Canadian Grand Prix 2023: Verstappen takes his fourth-straight race, Albon delivers a masterful drive for Williams

It is race day in Montreal.

After a wet qualifying Saturday shook up the field somewhat, drivers are facing much drier conditions for the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix. Is this the day that one of the teams breaks the Red Bull streak at the top of the grid, as either Max Verstappen or Sergio Pérez has won every race this season? Or does that streak roll on, likely with pole-sitter Verstappen securing his fourth-straight victory?

Qualifying finished on Saturday with a surprising driver slated to start next to Verstappen on the front row: Nico Hülkenberg of Haas. But with race officials handing down a three-place grid penalty to the Haas driver for his failure to maintain the required pace on a red flag, Verstappen will now start alongside Fernando Alonso, with the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell making up the row behind him.

Here is the starting grid for today’s race:

The race gets underway at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, and here are all the ways you can watch, including the debut of The Grandstand, an alternate telecast with current Red Bull reserve Daniel Ricciardo, and actor (and F1 fanatic) Will Arnett hosting.

We’ll be back at race time with live updates, so come back early, and often!

Update 4:06: Here is the final classification from F1:

So, that will do it for today’s Canadian Grand Prix. Thanks to all of you who followed along, and thanks again to our wonderful partners at Michelob Ultra. Let’s do it again in two weeks with the Austrian Grand Prix, shall we?

Update 3:51: Verstappen and Hamilton are chatting ahead of the podium ceremony, and Hamilton admits “we suck in the low-speed corners.”

Update 3:46: Alonso speaks trackside about the battle with Hamilton. “I didn’t have one lap where I could relax a little bit. It was a great battle.” He calls it a very “demanding” race.

With his result he has pushed even closer to Pérez in the battle for second in the Drivers’ standings. He is now just eight points behind Pérez.

Hamilton notes that the Aston Martins “took a bit of a step ahead” this week with their upgrades. He also pays tribute to the crowd, as it is “such a great crowd when we come here year-after-year.”

Hamilton calls the podium “quite an honor” to be up there with two world champions. “We knew this weekend wouldn’t be our strongest circuit” as they struggle in the lower-speed corners. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to add rear downforce to the car ... I think our paces were a little bit closer today, so I think we’re going in the right direction.

Update 3:45: Verstappen trackside calls it a “very straight-forward race.” He notes that the 100th win for Red Bull is “amazing ... today has been a great day again.”

Verstappen adds “we won, that’s the most important.” He also pays tribute to the fans: “They are so passionate about the sport ... we love coming here and hopefully we can do this for a long time.”

Update 3:42: Pérez’s decision to pit for the set of soft tyres pays off, as he does indeed post the fastest lap of the Grand Prix, earning that extra point.

As you might expect, fans have voted Alex Albon as the driver of the day with his seventh-place finish.

Update 3:41: Hamilton tells the team “let’s keep this consistency up” as he notches P3.

For Alonso that is six podiums in eight grands prix this year.

Update 3:38: It’s Verstappen across the line to take the checkered flag. It is his fourth-straight victory this season, and he matches Ayrton Senna’s mark of 41 career victories, and it is Red Bull’s 100th victory in F1.

Verstappen is just 25 years old.

Alonso comes across second, Hamilton in third.

Leclerc, Sainz, Perez, Albon, Ocon, Norris and Stroll round out the top ten for the moment. Norris and Ocon go wheel-to-wheel over the hairpin and into the final chicane.

Norris gets dropped to P13 after his penalty, and Bottas slides into the points.

Update 3:36: Pérez pits for a set of softs to take a run at the fastest lap.

Update 3:34: Norris notes that the rear wing of Ocon is very loose, and the F1TV cameras show just how loose that is on Ocon’s Alpine. Will the black and orange flag wave?

Of course, part if this is an appeal from Norris to help him move up the field ...

Update 3:30: Norris is able to get past Bottas for P9 at the hairpin. The McLaren driver rolls the dice, but makes the overtake stick. Now he’ll have to try and push head to build that buffer over Bottas and Stroll behind him. As Palmer notes in the commentary booth, he’s “got nothing to lose” given the penalty coming his way.

