Max Verstappen
Every Formula 1 driver who can win his 41st Grand Prix in this millennium knows what makes this brand special, because that is the number of successes that Ayrton Senna was able to achieve. The Brazilian, who died in 1994, needed 148 races, Verstappen 170. However, the Dutchman reached fifth place in the all-time list at the age of 25, nine years earlier than Senna. And if you take the current form, it won’t stay that way. Even third place, currently occupied by Sebastian Vettel with 53 victories, is theoretically possible this season, there are still 14 races to go. World championship leader Verstappen is there to the point, adapting to all conditions. He only had to survive two seconds of shock on the Ile de Notre-Dame. Once his Red Bull racing car collided with a bird, once he jumped over a curb in such a way that he radioed to the pits: “I almost shot myself out.” Then to have a fit of laughter.
Christian Horner
When the Brit took over the newly founded Red Bull team in 2005, only insiders of British single-seater racing knew him. The 49-year-old is now the longest-serving team boss in Formula 1 and is celebrating the 100th Grand Prix victory with his racing team. The otherwise merciless manager also has feelings: “I still remember our first victory in China in 2009 with Sebastian Vettel and the fact that we were already happy to have won a race at all. A hundred wins is therefore an unbelievable achievement.” Red Bull is now number five in the all-time standings for the racing teams, Dinosaur Williams in fourth has 114 wins. And this season has 114 races left. Quote Max Verstappen: “Our next goal is 200!”
Fernando Alonso
Second on the starting grid, second at the finish. It was another strong performance from Fernando Alonso and the result also showed that the technical upgrades to the Aston Martin are working. The Spaniard didn’t really like the fact that he was almost ten seconds behind the winner Verstappen, so he had to postpone his goal for the time being: “I hope that we can annoy Max a bit with this car.” The surprise of the season wants to minimize the gap to two seconds. It’s not easy, but it doesn’t seem impossible. The wave of positive energy continued to swell, and at the drivers’ parade the 41-year-old even formed little hearts for the audience with his fingers. He regained the place he lost at the start against Hamilton, then stood on the podium for the sixth time this season and rejoiced: “That’s twice as often as in the last six years.” In no other phase of his career has he had as much fun as he does right now. Corona!
Lewis Hamilton
The formation drive of the three world champions in the current Formula 1 field led first to the podium in Canada and then to a sofa for a talk show. Record champion Hamilton paid tribute to colleagues Verstappen and Alonso, each with two titles: “It’s an iconic lap. I feel it’s a privilege to sit here.” Day winner Verstappen, who is heading for his title hat-trick, was also in a good mood. He told his sofa neighbors: “I’m sure the other two would like to swap places, but I’m quite happy here in the middle.” The technical changes on Hamilton’s Mercedes have proven their worth, the form of machine and man is on the rise. “We’re definitely getting closer,” said the Briton, “you can feel the fresh energy in the whole team. We’ve got land in sight again.” The message behind it is clear: now the development race begins.
Nico Hulkenberg
With the Haas-Ferrari, the Formula 1 returnee from Emmerich was one of the beneficiaries of the qualifying chaos in Montreal, when the result was heavily influenced by the whims of the rainy weather. Originally second, Hulkenberg lost the position again because he was too fast under red flags. But starting fifth is also very decent for a backbencher. Only then did he drop back into the double-digit range in no time at all with his racing car, and in the end he was only able to finish 15th: “As expected, as feared.” The customer car from Maranello just doesn’t handle the tires well enough in race trim. How much it annoys Hülkenberg to be “eaten up” in the race due to a lack of grip, as he calls it, can be seen: “What good are nice Saturdays when Sundays bring us down again?” The only ray of hope: The 35-year-old’s contract with Haas will probably be extended. It’s not his fault either.
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari and strategy, Ferrari drivers and lamentations about strategy – an amusing topic of the season when you’re not concerned. In the confusing rainy qualifying in Montreal, Charles Leclerc called for a different choice of tires, but was overruled by the command post. Result: only starting place ten. The Monegasque complained afterwards: “It’s not the first time that we’ve been on the wrong side of a fifty-fifty chance.” On Sunday, however, the tacticians from Maranello made up for everything, with the help of a safety car phase and a clever rubber strategy, Leclerc finished fourth, colleague Carlos Sainz fifth. Team boss Fred Vasseur, already the great relativizer of Formula 1, drew courage from the Sunday performance: “It will take a while, but it will work.”
Alex Albon
The Formula 1 fan community, who vote on race Sundays to vote for the driver of the day by phone, was probably happy about the change. None of the top three teams won the most votes at the Canadian Grand Prix, but Alex Albon of the Williams team. The Thai, who lives in England, started ninth, which was a surprise – and after a brilliant performance he finished seventh. Six important points also for the Williams racing team, the previous bottom of the team classification. Apparently, the radical cure that the former Mercedes chief strategist James Vowles ordered as team boss for the dinosaur racing team is taking effect. In any case, the complete overhaul of the blue racing car works. Much to the delight of his predecessor Jost Capito, who was on site in Canada. “Ninth place is my thank you for the team’s monumental performance,” said Albon.