The results of the race in Montreal: strange mistakes and choices

Yesterday there was a race in Canada and this race was on a very interesting track in Montreal.

A large number of places for overtaking, a large number of interesting moments always took place on it and nothing has changed this year - the race was really fascinating.

Max Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix, having already won his sixth victory of the season. In particular, the excellent speed that the RB18 car is capable of on the straights helped him to restrain the onslaught of Carlos Sainz in the closing stages of the race. 

Max Verstappen (1st): "The safety car somewhat complicated my task, because during the race the Ferraris were very fast, but at the end there was a very interesting fight between us. I gave my best, but of course Carlos did the same. 

It's not easy to chase an opponent on this track, and I've seen him attack, then recharge the battery, then attack again. Of course, it's easier to charge the battery when you're driving within DRS, but it was really fun in the last laps! 

Fortunately, this year our car is capable of excellent speed on the straights, and this helps us a lot. Although in general, the Ferraris are very fast, and if I had to catch up with Carlos, it would not be easy to do it. But then, when a safety car came onto the track and it got fresh tires, I thought that I would still prefer to attack than defend. Fortunately, everything worked out for us”.

His teammate Sergio Perez unfortunately could not finish the race.

Sergio Perez (DNF): "I had technical problems with the car again – the transmission got stuck and the car stopped accelerating. I do not know what exactly happened, but I am disappointed with the results of the weekend. I lost points in a situation where I could count on a high result. 

There were no signs of a breakdown in advance – the car simply stopped accelerating at the exit of the seventh turn. For us, such technical breakdowns are very painful”.

Carlos Sainz pressed Max Verstappen on the last laps of the Grand Prix, but he did not have enough speed on the straights to make a decisive attack. After the finish, the Ferrari driver briefly summed up the results of the race in Montreal. 

Carlos Sainz (2nd): "I attacked with all my might – I drove turns centimeters from the walls, braked as late as possible, squeezed the maximum out of the battery. I tried everything to overtake Max, the car just didn't have enough pace to get close enough distance and attack at the exit of the hairpin. 

The positive results include the fact that we were faster over the entire race distance, but I didn't have enough time to overtake on this track. I am happy with the racing pace, the way I put pressure on Max, the choice of moments for pit stops. 

We tried everything and were very close to winning. I will take with me all the positive things that happened this weekend, and I will try next time”.

Lewis Hamilton finished third in Canada, reaching the podium for the second time this season!

Lewis Hamilton (3rd): "Third place is a pleasant surprise. This year we are fighting more with the car than with our rivals, but we continue to keep our concentration and never give up – I am proud of our team. 

Gradually we recoup the lag, we continue to add. I hope we will be able to fight with these guys very soon”.

Lewis Hamilton's teammate George Russell earned his fourth place without ever breaking his pattern in finishing in the top 5!

George Russell (4th): "I was completely confident that during the race I would be able to get ahead of the Haas and Alpine cars. Of course, we understood that Charles and Sergio  would be able to push forward, and we would need luck to contain them. 

But still, we were already closer to Ferrari and Red Bull in terms of pace than at the previous stages of the season, although our car is still not quite efficient. 

If we talk about tactics, now, after the finish, I think it was probably worth making a pit stop when the VSC was introduced for the first time, but in the end it would hardly have changed the position where I finished. 

The pace in the first two segments of the race was pretty good, but I can't say that about the final segment – for some reason I didn't manage to warm up the tires properly. It's a pity that I lost a bit of pace and could no longer fight for higher positions, but 4th place is not a bad result. It's great that my teammate got on the podium and the team earned a lot of points”.

Charles Leclerc started from the last row, but was able to win back 14 positions and finish fifth. Excellent result!

Charles Leclerc (5th): "I gave it my all today. When you finish fifth, it's not too happy, but considering the position we started from and the way things were developing, this is the maximum we were capable of today. 

The second half of the race went well, but in its initial stage I was stuck behind a string of cars driving one after the other, and everyone could use DRS, so there was nothing I could do. Then, in the middle phase of the race, I found myself behind Esteban Ocon, whose tires were much fresher than mine and allowed me to get out of turn 10 well. Less worn rubber provided excellent traction of the driving wheels during acceleration, and this was enough to stay ahead. 

I had to be patient and think about the end of the race. Then we made a pit stop, hoping that we could be on a free track, but the pit stop was not too fast, which is why we were stuck behind slower cars again, and everything had to start over. 

But the ending of the race turned out to be interesting. To earn more points, we had to act more aggressively, and in the end we took 5th place - I think this is the maximum that could be counted on, given all the circumstances. 

Now I will prepare for the race at Silverstone. This is one of my favorite tracks, and I hope that we will earn more points there”.

In Canada, Alpine achieved the best result of the season thanks to Esteban Ocon's sixth place and Fernando Alonso's seventh. BUT after the race Alonso received a five-second penalty for more than one change of direction in front of Bottas. This drops him to 9th place.

