Five Formula 1 Winners & Losers: Canadian Grand Prix
Photo from Williams F1 Team
If you ignore Max running away with the win once again, this was probably the best race of the year!
So let’s just dive right into it!
Losers
5. Sergio Perez
A 6th place finish isn’t inherently bad after starting in 11th, but when you are in the clear fastest car and have title aspirations, that’s just not going to be anywhere good enough when your teammate is Max Verstappen.
4. Logan Sargeant
Sargeant did not get the Williams upgrades that Albon got, and his car had mechanical issues which ended his race early.
But still, he got schooled by his teammate.
Rough!
3. Nico Hulkenberg
Nico put the car on the front row in qualifying, but in extreme Nico Hulkenberg fashion, it all went wrong, as he forgot to slow for a red flag which dropped him 3 spots on the grid.
No worries, though. He’s still starting 5th! A great chance to get points!
Well, it would’ve been, except the race pace of the Haas was horrendous and he ended up in 15th.
It couldn’t possibly get more Hulkenberg.
2. George Russell
An accident for Russell seemed to ruin a promising day, as he claimed he was out.
But the team fixed the car under safety car and he was able to actually end up in the points again! A remarkable recovery drive.
Until his brakes failed and he had to retire.
Just a ton of bad luck this weekend.
1. Lando Norris
And then there’s Lando, who lost a very good result not due to bad luck, but due to cheating and trying to double stack under the safety car.
That penalty not only took him out of the points, but with Piastri finishing 11th, McLaren got no points from a promising qualifying.
They needed those points.
Winners
5. Max Verstappen
Even on a weekend with crazy weather and crazy racing behind him, Verstappen won easily.
He’s the best in the sport right now. That deserves a spot in the winners column.
4. Valtteri Bottas
After a couple weekends of his teammate Zhou Guanyu getting the better of him, a points finish for Bottas is a great response to get some momentum back.
3. Ferrari
Ferrari gets a lot of crap for their strategies, and it’s mostly deserved.
But yesterday was not one of those days.
When everyone was questioning their strategy to keep their cars on medium tires much longer than they needed, that strategy found Ferrari finishing 4th and 5th for a good haul of points.
You have to give them credit where it’s due.
2. Fernando Alonso & Lewis Hamilton
Any time these two battle on track, it’s an absolute blast to watch.
Yesterday was no different, and with Verstappen running away with the title we can only hope that these two will continue to battle for the rest of the year.
We deserve something fun to watch!
1. Alexander Albon
The last time Williams had as good of a result they had yesterday in dry conditions was 2017.
6 years ago.
Albon’s qualifying was amazing in the wet. His race was fantastic and the team got a huge chunk of points to help them climb up the constructors standings out of the bottom.
Maybe the new upgrades Williams had will lead to results like that in the rest of the year.
I sure hope so…
