Max Verstappen triumphs again; beats Carlos Sainz to win Canadian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr and Lewis Hamilton stand on the podium after the Canada Formula 1 Grand Prix. Pic/ AFP

As the checkered flag was waved in Montreal, it was Max Verstappen who crossed the finish line in first place yet again. The Red Bull driver put in a strong showing to finish ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz in what was a relatively comfortable victory for the Dutchman.

The win saw Max extend his lead at the top of the championship by 46 points. His Red Bull teammate, who is in second place on the charts, had a race to forget, retiring early due to a gearbox issue.

Voicing his thoughts on the big gap between him and his closest title rival, Verstappen said, "It's still a very long way to go and I know the gap of course is quite big, but I also know that can switch around very quickly."

Regarding the overall race, he added, "It was good racing, it is always more enjoyable to be able to really push rather than just save your tires."

The Canadian Grand Prix runner-up Sainz, who bounced back from a DNF in the last race, said, "When I gave it all, I was risking everything. I can tell you I was pushing. I left everything out there. For the first time this season I can say I was fastest man on track, which gives me confidence and some hope for the next races."

Rounding out the podium places was 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. In a car with serious porposing issues and devoid of sheer pace on the straights, Hamilton only managed a solitary podium before the Canadian GP.

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He was happy to be back near the front of the grid after a run of middling results. He said, "It feels great to be amongst the battle and at the end there I was keeping up with these guys. It does give me and the team a lot of hope.The potential is truly there if we can get the setup right and I think that's been the most difficult thing this year."

Hamilton's teammate George Russell kept up his consistent run with a 4th place finish.

Verstappen's other title challenger, Charles Leclerc, finished in 5th place, staging an impressive comeback from a P19 start owing to a new power unit element on his Ferrari.

The Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso finished in P6 and P9, respectively. Also scoring a double points finish were the Alfa Romeo pair of Valtteri Bottas (P7) and Guanyu Zhou (P8). Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10.

(With inputs from AP)