From the pole position achieved in the wet on Saturday, Verstappen had no problem keeping the lead at the start of the Canadian GP, and despite a different strategy from that of his main pursuer, Sainz ‘s Ferrari, he managed to be first when the race reached its last laps.
There, with 15 laps remaining and with new tires after a Safety Car , Carlos Sainz began to attack the champion, being within range of DRS almost every lap, but the #33 resisted to add his sixth win in nine Grand Prix of 2022.
“It was a tough race,” summed up Max Verstappen at the DAZN F1 microphone. “I think overall we lacked a bit of pace compared to Carlos, but we stuck to our strategy and it worked out well for us.”
The Red Bull driver admitted that the Safety Car that came out after Yuki Tsunoda abandoned complicated his victory: “With that safety car everything was going to be a little more difficult, because Carlos came out with newer tires and it was going to be difficult to keep him behind. In general they were very fast in the race, so it was difficult to keep the lead until the end.”
Verstappen said he had fun fighting Sainz: “It was very exciting at the end. I was giving everything I had of course and Carlos was doing the same. Following another car here is tricky, but I could see he was pushing, attacking , pushing. But of course when you’re on DRS it’s a little bit easier to attack. So yeah, the last few laps were a lot of fun.”
“It’s been fun, especially when you don’t have DRS and you end up in the front. Even if it hadn’t been, it would have been a good fight.”
“Of course, after the Safety Car I thought that I would have preferred to attack instead of defend myself, but fortunately it worked out.”
The world leader, who comes out even more distant after this Sunday at the head of the drivers’ championship, admitted that Red Bull’s improvement on the straight with this car helped him: “Yes, fortunately, this year we seem quite fast on the straight. So that It helps a lot.”
For his part, Verstappen’s boss, Christian Horner , also spoke highly of Sainz, and was very satisfied with yet another victory for his pupil: “It was a great pressure from Carlos, congratulations to them, but we managed to keep the position. Max drove immaculately, no mistakes, he was fantastic.”
“We had graining with the media and that’s why we stopped during the Virtual Safety Car. Carlos had a free stop and it was a good fight until the checkered flag.”
Sergio Pérez was unable to complete the Red Bull party, and after his accident in Q3 on Saturday, he suffered a reliability problem that caused him to retire after only eight laps. “I think it was a gearbox problem, but we have to see it well. It was a shame, because we could have seen him up there,” concluded Horner.