Max Verstappen gained Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix with Fernando Alonso ending second and Lewis Hamilton third; The trio of world champions shared beneficiant reward for one another following the race; Verstappen moved 69 factors clear on the prime of the drivers’ standings
Last Updated: 19/06/23 12:00am
Highlights of the Canadian Grand Prix, the eighth race of the season
Highlights of the Canadian Grand Prix, the eighth race of the season
Lewis Hamilton says a 2021-style “super tight” Formula 1 world championship battle with Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso could be “sick”.
The sport’s solely three energetic world champions completed on the rostrum in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix, with Verstappen claiming Red Bull’s a hundredth F1 win and Aston Martin’s Alonso holding off the Mercedes of Hamilton for second.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton has endured a frosty relationship with Alonso for the reason that pair fell out when McLaren team-mates in 2008, whereas the Brit was concerned in one of the vital intense title battles in the game’s historical past when Verstappen secured his maiden triumph in 2021.
However, with Verstappen’s dominant kind leaving Alonso and Hamilton left preventing for the scraps of second place, extra heat seems to have developed between the Mercedes driver and his rivals.
Lewis Hamilton is happy with the improved efficiency of his Mercedes just lately after ending third on the Canadian Grand Prix
“It’s just a privilege to be up here fighting these two, who have done incredible in their careers,” Hamilton stated after the trio completed on the rostrum collectively for the second time this season, having additionally achieved so in Australia.
“This is quite an iconic top three – I don’t know if there’s been a top three like this ever before, I don’t believe there has.
“I’m actually hoping at some stage now we have a extra stage enjoying subject in our vehicles and then we’ll have rather more thrilling races in the future.
Max Verstappen held on to the lead firstly of the Canadian Grand Prix, whereas Lewis Hamilton overtook Fernando Alonso on the opening lap to climb to second
“I’m happy to be back in the mix, and I’m just hoping at some stage we can be a bit more level so we can get back to some of the good races we had back in 2021.
“To have all three of us in a super-tight battle could be sick.”
Alonso ‘really enjoyed’ intense Hamilton battle
While Alonso began the afternoon with aspirations of ending Red Bull’s streak of seven wins to start the season, his task was swiftly altered when Hamilton took second away from him at the opening corner.
Alonso took advantage of his upgraded Aston Martin to battle back past Hamilton shortly after the opening round of pit stops, but ultimately lacked the pace to take the fight to Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso almost collided in the pitlane as they battled over second place before the Aston Martin driver completed the overtake on lap 22
“It’s good, it is nice,” two-time world champion Alonso said. “I actually get pleasure from these battles. This podium occurred in Australia, I believe final time, and now right here.
“There is a lot of respect, a lot of talent, when you fight against Max, Lewis, you know that you cannot make a mistake because they will take advantage of that and they will not make a mistake.
“So in order for you to beat them, you want to be tenth after tenth sooner to shut that hole, it is not something that may profit.
Fernando Alonso stays hopeful of catching Red Bull as he hailed Aston Martin’s ‘best’ race of the season to date in Canada
“It’s a very intense battle, very fair, very respectful. Even the overtaking possibility that we had on the DRS for me when I passed Lewis, you know that you can trust what he’s doing – he will defend hard but within the limits.
“(It was the) identical firstly – I assume while you begin on the entrance two rows with these guys, there’s a sense of consciousness and respect that’s not typically in different components.”
Verstappen: Racing them one of the best things out there
Verstappen strengthened his grip on the world championship by extending his lead over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez to 69 points.
A fourth successive race victory for the 25-year-old Dutchman has put him firmly on course for a third successive drivers’ title, while a 41st career win saw him draw level with Ayrton Senna in fifth on the sport’s all-time wins list.
Max Verstappen, team principal Christian Horner and chief technical officer Adrian Newey all hailed Red Bull’s 100th victory at the Canadian Grand Prix
While Verstappen is building a special legacy of his own, he reserved some highly respectful words for the 41-year-old Alonso and 38-year-old Hamilton.
“I bear in mind again in the day I used to be watching these two already in Formula 1 racing one another,” Verstappen said.
“So, in fact, I’m very glad now that I’m in F1 as effectively, racing them might be the most effective issues on the market.
“When we can share a podium together, we’ve done it a few times, I think it’s great. I think they want to swap positions, of course, I’m happy in the middle at the moment.”
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