Verstappen comes out top in a wild and wet race in Montreal

Max Verstappen took victory in a rain-hit Canadian Grand Prix but it was far from the usual calm dominance for Red Bull with half a dozen drivers looking in the running for victory at various points. George Russell led at the start from pole but was passed by McLaren's Lando Norris before the half-way point. A failed try at an overcut and bad timing with a safety car left Norris defending P2 from Russell at the finish. It was a bleak day for Ferrari and Williams, with both teams seeing a double DNF. Sergio Perez also had a luckless day, clipping Pierre Gasly at the start and subsequently damaging his rear wing forcing him to retire. 2024 Canadian Grand Prix - Race results Precipitation had been a persistent factor in the practice and qualifying sessions leading up to the Canadian Grand Prix. For now everyone was on intermediate tyres for the start save for the Haas pair who opted for full wets as the rain started to fall again right on cue. Despite the conditions, it was a standing start with George Russell getting a clear view from pole. Everyone behind was ultra cautious but Daniel Ricciardo lost places and was also dinged for a false start, while Sergio Perez had clipped Pierre Gasly into a half-spin. Fortunately both survived. The star of the show early on was Kevin Magnussen. Having started from P14 he was making the most of those full wets and blasting his way up to fourth by lap 4. Nico Hulkenberg was also on the rise but time was running out for the Haas pair as the rain now easing and a dry line started to develop. Magnussen duly dived down pit lane on lap 8 to change to inters, dropping to 12th, while Hulkenberg opted to try sticking it out. Russell was still holding the lead but Verstappen was coming alive. Lewis Hamilton pressured Fernando Alonso into a mistake only to run wide at turn 2, at which point Alonso grappled with a wild tankslapper. Also having problems was Logan Sargeant who had gone off and lightly clipped the barrier at turn 6, while Leclerc was experiencing power unit problems. Russell was struggling for rear-end grip and Verstappen was all over him, but the conditions meant no DRS. Russell gathered himself and on lap 17 it was the Red Bull that bounced across the grass at turn 2 and suddenly it was Verstappen under pressure from Norris. Race control enabled DRS for the first time and Norris promptly blasted past Verstappen out of the hairpin on lap 21. Norris had the momentum and muscled his way past a struggling Russell to take the lead just before the final chicane on lap 22 while the Mercedes was forced to cut the chicane and nearly collected the Red Bull upon his return, but Verstappen just dodged the danger, Norris was flying in these conditions had pulled a whopping ten seconds seconds clear of Verstappen. But that came to an end when Sargeant went into the wall again at the exit of turn 4. This time he was unable to get going, triggering a safety car and a mass dive down to pit lane for fresh inters. Norris was a lap late coming in, dropping him behind Verstappen and Russell before the race resumed on lap 30 - so did the rain, in a sudden intense but brief burst. That was terrible for Leclerc who had just switch to slicks and now had to pit again before eventually retiring. Nor was there good news for Sainz who damaged his front wing running into the back of Valtteri Bottas;' Sauber. The rain was easing off again although the clouds overhead still looked sullen. Verstappen had lapped Leclerc and was pulling away from Russell and Norris. Albon pulled off the move of the day threading his way past Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon at the chicane to recover into the top ten on lap 32. It was looking close to a move to slicks although standing water at turns 1 and 2 was a still causing problems for many including a scare for Norris. Gasly took the bait and switched to hard tyres on lap 41. When he didn't immediately crash, it sparked a mass move to pit lane for the others. Verstappen and Russell stayed out until lap 46 while Norris attempted to overcut them by staying out two laps longer but just failed to pull it off. However once his tyres were up to temperature, Norris soon got past Russell when the Mercedes got unsettled by taking too much kerb. Just when things looked like settling, Perez lost the back of the Red Bull and damaged his rear wing on the barrier went into the wall while Sainz hit a wet patch at turn 6 and slid across the track to collected innocent bystander Albon, triggering a second safety car. Drivers took the opportunity to make a new visit to pit lane. The top four were all on mediums now as Verstappen led the restart on lap 59 while Norris opted to bide his time. Russell lost out to Piastri in turn 13 and promptly succumbed to his team mate Hamilton who was alone among the front runners on hard tyres. Hamilton proved his resurgence by pouncing on Piastri to move on to the podium, as Russell successfully struck back on Piastri. That left the two Mercedes battling each other with no team orders in effect meaning Russell was clear to press the attack and snatch P3 back on the penultimate lap. Verstappen was the clear winner by almost four seconds from Norris, Russell and Hamilton. Piastri was fifth ahead of Alonso and his Aston Martin team mate Lance Stroll, and Ricciardo recovered from his jump start to finish in eighth. His RB team mate Yuki Tsunoda had a late scare spinning off onto the grass at turn 9, and while he was able to resume he dropped out of the top ten allowing the two Alpines of Gasly and Ocon to collect the points bounty. For all their early heroics, Haas pair Hulkenberg and Magnussen just missed out. 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