Max Verstappen took another useful step towards winning a second world championship by resisting lap after lap of pressure from Carlos Sainz Jnr to win the Canadian Grand Prix.
On a day when his two closest championship rivals started outside the top 10, Verstappen did everything he needed to maximise his advantage.
Before the race, anticipation was high as to what irrepressible veteran Fernando Alonso might do from his first front row start in a decade. Championship leader and pole-winner Verstappen would surely not risk going wheel-to-wheel with the Alpine driver.But within moments of the start, that prospect fizzled out. Alonso’s reactions were fractionally slower down the pole winner’s and Verstappen never looked in danger of losing his lead. Carlos Sainz Jnr, from third place, tried to go the long way around Alonso at turn two but had to file in behind the Alpine.
Lewis Hamilton got away well from his best starting position of the season so far, fourth, and soon found himself going wheel-to-wheel with Kevin Magnussen, as the pair had in Spain. Again there was contact but this time the Haas driver was the only one to suffer, incurring slight damage to the right-hand side of his front wing endplate. Esteban Ocon and George Russell both gained places from Mick Schumacher on the first lap, while Daniel Ricciardo maintained ninth place ahead of Zhou Guanyu.
Sainz immediately latched onto Alonso’s tail and it was clear that as soon as DRS was activated the Ferrari driver would pass. Sure enough on lap three he claimed second place. However he was unable to draw away from the Alpine. Sainz complained his front left medium tyre was graining and Alonso remained in his mirrors, continuing to activate DRS, which helped him keep Hamilton at arm’s length.
Meanwhile Charles Leclerc in the other Ferrari was making progress from his starting position on the back row. He took Nicholas Latifi on lap one followed by Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll over the next two laps. By the fifth tour he had passed the other Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel and lay 15th. He then picked up two more places as dramas unfolded ahead of him.
Magnussen had fallen to fifth place after being passed by Russell. He now lay ahead of Ocon, who made a clear bid to the race director by complaining about the Haas driver’s front wing damage. In short order Magnussen was shown the black and orange flag, requiring him to pit for a new front wing. “We were forced to pit with the damage we had but it was nothing,” Magnussen complained afterwards, the early pit stop ending his chance of scoring points.
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Then on lap eight, one of the Red Bulls slowed. It was Sergio Perez, who had started 13th after crashing in Q2 and had just moved into the points-paying positions by dint of Magnussen’s pit stop. “I lost the engine, man. I’m stuck in gear,” he told race engineer Hugh Bird as his car approached turn eight.
The race director responded by triggering a Virtual Safety Car period. Perez’s car stopped close to a marshal access point, giving an impression it would take little time to recover. However Red Bull knew it was stuck in gear and could therefore bring Verstappen into the pits confident the VSC period wouldn’t suddenly end. Ferrari were nonetheless prepared to bring Sainz in at the same time and told their driver to do the opposite to Verstappen. The Red Bull came in and Sainz stayed out.
Sainz therefore took up the lead ahead of Alonso, Verstappen, Russell, Ocon and Hamilton, the latter having also pitted. Told Hamilton had emerged behind Ocon, Alonso said: “So we know what to do now.” However Ocon proved unable to contain the freshly-tyred Mercedes, and Hamilton soon swept around the outside of him at turn one for fifth place.
Verstappen passed Alonso with similar ease in a DRS zone. With his fresher tyres he began chipping into the five-second gap between him and Sainz at a rate of around three tenths of a second per lap. But before he could catch him, the VSC was triggered again.
Schumacher had dropped back from Ocon and now had Zhou all over his rear wing. On lap 18 Zhou lined him up for a pass heading into turn eight, but the Haas’s Ferrari power unit chose that moment to cry enough and he pulled to a stop at the same spot where Perez had laps earlier.
Sainz had not long since passed the pit lane entrance but fourth-placed Russell arrived just in time to slide into his pit box. A nervy wait followed for Ferrari as Sainz completed his lap at VSC pace, then pitted, successfully rejoining the track before the race went green again. He emerged behind Alonso who had passed up this second opportunity to pit.
