The Canadian grand Prix was full of spectacle as the race progressed from a wet race to dry conditions. George Russell started on pole in the race and would hold the lead for the first 18 laps. On Lap 19 Verstappen finally found a gap to get past and he would lead the race for the rest of the afternoon. As the track dried tire calls became the deciding factor for the outcome of the race.
Charles Leclerc Pits for Slicks Early
Charles Leclerc and Ferrari made the call to be early adopters of the slicks but it proved to be the wrong call and Leclerc quickly fell behind in the pecking order all the way to the back of the grid. He pitted again to put intermediates and with an attempt to fight back but ultimately retired on lap 43 of the race. He said, “The bottom line today is that the engine issue is what compromised our race.
We were losing substantial lap time compared to the other cars, so we tried to go on slicks, knowing that it was our only chance to try to finish in the points. There was nothing to lose and I’ve got no regrets on that…This one hurts and it’s a big loss of points for the team with both of us unable to finish. We will look into the issue we had to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Red Bull Again Sees Positives and Negatives
Max Verstappen secured his 60th win after fighting from the front row after qualifying P2; setting the same time as Russell. Max Verstappen stayed patient and waiting for his time to strike to secure another win for Red Bull. Sergio Perez on the other hand again DNF the grand prix. The Canadian Grand Prix is the first race after Red Bull has announced that Sergio Perez has signed a new two year contract. Unfortunately for Perez a mistake on lap 54 cost him yet another opportunity to score points. Perez is limiting Red Bull’s ability to build the dominant lead they had in 2023 at this point in the season. While Red Bull still netted a positive point gain over second place rivals Ferrari who’s double no points finish didn’t do them any favors. Red Bull knows that both cars should be finishing in the top 3 in every race.
Mercedes Revived?
Mercedes pulled of a P3 and P4 finish netting the team 28 points after Hamilton set the fastest lap for the bonus point. George Russell who started from pole was disappointed in the finish despite it being the first podium of the year. Russell said,
I’m disappointed with myself today. I made too many errors that set us back and cost us a chance of victory. I was really pushing the limits out there. That said, it feels great to be disappointed with P3. We’ve made small steps over the past few races and to come to Canada, get pole position and a podium is really encouraging. We’ve been one of the fastest cars on track all weekend, so we’ve definitely made progress. There are many positives to take away from here.
The conditions were incredibly challenging out there. Put a wheel even one millimetre off line and you would be in trouble. “Unfortunately, the errors I made came with consequences as it let other cars past. Other drivers made errors too, but they didn’t come at the same cost. We were still able to battle back to the podium though with the pace we had. We will continue to work hard, develop the car, and I’m looking forward to heading to Barcelona.”
His teammate Lewis Hamilton said, “We scored some good points for the team today. We’re also looking like we’ve made a step closer to the front this weekend which is really encouraging. Thank you so much to everyone at Brackley and Brixworth who has worked so hard to deliver our recent updates. It has moved us in the right direction, and we will continue to put the effort in to continue that progress.
On my side, it wasn’t the best weekend. We had the pace to be fighting higher up but we ultimately ended up with P4. I’ll go away and work out what I need to do to come back stronger. I made too many mistakes overall but the positive I will take away is the performance of the car.”
Full Race Result – Canadian Grand Prix 2024
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 70 | 1:45:47.927 | 25 |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 70 | +3.879s | 18 |
| 3 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 70 | +4.317s | 15 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 70 | +4.915s | 13 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 70 | +10.199s | 10 |
| 6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 70 | +17.510s | 8 |
| 7 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 70 | +23.625s | 6 |
| 8 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | 70 | +28.672s | 4 |
| 9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 70 | +30.021s | 2 |
| 10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 70 | +30.313s | 1 |
| 11 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 70 | +30.824s | 0 |
| 12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 70 | +31.253s | 0 |
| 13 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 70 | +40.487s | 0 |
| 14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | 70 | +52.694s | 0 |
| 15 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 69 | +1 lap | 0 |
| NC | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 52 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 52 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 51 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 40 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 23 | DNF | 0 |
Note – Hamilton scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.