Introduction
Max Verstappen and Red Bull bounced back from their Monaco struggles as they returned to winning ways in an action-packed 2024 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, overcoming rain showers, multiple Safety Car periods, restarts and a stern challenge from behind to lead home Lando Norris.
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Verstappen followed pole-sitting Mercedes driver George Russell in the wet early stages of the race until a charging Norris overhauled them both amid improving conditions, only for an ill-timed Safety Car – brought out when Logan Sargeant crashed – to drop the McLaren man to third.
Having cleared Russell himself, Verstappen mastered the restart and managed further showers to maintain his lead, which he also protected when the track dried up and the field switched from intermediate tyres to slicks, and again following a second Safety Car period triggered by Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon colliding.
While the reigning world champion ultimately surged towards the chequered flag, Norris took second via a fierce mid-race battle with Russell, and the latter settled for third after some late scrapping with teammate Lewis Hamilton and the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri.
Russell and Hamilton, who had both pitted for fresh, slick tyres under the second Safety Car period, raised heart rates on the Mercedes pit wall when they went wheel-to-wheel on several occasions – the younger Briton making the decisive move for P3 on the penultimate lap.
Behind the top five finishers, Fernando Alonso and home favourite Lance Stroll collected a double points finish for Aston Martin, while Daniel Ricciardo followed up a strong qualifying performance to log his first Grand Prix points of the season in eighth.
Ricciardo’s teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, had been in contention for points as well, but a mistake in the closing stages saw him slide across the grass and tumble down the order, promoting Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, who also gave Alpine a double top-10 result.
Haas duo Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen initially flew up the order as the only drivers to start the race on wet tyres, rather than intermediates, but just missed out on a reward as they crossed the line in 11th and 12th respectively.
Tsunoda wound up 14th after his costly error, behind Kick Sauber pair Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. Only 15 of the 20 cars reached the finish in what turned out to be one of the most dramatic races of the 2024 season so far.
Sainz and Albon, who were in the hunt for points, both retired after their coming together, while persistent power unit issues also forced Charles Leclerc into retirement and meant Ferrari failed to score a single point after their Monaco triumph.
In addition to the aforementioned Sargeant, Sergio Perez was the fifth and final retiree after he spun off the track and damaged his rear wing, forcing the Mexican back to the pits and adding to the misery of that Q1 exit in qualifying.
When the podium finishers arrived in Parc Ferme, Perez’s race-winning teammate Verstappen punched the air in delight as he boosted his championship lead from 31 points to 56 – taking full advantage of Leclerc and Ferrari’s woes.
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:
What a race! After the Monaco Grand Prix was criticized for not being exactly thrilling, Formula 1 answered its critics with a fantastic show from the first to the last lap. Three drivers took turns leading, and two more were also in with a chance of winning. Congratulations to Max on a great win and to all the other protagonists of this Canadian Grand Prix because everyone who loves this sport enjoyed themselves.
On the tyre front, we could see four of the five available types in action. Even the extreme wet, which usually is not used much, proved competitive on a low-energy track with a lot of surface water. The Intermediate also did very long stints, confirming its suitability for both very wet and almost dry conditions. As for the Hard and Medium, it’s hard to say which worked best as the second Safety Car deprived us of being able to evaluate what might have been the price to pay in terms of degradation for those who had chosen the Medium to ensure more grip in the opening laps when the track was still damp.
The day on the track:
The race got underway on a wet track. 18 drivers opted to start on Intermediates, while the Haas pair went with extreme wets. Indeed, Magnussen and Hulkenberg provided the show in the early stages of the race, as the blue-banded Pirelli Cinturato Full Wet offered excellent grip in these conditions so that both drivers were able to charge up the order, with the Dane even making it as high as fourth place by lap 3, having started 14th. However, the track was drying out rather quickly, so the American team’s two drivers were the first obliged to pit for Intermediates, as their lap times had slowed considerably.
