The ninth round of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship got underway on Sunday with the Canadian Grand Prix, held on a very wet Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
The race finally saw Mercedes-Benz AMG deliver thanks to the efforts of George Russell who started on pole but would soon fall to second behind McLaren’s Lando Norris. Russell would ultimately cede another spot to Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen in the final stages and the reigning champion would go on to record the win.
Ferrari is the team that has so far put up the best fight to leading team Red Bull, though both of its drivers failed to finish in Canada. McLaren is another team that has consistently challenged Red Bull. In addition to Norris finishing in second place in Canada, fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri also made it into the top five.
Verstappen is still the favorite to take home the title this season, which will be his fourth, though his performance gap with rivals isn’t as big as it used to be, as we saw in Canada. Fellow Red Bull driver Sergio Perez continues to deliver a mixed performance and as a result remains well off the pace of his teammate. His frequent troubles in qualifying resurfaced in Canada where he failed to pass the first qualifying period yet again. He would also crash into a barrier during the race, resulting in a retirement.
Mercedes, like Perez, has struggled throughout much of the season, though the Canadian race saw the tide starting to turn. Nevertheless, any change is too late to retain star driver Lewis Hamilton who switches to Ferrari next year.
There’s still plenty of time for teams to make changes and for drivers to further catch up with current leader Verstappen, as there are still 15 races to go in this season.
Below are the 2024 F1 Drivers’ Championship standings:
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing – 194 points
2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari – 138 points
3) Lando Norris, McLaren – 131 points
4) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari – 108 points
5) Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing – 107 points
6) Oscar Piastri, McLaren – 81 points
7) George Russell, Mercedes-Benz AMG – 69 points
8) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz AMG – 55 points
9) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin – 41 points
10) Yuki Tsunoda, RB – 19 points
11) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin – 17 points
12) Daniel Ricciardo, RB – 9 points
13) Oliver Bearman, Ferrari – 6 points
14) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas – 6 points
15) Pierre Gasly, Alpine – 3 points
16) Alexander Albon, Williams – 2 points
17) Esteban Ocon, Alpine – 2 points
18) Kevin Magnussen, Haas – 1 point
19) Zhou Guanyu, Sauber – 0 points
20) Logan Sargeant, Williams – 0 points
21) Valtteri Bottas, Sauber – 0 points
Below are the 2024 F1 Constructors’ Championship standings:
1) Red Bull Racing – 301 points
2) Ferrari – 252 points
3) McLaren – 212 points
4) Mercedes-Benz AMG – 124 points
5) Aston Martin – 58 points
6) RB – 28 points
7) Haas – 7 points
8) Alpine – 5 points
9) Williams – 2 points
10) Sauber – 0 points
Below are the 2024 F1 season race winners:
Bahrain Grand Prix – Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Australian Grand Prix – Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
Japanese Grand Prix – Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Chinese Grand Prix – Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Miami Grand Prix – Lando Norris, McLaren
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Monaco Grand Prix – Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Canadian Grand Prix – Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Spanish Grand Prix – TBA
Austrian Grand Prix – TBA
British Grand Prix – TBA
Hungarian Grand Prix – TBA
Belgian Grand Prix – TBA
Dutch Grand Prix – TBA
Italian Grand Prix – TBA
Azerbaijan Grand Prix – TBA
Singapore Grand Prix – TBA
United States Grand Prix (Austin) – TBA
Mexican Grand Prix – TBA
Brazilian Grand Prix – TBA
Las Vegas Grand Prix – TBA
Qatar Grand Prix – TBA
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – TBA
Credit : Source Post
