MONTREAL (AP) — Max Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix for the third consecutive year on Sunday, the Red Bull star’s 60th Formula 1 victory and sixth in nine races this season.
Verstappen started second alongside pole-sitter George Russell in the rain and dominated again late on at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Île Notre-Dame. The 26-year-old Dutchman has won 50 of the last 75 F1 races.
Verstappen finished 3.879 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris in the 70-lap race on the 2.71-mile (4.36-kilometer) road course. Last year, Verstappen started from pole and led every lap.
The race on Sunday started on a wet track, with the sun coming out after just 10 minutes but rain continued throughout the afternoon.
“It’s a lot of fun to be in a race like this,” Verstappen said. “You don’t want to do it all the time because it’s very stressful. But I had a lot of fun out there today.”
Norris lost his 10-second lead when Logan Sargeant brought out the safety car on lap 26.
“We should have won the race today and we didn’t, it’s disappointing,” Norris said. “We had the pace. We should have won today. It’s as simple as that.”
Mercedes took third and fourth, with Russell third and seven-time Montreal winner Lewis Hamilton fourth. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was fifth, followed by Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, the only Canadian in the race.
“It was a tough track, so I’m really satisfied with getting the points,” said Stroll. “A lot of points, sixth and seventh place is really good for the team.”
Verstappen extended his season lead to 56 points over second-placed Charles Leclerc of Ferrari.
“As a team, we made the right decisions today,” Verstappen said after finishing sixth in Monaco. “It’s great to have three wins in a row here. I hope I can win more in the future.”
On Lap 46, Norris stayed out while Verstappen and Russell pitted. Verstappen regained the lead three laps later when he overtook Norris as the McLaren driver came out of the pit lane. Verstappen held on to top spot the rest of the way.
Verstappen managed to avoid hitting a groundhog on lap 31.
“He was almost dead,” Verstappen said. “I started to get to the last chicane and I thought it was debris initially. So I started to get closer and then I thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s an animal.’ Last year, a bird flew into my car, so I didn’t want a groundhog to get stuck in my car as well.”
Verstappen joins Hamilton and Michael Schumacher as the only drivers to win three times in Montreal. The three-time season champion is third on the career wins list behind Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91).
Ferrari had a poor weekend. Leclerc retired on lap 43 after gambling with his tyre strategy and falling too far behind, and Carlos Sainz was out soon after after spinning out.
“It was a very weak and disappointing weekend for the whole team,” said Sainz. “We never got the momentum going.”
Organisers reported that 350,000 spectators visited the track over the three-day event.
Verstappen started from second on a tiebreaker on Sunday after setting the same lap time as Russell in qualifying on Saturday. Russell got pole because he recorded the time first.
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