Then, in the second part of the race, the green-banded Pirelli Cinturato Intermediate was the tyre to have, as conditions alternated between rain and sunshine with the track drying, especially on the racing line, before getting wet again following another shower. The majority of drivers made the most of the first Safety Car period, forty minutes into the race, to switch to a second set of Intermediates, while a trio made up of Ocon, Tsunoda and Bottas gambled on their tyres lasting long enough to extend the stint until the track was fit for slicks. Sauber’s Finn went to lap 42, while Alpine’s Frenchman and Racing Bulls’ Japanese driver waited a further two laps. These three were the only drivers to complete the seventy-lap race with only one pit stop.
When slicks were viable, the majority (14) of drivers chose the Medium, thus looking for a better warm-up phase, while five went with the Hard, thinking more about wear, armed with the knowledge that in free practice, the Medium had suffered with graining.
Given the weather over the weekend at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, it’s no surprise that all tyres, the P Zero White hard, Yellow medium and Red soft, as well as the Cinturato Green Intermediate and the Cinturato Blue full wet, were put to good use. But they were not the only tyres in action, as the Ferrari Challenge P Zero and Ferrari Challenge were used by the cars in the Prancing Horse’s eponymous one-make series, of which Pirelli has been the sole supplier, ever since it was established in 1993.
What’s next?
After this brief trip to North America, Formula 1 heads back to Europe for a long run of summer races. The first stop is Barcelona, which hosts the Spanish Grand Prix from 21 to 23 June. Prior to that, Pirelli will be running another two day test session, this time at the Mugello circuit on 13 and 14 June, once again with support from Scuderia Ferrari. As was the case last week at Le Castellet, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are on driving duty, this time with the Monegasque tackling the first day and the Spaniard the second.
2024 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Country | Team | Time | Points | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Netherlands | Red Bull Racing | 1:45:47.927 | 25 | 194 |
| 2. | 4 | Lando Norris | Great Britain | Mclaren Racing | +3.879s | 18 | 131 |
| 3. | 63 | George Russell | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +4.317s | 15 | 69 |
| 4. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +4.915s | 13 | 55 |
| 5. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Australia | McLaren Racing | +10.199s | 10 | 81 |
| 6. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Spain | Aston Martin F1 Team | +17.510s | 8 | 41 |
| 7. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Canada | Aston Martin F1 Team | +23.625s | 6 | 17 |
| 8. | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Australia | Visa Cash App F1 Team | +28.672s | 4 | 9 |
| 9. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | France | Alpine F1 Team | +30.021s | 2 | 3 |
| 10. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | France | Alpine F1 Team | +30.313s | 1 | 2 |
| 11. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Germany | Haas F1 Team | +30.824s | 0 | 6 |
| 12. | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Denmark | Haas F1 Team | +31.253s | 0 | 1 |
| 13. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Finland | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +40.487s | 0 | 0 |
| 14. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Japan | Visa Cash App F1 Team | +52.694s | 0 | 19 |
| 15. | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | China | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 0 |
| 16. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Spain | Scuderia Ferrari | DNF | 0 | 108 |
| 17. | 45 | Alexander Albon | Thailand | Williams Racing | DNF | 0 | 2 |
| 18. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Mexico | Red Bull Racing | DNF | 0 | 107 |
| 1. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Monaco | Scuderia Ferrari | DNF | 0 | 138 |
| 15. | 2 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Williams Racing | DNF | 0 | 0 |
2024 Constructor Standings
| Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Red Bull Racing | 301 |
| 2. | Scuderia Ferrari | 252 |
| 3. | McLaren Racing | 212 |
| 4. | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | 124 |
| 5. | Aston Martin F1 Team | 58 |
| 6. | Visa Cash App F1 Team | 28 |
| 7. | Haas F1 Team | 7 |
| 8. | Alpine F1 Team | 5 |
| 9. | Williams Racing | 2 |
| 10. | Kick Sauber F1 Team | 0 |
Here are the team-by-team highlights: