Verstappen’s latest win is another F1 milestone
When he won the pole position in pouring rain Saturday, Max Verstappen was quick to explain that it had been his father who would stand on the wet track during his early days of karting and point him to the correct driving lines.
So when Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix on Father’s Day — a 41st victory that tied the 25-year-old Dutchman for fifth on the all-time Formula One wins list with the late Ayrton Senna and gave Red Bull its 100th win as an organization — he was quick to salute the man who had molded him into the two-time reigning champion of the international open-wheel series.
Verstappen reminisced of the days he and his dad, Jos, traveled by van throughout Europe to his karting races, the father hoping to raise a winner. Jos Verstappen made 107 F1 starts and was once a teammate of Michael Schumacher, who shares the record for most F1 championships (seven) with current Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
“Without him, I would not sit here today,” Verstappen said of his father. “He has taught me and prepared me for so much, from a very young age. … He had this goal set for me to first of all be better than him. And then try to get to Formula One, you know?
“We still call every day. I mean right before the race, I was still talking to him about what we were going to do with that strategy. He likes to know. Even when he’s not here. It’s just nice to have that kind of relationship with your dad.”
Verstappen’s repeat win in
Montreal continued his season of dominance. The Canadian GP was his fourth victory in a row and sixth overall this season, and Red Bull improved to 8-for-8 in victories in 2023.
Catching up to Senna — the three-time F1 champion from Brazil died during a race on May 1, 1994 — was simply a byproduct of his success.
“I hate to compare different generations,” Verstappen said, deflecting. “From my side, the only thing I can say is when I was a little kid driving and karting, I was dreaming about being a Formula One driver. I never imagined to win 41.
“And of course I’m proud of that. But of course I hope it’s not stopping here. I hope that we can keep on winning races.”
Hamilton holds the all-time record with 103 wins, but during F1’s stop in Montreal, the 38-yearold Englishman said he expects Verstappen to surpass the mark eventually. Verstappen was quick to note that as Red Bull celebrated its 100th win, he alone was responsible for 41 victories.
“We’ll talk about maybe a new contract because of that,” he said with a laugh.
Red Bull principal Christian Horner expressed his gratitude when Verstappen crossed the finish line.
“A century for the team,” Horner told him via team radio. “Fantastic. And thank you for producing that race victory.”
Hamilton and the rest of the field had hoped to give Verstappen a challenge at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where rain throughout the weekend scrambled the competition and created optimism that Red Bull legitimately would be challenged.
Fernando Alonso thought he had a shot, and it was improved when Nico Hulkenberg was given a qualifying penalty that moved Alonso to the front row next to Verstappen for the start.
But Hamilton, starting alongside Mercedes teammate George Russell on the second row, got a surprise jump on Alonso and snagged second place at the start. Verstappen still easily pulled away from both, and on the first dry day of the weekend in Montreal, rolled to another easy win.
The one bright spot for everyone chasing Verstappen was that his margin of victory over Alonso was only 9.5 seconds.
Only? Yes. It was the closest race of the season because Verstappen has been so dominant that he typically wins by 20-plus seconds a race. In fact, Alonso noted after Saturday qualifying that the only way to even pressure Verstappen was to be “two seconds behind them. Not 20 seconds behind them.”
“Probably not our best race, but still to win by nine seconds, I think shows that we have a great car,” Verstappen said of the margin of victory.
It wasn’t an overwhelming Red Bull rout; Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez, who won two races earlier this year, had hoped to “reset” his season in Canada, was a distant sixth. Perez has been so underwhelming of late that Alonso answered a simple “yes” when asked if he can pass Perez in the point standings.
Perez is second with just a ninepoint lead over Alonso. Verstappen leads Perez by 69 points.