Max Verstappen charged from pole position to victory in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix. While it might have seemed straightforward from the outside, inside the cockpit and on the pitwall things were getting somewhat heated.
The Pirelli tires weren’t cooperating with Max (or any of the other drivers either). The unexpectedly high levels of wear and lack of grip caught the drivers by surprise. Verstappen might have led the race, but Fernando Alonso kept in touch with the Red Bull throughout the entire race, proving that the rest of the grid is closing the gap to the dominant bulls.
The Canadian Grand Prix marked the 100th win for Red Bull as a constructor. 41 of those victories came from Verstappen while 38 wins were contributed by Red Bull’s previous Golden Boy Sebastian Vettel.
With Verstappen taking yet another victory, it puts him equal with Ayrton Senna’s total of 41. Senna completed the same feat in 13 fewer races, but Verstappen is 8 years younger compared to when Senna took his 41st victory.
Red Bull maintained their 100% win record heading into their home race at the Red Bull Ring.
Aston Martin vs. Mercedes
Aside from the dominant drive up front, we saw an exciting battle for the podium positions. Just like the late 2000s we saw Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton battling it out on the Montreal Circuit.
It was Fernando Alonso who took second place in the end, but Hamilton put up an excellent fight and kept Alonso honest throughout the entire Grand Prix. We even saw a tight battle in the pit lane between the two F1 giants.
With Aston Martin and Mercedes both bringing some serious upgrades in recent races, it looks like they’re closer than ever before. Aston Martin brought an upgraded sidepod that looks similar to the Red Bull concept — it seems that they gained some pace from these upgrades.
Mercedes are still looking strong following their sidepod upgrades, but they still have some work to do to overtake Aston Martin on pure pace. Overall though, it seems as though there is an interesting battle developing between these two teams. We’re excited to see what they can bring to the table in Austria.
Verstappen Pushing For Third Title
With Verstappen taking yet another victory, he’s now sitting on 6 victories for the season. He’s also won 4 races in a row — 5 short of Sebastian Vettel’s record of 9 consecutive race wins. He’ll certainly be pushing to break that record this season.
His main title rival, Sergio Perez, suffered yet another Q2 knockout in Canada. He finished the race in 6th place, unable to overtake the two Ferraris in front of him.
That puts him 69 points behind his teammate — falling even-more behind in the title fight. Verstappen can now retire from the 2 races and still be 19 points ahead (if Checo wins those races). Checo is also just 9 points ahead of Fernando Alonso in the standings and could be overtaken by the Aston Martin driver if he doesn't step it up soon!
It looks like Checo has lost the confidence he had in the car during the early part of the season. He’s going to need a great result at the Red Bull Ring to get back into the championship fight.
Ferrari Falling Behind
While Ferrari have been considered Red Bull’s main title rivals for quite some time since the new regulations have been put in place, it’s clear that they have been going more backwards than forwards in recent races.
Although their pace has been decent, they seem to struggle in Qualifying, with Leclerc making yet another Q2 exit — qualifying in 11th place. Even though his teammate made it through to Q3, he didn’t fare much better and could only manage 8th place in the end.
In the race they made some progress and worked well as a team to finish in 4th and 5th. However, if their current form is anything to go by, it’s clear that they are no threat to Aston Martin and Mercedes.
They’re going to need some serious upgrades to turn the tides, but for now they need to fight for points rather than podiums.
The Red Bull Ring Awaits
During the Canadian Grand Prix Verstappen surpassed 200 consecutive laps in the lead. He’s led every single lad since he overtook Perez for the lead at the Miami Grand Prix.
That’s an incredible achievement, but could it come to an end at the Red Bull Ring? Aston Martin and Mercedes are much closer to Red Bull now, and they could be challenging for victories very soon.
The Austrian Grand Prix is around the corner, and it could be yet another thrilling race!
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