WET AND WILD
Max holds off ‘perfect’ Lando in wacky race in Montreal
LANDO NORRIS felt he had a “perfect” race – even if it was not enough to stop Max Verstappen.
Red Bull put their Monaco horror weekend behind them as the Dutchman returned to the top step of the podium yesterday.
But it was far from a straightforward victory as McLaren and Mercedes pushed him hard throughout.
Wet weather in Montreal meant it was all about who would win the strategy battle and who could keep their car out of the wall.
Red Bull came out on top to guide Verstappen home in first place as Brits George Russell and Norris were left to squabble behind.
Various
All three led at various stages as they tried to get to grips with a track which dried fast when the sun was out, but which kept being doused with rain.
That was the story of the first two-thirds of the race.
Pole-sitter Russell led for 20 laps and looked comfortable, until he made a mistake while defending from Norris and had to cut the final chicane.
And because he was moving so much more slowly when he rejoined the track, Verstappen swept past him and the Mercedes driver had gone from first to third within the space of a few seconds.
Norris’ luck seemed to be in, but it disappeared after Logan Sargeant crashed out.
When the safety car hit the track, Norris was already past the pit lane and could not stop while all those behind him did.
By the time he did a full lap, stopped and came back out, he was third again.
Verstappen took the restart from the lead with Russell and Norris behind him, all on fresh intermediate tyres as more drops of rain began to fall.
Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri joined the fight as the downpour stopped and the track swiftly dried up under the Canadian sun.
Another safety car with 15 laps to go bunched the pack up and created a short sprint to the end of the race, with no further threat of rain to contend with. Russell and Hamilton had fresh slick tyres and got the better of Piastri, the younger Brit winning a late duel to finish third.
Not enough to stop Verstappen, though, who again was made to fight hard for the victory ahead of Norris.
The McLaren racer rued his bad luck after being “done over” by the timing of the safety car’s appearance.
Norris said: “It was chaos. It was eventful. I felt like I drove a good race from start to finish.
“Then the safety car did me over. It helped me in Miami and now it’s had me back over.
“I thought it was a pretty perfect race from my side, just a bit unlucky.”
Russell beat Hamilton to third place but, to him, it “felt like a missed opportunity”.
He said: “I made a couple of mistakes out there, pushing to the limit, and paid the price for it.”
Pleased
Meanwhile, Verstappen said his team still has “a lot of room to improve”, but was pleased with the way Red Bull managed his race.
The three-time world champion said: “As a team we did really well. We remained calm, we pitted at the right time. I loved it, that was a lot of fun.
“Those kinds of races, you need those once in a while.”
Formula One fans also loved it as again they saw a closely-fought race and more evidence that Red Bull are no longer in a class of their own.