F1 News: Verstappen holds off Norris to win chaotic Canadian GP

In an exciting 2024 Canadian GP that was hit twice by rain, Red Bull World Champion Max Verstappen out dueled McLaren’s Lando Norris to win by just 3.88s

–by Mark Cipolloni–

The rain kept everyone on the edge of their seats, and two full safety car periods bunched the field twice, but in the end, Verstappen did what Verstappen does, drove a mistake-free race and won his 60th F1 victory.

Verstappen started second and ran second early on as he tried to chase down Russell. A mistake let Norris through, but Verstappen soon atoned by picking off Russell to remain second but chasing a different gearbox. Then came a stroke of luck – a Safety Car neutralized Norris’ advantage, with Verstappen pitting for more inters behind it and emerging in the lead. He held onto that lead until pitting for slicks, Norris staying out.

But when the McLaren did pit, Verstappen had enough heat in his slick tires to retake the lead and hold it until the finish to emerge victorious from a chaotic race.

It was Verstappen’s 50th win in the last 75 races and his third straight win in Canada. He did it with a suspension that was locking up, forcing him to not touch any curbs. After how bad his weekend started on Friday, Verstappen looked pumped that he actually pulled off the win.

“Pretty crazy race, lots of things happening, and we had to be on top of our calls,” said Verstappen.

“The Safety Car worked out nicely for us, but we were managing the gaps quite well. These kind of races, you need these every once in a while. It was a lot of fun out there.”

Verstappen scored 25 points today and 2nd place Charles Leclerc retired his Ferrari, allowing Verstappen to stretch his point lead to 56 markers, 194 to 138.

“It was chaos, it was eventful,” said Norris. “To be honest, I felt I drove a good race from start to finish. I had amazing pace, the Safety Car had me over but like it helped me in Miami, it had me over.

“These conditions, it is so stressful inside the car but fun as well. Things were going beautifully but fair play to Max, he drove a good race.”

George Russell passed his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to take the final podium position, 4.3s behind Verstappen. However, Russell looked pretty upset with the mistakes he made in the race.

“It felt like a missed opportunity to be honest, we had good pace at the beginning on the inters, made a couple of mistakes out there pushing the limits,” said Russell.

“To be back in the mix fighting for victory, that’s what Formula 1 is about. We’ll take all the positives from this race, podium, pole. Close with Oscar, and Lewis as well. I think it was hard, fair racing.”

Hamilton took fastest lap on new tires but had to settle for 4th, 4.9s behind Verstappen. It was Hamilton’s best result of the year,

The second McLaren of Oscar Piastri rounded out the top-5, 10.2s behind the Dutchman.

Fernando  Alonso and Lance Stroll bagged points for Aston Martin in 6th and 7th, while Daniel Ricciardo scored his first points of the year in a Grand Prix in P8, and Gasly and Ocon rounded out the top 10 for Alpine.

After winning in Monaco, Ferrari suffered a disastrous double DNF today.

The race was there for the taking today, but as he so often does, it was Verstappen who got the big calls right and limited mistakes when it mattered.

When the top-three finally have a chance to catch their breath and reflect, they will likely all be pleased to have emerged from such an exciting race with a podium – albeit on a day where any of them could have won.

It’s hard to sum up succinctly just how Verstappen managed to get back to winning ways today. Russell looked in control early on and certainly had impressive pace, Norris pulled over seven seconds in a few laps when he took the lead on Intermediates… Yet Verstappen emerged with the win once the slick tires went on.

Luck played a part, but so did Red Bull nailing their strategy. It’s no coincidence that they sent someone from the strategy team up onto the podium to collect the constructors’ trophy today.

The stewards are still investigating two things – Russell and Piastri’s almost coming together that sent Russell wide and off the track, and Sergio Perez’s day got worse as he landed a 3-place grid penalty for Barcelona for driving his damaged car back to the pits in an unsafe condition. Red Bull Racing was also fined €25,000.

2024 Canadian GP Race Results – 70 Laps