When the race resumed, Sainz lost no time passing Alonso and now lay nine-and-a-half seconds behind race leader Verstappen. The Ferrari’s race pace had looked good on Friday and sure enough with 12-lap fresher tyres Sainz cut into Verstappen’s lead, first gradually then more quickly. Verstappen was clearly going to need a fresh set of rubber and when his lap times rose sharply on the 41st tour, Red Bull decided they could wait no longer.
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Making his second pit stop without the benefit of a VSC meant Verstappen was almost 11 seconds behind Sainz once he had a clear run at him after taking another set of hard tyres. Before that he had to clear Hamilton’s Mercedes, which he narrowly failed to beat out of the pits. Verstappen only lost three-quarters of a lap behind his 2021 world championship rival, but the fact Mercedes were that close at this stage of the race showed they were in much more competitive shape this weekend than in previous rounds.
Verstappen was significantly quicker than the leading Ferrari at this point but was still at least nine laps from catching him when the race was disrupted for a third time on lap 48. Frustratingly for Red Bull, their junior driver Yuki Tsunoda was the cause, skidding straight on into a barrier at turn one as he rejoined the track after a pit stop.
For Ferrari, the delay until the Safety Car was deployed was interminable. Sainz, still lapping at race pace, was rapidly approaching the pit lane entrance with the crash scene still only covered by yellow flags. The Safety Car was deployed at the last second and Sainz made it in, though afterwards Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto was quick to draw attention to his latest dissatisfaction with the race director.
Once all (and, for that matter, any) lapped cars were moved out of the way, the race resumed with 17 laps to go. Verstappen had the lead but Sainz behind him had tyres that were six laps fresher. And when he kept within the vital DRS activation window within the opening two laps of the restart, it seemed we had a fight to the end on our hands.
It never quite materialised, however. Time and again Sainz popped open his DRS flap and closed in, but never came close enough to prompt Verstappen to defend. For all the effort that has gone into making this year’s cars better suited to racing, this was a disappointing outcome.
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Verstappen’s defence of the lead was not aided by his radio failing in his last stint. Although he was still able to receive updates from race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, the Red Bull pit wall could not hear their man.
“I have no clue when it stopped,” he said afterwards. “But at one point GP told me that it was not working anymore. I think the in-lap, after the line.
“I guess it must have been working before or maybe it already didn’t work before, which probably they don’t mind! As long as I can hear him, that’s the most important.”
Nonetheless he weathered lap after lap of pressure from his rival. It was released on the final tour, when Sainz made a small error and dropped out of DRS range. With that, Verstappen had put a lock on his sixth win of the year.
The Mercedes drivers followed them home in morale-boosting third and fourth places. Hamilton was elated to return to the podium for the first time since the season-opener and Russell was surprised at the relative ease with which he kept the recovering Leclerc behind.
The second Ferrari arrived in fifth place after passing the two Alpines following the restart. He sprang a late move down the inside of Alonso at the hairpin, his rival struggling with an engine problem.
A race which had promised so much for Alonso ended on a sour note. Having argued unsuccessfully with his team to be allowed back in front of Ocon, Alonso resorted to some extreme defensive moves in an effort to keep Valtteri Bottas behind which earned the censure of the stewards. A five-second time penalty dropped him from seventh place to ninth, promoting Bottas and team mate Zhou.
Stroll took the final point at home, having been allowed past team mate Vettel so he could successfully attack Ricciardo. That capped a miserable race for McLaren, who lost significant amounts of time for both drivers when they pitted the pair simultaneously during the second VSC period.
While Sainz’s wait for a first win continues, Verstappen’s pursuit of a second championship looks more credible with every passing race. Having delivered his team’s sixth victory in a row, a championship which began as a Ferrari resurgence is in danger of morphing into a Red Bull rout.
