Water empowers a driver to pull off moments that seem almost miraculous. On Saturday, Fernando Alonso, at 40, demonstrated that age does not have to limit impact. Yet come Sunday, the sunshine returned, and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal offered a different story. Spain watched with keen eyes as two Spaniards, Alonso and Carlos Sainz, lined up on a grid still led by Max Verstappen. The Dutchman delivered another master class in tire management and race planning, earning his sixth win of the season to leave Sainz and Alonso watching from the middle of the pack, with Alonso finishing seventh.
more leader
Leaving Canada as the championship leader, Verstappen faced a test from Alonso, who joked and then admitted reality. The Red Bull pace proved formidable, causing the Spaniard to temper his expectations: even if he had found a way through, Verstappen would likely respond. The current gap now sits around the mid-pack, with the field still densely packed. In the end, Verstappen held his position, and the plan worked to keep him ahead when it mattered most.
The opening minutes saw a strong start from the two Spaniards as they ran alongside Lewis Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen. Sainz briefly pulled clear with DRS to challenge Alonso, yet the Madrid native managed to defend his position against the English-speaking world’s familiar contenders on track. The early pace suggested a vibrant contest at the sharp end, even if the final chapters told a different story.
Red Bull alert
Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc began their mission to climb from difficult positions, but engine trouble for Pérez after only eight laps cast a shadow over Red Bull’s day. The reliability questions that trailed the team earlier in the season resurfaced in this race, a reminder that the championship fight remains a grind. The incident reinforced the sense that every lap counted, and there was no room for error among the leading outfits.
With sixty laps remaining, a virtual safety car period followed Pérez’s retirement, reshaping the race window for Verstappen and Hamilton while Sainz and Alonso still chased on track. Verstappen swiftly moved past Alonso, only for the moment to be overturned as the action evolved. The appearance of a second safety car with fifty laps left opened a strategic window for the two Spaniards to press forward.
wrong strategy
Sainz did not hesitate, but Alonso diverged from the more common approach. While many stayed hard on track, Alonso elected to stay out on mid-range tires, a choice that raised questions about tempo and pace at crucial moments. Verstappen led by nine seconds, but Alonso and Sainz remained within striking distance thanks to tire strategies that could influence the finish in a close contest. Hamilton, Alonso, and Russell completed the top five, with Leclerc recovering twelve places to finish seventh after a dramatic late moment near the wall that tested every ounce of control. Alonso briefly moved into seventh before a late adjustment reset him on track, losing time but preserving his fight to the flag.
Distance race
With half the race still ahead, Sainz pressed on in hammer mode, gradually narrowing the gap to Verstappen. The Spaniard trusted his pace and timing, hoping Verstappen would slip up on strategy or in traffic. Verstappen pitted with twenty-six laps remaining, passing the lead to Sainz temporarily as the pit sequence reshuffled the order. A broader graining issue began to affect several drivers, creating a moment of uncertainty in a race that had already provided plenty of drama.
Ferrari opted for a cautious, clean stop pattern, losing position but keeping a shot at the podium as a late safety car was triggered by another accident. Max Verstappen pursued a sixth victory of the season, while Sainz remained under pressure in the closing laps. The Madrid driver fought hard to convert pressure into a podium, but the final result favored the Dutch and left Sainz with a strong, but not winning, finish in second place, marking a season full of consistent podium appearances for him.
Mercedes signaled progress with a concrete step forward, though it still lagged behind Red Bull and Ferrari in pace. Hamilton secured a podium by finishing third, edging his teammate George Russell who ended in fourth. Leclerc managed to limit the damage in fifth, and Alonso, despite a valiant effort, finished in seventh, a result that cast light on the ongoing balance within the top teams. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon urged his teammate to avoid aggressive attacks, underscoring the careful navigation required in a tight championship battle. The race reflected a season rich with strategic gambles, on-track battles, and moments that could swing the standings in the weeks ahead. The narrative of Montreal added another layer to the evolving story of this highly competitive season, where experience, speed, and the right call at the right time still decide glory. The championship picture remains highly dynamic, with teams continually adapting to fresh data, tire behavior, and the subtle cues of the track and weather as the season unfolds.
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