MONTREAL. — Max Verstappen will have to keep out of trouble as he chases an unprecedented fourth Canadian Grand Prix win in a row this weekend, with only a penalty point between the Formula One champion and a race ban.
The Red Bull driver has won for the last three years in Montreal, the last time after starting alongside Mercedes’ pole-sitter George Russell—the same rival he clashed with two weekends ago—in a qualifying draw.
How Verstappen will respond is an open question but others are sure to want to take whatever advantage they can of the situation at a track famed also for changeable weather.
“He must not do anything wrong over the next two race weekends, and of course he will be told not to do anything rash,” Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko wrote in a column for www.speedweek.com.
“It would be a catastrophe if he couldn’t start in Austria (the race after Canada).”
While McLaren, with Oscar Piastri leading Lando Norris by 10 points after nine of 24 races, will be the team to beat again, Mercedes will fancy its chances in the season’s second race in North America.d
“It’s a track where we’ve tended to find our feet relatively well in the past,” said Mercedes technical director James Allison. “So I’m looking forward to it.
“We’ve got one or two new bits to take with us and we’ll see how we get on.”
Mercedes has not won since Las Vegas last November, with Russell’s second place in Bahrain in April the best ithad managed so far.
McLaren has won seven of nine but last triumphed in Canada with Lewis Hamilton in 2012, although historically it won more times (13) than any team there. The battle between Piastri and Norris could be about to heat up.
Ferrari, now up to second in the constructors’ standings, last won with Sebastian Vettel in 2018 at a track named after its late local great Gilles Villeneuve.
“McLaren is still ahead, but we’re closing the gap step-by-step,” said team boss Fred Vasseur.