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2022 Canadian Grand Prix
- Alfa Romeo see “great future in F1” for Zhou after best result so far
- Ocon has “big hopes” for Alpine’s Silverstone upgrade package
- Hamilton’s Canada podium especially satisfying after run of “bad luck” – Wolff
- Verstappen urges Red Bull to find more pace after close win in Canada
- More confident Sainz is now a contender for wins – Binotto
F1 race reviews
- Norris can’t claim full reward despite most dominant display this season
- Piastri defeats Leclerc with a little help from Norris as roles reverse at McLaren
- Leclerc’s Italian Job thrills tifosi as McLaren let another win slip away
- Norris inflicts Verstappen’s first defeat at home to kick-start his title chase
- Fate hands Hamilton his lost Spa win back – at his team mate’s cost
baasbas
20th June 2022, 7:46
It’s a substantial points lead, yes. But I’m done with all the ‘championship over’ moaning. The Red Bull cars are not that solid either as Perez’ DNF shows. It could swing the other way easily.
Jere (@jerejj)
20th June 2022, 8:06
@baasbas Yes, but nearly a two-DNF buffer, so clawing back such a deficit could take quite a few races even if Leclerc (yes, I doubt about Perez) began consistently outscoring him.
Mayrton
20th June 2022, 8:06
I agree. Way to early in the season and if I recall correctly Max had a significant lead last year as well heading to Silverstone.
MattDS (@mattds)
20th June 2022, 10:12
Max had 32 points over Lewis after 9 races, before Silverstone. So he does enjoy a bigger lead now, but still I would indeed call a 32 points lead substantial as well.
Of course then disaster struck for Max, because in 2 races time Lewis was on top of the standings. One DNF for Max and a win for Charles and it’s game on again.
The next few races will be crucial though. Max has now scored 150 out of a possible maximum of 164 points over the last 6 rounds. Charles has scored 55 points in that same timespan. That cannot continue for too much longer or Max is going to be in a comfortable position where he can basically follow Charles home in every race and still take the title.
Andre
20th June 2022, 12:57
True. But look at the narrative bias that people have. When it’s your driver leading, the season is exciting, he’s facing serious competition, his car is not that reliable, anything can happen, etc. When it’s not your driver, you folks are already dead tired and hopeless before mid-season. I remember the Vettel-Redbull days. Man, how quickly people came to not stand his victory celebrations. A few years later, and it’s was “oh here we go, another Mercedes-Hamilton walkover”, despite the fact that the only seasons he really had all for himself, effectively, were 2019 and 2020.
It comes down to this: if you are a real, serious F1 fan, you enjoy the sport regardless of who’s winning. If you are just a nationality/driver fan, you don’t care about the actual racing, all you care is about “your team” winning. F1 “soccer fans”.
Robbie (@robbie)
20th June 2022, 14:19
Andre I try not to make blanket statements about anything. I think that there are other options than your two. Or a mix let’s say. I have found throughout the decades that I ‘need’ to have a driver to cheer for to maximize my enjoyment. But that in no way means I have not enjoyed every race. I get butterflies in my stomach especially at race starts for ‘my’ driver, no matter where he is on the grid. I have hope for ‘my’ driver no matter where the car is in the pecking order. And because every race can bring surprises I never ever turn one off assuming I know how it is going to end.
From Gilles to Ayrton to Jacques to Nico (admittedly to a lesser degree) to now Max, with some sentiment favourites in the mix throughout, I just love F1 and always have. With all the bumps and bruises along the way. The highs and the lows. Even when one driver has had a dominant car and you know the odds…it’s still F1…still thrilling…still suspenseful to me. I’m just ever so grateful we have this entity and that I have had it to enjoy for all these years, even when in between my most favourite drivers I was more indifferent to the outcome. It’s still the history and lineage of F1, one race at a time. It’s still fascinating.
Robbie (@robbie)
20th June 2022, 14:29
As I think about it I would just add that along with my favourite drivers through the years this has then meant a sentimental attachment to some teams. Ferrari because of Gilles, McLaren because of Ayrton, Williams because of Jacques, BAR because of Jacques, and now Red Bull because of Max.
