the teams removed the tire covers, it showed that every team, including both Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg, would be starting on the Intermediates, while the Haas pair would be starting on full Wets.

Russell led the field around for their formation lap in damp conditions. What seemed to be more rain was starting to fall, setting up another classic rain race for F1.

The grid lined back up in their boxes, and with anticipation building, the lights went out. Russell and Verstappen slowly led the field to green flag racing, and the drivers worked to figure out where the best grip was to stay on track. The front of the field got away cleanly while Lewis Hamilton got his Mercedes ahead of the Visa Cash App RB of Daniel Ricciardo. Meanwhile, close-quarters racing between the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Perez almost caused a crash but caused damage between both cars.

As drivers started to find their pace with the wet conditions, the tire strategy call from Haas was paying off, and both Magnussen and Hulkenberg were storming up the field. Magnussen was setting the fastest laps early in the race and picking off cars that would typically be faster than them in dry conditions, climbing his way up to fourth, taking advantage of the conditions while the track was transitioning to conditions where the Intermediates would be the better tires to be on.

After magic in Monaco, things did not look great for Ferrari as Leclerc called to his pit wall, complaining about his car feeling slightly underpowered. A response of “looking into it” was the only solace Leclerc could have in hopes of surviving the end of the race.

As Magnussen started to challenge Lando Norris’s McLaren, the conditions favored the intermediate runners. On Lap 8, the Haas driver made a trip down the pit road, but his excellent start was ruined because he went down the pit road before his team was ready.

With ever-changing conditions, drivers searched everywhere for grip as a dry line formed. Logan Sargeant’s Williams made contact with the barriers in Turn 6, while Hamilton and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin tried their best to keep all four wheels on the track, especially in the first corner.

Both Verstappen and Russell were finding their pace, but soon, McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri were on their heels, having saved up enough of the grip on the Intermediates for a charge. Ricciardo had moved on the Haas of Hulkenberg ahead of the Haas pit stop but received a 5-second penalty for a jump start at the beginning of the race.

As the clouds started to move away to blue skies, a very pronounced dry line formed with drivers trying to determine if a move to dry tires was coming up yet. However, another shower would start in about 20 minutes, making it almost useless to pit and lose out on track position.

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 09, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Saving their tires worked out great for Norris and Piastri as they closed in on Russell and Verstappen, who were fighting for the lead themselves and trying out different lines. Soon, Verstappen missed the Turn 1 chicane and fell back into Norris’s clutches. Within a couple of laps, the McLaren made it around the Red Bull and, not long after that, the Mercedes.

Russell tried to fight to keep the lead but missed the final corner chicane, and Verstappen could take second place back as Norris was setting off in hopes of picking up his second career victory. But soon, Sargeant was seen wrecked out of the chicane in Turns 3/4, meaning a Safety Car was bound to be called out on track.

With a SC called, teams took the opportunity to change over to a new set of Intermediate tires. As Norris was able to capitalize on the SC in Miami, the opposite happened. Verstappen could pit before the field stacked up, retaining second ahead of Russell and Norris. In contrast, it took another lap before Norris could pit, coming out behind the two drivers he had recently passed.

The timing of the SC was perfect as it gave teams the time to prepare for the second rain shower with a new, fresh set of Intermediates; however, nearing the end of the slowdown, Ferrari called down a dejected Leclerc for a set of Hard tires, a gamble that seemed almost unnecessary.

Beginning Lap 30, the SC pulled away, and Verstappen nailed the restart and set off to build up his lead as raindrops started to fall again. The short rain shower ended, and the McLarens came alive again, setting faster times than Verstappen. But soon, it was time to make the first gamble to dry compound tires.

Norris was chasing down Russell, but all his hard work was quickly undone after overcooking it into Turn 1. He fell back as Alpine had decided to pit Gasly first for a set of dry tires. With Gasly starting to get comfortable with the dry tires, the rest of the field started to follow suit, and Leclerc pitted to retire the car, going from Monaco triumph to not finishing a race later.

Verstappen and Russell pitted for Medium and Hard compound tires, respectively, while Norris continued, setting impressive lap times before going down the pits on Lap 47. The hope of overcutting the leaders did not work out, however. Verstappen, on warmed-up tires, made impressive time on Norris, took advantage of the McLaren being offline on the pit exit, and took the lead back while Russell was hoping to grab second place back.

Drama, however, was soon to occur. The other Red Bull of Perez spun into the barriers at Turn 6, seriously damaging his rear wing, and he limped back to the pits. That move gave him a three-place grid penalty for the Spanish Grand Prix as he returned to the pits in an unsafe condition.

But soon, the other Ferrari of Sainz had issues in the same place as Perez, sliding across the track and making contact with the remaining Williams of Alex Albon. This meant that five cars were out of the race as the SC returned to the track. Mercedes took the chance to pit Russell and Hamilton for the run to the finish.

Once again, Verstappen set off to build up a lead at the restart while both Mercedes cars were getting ready to try to take the podium from McLaren. Hamilton got around his teammate and Piastri relatively easily, but Russell was quicker. He got into a close battle against the younger McLaren driver, going wheel-to-wheel through the final chicane, coming mere inches from disaster for both drivers.

Russell soon got back around his teammate and set sail for second place of Norris as Verstappen kept growing his lead, but a fast-approaching Hamilton was hoping to take back his spot on the podium.

Max Verstappen made his way back around the track for the final lap, claiming a hat trick of Canadian Grand Prix victories, his 60th career win and 50th since 2021. Lando Norris followed behind, ahead of George Russell. Hamilton made a late charge, picking up the fastest lap, while Piastri survived for a top-five finish.

Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates with his trophy on the podium after the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 09, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Both Aston Martin drivers of Alonso and Lance Stroll survived for a respectable sixth and seventh, ahead of Ricciardo, who could hold off the Alpines. Both Alpine drivers Gasly and Esteban Ocon closed out the points-paying finishes, though some team orders may have soured the double-points finish for the team.

Magnussen and Hulkenberg finished just outside the points in 11th and 12th, ahead of Bottas. Yuki Tsunoda’s Visa Cash App RB and Guanyu’s other Kick Sauber rounded out the runners at the finish. Sainz, Albon, Perez, Leclerc and Sargeant did not finish the race.

Formula 1 returns to Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix, where Verstappen hopes to increase his championship lead as the McLaren looks more competitive every weekend.