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Max Verstappen Wins Canadian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen moved level with Ayrton Senna on 41 career wins with a lights-to-flag victory at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Such was his control over affairs, the gap between Aston Martin’s runner-up Fernando Alonso was nearly 10 seconds, with Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes.
At just 25, the Dutchman has equalled the record of Senna who died of injuries at Imola three years and four months before Verstappen was born in September 1997.
“I hate to compare different generations, but when I was a little kid in go-karts dreaming about being an F1 driver I never imagined I would win 41 grands prix,” he said. “To tie with Ayrton is incredible. I am proud of that, but I hope it doesn’t stop here.”
He has achieved the feat from 171 starts, with Senna managing it from 161.
Just four drivers lie ahead of him for Grand Prix wins: Hamilton (103), Michael Schumacher (91), Sebastian Vettel (53) and Alain Prost (51).
This was his 15th victory in 19 races and it never looked in doubt as he pulled away from Alonso. He had a lead of one second after lap one and quickly doubled that advantage.
Verstappen hit a bird early on and he revealed it stayed on his car for the remainder of the race.
“It was still stuck on my car when I came in, it didn’t look great!” he told Sky Sports F1.
“I also feel sorry for the mechanic having to remove it.” In Red Bull’s 100th victory in Formula 1, Verstappen’s main frustration was his tyres as he radioed in on multiple occasions that he was not happy with the grip.
“Today was tricky because of the cold temperatures. We couldn’t get the tyres to work, they were always too cold,” he said.
“We know the strength of the car is the tyre deg, so the cars that are a bit heavier on the tyres it probably worked a bit better for them today.
“It’s difficult to say how the others were performing because I think from our side it was not at 100 per cent but to win by nine seconds shows we still have a good car.
“It was just management – knowing when to push and sometimes you didn’t feel the grip that was there and you can’t push at 100 per cent.”
Verstappen extended his lead over Sergio Perez to 69 points after eight events, while Red Bull are 154 points clear of Mercedes in the constructors’ championship.
/Stewart
Sports news editor
