Verstappen beat Sainz in the tight end and Alonso, no luck

Max Verstappen succeeded then Carlos Sainz. It was in front of him the Spaniard. He believed in it and fought for it. He fought for everything he had. He wants to achieve a new Spanish victory in F1 9 years, a month and 7 days after the last victory of Fernando Alonso. I want to end that wait. Sa Monaco 2021 he was left with honey on his lips afterwards gasly. A lap and history again. Sa Monaco 2022 he was left with none of his first win because of the seconds he lost after the double (Latifi). This should be it. Carlos wants it to be charm. Sa MaranelloIn Leclerc on a large scale, the pressure has grown in recent months. Italy fans also need Carlos Sainz to win. This is what the shield demands on his chest. And the Spaniard, who had to fight from the start of the course with a car that didn’t suit his driving, took steps forward until he reached this Canadian GP with real options to fight Max. I could win. I wanted to do this this Sunday to send a message of strength. But it confronted him. 0 “993 he was only away from achieving it, the distance he took Verstappen to win andl Canadian F1 GP 2022, with Sainz 2nd and Hamilton 3rd.

Strategic battle from the beginning

The race is a pure strategic battle. In a circuit where there is a high probability of ‘Safety Car’ coming out, taking advantage of the opportunities generated by the madness of Canada This will be key to the final result.

Max Verstappen He flew like an airplane, he knew he had to flee the first few meters to try to get away sainz. Carlos, who started third, stayed behind Alonso (2nd), but on lap 3 the man from Madrid caught up with his compatriot and started his chase about 3 seconds behind. Max. In previous races, Max has shown more speed and less damage, but in Canada Sainz holds the champion’s wrist and Verstappen began to suffer before the wheels. That’s how Verstappen took advantage of a virtual ‘Safety Car’ to stop Pérez’s departure due to a reliability problem. So did Hamilton to go the same approach as Max. Not so with Sainz, who took the lead in an Alonso who also didn’t stop.

“Max Attack”they told him on the radio sainz. Carlos pushed, but the tires would start to weaken and on lap 20, Sainz had to stop exploiting in the second. ‘Virtual Safety Car’ of career. The same virtual safety vehicle completely left Alonso, as the Virtual era ended before Fernando wanted to enter. He decided to stay without changing tires, extend his stint, but the tires began to fail and went from fighting for the podium with many options, to fighting for sixth place with Leclerc at the end of the race.

The last ‘Safety Car’ changed everything

Verstappen he stopped the first virtual and therefore Sainz had a younger tire. He can get to the end, while Max has to stop once more. sainz He cut the differences and the Dutchman suffered on his wheels. With 25 laps left, the world champion stopped for the last time and 10 seconds behind Carlos. Max he had the race in his hands, because with his new tires he cut a lot of ground from the Spanish, successive laps. A safety vehicle can rescue Carlos. Luck owes him. And he arrived after his engineer told him on the radio that he would stop him if there was a safety vehicle. It was fulfilled. Carlos stopped, left the lead but started second after Verstappen with wheels 6 laps younger. The race will continue as Max and Carlos stick together, fighting non-stop, one by one. This is the great opportunity Sainz has been waiting for. One who fought big for his first victory in F1. And he went for it.

15 chase laps to Max

The appointment was resumed with 15 more laps. Max and Sainz gave it their all, including the knife between their teeth. Sainz was able to stay within a second by the time DRS kicked in a few laps later. And when this happened, Carlos went to Max. He tried it on the final chicane, on the last stretch of the Canadian track, on lap 57, after painting his time purple. He passed Max very close in front of the Wall of Champions and tried again at the straight end, but Verstappen well defended his booty. From there, the psychological struggle is overwhelming. Carlos walked away a little, but he just sighed. In the absence of 6 turns hit again. Carlos pressed relentlessly, but Verstappen did not fail. The end was the closest thing to Monza 2020, when Carlos was closer than ever to winning by chasing Pierre Gasly. But this time the difference is huge: before him is the champion with a very fast Red Bull.

In the absence of 5 turns, Carlos is still at 0 ”6. I still tried but Verstappen He was always able to keep those key meters so that the Spaniards could not get the car into him. Verstappen succeeded. Sainz remained at the gate. Hamilton was 3rd to benefit from the strategy against Russell, who was 4th, who continued his spectacular run as the lone driver to finish in this year’s Top-5. Leclerc was 5th with two final overtakes in the two Alpines, that of Ocon (6th) and an Alonso (7th) who didn’t understand why Alpine didn’t let him attack Esteban in the end. “I was 100 times faster than him this weekend,” he replied. Yes, true, but a ‘Virtual Safety Car’ ended his career and benefited Ocon and many of his opponents. Fernando did everything to get to the box but wanted luck to take that candy from him when he started to believe that the podium was possible.

Verstappen, more leader

With his win and Leclerc’s fifth position and the abandonment of Pérez due to a mistake in his car, Max Verstappen scored 175 points, 46 more than Pérez and 49 more than Charles.