David BR (@david-br)
20th June 2022, 15:25
@robbie I find teams difficult to ‘like’ as such, though are usually some I’d like to see prosper, just to switch the order around, or because a favourite driver is there. Currently I’d like to see McLaren improving for example, I also I find Zak Brown refreshing. I’m always admiring of Adrian Newey so even my antipathy to its overall ‘management style’ is tempered. I liked Wolff initially but have been turned off by some of the behind-the-scenes stories (maybe just rumours) of politicking over recent years, though I get that all successful teams operate that way. On another note, I’m getting to like Max more out of the car. He’s become more expressive and generous this season in his comments. Still hoping GR gets the chance to roundly beat him soon though :)
Robbie (@robbie)
20th June 2022, 15:38
@david-br Good stuff. Yeah Adrian Newey is be honoured bigtime as one of F1’s biggest icons all time. His contribution to the sport throughout the years has been enormous.
I’ve also been turned off from TW but I will always honour him for letting his drivers LH and NR settle it on the track, especially when he knew that if he didn’t then we would be robbed of a better show than had he just deemed (it would have been LH) as the go-to guy while they dominated so strongly over the rest. I backed Nico at the time mainly because I was so impressed with how he handled himself when he found MS being his teammate upon his return to F1 with Mercedes. Never flinched, was never intimidated, only grew from it.
Robbie (@robbie)
20th June 2022, 15:41
Meant to add I too look forward to any challenge any driver can bring to Max, as I have utter faith in him to dispatch any one that does, but also that is when the rewards feel the greatest….when they are the hardest fought. Good luck to GR…he’s gonna need it;)
Mark (@blueruck)
20th June 2022, 20:43
+1 well said.
albo94
20th June 2022, 8:07
When two cars are so close in terms of performance, the championship is won by who makes less mistakes.
Well, Ferrari makes too many. Yesterday, Leclerc’s race strategy and pit spots were far from perfect, for instance.
I believe you also need a bit of luck, and Ferrari has any. Leclerc broke the engine when he was going to take the win, while Verstappen’s DNFs occurred when he was 2nd (loss: 50pt vs 36).
Of course this can turn around quickly, as it happened last year in Silverstone-Budapest. But with a Ferrari in contention, I highly doubt it.
J3d89
20th June 2022, 18:26
What make you think leclerc was wining baku? :|
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st June 2022, 15:51
He was better off strategy wise, wasn’t guaranteed ofc.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
20th June 2022, 8:42
It’s going to be very hard for Ferrari to catch up and pass RedBull. There is still some unreliability around in both camps but the Red Bull car has improved a little since the start of the season and definitely looks the best.
Charles and Ferrari need some luck, some DNFs from Max and some better strategy decisions . They could also face the prospect of Merc snapping at their heels. Merc are improving as well.
It’s far from over yet and Ferrari still have a chance in both championships. Carlos looked better this weekend and hopefully we’ll continue to see him on a par with or beating Checo.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
20th June 2022, 9:24
Verstappen has a very good lead but I’m hopeful of a closer title fight, but that’s not going to happen until Ferrari and Mercedes sort out their problems. So at this point, the Verstappen/Redbull combination is not unbeatable but is looking solid.
Off topic @keithcollantine is there any talk about the ongoing viability of the Cryptocurrency sponership for the sprint races?
Ipsom
20th June 2022, 10:46
A bit frustrating to see so many engine issues in one race
paulipedia (@paulipedia)
20th June 2022, 13:38
It is considering the engines haven’t changed. Guess they don’t like porpoising and low profile tyres
Mike
20th June 2022, 12:14
Looks like Max is going to win this year’s drivers championship due to having the best car instead of having the support of the race stewards.
Rom
20th June 2022, 12:24
That and Ferrari seemingly never running out of bullets to shoot themselves with.
Andre
20th June 2022, 12:59
Pretty much the norm in F1.
OmarR
20th June 2022, 20:00
So he lucked into 26 race wins, especially when most of them were won during the time Mercedes dominated? You are “free little birds” right? Only that AFAIK that guy for banned from here.
Mike
20th June 2022, 21:51
Yes, when you drive like an idiot and the stewards look the other way. You will luck out into x number of race wins. Ciao ,”little bird”
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
21st June 2022, 0:16
@omarR He’s not freelittlebirds and he’s allowed to have his opinion. This has been said about Lewis a million times here.
