Max Verstappen revels in exciting finish to win in Canadian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen was having a ball in his Red Bull as he held off a late charge from Carlos Sainz to win the Canadian Grand Prix and extend his championship lead.

With Formula One returning to Montreal for the first time in three years, it was the Red Bull of Verstappen which took the chequered flag to move 46 points clear at the top of the standings.

Sainz was fast in the closing stages but could not find a way past Verstappen and had to settle for second place, the pair joined on the podium by Lewis Hamilton – the seven-time world champion taking third for Mercedes.

His team-mate George Russell continued his record of top-five finishes all season as he took fourth ahead of Charles Leclerc, who recovered from starting 19th to claim a decent haul of points.

Esteban Ocon was sixth for Alpine, with Fernando Alonso dropping from his second-place start to finish ninth as a five-second penalty was applied after the race for weaving on the straights.

That promoted Valtteri Bottas to seventh and Guanyu Zhou to eighth, with local favourite Lance Stroll taking the final point on an afternoon where Verstappen was again the man to beat.

“The last few laps were a lot of fun,” he said.

“I think overall, they (Ferrari) were very quick in the race so it would have been really tough for me to close that gap to the end, even on fresher tyres. But it was really exciting at the end.

“I was giving it everything I had. Of course, Carlos was doing the same. Following is tricky around here but I could see he was pushing, charging, but of course, naturally, when you are in the DRS, it is a bit easier to charge.”

Verstappen cantered off the line and into the first corner well ahead of Alonso, who had impressed in qualifying to take his first