Max Verstappen wins a rain-soaked F1 Canadian Grand Prix

For the third straight year, Max Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Notre Dame Island in Montreal, Quebec. It was Verstappen’s 60th career victory and his sixth in nine races so far in 2024. After equaling polesitter George Russell’s time in qualifying, the Red Bull driver started second on the grid, picking up first place on lap 47 of the 70-lap race, which was initially led by Russell and later by McLaren’s Lando Norris.

“It was a pretty crazy race, a lot of things were happening and we had to keep on top of our calls,” Verstappen said after the race. “As a team we did really well today, we remained calm and we pitted at the right time, the safety car worked out nicely for us but even after that we were managing the gaps quite well. I love it, that was a lot of fun, those kind of races you need once in a while.”

The race was defined by changing weather conditions, with sputtering rain throughout the day making tire selection critical to the final outcome. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen started the race on wet tires while most of the field was equipped with intermediate tires, and he made significant progress in the opening laps of the race, going from 14th to 8th in the opening laps.

Norris took second place, 3.879 seconds behind Verstappen despite being demonstrably quicker in the middle part of the race as he built a strong lead. Mercedes-AMG drivers took the next two spots, with Russell third and Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time winner at the circuit, in fourth. Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri finished fifth, followed by Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, both for Aston Martin.

It was a dismal day for Ferrari, as both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz failed to finish the race.