Now you seem to be upset that someone is making that statement about Verstappen. But Verstappen still has to win a championship while Lewis has 8 and the last one was the best by far.
It might be in Max’s name but everyone who watched the season knows who won last year and it wasn’t Max. Max will probably win it this year and I agree that this is the sort of championship that Max deserves to win.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st June 2022, 16:02
Not a very serious comment, is it? How can you say verstappen didn’t win that title and hamilton has 8, then we can go look into other more deserving drivers in the past, and that possibly includes massa for 2008 instead of hamilton, alonso in 2012 instead of vettel, schumacher 1997 instead of villeneuve etc., I can also say schumacher has 9 titles then, especially as he should’ve remained in 2007 and 2008 before retiring and would’ve won those.
As for “everyone who watched knows who won”, hamilton gained more points through verstappen’s issues than verstappen gained in abu dhabi, so…
Dan Rooke (@geekzilla9000)
20th June 2022, 12:48
Most drivers who win the championship do have the best car, but Max isn’t the only one in that car. Max may well have the best car, but he’s also a top-tier driver who makes very few mistakes. If Max does win it this year, it will be will still be won on driver merit. I’m a huge Lewis Hamilton fan and the final race last year was not good for the sport (or my nerves!). But Max’s performance over the season won him that championship – both drivers deserved it but the championship can only fall one way.
I’m cheering Leclerc on this year and I hope he wins it. But if Max wins then I’ll celebrate for Max too, he’s an amazing talent. We’re lucky to have some of the best drivers EVER in F1 racing in this season (HAM, ALO, VER …and LEC, NOR, RUS may also go on prove themselves to be the top-tier also. Particularly Leclerc who has looked liked a World Champion in the making since his Sauber days).
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st June 2022, 16:26
Good to see a reasonable hamilton fan, it’s absolutely possible to say hamilton deserved to win abu dhabi and not the championship, some people don’t seem to understand that.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st June 2022, 16:27
For the record, when I say verstappen was more deserving I’m talking about points lost outside driver’s fault.
BassClef (@bassclef)
20th June 2022, 12:57
Saying it’s over is premature but the things needed to close the gap seem unlikely. Not only would Leclerc have to start outscoring Max but Sainz, Lewis George or Checo would also have to be taking points away from Max. And/or Max breaking down or crashing multiple times. While possible, not very likely.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st June 2022, 16:28
Indeed not, verstappen doesn’t make mistakes when he’s out front like vettel and not even under pressure, as we saw in canada; leclerc still didn’t do a lot wrong this season but when you recover 6-7-8 points per race reliability is much more important.
Moi
20th June 2022, 13:03
Ferrari had the faster race-pace in Montreal (though not by much), so they are definately still in the game.
The fact that the advantage has swung so massively in the past 9 races just means that the same is possible in the rest of the season. We’re not even halfway there yet.
RB/Max certainly has the advantage right now, but it’s hardly decided yet. There is none of the complete dominance of the Mercedes years, and technical DNFs happen all too easily to both Ferrari and RB as we’ve seen with Perez this weekend.
Far from over I’d say.
Johnny
20th June 2022, 13:11
second*
The asterisk is there forever.
Robbie (@robbie)
20th June 2022, 14:35
For you, and I understand that as that is the way you feel. For me my asterisks lie beside Schumacher’s name.
Ruben
20th June 2022, 14:45
Just wondering: only 1994, or multiple years (as asterisks seems to suggest)?
Robbie (@robbie)
20th June 2022, 15:03
Ruben Yeah 94 and 95 and the Ferrari years for having a contracted teammate to not compete against him. I have always understood a team leaning toward a top driver who is the one offering the team the better odds to win, but I far prefer that leaning to only occur when the math starts to dictate it, as the season goes along. MS/Ferrari took it beyond the pale by actually contracting MS’s teammates to be subservient which imho gave them the green flag to design the car and eventually tires strictly for MS. What MS proved was what a (admittedly good) driver can do when he has more advantages hand over fist not just over his teammate but also the rest of the grid. Imho more advantages than any driver has ever had in F1’s history. I honour LH’s 7 titles way more than I will ever do so for MS’s. LH didn’t have a designer car nor tires to go with, and on top of that he never felt the need to be a bully…just a hard racer and fair almost always.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
20th June 2022, 15:15
A very sensible comment on MS. Exactly the way I feel. Say what you like about Lewis but he has always been a pretty fair racer. Very competitive and unlikely to give way, but fair. He never deliberately rammed anyone to drive them off the road. More than once as well.
