Canadian GP Qualifying and times
World Cup 2022 Verstappen, outstanding leader
Around the 'porpoising' New express rule and why it could harm Mercedes
Giving everything in search of the first victory, brushing the walls, squeezing the battery, pressing to the limit, was not enough for
Carlos Sainz
, because ahead, less than a second, so close and so far,
Max Verstappen
was driving , a genius, a unique character, capable of withstanding 15 laps on the edge before crossing the finish line with his fifth World Cup victory.
A fantastic climax to this Canadian GP, where
Lewis Hamilton
added his second podium of the season and
Fernando Alonso
was unable to keep up with the pace of the best.
His seventh place has yet to be confirmed by the stewards, who will investigate a dangerous maneuver by the Spaniard against
Valtteri Bottas
.
Dealing with the blissful
porpoising
, sharpening the knife to hold on to the DRS zone, squeezing the Ferrari to come out with exact hairpin traction, Sainz put in his best.
But at each goal step, the pattern repeated itself.
Verstappen reached the last corner with a margin of just four tenths.
What firmness that of the current champion and what bravery that of the Madrilenian.
Until the last lap he saw himself with options, but then everything was lost due to a braking pass in the first sector that made him give up almost half a second.
"I tried everything," he admitted over the radio.
It was time for Carlos to silence the criticism with the consistency and regularity that Mattia Binotto
dazzled in his day
.
Since the lights went out, since he devoured Alonso on the third lap, he saw Verstappen's rear wing close by.
The premature appearance of
graining would
not disturb his spirits, scrambling like a beast behind the leader, while Alonso did quite a lot to stay out of Hamilton's reach.
If anyone needed one more incentive, Sergio Pérez
's engine failure
on the ninth lap further stirred up the hornet's nest.
Verstappen and Hamilton, hampered by tire degradation, took the opportunity to mount the hard compound.
Esteban Ocon
was unable to hinder the Briton too much and Alonso was also unable to oppose anything against the Red Bull leader.
"It will not be easy to go to a single stop," predicted Sainz, a Ferrari banner on the afternoon that
Charles Leclerc
had to be patient.
From the penultimate step of the grid, he climbed the steps with clinical neatness.
He did not even lose his cool against notoriously inferior opponents, such as
Nicholas Latifi
or
Valtteri Bottas
.
Sainz's prediction was tempered by the second
virtual safety car
, triggered by a
Mick Schumacher
breakage on lap nineteen.
While the Haas was being retired, Ferrari had enough time to call their driver.
Too bad Alpine lacked a few seconds with Alonso, who was already struggling to maintain a decent pace.
He couldn't sneak in through that window and that's where his options ended.
On this circuit, dotted with very slow sections and long straights, success depended on good traction at the exit of each corner, coupled with top speed.
Sainz's car had both virtues, so, having crossed the halfway point of the test, the time sheet began to attest to it.
He had been filing the disadvantage below even seven seconds when on lap 44, Red Bull urgently summoned his driver.
"Why didn't you make sure I was ahead?" Verstappen snorted when he saw Hamilton's slipstream.
He did not give the seven-time champion an inch, with the events of Abu Dhabi 2021 still on the surface, although it would be worth little.
Mad Max
was flying over the asphalt and not even an adverse stroke of luck was going to upset him.
It was on lap 49 that
Yuki Tsunoda
crashed into the turn 2 guards, making way for the
safety car
that Ferrari fantasized about.
Riccardo Adami
, his track engineer, sent a message of encouragement to Sainz: "You were faster than him during the last relay."
When the race resumed, with 15 laps to the checkered flag, the Spaniard was riding tires six laps younger.
Alonso, sixth behind Ocon, would soon have to give way to Leclerc.
As he had anticipated on Friday, this A522 could not fight with the Mercedes either.
Following Alpine's mandate, the Spaniard did not bother his garage mate during the final laps.
And a couple of erratic maneuvers that could have hindered Bottas even compromised his seventh place finish.
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Max Verstappen
Fernando Alonso
Carlos Sainz Jr.
Sergio Perez
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes GP
Red Bull Racing