Esteban Ocon (6th): "We managed to make a step forward in the race compared to qualifying. I don't think we could have achieved more today – we did everything we could and scored points with two cars. I think we can be called "the best of the rest". Our car is the fourth fastest, and the positions at the finish line correspond to this. 

Closer to the finish, we applied a team strategy in order not to miss Valtteri Bottas. Everything worked out for us, and the team can be proud of the result. 

I am very happy that I had the speed to hold off Charles. Unfortunately, closer to the finish, when we had the same tires, I couldn't stay ahead. We still have a lot of work to do, but the team is progressing – we are fighting and moving in the right direction”.

Fernando Alonso (was 7th, now 9th): "I was unlucky with the safety car – I only had ten seconds left to enter the pit lane. Those who were driving behind me were lucky once again – they turned into the pits as soon as the message about the exit to the highway of the safety car appeared. Thanks to this, they managed to get ahead of me. 

In corners, I had to squeeze everything out of the car to stay in the DRS zone. It's a very difficult race – I'm disappointed with the results due to problems with the power plant. 

The positive results of the weekend include the fact that the car is very fast. If it wasn't for the engine problems, I would have finished third ahead of Lewis – I drove ahead of him and maintained a sufficient gap, trying to keep up with Carlos Sainz. As I said, if it wasn't for the engine problems, third or fourth place would have been possible, despite the safety car”.

In Montreal, the Alfa Romeo team earned points with two cars for the second time in the season. Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu finished eighth and ninth, but after Fernando Alonso's penalty, they won back one position each. For Zhou, the race in Canada was the second in his career in which he earned points.

Valtteri Bottas (7th): "We can be happy with the result of the race and our pace. It's always nice to score points with two cars after several difficult stages, but the most important thing is that we fought with rivals and returned to the level that we demonstrated at the beginning of the season. 

My race turned out to be quite simple: I started on Hard tires, and then everything worked out perfectly for me. The moment of departure of the safety car turned out to be the most suitable for me – as if I had received an unexpected gift! I am happy with the result and happy for Zhou. He had a high pace, and the past weekend has boosted his self-confidence”.

Guanyu Zhou (8th): "A good weekend for me and the team. I am very happy with the eighth place – at the moment it is my best result in Formula 1. 

On Sunday, we did everything right – both on the track and on the command bridge with a strategy. I was stuck behind Lance Stroll for a while, but despite that, we had a clean weekend, constantly progressing. We managed to get the most out of the car, unlock its potential and finish in the top ten after several disappointing races – a nice reward. 

I don't have a lot of experience on the Canadian track, but on Saturday we managed to cope with difficult conditions, and in the race we had a high pace. I knew that I could compete for points – and we did it. I am very happy for everyone in the team – we deserved this result, having made progress over the past few weeks. I'm looking forward to continuing to fight in the next races”.

The Aston Martin team rose to the eighth position in the Constructors' Championship, ahead of Haas, thanks to Lance Stroll's tenth place. His teammate Sebastian Vettel finished twelfth and for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix did not earn points. 

Lance Stroll (10th): "We had a great strategy for the race, and I'm very happy that I earned one point. The team made the right decision to drive a very long first leg – the strategy of one pit stop worked, and I was able to keep a string of cars behind. Overtaking Daniel Ricciardo was a nice bonus – I was on fresher tires, so the maneuver turned out to be quite simple. 

This year it is much more difficult for us, but I am glad that we had a successful race. I want to say a huge thank you to all the fans who supported us this weekend - it's just incredible to perform in a home race after such a long break”.

Sebastian Vettel (12th): "Not my day. I stopped in the pits early enough to then return to an empty track, but the safety car mode was turned on at the wrong moment, and ruined the race for me. 

Closer to the finish, my tires were badly worn out – I tried to restrain my rivals, but I couldn't. Lance had a more recent kit, so the team asked me to skip it so that Lance would try to attack Daniel – and I happily missed him. 

The result is disappointing, because throughout the weekend we showed a good pace and could have achieved more, but sometimes events do not develop in your favor. Sunday was one of those days. The team did a great job, thanks to which Lance earned one point”.

Which team surprised the most in a bad way this weekend? Obviously, McLaren. Incredibly strange mistakes of the team and strategists in particular led to the fact that the team did not earn points for the third time in the season.

Daniel Ricciardo (11th): "Unfortunately, we didn't have enough speed on Sunday, and then we had to solve a few more problems. It took us out of the fight. We need to figure out how to do better next time”. 

Lando Norris (15th): "Today we were unlucky several times, besides we didn't have enough speed to fight those whom we hoped to overtake - and we didn't take the positions we expected. 

Not to say that there was no speed at all, but it was not enough for overtaking, which greatly hindered us in the race. 

We have something to work on. Today there were mistakes on my part, mistakes on the part of the team – we need to take a step back, reboot – and next time it's better to do our job”.