The eighth stage of the season took place in cloudy but not rainy Montreal. Verstappen defeated the competition as usual winning his sixth victory of the season and equaling a certain Ayrton Senna. Excellent Sunday in Canada for Ferrari, which is starting to make the update package work properly, restoring confidence in its fans. They close the podium Alonso and Hamilton.
Hamilton, what a start! the first tours of Canada
La strange starting grid for Canada fruit of crazy qualifying yesterday there was no shortage of surprises in the first laps. Lewis Hamiltonwhen the traffic lights go out, he made a slingshot start which allowed him to overtake the Aston Martin by Alonso. Sainz, penalized for impeding, overtook Perez, who started on white tires and was in difficulty compared to the nearby cars, all with medium tyres. While overtaking the Madrilenian, Magnussen had to dodge the duo who preceded him risking crashing at the last chicane.
Leclerc, started tenth after yesterday's disappointment, he overtook Albon and then got stuck in a DRS train behind the McLaren by Norris. The first technical twist is to the detriment of Sergeant: la Williams The American driver suddenly lost power, triggering the virtual safety car.
Russell blocks but comes back. Brawl between Alonso and Hamilton
Mercedes driver number 63 he hit the wall violently. The Mercedes W14 withstood the impact for many laps, only to give way towards the end of the race. Returned to the pits, Russell fitted tires and a new wing, and then return until collection.
After Russell's impact the safety car came on to clean debris. The top three and the McLarens are back, but Ferrari remained out. The extended stint of the Updated SF-23 it looked very good, at least in dry conditions without excessive heat from the air and asphalt; Also worth considering is the track's tyre, which enhanced the red team's choice to go long. Just think that the times of Verstappen on new white tire and Leclerc on 23 lap old yellow tire were similar, not bad. Interesting Brawl between Albon and Piastri, where the Thai passed the Australian after the latter went long.
De Vries against Magnussen, what a risk!
After being overtaken by both McLarens, Kevin Magnussen took a big risk with De Vries. The Dutchman touched the Dane in turn two, then blocked at the next corner, forcing both to go long. Both cars then returned to the track after a long maneuver in reverse.
On lap 38 the pit stop dance began again, with Perez returning to fit medium tyres. The Ferraris entered next, with Sainz before Leclerc. The reds and the Mexican returned to the track in this order: Leclerc, Sainz, Perez. Hamilton, Alonso and Verstappen changed tires a few kilometers later, with the Dutchman maintaining the lead ahead of the Spaniard and the Englishman.
Ferrari finds its first confirmation. Russell retires
With twenty laps to go, Ferrari's performance stood out. All the riders in the top 5, including the two of the red team, kept similar times. Something unthinkable for the Maranello team until two weeks ago. In the next Sundays we will have more confirmations, but the impression is that the SF-23 is showing concrete signs of life.
On lap 56 Russell had to retire the car, probably due to some technical problem following the bang. Note Albon's performance: the Thai started ninth following a formidable qualifying. After the brawl with the McLarens, Albon settled into seventh position, keeping Ocon, Bottas and Norris behind for several laps. Phenomenal performance from the number 23, also thanks to an updated Williams.
In the final stage Norris overtook Bottas. Ocon had to resign himself to stay behind Albon after his Alpine racked up miles with a wobbly rear wing.
The order of arrival in Montreal
Max always wins Verstappen. They close the podium Alonso and Hamilton. Ferrari did well with Leclerc then Sainz. Perez he moved up from 12th position ahead of the amazing Albon. Ocon precedes Stroll who beats Bottas by 30 thousandths. Just outside the top 10 there is Piastres. Sandwiched between the McLarens there is gasly. tsunoda goes from 19th to 14th, just ahead of Hulkenberg, Zhou e Magnussen. Haas who definitely put both drivers in a bad position with strategies that didn't make sense. De Vries he is the last to cross the finish line. Russell and Sargeant retired.
