2024 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Verstappen returns to the top step in tricky wet-dry race; P2 Norris undone by Safety Car; pole-sitting Russell salvages P3; disaster for Ferrari with double DNF; Perez crashes out

Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix was a tale of two races thanks to the rainy weather that prevailed early on giving way to sunshine and a drying track in the second half, with the resultant mayhem that entailed for the Formula 1 teams and drivers. While McLaren’s Lando Norris looked like a genuine threat for the victory, he was undone by an ill-timed safety car on Lap 25 of this 70-lap contest from the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve and when things had cycled out the young Englishman found himself behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Norris was leading by a whopping 12-seconds from Verstappen when the Safety Car was deployed to rescue Logan Sargent’s crippled Williams. But McLaren muffed their first opportunity to pit under yellow, while Verstappen and the other contenders dove in for fresh Intermediate Pirellis. When Norris came in a lap later, his track position had evaporated under the slow speed SC conditions and he reemerged in P3. Norris remained quick even as the track dried and he stubbornly stayed out on Inters, running two laps longer than Verstappen and the second place Mercedes of George Russell before diving to the pits for a set of Medium slick tires on Lap 47.

But when Norris reemerged again from that second stop, he was quickly gobbled up by Verstappen on fully warmed up tires, and then Russell also picked him off, though he managed to hold off his hard charging teammate Oscar Pastri. Russell then made an error steaming into the Turn 3 and 4 chicane, and Norris, now fully up to speed, pounced on his fellow Englishman to recapture P2. But even after another Safety Car was deployed to clean up a collision between Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and the Williams of Alexander Albon on Lap 54, Norris could never again find the pace advantage on slicks and a drying circuit that he had clearly held earlier in wetter conditions on Inters. Verstappen easily kept the McLaren at bay for the remainder of the contest, en route to the Dutchman’s sixth victory of 2024 out of nine rounds now run. Settling for a still solid P2, Norris & McLaren were left to wonder What If, as they replayed that fateful first Safety Car sequence and belated pit stop in their heads after the race.

While Russell and teammate Lewis Haamitlon both dove in for fresh rubber under that last Safety Car period, any dreams Mercedes may have had of victory were pretty clearly dashed by the superior race pace of the front running Red Bull and McLaren. The Silver Arrow duo were relegated to dicing with the second McLaren of Piastri for the final podium spot. It led to very close racing and a very competitive three-driver battle, but in the end the pole-sitting Russell bested his teammate and Piastri to salvage P3. With Hamilton coming home P4 ahead of P5 Piastri, it was a solid double points day for what had looked like a moribund Mercedes program. We’ll see if the Mercs can maintain their improved performance when the teams unload in Barcelona in two weeks.

After their dream one-two finish in Monaco two weeks ago, Montreal proved to be an absolute nightmare for Ferrari. Already behind the eight ball after both drivers qualified outside the top 10, Charles Leclerc suffered from mystery engine woes from the get go. Though team and driver gamely tried to soldier on, including an early gamble for slicks, Leclerc was told to retire the car on Lap 47, an ignominious follow up after the Monegasque was sipping champagne with Prince Albert II and celebrating victory in his hometown race two Sunday’s ago. Teammate Carlos Sainz fared little better after spinning on his own exiting Turn 7 and then being collected by Albon, destroying both their races. The damage suffered by the Spaniard in the incident forced his retirement on Lap 53, making it a costly zero points day for the Scuderia. The driver with arguably the worst day, however, was Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, who spun hard backwards into the barriers at Turn 6 and dislodged his rear wing. Perez then crawled back to the pits under dubious team orders, where he promptly retired on Lap 51, earning a 3-place grid penalty for the next race in Spain for driving back with such a heavily damaged car. It was a weekend to forget for Perez all around after things started out so cheery when he signed a contract extension with Red Bull earlier in the week.