Canada - Race

Viewers opened their transmission of the Canadian Grand Prix to a wet track and rain, most probably smiling as they imagined how exciting the race would be. Whatever they had had in mind wouldn't come close to what occurred in reality. The fans of all teams can surely agree on one thing; it was a race worth watching and one where tearing your eyes away from the screen for a split second could prove to be a grave mistake. 

Because of all the water on the track, most teams opted for the intermediate tires. The only exception was Haas who put full wets on both their drivers. As soon as the race began, Russel did all he could to defend against the reigning champion and managed to hold onto the race lead. Some changes in order occurred throughout the grid but the real standout stars were the two Haas cars, which both managed to climb more than 5 places in the span of 1 lap, thanks to their increased grip. Before long, we could see Magnussen in 4th and Hulkenberg in 8th. The strategy worked great for a while. Then, as the track dried off, the two began falling away from their competitors. Magnussen tried to pit before losing too many positions and the strategy could have worked to his advantage, had his team been ready for the tire change. It wasn't; the stop took 8.6 seconds and put Magnussen down in 12th. Hulkenberg drove into the pit at lap 13, and although his stop was much better executed, he still came out 19th. 

At lap 6 Sargeant, who started the race in 13th, spun and barely avoided hitting the wall. He rejoined the race and fell back into P20. He wasn't the only one facing issues. Daniel Ricciardo was given a 5-second penalty for a falstart and Leclerc faced issues with his engine. The Ferrari driver also complained that his car was slow on the straights. 

The race heated up around lap 19 when the track dried off enough for DRS to be enabled. The McLarens showed some great pace with both drivers scoring fastest laps. Norris' speed allowed him to overtake first Russel and then Verstappen, placing himself at the lead of the race. Verstappen then drove by the Mercedes, pushing the Brit into third. Further down the back Albon and Tsunoda, who were shuffling for 11, managed to find their way past the weakened Leclerc. 

Lap 25 brought with it the first race-changing curveball when Logan Sargeant found the barrier yet again, this time hitting it much harder. He stopped on track, bringing out the first safety car of the race. Verstappen, Russel, and Piastri took the occasion to change their tires, all opting for intermediates. Norris pitted a lap after them, coming out behind both Verstappen and Russel. With the Dutchman in the lead, by lap 28 the race saw three leaders. 

Leclerc also drove into the pits and his, already hard race, quickly turned into a nightmare. His stop took 24 seconds and he seemed unable to restart his engine. He did manage to join the race, but at that point he was the last of the participating drivers. In hopes that the forecasted rain would miss the track, his team decided to put slick, hard tires on his Ferrari. The decision did not pay off; with the rain quickly coming down, his car couldn't handle the laps on a wet track. Even though his engine issues were reportedly fixed, he quickly fell away from the other drivers. He was forced to drive into the pits for another chance of tires and ended up more than a minute behind the rest of the field. By lap 37 he was passed by the race leader. By lap 47 he retired the car. 

As the conditions changed, we saw another wave of pit stops and ht drivers changing into their mediums. Piastri, Verstappen, and Russel drove into the pit lane on the same lap, making Norris the race leader once again. He decided to change his tires not one but two laps after his immediate competitors. Since he was impressive quick on the inters, it seemed like the decision could benefit him but a slip on the wet part of the track at pit exit put him not only behind Verstappen, but also Russel. The latter didn't stay ahead of the McLaren for long: a few laps down the line he made a mistake that cost him the second position.

With only a quarter of the race left, a few things happened all at once. The series of unfortunate events began with Perez who hit the barrier and destroyed the back of his car. He had no choice but to slowly drive into the pit and retire the car. Soon after, Sainz saw a spin of his own. Even though his car didn't touch the barriers Albon, who drove right behind him, hit the back of his car and ended up putting his Williams into the barrier. This brought out a second safety car and forced both drivers to retire from the race. Mercedes used this as an occasion for one last pitstop. Both cars came out behind Verstappen and the two McLarens. 

The second safety car ended by lap 59. Verstappen had a great restart and quickly drove out of Norris' DRS range. Russel was quick to chase Piastri for 3rd. His efforts were aggressive and he made slight contact with the Aussie as he tried to find a way past him. This pushed Russel off track and allowed Hamilton to jump in front of both the cars that had just battled for 3rd. Further in the back, Tsunoda drove off track and nearly avoided hitting the wall. He managed to rejoin the race but brought out a temporary yellow flag and lost quite a few places. 

After a few laps, Russel found a way past Piastri, which meant that all that separated him from the podium was his teammate. The two did not fight too aggressively and in the end, it was Russel stood at the bottom step of the podium. Ahead of him, Verstappen took his 60th race win, while Norris added yet another podium to his ever-growing collection. The McLaren driver was crowned the 'Driver of the Day'. 

The Grand Prix had quite an impact on both the championships. Verstappen soared away from Leclerc, making the 'proper championship fight' that the fans seemed to be hoping for significantly less likely. Norris moved significantly closer to the Monegasque, with only 7 points separating the two. Red Bull extended its lead over Ferrari and McLaren crept up closer than ever to the coveted P2. 

Order of the grid:

1. Max Verstappen

2. Lando Norris

3. George Russel

4. Lewis Hamilton

5. Oscar Piastri

6. Fernando Alonso

7. Lance Stroll

8. Daniel Ricciardo

9. Pierre Gasly

10. Esteban Ocon

11. Nico Hulkenberg

12. Kevin Magnussen

13. Valtteri Bottas

14. Yuki Tsunoda

15. Zhou Guanyu 

DNF: Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc, Logan Sargeant