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The 2023 F1 Canadian GP saw Max Verstappen level Ayrton Senna's record of 41 career wins in a race that was surprisingly competitive from the beginning. After rain played a crucial role in providing action on Saturday, the race on Sunday was run in dry conditions and still delivered.
While we had Max Verstappen on top of the podium, there was Fernando Alonso in P2 followed by Lewis Hamilton in P3. George Russell had a horror race as he made contact with the wall and subsequently retired later in the race while the Ferrari duo finished P4 and P5 after gambling on a single-stop race.
After 70 laps of racing in the 2023 F1 Canadian GP where, unlike the rest of the races this season, Max Verstappen did not win by a 30-second margin, what were the key takeaways? Well, let's find out.
#5 Albon, Norris, and Piastri deserve a special mention
The Thai racer put together another impressive drive in the Williams. Aided by the fact that both Esteban Ocon and George Russell were struggling with damaged cars, he did get a bit lucky. But if you consider the fact that his teammate is once again nowhere close to him in performance, then you have to give him credit.
Norris, on the other hand, would be gutted at the silly antics during the safety car period because this was another impressive race from him. Similarly, Oscar Piastri should be overall happy with the 2023 F1 Canadian GP. He was more or less on pace with Norris and just needs to continue to make improvements to get closer.
#4 The 'No.2' drivers got a serious reality check in the 2023 F1 Canadian GP
Sergio Perez in Red Bull, Lance Stroll in Aston Martin, and George Russell in Mercedes got a serious reality check this weekend. Stroll secured P9 while Alonso was P2. Perez was P6 while Verstappen won, and finally, George Russell did not finish the race after making contact with the wall.
Perez and his hopes of fighting for a title almost appear to be a joke of some kind now, as the Mexican can't even reach Q3 these days. Stroll has been the dead weight that Aston Martin has to overcome if it needs to be successful. Finally, Russell is slowly starting to become the driver that Mercedes loses confidence in as a successor of Lewis Hamilton.
The young Mercedes driver started the season, but race after race, you can see that Lewis has him covered. For the German team, these performances will only push the team more towards finalizing the deal with Lewis, as George is just not proving to be the leverage that he was originally thought to be.
#3 Ferrari cannot continue to turn up to races with an unprepared strategic unit
Ferrari's pace during the 2023 F1 Canadian GP surprised everyone as, for a change, the car was not struggling for race pace. Unlike the race in Barcelona, where both drivers chewed through their tires at an alarming rate, this did not happen in Montreal and the team executed a one-stopper brilliantly.
Once again though, if the team will look back on this weekend, there will be a level of frustration. Qualifying sessions of both drivers were compromised by how the team handled the strategy and made a joke out of everything.
While there are certainly positives to take out of the 2023 F1 Canadian GP, one can't deny that Ferrari once again underachieved in the race.
#2 There was something beautiful about the Fernando Alonso-Lewis Hamilton battle
Lewis Hamilton got the jump on Fernando Alonso at the start of the 2023 F1 Canadian GP. What followed next was the brilliance of two generational talents going hammer and tongs against each other throughout the race. First, it was the Spaniard hustling the Mercedes driver, ultimately making the move on him.
Then, we had Hamilton attacking Alonso in the later stages of the race as the Spaniard struggled with issues on his rear brakes. In the 2023 F1 Canadian GP, we saw two drivers close to 40 years of age showing the entire grid how to execute a race. For every other driver, this has to be a lesson for sure.
#1 Was Max Verstappen maintaining his pace or did the top 4 catch up?
One of the biggest issues with Max Verstappen is that he makes it look far too easy. You look at the 2023 F1 Canadian GP race weekend from his perspective, then you see a weekend where he secures pole position by 1.3 seconds, drives off on the first lap, and is never challenged after that.
In all of this, what is forgotten is that another very good driver in Sergio Perez struggled his way to a P6 finish in the same car. And it's not as if he ran the race in traffic. This was Checo's race pace in clear air. Hence, to answer the question, Red Bull might have seen rivals close down the gap in the 2023 F1 Canadian GP.
It might have been due to the conditions but we need to see a few more races to make an educated judgement about this.
