Race Notes - Verstappen wins wet-dry Canadian GP

By Mark Karp

Max Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal in his Red Bull-Honda. Lando Norris in the McLaren-Mercedes finished second, 3.879 seconds behind, and George Russell in the Mercedes GP was third, 4.317 seconds behind the winner.

The win is Verstappen’s 60th career win, and 6th of the 2024 season.

Before the start, the track surface is wet and the rain has stopped falling, and rain showers are expected on and off all afternoon.

Russell is on pole, with Verstappen tied on time on the outside of the front row, the McLaren’s on Norris and Piastri on row 2, Ricciardo and Alonso on row 3, Hamilton and Tsunoda on row 4, and Stroll and Albon rounding out the top 10. Leclerc in 11th and Sainz in 12th, Perez in 16th. Both Sauber’s will start from the pit lane.

All drivers starting on intermediate wet tyres, except for the Haas cars on full wet tyres.

At the appointed time the drivers came around on the formation lap, the lights went off and the race began with Russell in the lead over Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Alonso, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Stroll, Magnussen and Leclerc.

On lap 2 Magnussen is up to seventh. Magnussen passes Hamilton for sixth.

Hulkenberg is up to tenth.

On lap 3 Magnussen passes Alonso for fifth.

Hulkenberg passes Stroll for ninth, then Ricciardo for eighth.

Magnussen passes Piastri for fourth.

On lap 4 Ferrari tells Leclerc that there is a problem with his engine.

Magnussen sets fast lap at 1m33.99s3s.

On lap 5 Russell leads Verstappen by 2.3 seconds.

Verstappen sets fast lap at 1m33.853s.

On lap 6 Sargeant is off track, but continues.

On lap 7 Hamilton goes off at turn 1, but continues.

On lap 8 Magnussen pits for intermediate tyres and has a slow stop and rejoins 14th.

Verstappen sets fast lap at 1m30.159s, and trails Russell by 1.5 seconds.

At lap 10 Russell leads Verstappen by 1.4 seconds, followed by Norris (10.4s), Piastri (15.6s), Alonso (25.0s), Hamilton (26.2s), Hulkenberg (37.8s), Ricciardo (39.3s), Stroll (40.2s) and Leclerc (41.3s) in tenth.

Norris sets fast lap at 1m28.032s.

Daniel Ricciardo is given a 5-second penalty for jumping the start.

A line of cars is forming behind Hulkenberg, who then pits and changes to intermediate tyres, and rejoins 19th.

The teams are telling drivers to expect rain in 20 minutes, but can they make their intermediate tyres last?

Verstappen is pressuring Russell for the lead. Norris is quickly closing on both of them 3.0 seconds back, and sets fast lap.

On lap 17 Verstappen goes off at turn 1, but continues. Norris is close behind Verstappen.

Piastri sets fast lap at 1m26.412s.

DRS is now on.

Piastri sets fast lap at 1m25.976s.

On lap 19 Norris is chasing Verstappen.

On lap 20 Norris passes Verstappen for second place.

Hamilton sets fast lap at 1m25.298s.

Norris is now on the tail of Russell and passes him going into the final chicane, Russell bails out in braking and has to cut the chicane. Verstappen follows him as well for second place.

Tsunoda passes Leclerc for tenth.

Hamilton is pressuring Alonso for fifth.

On lap 25 Sargeant spins and touches the wall and is stranded in the middle on the track, and the safety car is out.

Verstappen, Russell, Piastri, Alonso, Hamilton and Stroll all pit, all for new intermediate tyres.

Norris pits the next lap, but gets back across the blend line behind Verstappen.

Behind the safety car, Verstappen leads Russell, Norris, Piastri, Hamilton, Alonso, Tsunoda, Stroll, Ocon, Ricciardo in tenth, Albon, Bottas, Sainz, Magnussen, Gasly, Perez and Hulkenberg and Zhou.

Leclerc is on hard tyres in 19th.

At the end of lap 29 the safety car is in and the race resumes.

The rain is falling, and DRS is disabled.

On lap 31 Albon passes Ricciardo and Ocon, and is in ninth.

On lap 32 Leclerc pits for intermediates.

At lap 35 Verstappen leads Russell by 0.9s, followed by Norris (2.6s), Piastri (3.2s), Hamilton (4.8s), Alonso (9.8s), Tsunoda (12.5s), Stroll (13.0s), Albon (15.1s), and Ocon (16.5s) in tenth.

The rain has stopped falling and a dry line is starting to form once again.

On lap 36, Leclerc with an extra stop is lapped.

Hulkenberg passes Zhou for 17th.

On lap 40 DRS is enabled.

Hamilton sets fast lap at 1m23.880s.

Gasly pits for hard tyres and.

On lap 42, Norris goes off in turn 1, and the others behind him are chasing him hard.

On lap 43 Leclerc retires in the pits.

On lap 43 Hamilton pits for medium tyres and rejoins tenth. Many drivers behind pit as well.

The next lap Piastri pits as well.

The next lap Verstappen and Russell pits, Norris stays out and goes in the lead.

On lap 47 Norris sets fast lap at 1m23.272s, and still stays out.

At the end of lap 47 Norris pits for medium tyres and rejoins with Verstappen getting by in the first corner.

Verstappen leads Norris, Russell, Piastri, Hamilton, Alonso, Tsunoda, Still, Ocon and Albon in tenth.

Hamilton sets fast lap at 1m19.502s.

On lap 49 Norris makes a mistake into the hairpin and Russell passes for second place.

Russell sets fast lap at 1m19.359s, and again the next lap at 1m18.145s.

On lap 51 Russell cuts the chicane and Norris repasses for second place.

Hamilton sets fast lap at 1m18.018s.

Perez goes off the track, the yellow is out. Perez is limping back to the pits with rear wing damage.

Sainz and Albon both go off. Albon is stranded at the side of the track, and the safety car is out once again on lap 54.

Russell and Hamilton pit. Russell on mediums and Hamilton on hard tyres.

Sainz retires his car in the pits.

Behind the safety car Verstappen leads Norris, Piastri, Russell, Hamilton, Alonso, Stroll, Tsunoda, Ocon and Ricciardo in tenth.

The safety car is in at the end of lap 58 and the race resumes with Vertappen leading Norris and Piastri.

After a lap Verstappen has a 2.0 second lead over Norris.

Russell sets fast lap at 1m17.103s.

On lap 61 Verstappen sets fast lap at 1m16.625s.

On lap 62 Russell challenges Piastri but can’t take the position.

Verstappen sets fast lap at 1n16.318s.

On lap 63 Russell tries to pass Piastri in the final chicane, but bails out, and Hamilton passes Russell for fourth.

On lap Verstappen sets fast lap at 1m15.830s, and leads Norris by 3.1s.

On lap 65 Hamilton passes Piastri for third and set fast lap at 1m15.074s.

The next lap Russell passes Piastri for fourth place.

Tsunoda spins his car and drops out of the points.

Norris reports that there is a lot of debris on the track.

On lap 68 Russell passes Hamilton into the final chicane for third place.

At the flag Verstappen takes the win over Norris and Russell.

Hamilton takes the fastest lap on the last lap at 1m14.856s.