Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstapen further strengthened his lead at the 2022 Formula 1 World Championships by winning the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday at the Giles Villainuev Circuit in Montreal.
It was a close finish as Ferrari’s Carlos Sange crossed the second line less than a second behind. Third place went to Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes-Benz AMG, seven seconds behind the winner.
Starting at the Worstapen Pole, Fernando Alonso of the Alpine appeared in the front row for the first time in years. Verstappen made a great start and soon made a decent interval thanks to the partial slow hold of Alonso Sange and Hamilton.
Sainz was able to overtake Alonso in the third lap and then worked to catch up with Verstapen. But after five laps, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was forced to retire after some problems with his car.
It brought out the virtual safety car, at which point the Red Bull decided to bring in the Verstapen to switch from medium to hard tires. He will rise to third place behind Sange and Alonso, both of whom were out.
Ferrari at the 2022 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix
Mick Schumacher’s Haas encounters some problems when Verstappen finally passes Alonso on 15 laps and then another virtual safety car is called after five laps. At this point, it was Scing’s turn to lead, leading to Verstapen and allowing Alonso to take second place. Sange will move to second place soon after his return, while Hamilton will move to third place.
In the second half of the race, Verstappen tried his best to maintain the lead spot but the sign, with new tires, caught on. Worstappen made a second stop at the end of Lap 43 and climbed to third behind Hamilton. Hamilton slowed down Verstappen but the Mercedes driver eventually moved to lap number 44, allowing Verstappen to chase the Sens which was now about 10 seconds apart.
Verstappen took a 49-run break when Alfatouri’s Yuki Sunoda lost control in two innings. Safety cars were deployed and took the opportunity to pit the sign, thus leading Verstapen. This will lead to a showdown for completion.
The safety car leaves the track at the end of the Lap 54. Verstappen led Sange and Hamilton forward. For the last 15 laps he was under a lot of pressure as Sange was running at full charge, even recording the fastest lap of the race at lap number 56. Sange closed in the final lap but Verstapen defended well and crossed the finish line first. Sange and Hamilton.
George Russell of Mercedes made another tough effort to finish fourth, while Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was fifth after starting behind the grid due to fines for changing his power unit and control electronics.
Verstappen’s first win in Canada means he is now leading 46-points in the 2022 Drivers Championship. He sits at 175 points against Perez’s 129 and Leclerc’s 126. In the Constructors Championship, Red Bull leads with 304 points, Ferrari with 228 points and Mercedes with 188 points. The next race on the calendar is the British Grand Prix in a fortnight.
2022 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix
Below are the full results of the 2022 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix:
1) Max Verstapen, Red Bull Racing
2) Carlos Sange, Ferrari +0.993 sec
3) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz AMG +7.006 sec
4) George Russell, Mercedes-Benz AMG +12.313 sec
5) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +15.168 seconds
6) Esteban Oaken, Alpine +23.890 seconds
7) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo +25.247 seconds
8) Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo +26.952 seconds
9) Fernando Alonso, Alpine + 29.945 seconds
10) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +38.222 sec
11) Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren +43.047 seconds
12) Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin +44.245 seconds
13) Alexander Albon, Williams +44.893 sec
14) Pierre Gasley, Alfatouri +45.183 sec
15) Lando Norris, McLaren +52.145 sec
16) Nicholas Latifi, Williams +59.978 sec
17) Kevin Magnasen, smile +68.180 seconds
NC) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri – DNF
NC) Mick Schumacher, Haas – DNF
NC) Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing – DNF