Verstappen defends Canadian GP title for 4th straight win
Max Verstappen won his sixth race of the season and fourth straight, defending his 2022 Canadian Grand Prix title Sunday at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Red Bull has won each of the eight races this year, with Verstappen claiming six and Sergio Perez winning two. Perez crossed the line sixth and claimed an extra point in the championship by posting the fastest lap on the final lap.
With his 41st career win, Verstappen has matched Brazilian great Ayrton Senna for fifth in grand prix victories. The two-time reigning champ now only trails Lewis Hamilton (103), Michael Schumacher (91), Sebastian Vettel (53), and Alain Prost (51).
It also marks Red Bull's 100th victory as a team.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso crossed the line second after an impressive battle with Mercedes' Hamilton, who rounded out the podium in third.
It's one of the most decorated podiums in F1 history, with seven-time champ Hamilton alongside a pair of two-time title winners.
Verstappen now has 195 points in the drivers' championship, leading second-place Perez by 69 points. Alonso is in third with 117 points, and Hamilton has 102 in fourth.
Fans voted Williams' Alex Albon as Driver of the Day for finishing seventh.
Your #F1DriverOfTheDay, of course... 🥁🥁🥁
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 18, 2023
Is the one and only @alex_albon! #CanadianGP #F1 @salesforce pic.twitter.com/XRE7WrJ3te
The result marks Williams' second finish in the points this year after Albon crossed the line 10th in season-opening Bahrain. It's also the team's best result since George Russell finished second in the shortened 2021 Belgian GP.
Ferrari bounced back from a dismal showing in qualifying, with Charles Leclerc finishing just off the podium in fourth followed by teammate Carlos Sainz in fifth.
Lance Stroll - the only Canadian on the grid - ended up in ninth, narrowly finishing in the points.
McLaren's Lando Norris technically crossed the line ninth but was given a five-second penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior that dropped him to 13th.
Alpine's Esteban Ocon was in a last-lap battle with Norris and placed seventh. Valtteri Bottas rounded out the points for Alfa Romeo in 10th.