The water allows the hands of a pilot to work ‘miracles’ and in those conditions Fernando Alonso showed on Saturday that at 40 years old he can still make a difference. But on Sunday the sun came out in the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve of Montreal and the magic remained a mirage. The Spanish fans had to rub their eyes watching two Spaniards, Alonso and Carlos Sainz at the head of a starting grid led, of course, by Max Verstappen. The Dutchman, practically impregnable in the last five Grands Prix of Formula 1 (he only gave in in Monaco to be third), gave another masterclass in tire management and strategy and took his sixth victory of the season, leaving a great Sainz with ‘honey on the lips’, while Fernando finished seventh.
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Max, who is leaving Canada as the leader, did not flinch when after the time trial Fernando, half jokingly half seriously, promised to pass him at the start. Realistic, aware that Red Bull’s pace is much higher, the Spaniard lowered his euphoria: “Even if I succeeded, then Max would return it to me, our actual position is 5th to 7th” he said. She nailed it.
At the moment of truth, the champion starred in another brilliant start while the two Spaniards paired up and hamilton Y Magnussen they came to touch. Sainz pulled DRS to overtake Alonso but the Spaniard kept his with the Madrid native to contain Hamilton.
Red Bull alarm
Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc began their particular ride to try to come back from the bottom of the grid, but in only eight laps the Mexican set off the alarms at Red Bull when he reported engine problems. The ‘ghosts’ of reliability thus returned to the energy drink team, which began the World Cup with a painful double retirement in Bahrain.
The virtual ‘safety car’ for the KO of Pérez with 60 laps to go led to the first stop for Verstappen and Hamilton, while Sainz and Alonso were still on the track and provisionally in front. Max overtook Fernando like a ‘plane’, but the picture changed again with the abandonment of Mike Schumacher. The appearance of the second safety car, with 50 laps to go, presented itself as an excellent opportunity for the two Spaniards.
wrong strategy
Sainz did not hesitate, but Alonso opted for a strategy different and difficult to understand. He remained on the track as the only driver still on a medium tire, when everyone was already riding hard. speeds much higher.
Verstappen was leading ahead of Sainz, 9 seconds behind, but with newer tires than the Dutchman, which predicted an exciting finish between the two. Hamilton, Alonso and Russell completed the top five, while Leclerc, who had been recovering 12 positions (7th) saved ‘in extremis’ an accident on the wall of the champions. Alonso had to rectify and stopped on lap 29, losing 17 seconds and returning to the track in seventh position.
Long-distance race
With half a race to go, Sainz, very solid and in ‘hammer mode’, was gradually approaching Verstappen, trusting that the greater degradation of the current World Cup leader would allow him to ‘chase’ him. “Box, box & rdquor ;. Verstappen stopped with 26 laps to go and Carlos ‘inherited’ the first position. But the bad news for Sainz came in the form of widespread ‘graining’.
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The Ferrari had ‘free’ stop with the third safety car, due to Tsunoda’s accident, although he lost the position again with Max, who without further setbacks headed for his sixth victory of the season. Sainz’s intense pressure in the final laps went unrewarded and the Madrid native finished second, which is also his fifth podium finish of the season.
Mercedes confirmed that it has taken a step forward, still insufficient to challenge Red Bull and Ferrari. All in all, Hamilton celebrated his second podium in 2022 and left behind his uneasy traveling companion, George Russell, who finished fourth. Leclerc minimized ‘damage’ in fifth position and Alonso had to settle for seventh, surpassed by his teammate Stephen Oconwhich Alpine asked not to attack.