Max Verstappen has won the Canadian Grand Prix after leading the race again from the start to the finish. Fernando Alonso got the upper hand in the fight for second place as Lewis Hamilton was pleased to see his car's consistency result in third place today.
One thing the race on Sunday put to bed is the idea that the "old" drivers are past it. Fernando and Lewis were on a different level to everyone else behind them - wringing the car for all its worth. Even Russell binned it trying to keep up with those two.
Well done to the oldies!
I was left wondering what actually happened with George's crash, it's been made out to be him taking too much kerb but looking back at the onboard on George's car when he crashed, it looks to me that it wasn't the kerb that caused it. It seems that he initially took too much of the kerb which launched the car up but after that, there was a brief moment after the car lands, when it settles down and he's back on the throttle before he crashes. Just wondering what others take on it is.
One thing the race on Sunday put to bed is the idea that the "old" drivers are past it. Fernando and Lewis were on a different level to everyone else behind them - wringing the car for all its worth. Even Russell binned it trying to keep up with those two.
Well done to the oldies!
I was left wondering what actually happened with George's crash, it's been made out to be him taking too much kerb but looking back at the onboard on George's car when he crashed, it looks to me that it wasn't the kerb that caused it. It seems that he initially took too much of the kerb which launched the car up but after that, there was a brief moment after the car lands, when it settles down and he's back on the throttle before he crashes. Just wondering what others take on it is.
Act of desperation from him. Understandable but he got on the throttle without even getting the car fully under control, unlike Max who briefly lifted and had a laugh about it
There is some exaggeration going on here. Max got 4 consecutive wins. Lewis has done 5 wins atleast twice on separate occasions. Rosberg did 7. Perez is 9 points in front of alonso. Look at the dominant merc years. Both drivers were marching away. Thats the sign of a dominant car. We now have a dominant driver
My main point was Max in unchallenged so there is no fight for the win, much less to even lead him on a lap.
Result of Number 1 driver in dominant car in era of reliabilty.
In the Canadian race his engineer said something so damning... "Max those behind you are pushing harder than you are".... While Max was 10 seconds down the road complaining about heating the tyres..
Can't blame them, but it certainly dampened the race.
Thats F1. Sometimes a team and their driver do their work well and dominate. Its up to other to catch up. If you can't stand watching it, you are better off watching spec racing like Indy.
I will watch F1 no matter what.. But didn't say I was gonna stay awake thru the whole race tho!!
Max engineer only informed him of that fact so that he wouldn’t be surprised the gap would decrease and try to push too much (potentially crashing) to keep that from happening. If behind they are pushing like mad it also costs them their tires.
Ofcourse Max reacted anyway and kept the gap, first almost constant and later he widened it again. But imho that was just a message to try and keep Max from pushing too much.
Why has Alonso started losing position at the start? Something to do the car? He was a master of gaining positions at the start. Past weekend, the race could have been very different had he retained his position.
There are many reasons why it could be but Alonso's reaction was almost the same as Lewis so it wasn't that, his initial reaction was great. Could be a clutch thing, or rear tyres didn't have as much heat as they should.
Why has Alonso started losing position at the start? Something to do the car? He was a master of gaining positions at the start. Past weekend, the race could have been very different had he retained his position.
There are many reasons why it could be but Alonso's reaction was almost the same as Lewis so it wasn't that, his initial reaction was great. Could be a clutch thing, or rear tyres didn't have as much heat as they should.
The other side was simply better. That was actually expected.
All 3 of the chasing pack have significantly closed the gap to RB. Aston's upgrades are worth 3/4/5 tenths odd. They were 5-6-7 tenths off RB & are now 1-2 tenths off. Granted it could be circuit specific (Canada) + lower lap time creating a lower gap. However, they have made a big step. Alonso had to lift & coast & was already 3-4s off Verstappen by the time he got past Hamilton & was doing identical laptimes mostly to Max. The 9.5 gap could we have been 6/7 tenths here. Max didn't have much in hand. No1 risks a Victory. Add a Safety Car/VSC type event & Max could have lost this race, the gap was that small & uncomfortable. In other races, RB could have gone 5/7 laps more on the same compound. Here they would have gotten undercut. Aston's package is also not optimized given there was little dry running & they have another upgrade coming in Silverstone.
Mercedes did make a big step in Barca. From 6-7-8 tenths odd, they are now 2-3 tenths off & it was similar in Barca. Max had a much smaller gap to Lewis/Russel who came behind & Perez couldn't zoom past. Again similar gap, 2-3 tenths off RB & apparently Mercedes have a big upgrade coming in Silverstone as well. Ferrari on the other hand were the surprise element in the race. Infact they may have been the quickest among the challengers. The 1 stop is not the fastest for Canada given the low amount of time lost in the pits & Leclerc/Sainz lost some time making their way up. You deduct all that & they were on par with Aston, perhaps quicker, perhaps on par with RB. Mostly, the competition was within 2-3 tenths off RB instead of the 5 tenth+ Cushion RB has enjoyed in each race, in some races it has been close to 1s a lap as well. That gap is gone. You can argue circuits & tyre temp but why was RB not lapping more than 2/3/4 tenths quicker than Mercedes in Barca, a high speed track which should suit RB ?
Given that the 3 challengers will understand their packages, setups more & will bring upgrades in Britain, the gap should go down further & Aston/Mercedes/Ferrari can all win this year & it can get closer. Now RB, even with low Windtunnel time can still develop & will bring upgrades. But so far they bought a couple of big ones. Baku, I remember & 1 more race but they haven't got that big of a boost like Mercedes or Aston have got. AMUS is reporting that Aston's Sims should they are @ par with RB, so the races are going to get interesting.
And if the challengers are 2-3 tenths away, Perez will have a hard time finishing in the podium ahead of Hamilton, Russel, Leclerc, Sainz & Alonso. Too much competition.
Why has Alonso started losing position at the start? Something to do the car? He was a master of gaining positions at the start. Past weekend, the race could have been very different had he retained his position.
It is harder to hold position amongst frontrunners than with mid field, especially if the cars are closer in performance.
Alonso has a 'knack' of getting passed cars held up and wrong footing them, and that does not happen so muvh on the first couple of rows as there are fewer cars infront of those he needs to pas and less blocking (unintentional blocking that is)
That's not true. Alonso got past Perez as well & I am not sure if Perez was a car held up. MSC was also an outstanding driver during starts & so is Alonso. Doesn't mean they will get it right 10/10. No1 will. Still you will hold more position & make-up more than you lose. Good part is Alonso knows when to back off & when to push. You see very few crashes. Sainz, Leclerc, Russel all have had crashes & Max was also pushing Lewis last year possibly a bit over the line !
