Red Bull: Max Verstappen claims 60th career win while Sergio Pérez retires in Canada

    Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool

    Max Verstappen was back to winning ways at the Canadian Grand Prix while teammate Sergio Pérez was forced to retire for a second consecutive race.

    Verstappen claimed the 60th race win of his Formula 1 career after starting the race P2 in largely wet conditions at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.

    The Dutchman was involved in a close-fought battle with Mercedes' George Russell and McLaren's Lando Norris, with each driver leading the race at different stages.

    Two safety cars kept things close, with a smart putting decision under the second allowing Verstappen to go from intermediate to medium tyres and beat Norris out at the end of the pit lane, gaining a lead that he did not relinquish again.

    Speaking after the win, Verstappen said: "It was a pretty crazy race, a lot of things were happening and we had to be on top of our calls."

    "I think, as a team, we did really well today. We remained calm, I think we pitted at the right time."

    "Of course, the safety car worked out nicely for us but even after that we were managing the gaps quite well."

    "Yeah, I love it, that was a lot of fun. Those kind of races, you need them once in a while."

    Talking about the battle with Russell and Norris, Verstappen commented: "Yeah [they took it to me], in different stages of the race as well, so it was a lot of fun out there."

    Pérez, however, had another day to forget as he was forced to retire after 53 laps courtesy of a collision with a barrier.

    The 34-year-old started the race in P16 after another poor showing in qualifying, failing to reach Q2 in back-to-back races.

    He had qualified P18 but was bumped up two places as Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were made to start from the pit lane due to changes made to their cars under Parc Fermé.

    Pérez had climbed the grid during the race, reaching P13 before spinning out in Lap 53, sliding backwards into the barrier and damaging his rear wing beyond repair.

    This means that the Red Bull driver, who recently signed a new contract with the team, has failed to finish in consecutive races, with damage to his car in both, missing out on the points.

    Despite Pérez's DNF, with both Ferrari drivers also retiring, Verstappen has extended both his and Red Bull's respective leads in the standings. Verstappen now sits on 194 points, 56 ahead of Charles Leclerc, while Red Bull now have 301 - 49 ahead of Ferrari.

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