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The 2023 F1 Canadian Grand Prix produced some exciting racing and incredible on-track drama with Max Verstappen securing yet another win for Red Bull, further extending his lead in the championship to 195 points. After a poor start to the weekend, Sergio Perez was eliminated in Q2 on Saturday and only managed to make it up to sixth place in the main race.
Despite this, the Mexican remains second in the championship standings, although Fernando Alonso, who secured his sixth podium of the 2023 F1 season this weekend, is quickly catching up. A mere nine points now separate the two drivers in the championship.
Mercedes had a mixed weekend in Canada, with Lewis Hamilton securing his second consecutive podium of the season in P3, while George Russell's race came to an end early after the Briton hit the wall on lap 55.
With this, while Hamilton strengthened his fourth-place position in the F1 standings, George Russell once again fell back to sixth after losing his position to Carlos Sainz, who made a decent recovery from eleventh to fifth this weekend.
In a post-race media interaction, the Spaniard was happy with the progress made by Ferrari in terms of competitiveness and strategy. He said:
"It's a pity about qualy yesterday because I think we could have been in the mix with Aston Martin. We will try and be better next time but at least today the feeling with the car today was good."
"We nailed the strategy today. We are making progress but our competitiveness depends circuit by circuit. Coming here we knew we would be stronger because of the layout. Let's see when we go to Austria how everything feels. So, at least here we were definitely one step ahead than Barcelona."
Charles Leclerc came out right in front of his teammate and remains seventh in the championship. The Monegasque made the same progress as his teammate in terms of race results and was satisfied with the points given his starting position.
He said:
"Considering where we started from, it was the best we could have done today. We did a good job."
"The good feeling I had on Friday in the race simulations was confirmed today. The compounds we used, we were quite competitive with. So some positives to take."
Further down, Alex Albon was voted driver of the day after the Williams driver scored significant championship points with an impressive P7 finish at the 2023 F1 Canadian Grand Prix. With seven points to his name, he stands twelfth in the drivers' standings.
In a post-race media interaction, Albon was visibly thrilled with the result and lauded his team for the progress made. He said:
"We have made a step forward and everyone has done such an amazing job. Two weeks ago, I was at the factory and I don't want to call it a crisis but we were quite low on parts."
2023 F1 Driver Standings after the Canadian GP
