2023 Canadian Grand Prix | 7 talking points

1. Verstappen equals Senna on F1 wins

For the umpteenth time in 2023 Verstappen was untouchable as F1 graced the popular Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The double champion had qualified on pole position by a massive 1.2 seconds, then controlled the race from the front for his sixth victory in eight races. This one marked his 41^st career win, pulling him level with the tally of Ayrton Senna – but at 25, nine years earlier than the great Brazilian managed. Next in line will be Alain Prost’s mark of 51 wins, then Sebastian Vettel’s 54 – both of which could be in his range this season, given his current rate and domination. But will he race on long enough to catch Michael Schumacher on 91 or Lewis Hamilton on his current mark of 103? Let’s see.

The Canadian win was also the 100^th GP victory for Red Bull. The Milton Keynes team is the fifth most successful in F1. It has some way to go to match Ferrari’s 242 victories and McLaren’s 183, but Mercedes on 125 and Williams on 114 are both well within reach. Right now, it seems only a question of when, and not if, Red Bull surpasses those totals.

2. Hamilton vs Alonso

The highlight of the race was the resumption of one of the great F1 rivalries, as Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso found themselves in another face-off. Once Nico Hülkenberg was docked three places on the grid after qualifying an amazing second for Haas, Alonso and Hamilton had a clear run into Turn 1 – not counting Verstappen of course, because no one expected either of these legends to challenge the Red Bull. Not right now.

Alonso’s Aston Martin had outqualified Hamilton’s Mercedes, but it was Lewis who made the better start to take second place. He held on to it until after a safety car intervention, but then Alonso closed in and pulled a decisive move into the final chicane on lap 23. Hamilton continued to chase Alonso, choosing the medium Pirelli over the Spaniard’s hard tyres – and reports of a brake problem on the Aston briefly gave Lewis renewed hope. But Alonso wasn’t about to give up second place – his second in three races – and the pair joined Verstappen on a star-studded podium in that order.

3. Russell the wall-banger

George Russell blotted his 2023 copybook with a clumsy accident in his Mercedes. The 25-year-old misjudged his entry to the Turn 9 chicane, rattled the big kerbs on the inside and clattered his right-rear wheel into the outside wall. Remarkably and somewhat alarmingly, Mercedes sent him back out once he’d nursed his car to the pits, in the belief he might just be able to race on despite the severity of the wall-banger. Turns out that no, he couldn’t.

4. Ferrari in good strategy shock

The Russell-triggered safety car interruption turned the race for Ferrari – happily and against usual form on a positive note. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr were exasperated again to line up just 10^th and 11^th after a poor mixed-weather qualifying. But the team made a good call by leaving the Ferraris out when most pitted under the safety car, elevating the red cars up the order. They then switched to a one-stop strategy to keep themselves there.

Leclerc even briefly looked poised to strip Hamilton of his podium, but in the end settled for fourth with Sainz fifth. An encouraging performance and a decent save after Saturday.

5. Perez lacklustre

Once again Sergio Perez fell way short of matching his Red Bull team, Ferrari’s strategy strike relegating him to a disappointing sixth. He’s still second in the standings, but is now 69 points down on Verstappen. Title challenger? Come again? At this rate, questions will begin to be asked with a little more urgency whether Red Bull needs to look at other options for its ‘other’ seat in 2024.

6. Albon leads Williams upturn

Result of the day had to go to Alex Albon, who steered his Williams to a fine seventh following a batch of upgrades that appear to have done their job. Quickest in the rain-affected Q2 session on Saturday, Albon drove a great grand prix for his points haul, holding off a string of supposedly faster cars in the closing stages. Could this really be the start of a Williams revival as F1 heads back to Europe?

7. Norris ‘unsporting’

Lando Norris passed Valtteri Bottas and closed in on Esteban Ocon for eighth in the final laps. But the McLaren driver found himself relegated to 13^th by a penalty for something that seems out of character. He was deemed ‘unsporting’ for slowing on the way into the pits under the safety car to avoid a double-stack with team-mate Oscar Piastri, thus delaying those running behind him. He deserved the penalty on that basis, but it cost the team valuable points in a season that continues to prove underwhelming for McLaren.

Thus Ocon beat Lance Stroll to eighth – the Canadian another to perform well off the pace of his team-mate (although we reckon his drive might be safe…) – with Bottas picking up the final point for Alfa Romeo. The Austrian GP, on Red Bull’s home turf, is next up – on July 2.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images