Max Verstappen won a chaotic and gripping Canadian Grand Prix with Lando Norris and George Russell left to reflect on what might have been after a race of high drama amid on-off rain in Montreal.
In an unpredictable 70-lap race that featured four changes of lead and two Safety Car periods triggered by crashes, Verstappen impressively returned to winning ways a fortnight after Red Bull’s miserable Monaco for his sixth win of the season to re-establish a more comfortable world-championship lead, of 56 points.
McLaren’s Norris twice led the race – the first time after overtaking both Verstappen and Russell – but had to settle for second after the cards did not fall in his favour, particularly under the first Safety Car.
Polesitter Russell ended up third for Mercedes and looked particularly crestfallen after a topsy-turvy race in which he made several mistakes and collided with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Dropping to fourth after that latter incident following the race’s second Safety Car period, Russell was then overtaken by Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who went on to overtake Piastri cleanly soon afterwards and move into the final podium place with five laps to go.
