Max Verstappen holds off Carlos Sainz to seal maiden Montreal victory
After a deluge of rain for practice and qualifying the sun came out in Montreal and the fans were treated to a tight race to the finish with Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen coming away with his sixth victory on the season just barely, despite having older tires on his Red Bull, edging out a Ferrari……of Carlos Sainz.
With the win, Verstappen extends world championship lead to 46 points with Canadian GP win denying Carlos Sainz his first F1 win with that thrilling battle. Lewis Hamilton finished third to claim first podium since opening race of season and Charles Leclerc, the other Ferrari driver recovered from back row start to finish fifth.
Sergio Perez’s hopes of challenging his Red Bull team-mate for the world championship suffered a major blow as an early gearbox failure ended a terrible weekend for the Mexican after he crashed out of qualifying on Saturday. Even with the DNF, Perez still sits in second in the drivers championship.
While Verstappen was always likely to extend his championship lead with his nearest challengers starting so far down the grid, his maturity and composure in denying Sainz a maiden F1 victory was an ominous showing in terms of his rapidly strengthening title defense. The final ten laps of the race where probably some of the best driving Verstappen had done all season in playing defense while maintaining superb track and tire management.
“It was really exciting at the end," Verstappen said. “I was giving it everything I had and, of course, Carlos was doing the same. I could see he was pushing and charging, but when you’re on the DRS it’s a lot easier to charge. The last few laps were a lot of fun."
Verstappen, who was driving in his 150th Grand Prix, has now won six of nine races this season, with two early-season retirements caused by reliability issues now seeming a distant memory.
Ferrari, aided by Sainz scoring an extra point for the fastest lap of the race, were at least able to narrowly reduce Red Bull’s advantage in the constructors’ championship to 76 points.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JUNE 19: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 passes his team celebrating on the pitwall during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 19, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202206191028 // Usage for editorial use only //
When’s the next F1 race?
After a two-week break, the 2022 season returns for a summer run of European races, starting with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone from July 1-3.Canadian GP: Race Result
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- George Russell, Mercedes
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- Esteban Ocon, Alpine
- Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
- Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
- Fernando Alonso, Alpine
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin