Another Formula 1 race and another win for Red Bull, as this time Max Verstappen brought home a momentous 100th F1 win for the team, as he strode to victory at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix.
A tough battle between F1 veterans Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton saw the Aston Martin hold on to second place in Canada, with the Mercedes a solid third.
It was a weekend of records for Red Bull, as Verstappen also equalled Ayrton Senna in total number of F1 victories, as he stood on the podium for the 41st time in his career.
That is also Verstappen’s fourth consecutive win in the 2023 F1 season, and further extends his lead in the Driver Standings to 69 points over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, who crossed the line in sixth.
“It was not a straightforward race, the tyres were not getting in their window and we were sliding around a bit,” Verstappen said after the race, “But to win today, to win the 100th Grand Prix for the team is incredible. I never expected to be on these kind of numbers myself.”
Off the line Hamilton got a sensational start and jumped Alonso in the Aston Martin, though he didn’t have enough pace to challenge Verstappen, with the Dutchman driving off into the distance.
George Russell brought out the safety car after smashing into the wall on Lap 12, though he did manage to carry on after limping back to the pits, but retired on Lap 55.
One the safety car ended, Alonso was all over the gearbox of Hamilton’s Mercedes, and thanks to DRS, the Aston Martin driver got ahead of the seven-time champion on Lap 23, and stayed there until the chequered flag.
Ferrari’s alternative strategy
As is customary, when the safety car enters an F1 circuit the cars on track jump into the pits for a cheaper pitstop which will see them lose less time. And that is what happened when Russell hit the wall.
Everyone came in apart from the Ferrari drivers of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who were both on the medium tyres, Sergio Perez in the sister Red Bull who started on the hard tyres, Kevin Magnussen’s Haas and Valtteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo.
That allowed the Ferrari cars to jump up to fourth and fifth in the order, and the Scuderia pair managed to keep those positions when they did eventually put for their one and only stop. Leclerc then finished fourth ahead of Sainz in fifth.
Haas fairytale to nightmare
Saturday’s Qualifying session saw Nico Hulkenberg put his Haas second and on the front row for the first time ever.
Then, the stewards handed the German a three-place grid penalty for not following the delta time during a red flag, which dropped the Haas to fifth.
And during the Grand Prix, the Haas didn’t have the pace at all, resulting in Hulkenberg dropping down the order to eventually finish in 15th.
Where is the next F1 2023 race?
With the F1 circus finished in Canada, the next race is the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix which will be held at the Red Bull Ring in the Styrian mountains over the weekend of June 30-July 2.
