Max Verstappen won the weather-hit Canadian Grand Prix and extended his lead in the Formula 1 World Championship. The defending champion triumphed with his Red Bull in Montreal ahead of the two Brits Lando Norris (McLaren) and George Russell (Mercedes). He gave the right answer to what he saw as a botched race in Monaco two weeks ago. Not only did Verstappen drive almost flawlessly to his sixth win of the season, he also benefited from a very weak performance by his rival Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver, who recently won his home race in the Principality, retired in Montreal and remained without points. “It wasn’t easy, but we did it. “That was really, really good,” Verstappen radioed to the pits: “That feels great.” Hülkenberg in front of Magnussen This means that Verstappen extended his lead over Leclerc to 56 points. Norris is third in the World Championship, 63 points behind the Dutchman. Nico Hülkenberg (Haas) from Emmerich drove a decent race and, in eleventh place, once again won the team’s internal duel with the Dane Kevin Magnussen. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez (Mexico) retired at the end of a weak weekend after a driving error. “The biggest challenge will be the weather,” Russell told Sky broadcaster shortly before the start of the race. But he “definitely” believes he can win despite the difficult conditions. The Mercedes driver got off to a good start and confidently maintained his lead over Verstappen and Norris. While the field carefully lined up one after the other due to the poor visibility on the wet track, Hülkenberg and Magnussen quickly moved forward. The two Haas drivers were the only ones who had put on rain tires, while the rest of the field was on intermediates. The tactic initially worked, Magnussen was already in fourth place on the fourth lap after numerous overtaking maneuvers. But because it dried out afterwards, the two had to go into the pits and put on different tires, so they found themselves further back. The front came Verstappen made a very rare mistake while chasing Russell, so that Norris suddenly moved close. The McLaren driver then quickly took the lead on the 21st lap with two strong overtaking maneuvers against Verstappen and Russell. Shortly afterwards, Verstappen also passed Russell when he ran away. But Norris’ lead was quickly lost when the safety car came onto the track because the American Logan Sargeant (Williams) had crashed into the barrier. Verstappen and Co. subsequently came into the pits to change tires, Norris only followed suit on the following lap – and then found himself in third place.More on the topicVerstappen seized this opportunity decisively and managed his lead confidently until he was came into the pits to change tires again. As a result, Norris briefly slipped into the lead, but Verstappen overtook him again after the Brit made another stop. Another safety car phase after a collision between Carlos Sainz (Spain/Ferrari) and Alexander Albon (Thailand/Williams) made things worse again Tension.
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