Verstappen leads by 7.7 seconds over Alonso, and Hamilton now trails Alonso by nearly three seconds. Looks like the podium is set.

Update 3:27: Norris is running out of time to build that buffer over Stroll. Norris leads Stroll by under one second, with a five-second penalty coming his way.

Albon remains in P7.

Alonso is told that Hamilton is 1.9 seconds behind. “Copy, leave it to me” responds the veteran driver. Classic Alonso.

Update 3:25: Hamilton is told by his team that Alonso is battling a rear-brake issue. That could open the door for Hamilton to challenge for P2. Hamilton is just 1.685 seconds behind Alonso.

Update 3:23: Verstappen has “one hand on the trophy” notes Alex Jacques in the F1TV commentary booth, as he has built a commanding lead over Alonso with ten laps remaining. The battles to watch are between Alonso and Hamilton for P2, and then the fight among Albon, Ocon, Bottas, Norris, and Stroll at the back of the top ten.

Update 3:21: Here is the current top ten:

Verstappen
Alonso
Hamilton
Leclerc
Sainz
Pérez
Albon
Ocon
Bottas
Norris

Norris does have a five-second penalty coming his way, so he needs to build a buffer over Stroll who is just 1.6 second behind him in P11, if Norris wants to stay in the points.

Update 3:18: Russell has a problem, and his team tells him that they have to retire the car due to a brake issue.

Update 3:16: A bit of a DRS train has formed between Albon, Russell, Ocon, Bottas and Norris, ranging from Albon in P7 to Norris in P11. Albon does not have DRS because the gap from him to Pérez is over 17 seconds, but Albon’s straight-line speed is enough to hold off Russell.

Update 3:14: Verstappen is now out to a six-second lead over Alonso. The gap between Alonso and Hamilton for P2 is around 2.912 seconds.

Update 3:12: Russell more-or-less confirms Albon’s straight-line speed:

Update 3:11: Russell is putting all sorts of pressure on Albon for P7. Williams tells Albon that he “has the straight-line speed” to hold Russell off for now.

Update 3:09: Alonso has his eyes on the front, it seems.

He asks his team “[t]ell me when lift and coast is ok, I want to stop doing it...I want to win the race mate.”

Aston Martin wants him to cruise into the corners and save fuel, but Alonso wants to keep pushing.

Update 3:08: Verstappen, Hamilton, Pérez, Bottas, and Magnussen are the only drivers on the track using mediums. Every other driver is on a set of hards. Those drivers are in P1, P3, P6, P10 and P18, respectively.

Update 3:06: Hamilton just posted the fastest lap of the Grand Prix on his fresh set of mediums.

Update 3:04: On Lap 44, here is the top ten with each compound being used.

Verstappen: Medium
Alonso: Hard
Hamilton: Medium
Leclerc: Hard
Sainz: Hard
Pérez: Medium
Albon: Hard
Russell: Hard
Ocon: Hard
Bottas: Medium

Update 3:03: Verstappen pulls in for his second stop and exits on a set of mediums. He comes back out still in P1. “Expert stuff from Red Bull” says Jolyon Palmer in the F1TV commentary box.

Update 3:02: Alonso pits on Lap 42, and exits with a set of hard tyres.

Russell, after dropping all the way back to P19 after his earlier mishap, is now up into P8.

Update 3:01: Hamilton dips into the pits on Lap 41 and makes the switch to a set of medium tyres. He gets back on the track still in P3.

Update 2:59: We are on Lap 40, and here is your current top ten:

Verstappen
Alonso
Hamilton
Leclerc
Sainz
Albon
Pérez
Russell
Ocon
Bottas

Sainz is coming into the pits.

Update 2:57: Norris avoided one penalty for an unsafe release, but could not avoid another for “unsportsmanlike behavior.” He now faces a five-second penalty, but has half the race to build a buffer over that five seconds:

Update 2:55: We are on Lap 37 and with some pit stops taking place, Russell is back into the points, running in P9.

Verstappen now leads Alonso by over five seconds.

Update 2:53: Contact between de Vries and Magnussen for an extended period, and both cars are off the track at Turn 3 and the yellow flat is out. That opens the door for Russell to storm back into P12 after his earlier mishap.

