Red Bull Max Verstappen continued his overwhelming run in formula one when the Dutchman won the Canadian GP. Verstappen has won six out of eight races this season and already leads the series with 69 points thanks to his teammate to Sergio Perez.
Valtteri Bottas was in the points for a long time, when he was tenth. Bottas finished eleventh, but by Lando Norris a time penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior put the Finn back in the points for a long time.
What solved it?
Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh saw Max Verstappen as the keys to victory this weekend, pole position even in rainy conditions. Then in the race, the start was still successful in dry weather. The reigning world champion was able to drive in clean air so that no one was ahead during the entire race.
– In Montreal, it is especially important to drive in clean air, because the brakes are so hard. Clean air was a really big advantage now, Mildh described.
After the race, Red Bull celebrated its hundredth victory in the F1 series. Verstappen has been responsible for 41 victories in the current number one team and increased in victories Ayrton Senna tied for fifth.
Red Bull became Formula One in 2005. It has won 28 percent of the races it has driven, while, for example, Ferrari’s figure is 22 percent. Among the successful teams, the clear number one in terms of winning percentages is still Mercedes with a share of almost 45 percent.
– 100 wins is a great achievement when it’s still a relatively young team. Red Bull sweats perfection. This was not yet believed when the team joined Formula 1, says Mildh.
What spoke?
For Finns, an interesting topic of conversation after Sunday’s race was by Lando Norris penalty.
McLaren’s young British promise was given a five-second time penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct when he slowed behind the safety car. In a tight battle for the points, the penalty meant that Valtteri Bottas reached the points after a three-month break. Without Norris’ time penalty, Bottas would have been the first out of the points.
According to the decision of the F1 jury, Norris slowed down while driving behind the safety car so that he and the teammate driving ahead Oscar Piastri there was space left in between.
This gave Norris and Piastr more time to make a double pit stop.
The F1 jury justified the decision by the fact that the speed difference between the McLaren duo was up to 50 kilometers per hour on the track.
The jury referred to the article, which talks about the principles of fairness, unsportsmanlike behavior or unethically influencing the results of the competition.
In Mildh’s opinion, punishment was found for Norris in a strange way. The expert considered Norris’ punishment exceptional.
– Was unsportsmanlike behavior the correct interpretation here? Of course, every driver takes advantage of all the opportunities in these special situations. Everyone is trying to come up with tricks to start the race again. I don’t think that Norris was unsportsmanlike, but he drove on his own initiative, Mildh assessed.
Norris made it already fresh to tell Autosport that he did nothing wrong and estimates that many others are also seeking an advantage in the same way. Mildh believes that Norris’ time penalty will have consequences.
– I believe that this punishment will cause new interpretations of the rules in the future, says Mildh.
What about Bottas?
Valtteri Bottas took the points for the second time this season. He was eighth in the season opener in Bahrain, but it’s been really tough since then. In a few races, the Suomalaistaehti even finished last on the checkered flag.
Now Bottas started the race from the 14th starting grid, but immediately lost two places at the start. George Russell however, he hit the barrier and it caused so much damage that the safety car came to the track on the 14th lap. The situation was confusing. Bottas was one of the few to stay on the track and finished eighth.
The Finn drove with a one-stop tactic and was therefore able to keep his points ranking due to Norris’ penalty, even on the final straight Lance Stroll passed by a Finn driving with worn tires.
For Bottas, the Canadian circuit has been one of the strongest throughout his career. On the so-called standard tracks, Bottas has collected more points on average only in Russia in Sochi and Austria in Spielberg.
The expert saw Bottas’ score as very encouraging. For a long time, Alfa Romeo was competitive throughout the competition.
According to Mildh, the Montreal circuit is still very demanding.
– There are not many curves on the track. The temperature in the tires must be kept very low. Valtteri certainly likes the rhythmic and challenging parts of the track. When you like the track and know its tricks, tuning the car is better. Then we will get results similar to what we have seen now, says Mildh.
Surprise?
In a tight fight for the last points, the strongest was surprisingly Williams’ Alex Albon. He finished seventh and was able to hold off Alpine by Esteban OconNorris, Bottas and Stroll behind him.
Before Canada, Albon had picked up one point this season.
Albon got his starting passes from Red Bull at the time after poor performances, but fought his way back to the F1 series last year for Williams after one gap year.
Albon’s story is quite a story. When the Brit representing Thailand started in formulas ten years ago, his mother went to prison. The mother received a six-year prison sentence for, among other things, fraudulent transactions, tax evasion and theft in connection with the luxury car dealership she ran. Albon’s career has also had financial difficulties.
– Albonia is underestimated. He has been a phenomenal driver since the small formulas. He’s had a more difficult life at some point, but he just performs. Now Albon drove very wisely. He was in control of the situation. The guy seems to have extremely tough nerves, says Mildh.
A flop?
Mildh calls the Canadian GP a flop of George Russell. The Briton, who replaced Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes last season, was able to start the race from an excellent position in fourth place. Russell went on to ruin his competition through his own mistake.
Mildh considered Russel’s hit to the wall a rookie mistake. Russell did what Mildh thought was the one thing you can’t do in Montreal.
– The hit to the wall was completely his own fault. The competition in Montreal requires nerves. Russell failed miserably at that. He could have helped Lewis Hamilton too. Russell messed up the whole team’s tactics, says Mildh.
Teammate Hamilton had to bow out in a tight battle for second place with Aston Martin Fernando Alonso against.
– Mercedes is accelerating and was really promising. It was a flop that another driver made such a mistake, Mildh said.
A good third of the F1 season has now been completed: Eight races are behind us and fourteen are ahead. The biggest flop of the first third has been Ferrari.
About Charles Leclerc Max Verstappen’s toughest challenger was expected before the start of the season, but he is only seventh in the points. A stable mate Carlos Sainz is fifth.
Leclerc was hot for his team in Canada after qualifying. Leclerc was only eleventh in qualifying and he complained to the media about the team’s choice of tires. According to Leclerc, his opinion was not listened to in the matter.
In the race itself, Leclerc and his teammates Carlos Sainz finished consecutively in 4th and 5th place.
Pundit Mildh paid attention to Ferrari’s radio traffic during the race and found it peculiar when Leclerc was told twice that Sainz was not going to threaten him.
Mildh was amazed at the team order.
– Ferrari has significant problems. It seems that communication is not working. The wrong decisions are made. When Leclerc got hot after qualifying, it looked as if in the race they wanted to topple Leclerc by talking about Sainz’s harmlessness. However, the team would like to drive between two drivers in order to move forward. There is something strange and wonderful about Ferrari’s situation, Mildh wondered.