Round Nine of this year’s Formula One (F1) season took place Sunday in Montreal, Canada at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. George Russell from Mercedes AMG-Petronas F1 Team took pole position during Qualifying on Saturday and finished the race in third position (P3), earning his team’s first podium-finish of the season. Russell lost the lead position to Lando Norris from McLaren, who had qualified P3, on Lap 21 and was unable to secure it again during a race littered with tumultuous weather conditions
Russell finished ahead of teammate and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who finished in P4 after starting from P7. Russell brought home 15 points and Hamilton gained 13, earning himself an extra point for setting the fastest lap of the race at 1:14.856 seconds. The two drivers are currently seventh and eighth in the Drivers Standings, making Mercedes the fourth fastest team overall so far.
“Mixed emotions because I feel I made one-too-many mistakes out there,” Russell said after the race. “Maybe I’ve been a bit hard on myself because looking back everybody made mistakes at some point in the race. Our pace was so strong at the end, but ultimately it was a mistake before that put me on P3. In the end, so many positives to take away from this race.”
“It wasn’t a positive race for me,” Hamilton, who is leaving the team after twelve seasons at the end of this year, said. “It felt like one of my worst drives that I’ve had. Ultimately, really poor weekend for myself. The positive is the car is progressing.”
Throughout the race, spontaneous rain showers constantly altered track temperature and conditions from dry to wet and vice versa. The majority of the cars spent most of the race using Intermediate tires, a tire compound with enough grip to sustain wet track conditions, but finished the race on slicks – the smooth compound F1 cars usually race with. During the laps in which there was rain, drivers had to deal with low visibility and strong water sprays from any cars in front.
The winner of the race was Max Verstappen from Red Bull Racing who earned the 60th victory of his career after starting from P2 and extended his championship lead.
Round Ten of the 2024 F1 season will take place at 8 a.m. Sunday, June 23 at the Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.
