MONTREAL — Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen survived a crazy Canadian Grand Prix for his ninth Formula 1 victory of the 2024 season and his third in a row at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.
Verstappen now has 60 career F-1 wins.
“Pretty crazy race, lots of things happening and we had to be on top of our calls,” Verstappen said. “The Safety Car worked out nicely for us, but we were managing the gaps quite well. Those kind of races, you need those every once in a while. It was a lot of fun out there.”
The aforementioned Safety Car came out on lap 26 for Logan Sargeant, which allowed Verstappen to ultimately take the lead after the race started out in the wet.
But as the race reached the halfway point, the track began to dry and teams began to discuss when to switch from the inters to slicks.
Beginning on lap 44, drivers began to pit for the medium tires, starting with Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen came on lap 46, handing the lead over to Lando Norris who came at lap 48. Once the pit cycle was complete, Verstappen retook the lead and never surrendered it.
One last Safety Car came out late in the race and set up an 11-lap shootout to the finish. But the reigning three-time champion didn’t fold.
Norris ended up finishing second.
“It was chaos, it was eventful. To be honest I felt I drove a good race from start to finish,” Norris said. “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 drive a good race.”
After winning the pole on Saturday, George Russell finished third and chalked up the afternoon as a missed opportunity.
“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,” Russell said. “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 finished fourth and Oscar Pisatri took home fifth. Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10.
Carlos Sainz, Alexander Albon, Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc and Sargeant all did not finish.