100th win for Red Bull as the Dutchman equals Ayrton Senna’s win total
Max Verstappen has continued his march towards a third Formula 1 world championship, with a decisive victory in the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
The sixth win for the Dutchman in the first eight races of 2023 has elevated him to 41 career victories – level with the legendary Ayrton Senna – and marked the 100th for the Red Bull team in F1 competition since 2009.
“It was not a very straightforward race. The tyres were not getting in their window, it was very cold today compared to Friday and we were sliding around quite a bit,” said Verstappen.
“But we made it work and to win the 100th race for the team is incredible.
“I never expected to be on these kind of numbers myself as well, but we keep enjoying, we keep working hard and today was a great day again.”
From pole position, Verstappen jumped into the lead from Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), while Kevin Magnussen (Haas) was lucky to escape undamaged after being forced across the escape road at the end of the opening lap.
On lap eight of 70, the field slowed for a virtual safety car to retrieve the retired Williams of Logan Sargeant, while at the resumption of racing, Oscar Piastri moved his McLaren into sixth, passing the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg.
George Russell (Mercedes) hit the wall on lap 12, which brought out a full safety car, which sent much of the field into the pits for hard tyres, with Hamilton and Lando Norris (McLaren) lucky to escape sanction for seemingly unsafe releases.
Not pitting with the field were the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, plus the Red Bull of Sergio Perez, before the trio ultimately completed their stops by lap 40.
Alonso passed Hamilton for second on lap 22, while on lap 35, Magnussen and Nyck De Vries (AlphaTauri) became entangled and were delayed in an escape road before resuming.
Hamilton stopped again on lap 41, which was covered on the subsequent laps by Alonso and Verstappen, while Russell retired on lap 55 after working his way back into the points with a damaged car.
At the finish, it was Verstappen from Alonso, who held on with brake issues through the closing laps, then Hamilton, Leclerc, Sainz, Perez, Alex Albon (Williams) and Esteban Ocon with a wobbly rear wing on his Alpine, then Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), with Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) in 10th.
Norris provisionally finished in the points, but was served a 5sec post-race penalty for slowing too much under the safety car, flushing him to 13th, two places behind Piastri.
Next up on the F1 schedule is the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring over June 30 to July 2.
2023 Canadian Grand Prix results:
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull
- Alex Albon, Williams
- Esteban Ocon, Alpine
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
- Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
- Oscar Piastri, McLaren
- Pierre Gasly, Alpine
- Lando Norris, McLaren
- Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
- Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
- Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas
- Nyck De Vries, AlphaTauri
- DNF. George Russell, Mercedes
- DNF. Logan Sargeant, Williams
2023 Formula 1 championship standings:
- Max Verstappen, 195
- Sergio Perez, 126
- Fernando Alonso, 117
- Lewis Hamilton, 102
- Carlos Sainz, 68
- George Russell, 65
- Charles Leclerc, 54
- Lance Stroll, 37
- Esteban Ocon, 29
- Pierre Gasly, 15
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Keyword: Verstappen wins Canadian F1 GP