This is not to say I am a big LH fan. I’m not by any means. I will just wait for the backlash now ;-)
Ruben
20th June 2022, 15:58
Robbie and @phil-f1-21 No backlash from my side ;) Fair assessment of MS imho. Where Schumacher was ruthless on track (beyond ruthless on several occasions), Lewis luckily seems to be the same person in and out of the car. Like everyone he has his flaws, but they’re minor and I’m afraid the deserved widespread appreciation will only come once he quits F1.
When it comes to advantages over the rest of the grid I do feel that Mercedes long streak of dominance was partially fueled by incredibly complicated technology, which they got 100% right from the get go. Combined with grid penalties and limited testing it was hard for the competition to catch up. Of course Hamilton was part of that team. Among others he was the one that kept them hungry, kept (keeps) delivering and kept everyone sharp (to come up with innovations like DAS, for instance).
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st June 2022, 16:37
While indeed hamilton was a fairer racer than schumacher in terms of moves they did, schumacher’s car dominance pales in comparison to what hamilton had, and furthermore you put asterisks on all of his titles, but in 2000 and 2003, or even 1994 and 1995 schumacher didn’t have a dominant car, so no matter who his terrible team mate was, he was against hakkinen in mclaren, or raikkonen and montoya in mclaren and williams, or demon hill again in williams, and also about the contract thing, I don’t really see barrichello winning 2001, 2002 or 2004 if not for this supposed number 2 driver contract, as I recalll barrichello even losing to coulthard in a pretty bad mclaren in 2001!
petebaldwin (@)
20th June 2022, 15:37
Nope.
G
20th June 2022, 17:05
@Johnny
Did you stick an asterisk on the 2008 title too? After the fixed race in Singapore which effectively swung the title?
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
20th June 2022, 20:28
Super Max! Yo Hé, Yo Hó!
MingTheMercyless
22nd June 2022, 21:27
You do realize it’s you carrying it, right? Good luck with that.
JohnnyMarr
20th June 2022, 13:44
What’s interesting is the Ferrari number 2 was able to keep up with the Red Bulls number 1, not what was expected after qualifying. That should keep people intrigued enough, however Ferrari need to just start maximising results.
Another thing is just how good RedBulls and Mercedes are at strategy. Compared to Alpines, Aston Martins, Ferraris and Haas, it’s night and day.
Jim Sharpe (@jms90h5)
20th June 2022, 14:08
Lots of people complained when Hamilton/Merc won so many races that it made the sport boring. I’m a Hamilton fan but still enjoyed lots of the downfield races when he was cranking out victories. However, I find it hard to watch any of the races this season when Verstappen/Red Bull are just cruising to victories without any serious competition. Just leaves a bad taste in my mouth after they way last season ended. I had high hopes for Charles to at least fight for the lead but it seems Ferrari have continue their self destructive habits. And Mercedes, despite being a team that “don’t make mistakes”, have made some huge ones with this year’s car and apparently have lost too much engineering talent to figure out how to build a legitimately competitive car under the budget cap. So no only does it seem they are too far behind to challenge for either championship this year, the next few years are also questionable since any improvements they might make will probably be matched by other teams, which makes me feel a bit sad for Russell since I would have liked to see a multiway fight at the top. Alas, not to be, just week after week of Max for the win. Grrr…. I sound like those Hamilton haters of years gone past.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st June 2022, 16:47
Well, as someone who likes competition, this season doesn’t look boring, ferrari has been competitive, unfortunately we lost 2 competitive races due to leclerc’s issues, while when verstappen had his 2 issues he was 2nd and had already lost his chances to beat leclerc, obviously the championship is realistically over, but with a so quick ferrari there should be a competitive season ahead if we look at it race by race, that is if red bull doesn’t outdevelop ferrari significantly, because it’s another thing they’re usually better at.
