And yet Alex Albon was the real star of the show.
Max Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix, securing Red Bull Racing's (RBR) 100th win since the team was formed in 2005. RBR is the second most successful team established in the noughties, with six Drivers' and five Constructors' Championships. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team is still in the lead, with 125 victories, eight Constructors' titles, and Eight drivers' championships. Think about that the next time you complain about RBR dominance…
Verstappen also equaled Ayrton Senna's 41 F1 career wins, and as usual, the haters were quick to jump on the “there are more races these days” bandwagon. Here are the facts; Senna secured 41 wins and entered 161 Grands Prix before his untimely death. Max Verstappen has entered 171 Grands Prix so far, but at a far younger age.
It doesn't take a genius to determine that Senna's win rate is still higher.
Let's take a quick look at the race results with that out of the way. Fernando Alonso made the most of Aston Martin's upgrades, bringing his car home in second, despite being forced to back off slightly with a brake overheating issue. Sir Lewis Hamilton was on fire and finished in third. Fourth and fifth went to the Ferrari duo, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Sergio Perez had another disappointing outing, racing alone in no man's land and eventually finishing sixth. Alex Albon dragged his Williams up to seventh and rightfully received the most votes for the Driver of the Day.
Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, and Valtteri Bottas rounded up the top ten; all finished more than a minute behind Verstappen.
That being said, Verstappen failed to eke out his usual 20-to-30-second lead ahead of everyone else. The gap between him and Alonso was just under 10 seconds, though we later learned Verstappen was on a tire management strategy. In the race's early stages, he maintained a three to four-second gap, but when RBR gave him the go-ahead, he shot off into the distance.
Four out of the top five contenders have reached triple-digit points tallies, with Verstappen five points away from breaking into the 200s. Verstappen is also sitting pretty, with Sergio Perez acting as a buffer in second place with 126 points. Fernando Alonso has third place locked up with 117 points, and Lewis Hamilton is fourth with 102 points. Carlos Sainz is fifth but a long way back with 68 points. At this point, it's safe to say the battle for second will be between Perez, Alonso, and Hamilton.
Red Bull is sitting pretty on 321 points, 154 points ahead of Mercedes in second place. 154 points is exactly what Aston Martin has amassed so far. That provides some perspective on RBR's dominance this season. It has the exact number of points of second and third place combined and has yet to introduce an upgrade package.
The next race is at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, on RBR's home turf. If ever there was an opportunity to introduce an upgrade package to establish dominance, this is it.
While the battle in the front was interesting, the competition in the midfield provided the most action. Lando Norris drove like a man possessed but had to take a penalty for holding up the pack under the safety car, dropping him out of the points.
But the actual star of the show was Alex Albon, starting during Saturday's qualifying. Williams pulled an excellent strategic move, putting Albon on slicks just as a dry line started to form. He set a quick enough time to ensure he'd make it to Q3, where he ended up qualifying in 10th place.
You'd expect him to drop back by the end of the race, but Albon drove that Williams well beyond its capabilities, finishing in seventh, ahead of both Alpines, both McLarens, and Lance Stroll's Aston Martin. What a way to make midfield and top-tier teams take notice. We'd suggest gifting Albon a Mercedes-AMG GT, but Albon purchased a Singer 911 earlier this year, so we're guessing he's good in the road-legal car department.
Keyword: Max Verstappen Equals Ayrton Senna's Win Record In Canada