Max Verstappen has won the Canadian Grand Prix, his sixth win of the season, finishing ahead of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. Lewis Hamilton claimed his second podium of the season, finishing third.
Sainz is still in search of his first win, with the second place finish being the fifth of his career.
The win sees the Red Bull driver extend his lead at the top of the standings, putting him 46 points ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. Red Bull continues to lead the constructors standings with 304 points, ahead of Ferrari’s 228.
It was a clean start to the race, with no incidents until lap 8, where Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Perez, suffered transmission failure and had to withdraw from the race. The virtual safety car allowed Verstappen and Hamilton to pit from the front end of the field, with Sainz staying out to take the net lead of the race.
Slight contact with Hamilton early in the race cost Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, and damaged team hopes of a solid result, with a black and yellow flag shown to the Danish driver for a damaged front wing. The change to the wing saw him return to the track at the rear of the field.
Haas driver Mick Schumacher suffered a similar fate to Perez on lap 20, with mechanical problems once again affecting his Ferrari-powered car, forcing him out of the race.
Hamilton overtook Verstappen on lap 44 after the Red Bull driver made his second stop of the race, emerging side-by-side with the Red Bull as he exited pit lane. Verstappen quickly retook the place later in the lap with little challenge from Hamilton.
Yuki Tsunoda brought out a safety car on lap 49 after continuing straight when exiting the pits, parking his AlphaTauri in the wall. The safety car intervention worked well for Sainz, who’s shortened stop time saw him emerge behind Verstappen on fresher tyres.
The remaining 15 laps following the restart saw Sainz challenging Verstappen, staying in close proximity until Verstappen saw the chequered flag.
Charles Leclerc, the teammate of Sainz, had a quiet race, quickly picking off the cars at the rear of the field following his back row start due to grid penalties. Following the safety car intervention, Leclerc overtook the Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon to make his way up to fifth, where he remained.
Front-row starting Alonso was quickly caught by the Ferrari of Sainz and the two Mercedes of Hamilton and George Russel, but held on for an impressive ninth, behind teammate Ocon who finished seventh, in a solid outing for the Alpine team.
Local driver Lance Stroll also scraped into the points, with a 10th place finish in his Mercedes powered Aston Martin.
Canadian Grand Prix Top 10
1st- Max Verstappen
2nd- Carlos Sainz
3rd- Lewis Hamilton
4th- George Russel
5th- Charles Leclerc
6th- Esteban Ocon
7th- Valtteri Bottas
8th- Zhou Guanyu
9th- Fernando Alonso
10th- Lance Stroll
