2024 F1 Round 9, Canadian GP: Verstappen Fights Back to Win Wet Race as Safety-Car Timing Proves Decisive, Five Retire and Ferrari and Williams Lose Both Cars

The 2024 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, Round 9 of the season, concluded after 70 laps at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in the early hours of 10 June, Beijing time. Starting second, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fought back to win a chaotic wet race in 1 hour 45 minutes 47.927 seconds. McLaren’s Lando Norris finished second, 3.879 seconds behind, while pole-sitter George Russell was third. Five cars failed to finish.

The race began on a thoroughly wet track, with Russell holding the lead and resisting the pressure behind over the opening 21 laps. The turning point came on lap 21, when Norris passed Russell into the final chicane to take first place. His advantage did not last long, however. Logan Sargeant slid into the wall at the exit of Turn 4 and retired, bringing out the Safety Car. Its timing transformed the race.

When the Safety Car was deployed, many drivers, including Verstappen, immediately pitted for fresh intermediates. Norris, who had just passed the pit entry, had to complete another lap before stopping and emerged behind Verstappen and Russell. Red Bull remarked over the radio, “What goes around comes around”: at Miami earlier in the season, a Safety Car had taken away what had looked like a likely Verstappen victory. Rain returned around lap 30, with further pit stops to follow as the race developed.

The track then began to dry and drivers switched to slicks for the run towards the finish, but the drama was far from over. Charles Leclerc, struggling with a power-unit problem, was forced to retire at around lap 40. Norris stayed out for two additional laps in an aggressive attempt to make the overcut work. On lap 51, Sergio Pérez spun on his own at Turn 6 and hit the barrier, badly damaging his rear wing. He limped back to the pits and retired, then received a three-place grid penalty for the following Spanish Grand Prix for creating a dangerous situation.

A bigger collision soon followed. On lap 53, Carlos Sainz spun on the slippery surface at Turn 6, and Alexander Albon, following closely behind, could not avoid hitting him. Ferrari and Williams each lost another car, prompting a second Safety Car. Both teams ended the race with neither driver finishing.

The Safety Car came in with around 12 laps remaining. Verstappen pulled 1.8 seconds clear on the first lap after the restart, laying the foundations for victory. Norris, who had already passed Russell to regain second before that Safety Car period, could no longer catch the Red Bull ahead. Afterwards, the Briton acknowledged that the team’s decision had come a moment too late, costing him a race he felt he should have won.

Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and Oscar Piastri fifth. Fernando Alonso took sixth and home driver Lance Stroll seventh, bringing Aston Martin a double points finish. Daniel Ricciardo received a five-second penalty after clutch slip caused his car to move before the start, but still finished eighth. Pierre Gasly was ninth and Esteban Ocon tenth, securing Alpine’s first double points finish of the season. Yuki Tsunoda ran off and spun on lap 66, dropping out of the points to finish 14th and ending a run of four successive points finishes. He apologised to the team over the radio afterwards, saying he did not know why the brakes had become “extremely difficult to judge”. RB was also fined €10,000 after he arrived late for the pre-race national anthem ceremony. Zhou Guanyu finished 15th, leaving Sauber as the only team still without a point this season.

Montreal’s changeable Sunday weather produced a race featuring full wet tyres, intermediates and slicks. Verstappen extended his championship lead with victory, while Norris added another podium after Miami and Imola to keep up the pursuit. The next round, the Spanish Grand Prix, will take place in Barcelona in two weeks.