F1: Max Verstappen wins Canadian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on Sunday, making it his sixth win out of nine races this season. Verstappen was pushed to the end by Carlos Sainz from Ferrari but managed to hold on for the victory.

Verstappen started in pole position after qualifying on Saturday. Closest to him in qualifying was Fernando Alonso, who was 0.645s slower. Verstappen’s closest rival for the championship, Charles Leclerc, started the race in 19th position due to a penalty for excessive engine usage. 

Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, was forced to retire from the race after nine laps leaving Verstappen as the sole Red Bull driver in the race. 

Due to a crash by Yuki Tsunoda on the 50th lap, the safety car was called, which made for a dramatic finish with Carlos Sainz doing everything in his power to catch Verstappen. Even though Ferrari was quicker than Red Bull in the race, Verstappen was able to keep Sainz at bay with some great defensive driving to pick up the victory. 

Despite the high pressure that Verstappen was under, he enjoyed the dramatic finish. "The Safety Car didn't help, overall Ferrari were very quick. Following is tricky around here but I could see him pushing, charging, pushing, charging. The last few laps were very fun"

Carlos Sainz claimed that there were positives to take for Ferrari from the race. "I tried everything to pass Max but the positive thing is we were quicker, we were faster in the race. We were very close to winning today so I'll take the positives".

Verstappen increased his lead on the top of the standings to 46 points with this win. He hopes to have a similar result on the 3rd of July when F1 returns for the British Grand Prix.