On Sunday, June 18, Max Verstappen continued his domination by winning the Canadian Grand Prix 2023, his sixth victory in the first eight races of the season. Starting at the pole, the Dutch ace also led Red Bull Racing to its 100th victory since its founding in 2004. Verstappen also extends his lead at the top to 195 points, 69 more than Sergio Perez in second position.
Veterans Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso grabbed everyone’s attention on the Canadian circuit as they fought for 2nd place. Alonso finished second, nine seconds behind Verstappen and five seconds ahead of the English star to secure his third podium of the year.
Meanwhile, Verstappen won his 41st race, levelling him with Ayrton Senna for the most victories in Formula One history. He is currently behind only Lewis Hamilton (103), Michael Schumacher (91), Sebastian Vettel (53) and Alain Prost (51).
After the race, the Dutchman, who has eight podiums in eight races this season, stated that his team’s effort was not the finest, but a nine-second victory demonstrates their clear dominance on Sunday.
“Today was tricky because of the cold temperatures. We couldn’t get the tyres to work, they were always too cold,” Verstappen told reporters. “We know the strength of the car is the tyre deg, so the cars that are a bit heavier on the tyres it probably worked a bit better for them today.
“It’s difficult to say how the others were performing because I think from our side it was not at 100 percent but to win by nine seconds shows we still have a good car. It was just management – knowing when to push and sometimes you didn’t feel the grip that was there and you can’t push at 100 percent.”