Update 2:50: As Verstappen builds his lead to five seconds over Alonso, he tells his team that the grip is “getting better.”

He’s a robot. We’ve established this.

Update 2:49: To get a sense of how dominant Verstappen has been the past few grands prix, consider what we might see in a few laps:

Is that good? I’m being told that is good.

Update 2:48: Verstappen tells Red Bull that he is starting to lose grip in his hard tyres.

Update 2:47: Verstappen has extended his lead over Alonso to almost four seconds here on Lap 30. So, yeah.

Update 2:45: Sainz and Ferrari are planning on staying out for at least a little while longer, per their radio transmission.

Update 2:44: Stroll comes in and takes on a new set of hard tyres.

Update 2:41: The Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Sainz are still in P4 and P5, respectively, and running on 26-lap old medium tyres. Leclerc is told by the team that Sainz “will not attack,” and the plan is to keep things “clean” so they can maximize this run on the medium compound.

With Ferrari just 9 laps away from getting to the halfway point, the plan is probably for the team to make this a one-stop race.

Update 2:39: A number of drivers have been cleared by race stewards for potential unsafe exits out of the pits, including Hamilton and Norris, according to F1 journalist Albert Fabrega:

Update 2:36: Verstappen is extending his lead over Hamilton, which is now 2.315 seconds. The battle right now is between Hamilton and Alonso for P2, and Alonso gets past the Mercedes for P2 at the chicane prior to the start/finish line, and the Aston Martin driver maintains P2 through the turns at 1 and 2.

Update 2:34: Norris makes a very impressive move around Magnussen at Turn 1 to push into P9.

Update 2:33: Of the 19 cars on the track, 17 are running on the hard compound. Only the Ferrari duo of Sainz and Leclerc are on the mediums, and remember they have yet to make a pit stop today.

Update 2:31: F1TV shows a replay of Norris making an aggressive move to the inside of his teammate at the hairpin to get himself into P10. Norris might also be facing a penalty for an unsafe release out of pit land while the field was under the safety car, so every second counts for the McLaren driver.

Update 2:30: Lap 17 finishes with Verstappen building an advantage of over one second over Hamilton, and Verstappen’s lap is the fastest of the day so far.

Teammates Norris and Piastri are locked in a battle for P10 further back.

Update 2:29: The green flag is back out on Lap 17. Verstappen maintains his lead, and the front of the field works through Turns 1 and 2 cleanly.

Update 2:27: The safety car is still out on the track. All drivers have made pit stops but for Leclerc, Sainz, Perez, Magnussen, and Bottas. Those drivers are currently running P4 through P8, respectively.

Update 2:20: The safety car is out after Russell clips the wall and suffers damage to the front wing and the right-rear corner. He’s forced to pit and is back out on the track, albeit at the back of the pack in P19.

The top five under the safety car are as follows:

Verstappen
Hamilton
Alonso
Leclerc
Sainz

Update 2:16: The virtual safety car is out after Sargeant experiences a failure:

Update 2:02: The Grand Prix is underway and Verstappen maintains his lead. Hamilton gets past Alonso for second.

Update 1:42: Things are about to get underway in Montreal which can only mean one thing.

Opening titles!

Listen, we stick to traditions around here.

Pre-race updates
(All times Eastern)

Update 1:28: We are getting closer to race time:

Update 11:32: As noted by Race Fans, officials have altered the new barrier installed at Turn 1. Prior to the start of the week, race officials had installed a large concrete barrier at Turn 1, forcing drivers to either driver through the grass, or find another way to rejoin the track after Turn 2, rather than driving through a stretch of asphalt run-off.

Ahead of today’s Grand Prix, officials have shortened that barrier, giving drivers a small patch of asphalt to use if they miss Turn 1 and need to get back on the track.

Update 10:55: F1 journalist Albert Fabrega shares the potential tyre strategies from Pirelli, as well as each driver’s remaining allocation of compounds, ahead of today’s Grand Prix:

You see both one- and two-stop strategies, and while tyre degradation is always an issue, Saturday’s rain could open the door to even more tyre wear in today’s Grand Prix, which could shake things up a bit.

Pirelli looked at the potential options for each team ahead of today’s Grand Prix:

We’ll see how teams approach these various options in a few short hours.