'Careless mistakes' for British drivers makes the difference to Verstappen

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Highest mark for Verstappen after Canadian Grand Prix
10 June at 16:30

In changeable conditions, the best drivers always come out on top. It was no different at the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen emerged victorious, but there were more drivers who left a good impression. These are the ratings from GPblog.

GPblog Ratings after Canadian Grand Prix

Verstappen: 10

Max Verstappen did not seem to have the best car at any point in Canada, yet the Dutchman was still able to secure victory. It shows that Verstappen can keep his cool in all conditions and is able to always get the most out of his car. This was most evident on the final restart, where Verstappen raced almost two seconds away from Norris in one lap in damp conditions on dry weather tyres.

Norris: 9

Lando Norris was somewhat unlucky with the timing of the safety car, as at that point, he had just pulled away from Verstappen by over 10 seconds. The Briton still had a chance of victory, but Verstappen was too strong at the restart. By not staying within DRS distance, Norris squandered his chance of victory.

Russell: 8

George Russell was fast and eager in Canada, but the Briton made some careless mistakes in the process. For instance, he wasted his last qualifying lap on fresh rubber, gave away the race lead with a moment in the race and took too much risk in duel with Piastri. The fact Russell felt after the race that a victory would have been possible said it all.

Hamilton: 5

Lewis Hamilton was critical of himself after the Canadian Grand Prix. He had been beaten by his teammate not for the first time this year, but this time it was about more significant places. Hamilton now wants to make sure he gets his head right, but is that too late?

Piastri: 6

Oscar Piastri was again close to his teammate in qualifying and fought out a nice duel with George Russell at the end of the race. Yet the Australian was once again unable to keep his tyres in one piece for as long as his teammate.

Alonso: 7

A solid performance from Fernando Alonso, who particularly impressed by keeping the much faster Hamilton behind for many laps.

Stroll: 6

Lance Stroll had a tidy weekend. He was able to stay close to Alonso all weekend in front of his own crowd.

Ricciardo: 7

Daniel Ricciardo set out to silence his critics, especially Jacques Villeneuve, this weekend. He succeeded with a strong qualifying and reasonable race. The false start was a blemish on an otherwise decent race weekend, though.

Gasly: 6

Pierre Gasly was gifted P9 by his teammate but also had the most claim to it given the course of the whole weekend.

Ocon: 5

Esteban Ocon grumbled a bit all weekend. In qualifying, he complained about a heavier car and, after the race, about a team order from Alpine. The question is how long this relationship will remain intact.

Hulkenberg: 6

A daring move on full wets did not turn out well, but Nico Hulkenberg still came close to the points. The German particularly impressed by avoiding Tsunoda after his spin.

Magnussen: 6

Kevin Magnussen was faster than his teammate in qualifying and showed good overtaking on the full wets. Then, partly due to some strategic choices by the team, the Dane dropped back into the quagmire of midfield.

Bottas: 6

A colourless weekend for Valtteri Bottas, who just cannot manage to finish in the points with his team, even in such a crazy weekend.

Tsunoda: 4

Yuki Tsunoda could have shown in Canada why he deserves Perez's seat, but with a kamikaze move, he lost control of his car and, with it, precious points for the team.

Zhou: 2

A dramatic weekend for Guanyu Zhou, who managed to crash in two free practice sessions. In qualifying and the race, there was then zero momentum.

Sainz: 4

Carlos Sainz could not make a big impact in Canada. In the race, he was surprisingly slow, especially considering his teammate was so much slower due to an engine problem. In the closing stages of the race, Sainz made matters worse with a spin, returning to the track and contact with Albon, only to spin on the grass.

Albon: 6

Alexander Albon looked to be on his way to good points for Williams, but simply chose the wrong side when Sainz spun. A matter of luck that Sainz came back onto the track on his side, of all places. Albon had no where to go.

Perez: 1

There is no excuse for not getting through Q1 twice in a row with a Red Bull Racing car. Verstappen was on track at the same time, driving almost a second faster than Perez. In the race, Perez barely passed a driver and to make matters worse, he crashed. With considerable damage, he drove to the pits, for which the team received a hefty fine and Perez a grid penalty for the Spanish GP. Truly nothing went right for the Mexican.

Leclerc: 5

Charles Leclerc thought it was fine that his team wanted to bring him in. Nothing was going well for Ferrari and Leclerc. The Monegasque also had to deal with an engine with 80hp less power and, to make matters worse, was also put on slicks too early. It was clearly not Leclerc's weekend.

Sargeant: 3

In a weekend that Logan Sargeant was so under the magnifying glass, he failed to impress at all. In qualifying, the American was still somewhat close to his colleague and actually got through to Q2. In the race, however, things went wrong. First, Sargeant lost many places by going straight on and hitting the wall. Then, however, he was still able to continue his way. Later in the race, it was still over when he hit the wall harder.

GPblog Ratings after Canadian GP