MingTheMercyless
22nd June 2022, 21:36
You complain as if one team has a 60 bhp, or 2 sec/lap advantage over the rest. In fact there are two teams that are very close to each other in performance, making it impossible to predict a race weekends winner.
Have you considered the possibility, you might be bored because Lewis isn’t competitive? Because that’s what it sounds like tbh.
Bilbo Baggins
20th June 2022, 16:29
Story of F1 since 2009. Put a top driver in a car/team that is best in class and a team mate unable to match him then you will get non event championships. See Button, Vettel and Hamilton over the years. Now its Verstappen’s turn. It should worry the sport that two teams have been hoovering championships for the last 13 years now with only Ferrari looking like they could change things. Thank goodness for Alonso in 2010 & 2012, Rosberg not being the no 2 he was brought in to be and one season where Mercedes and Red Bull were evenly matched.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
20th June 2022, 17:53
This is just to easy.
Ferrari are being Ferrari,
Hamilton mostly cannot even catch Russel,
Perez does not have the full team behind him and is not in the same league as Verstappen.
Nobody wants an easy title, Verstappen might turn in to a new Hamilton – exceptional racing driver who racks in titles to easy: Superior car, inferior #2, and competition that struggle with their own issues.
G
20th June 2022, 18:55
@jureo
Only it’s not a superior car that Max is in. The Ferrari and Redbull this year are extremely close in performance, similar to the way the Merc and Redbull were last year.
If Charles didn’t have a grid drop for the last race I think he would have won it. Ferrari need to get their act together and if they do, we will see more duels at the front between Charles and Max. Sainz did a good job in Canada but you do wonder where Charles would have ended up without the grid drop.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
20th June 2022, 19:23
Well you are correct, in that Charles would challenge for the win, but we have seen time and time again, that Ferrari disintegrate their engine.
If they drop the power, they are nowhere near as good as Red Bull.
So I say Red Bull is a superior car, about to the tune of 304 vs 228 WCC points would suggest.
I’m all for the best man winning, but would be nice if engines were reliable and we would get some Charles vs Max action weekly. Sainz was close, but we know Charles is usually even slightly faster, and that might have been enough.
Nick T.
20th June 2022, 23:42
Dislike and Hamilton and even I’ll say you’re full of it.
Green Flag (@greenflag)
20th June 2022, 19:00
In equal cars, which only happened in Canada for the first time this year, Hamilton is faster than Russell. In the first 8 races, Hamilton was testing more extreme and problematic set-ups than Russell, which allowed Russell to be faster. Your other points are, however, correct.
Green Flag (@greenflag)
20th June 2022, 19:02
This was a reply to NewVerstappenFan, above.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
21st June 2022, 14:33
Hey it’s great to see Hamilton picking up speed. His results thus far this year suggest worse performance than his history would suggest.
Would be nice if anyone can step up and fight Verstappen for the championship. Lewis was capable of providing us with title contending last year.
This year they just don’t have the car to do it. Probably for Lewis 5th or 10th place is just as lame, and his only goal is to get within of fighting distance for wins. Then extreme setups are fun to try, when your car in best case is 5th.
For Russel if he does not score regular 3rd- 5th, he can be out of the seat next year.
baasbas
21st June 2022, 8:31
I’m sorry but there are too many comments in this thread about Verstappen cruising to victory. If you would have watched the race you would have known the Ferrari was on par with the Red Bull. You don’t have to like the guy, but he didn’t cruise to victory, he won because he took it. He (together with a strong pit wall) made the difference when it mattered.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
21st June 2022, 14:35
Cruised by… very capable racing driver breathing down his neck. What most of us mean is… Verstappen is so good, his victory was never in doubt, we want racing where winner cannot be predicted on lap 3 with 89% certainty.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st June 2022, 17:09
Yes, but to be honest sainz surprised me, he brought more of a challenge than I thought, even mid race, and verstappen did his own job by defending with older tyres in the end.