F1 | 2023 Canadian Grand Prix Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary

The F1 circus flew back over to North America for what is usually one of the better races in the season, but the 2023 edition wasn’t bad but not busting with action either. The win went to Max Verstappen and was a 100th win for Red Bull, but to go further than just the race result our summary covers the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix Result for the big event and so much more.

This 2023 Canadian Grand Prix Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.

READ MORE:
2023 Latest Grand Prix Driver Ratings
2023 Canadian Grand Prix Preview
Our 2023 F1 Calendar & Results

2023 Canadian Grand Prix Result Main Race Summary

Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.

Setting the scene – Rain came during qualifying, but that didn’t change the usual pole position result as Max Verstappen ends up number one again. But behind him the weather mixed up the grid nicely. First of all Nico Hulkenberg pulled out a lap good enough for second place in Q3 in a fantastic result for car and driver, but he would only start in 5th due to penalties. In fact it was a qualifying session full of penalties, and a few hard luck stories. Pierre Gasly was looking fast but came across the final chicane filled with not one but two cars. Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda joined “The Hulk” in the penalty punishment pen.

Once again Fernando Alonso looked the most likely to challenge Max Verstappen, and he still might just do that on race day. The Mercedes look the next best car after Alonso-Max and hog the second row of the grid. Alpines and McLarens looked fast at times, but Oscar Piastri threw away an even better starting slot by spinning into the wall during Q3. And once again in 2023 both Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc choked in qualifying in Q2 failing to make it out. A session which was topped by Williams driver Alex Albon, who failed to set a lap in Q3 when red flagged by Piastri’s accident. Take a breath….here’s the race.

GRID (Starting Order) – VER ALO HAM RUS HUL OCO NOR PIA ALB LEC — PER (12th)

Lap 1 – Max Verstappen gets away well from pole position and keeps his first position easily, Lewis Hamilton jumps Alonso into second and the rest of the field behave themselves through the first lap. Great battle between Sainz and Perez as they swap positions on the first tour of the circuit. Kevin Magnussen almost joins the party into the final chicane but somehow just avoids ramming Perez at a dangerous closing speed. He loses two spots cutting the chicane. But at the front, unless there’s an issue with the leading Red Bull, the race is for second.

ORDER – VER HAM ALO RUS OCO HUL PIA NOR LEC ALB

Lap 4 – TV coverage shows replay of Fernando Alonso hitting the wall. He keeps circulating for now and is chasing Lewis Hamilton hard. Not a great deal of love lost between the top three really.

Lap 6 – Qualifying star Nico Hulkenberg is starting to hold up the rest of the field from 6th onwards. This includes the McLarens who are looking quite good for a change, with Piastri ahead of Norris for now. Maybe if he can past soon there’s a big result coming for the rookie. Which he does at the beginning of lap 8 and by lap 9 is a second and a half up the road.

Lap 8 – Logan Sargeant stops out on circuit, and this time the car gives up before he gets a chance to run into something. A brief Virtual Safety Car ensues.

Lap 11 – Max Verstappen is on the radio announcing that he thinks he hit a bird. Maybe only Mother Nature can stop/sabotage Red Bull from winning in F1. And 

Lap 12 – SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED – George Russell appears to have hit the wall, with his front wing looking like a drooping moustache, he did it at the chicane heading towards the hairpin. The top three cars pit. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso almost collide in the pit lane, and there could be trouble as Alonso had to brake to avoid an accident. Same with Lando Norris and Alex Albon too.

ORDER – VER HAM ALO LEC SAI PER MAG BOT OCO PIA

(Sainz to Bottas did not pit)

Lap 17 – SAFETY CAR ENDS – RACE RESUMES – nothing to report from the restart at the front. Further back Lando Norris steals 10th place from his team mare into the hairpin. Piastri loses another place a lap later by straight-lining the final chicane.

Lap 21 – Kevin Magnussen loses two place within a few hundred metres as Bottas gets past into the final chicane and Lando Norris into the first corner.

Lap 22 – Fernando Alonso passes Lewis Hamilton into the final chicane and hangs onto second place into the first corner thanks to DRS. Alonso does look the quicker of the two, and who knows, we might get a race for first after all.

ORDER – VER ALO HAM LEC SAI PER OCO BOT NOR MAG

Lap 29 – Bit of a lull in the racing as the TV cameras focus on the battle 11th and beyond. Fernando Alonso has pulled out a two-ish second lead to Lewis Hamilton but has failed to make any inroads into Max Verstappen. Although, he’s at least staying within the 3-4 second margin. Verstappen is complaining about tyres, so who knows, maybe there’s more to come. We’re going to check the weather radar just in case.

Lap 35 – Nyck de Vries and Kevin Magnussen battle for 12th into the first corner. They nearly clash and run wide into turn two which lets George Russell overtake them both. Yes, he did continue after hitting the wall.  Not content with losing places, the two clash at the next corner, de Vries locking up and going straight on and Magnussen on the outside having no choice but to join him. They continue but fall back to second last and last. Some midfield cars pit, the Ferraris have still not. Sergio Perez did.

Lap 39 – Carlos Sainz makes the first Ferrari pit stop and comes out losing only his place to his team mate. Talking of team mates, Charles Leclerc does so a lap later. Sergio Perez overtakes Alex Albon for 6th. Oh, and Lando Norris get a five second penalty for going too slow when the safety car was called.

ORDER – VER ALO HAM LEC SAI PER ALB RUS OCO BOT

Lap 41 – Lewis Hamilton pits for new tyres, adding just a little spice to strategy for the cars ahead. Alonso responds a lap later and pits too. As does Max Verstappen lap after that. As you were then. For the record, Verstappen and Hamilton took Medium tyres while Alonso is on hard tyres.

Lap 50 – Fernando Alonso appears to be trying his best to create a battle for first chasing Max Verstappen and pulling away from Lewis Hamilton a few laps after the Mercedes driver sets a fastest lap. No changes to top ten since the Ferraris pit. Aside from the non existent battle for first, there’s a train forming behind Alex Albon in 7th going all the way to Lando Norris in 11th.

Lap 55 – George Russell slows and eventually retires, losing at least 8th place. A hangover from his crash into the wall earlier in the race.

Lap 59 – Lewis Hamilton has closed within 1.5 seconds of Fernando Alonso and is threatening a battle for second. But no doubt the wily Alonso has it under control. Actually no, the Mercedes team confirm via radio that Alonso has brake trouble. He needs to stay a second and more in front to avoid being swallowed by DRS. 

Lap 64 – Lando Norris overtakes Valtteri Bottas for 9th. Lewis Hamilton has fallen 2.9 seconds behind Fernando Alonso, that battle appears over.

Lap 67 – Footage of the rear wing of Esteban Ocon wobbling like jelly. If that breaks on this circuit it will be quite the accident. Norris phones it in via radio in the hope that the stewards takes action.

Last lap – No dramas for Max Verstappen as he cruises to victory ten seconds or so in front of Alonso, Red Bull’s 100th of all time. Some action remained behind Alex Albon as he held on to 7th somehow under attack from two drivers into the final hairpin, Norris tried and failed to take Ocon into the final chicane. Lance Stroll swipes 9th from Bottas in the last few metres of the last lap.

FINAL ORDER – VER ALO HAM LEC SAI PER ALB OCO STR BOT

Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).

These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. Five points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.

THE GREAT-EST –  MAX VERSTAPPEN

Again he is the race’s greatest, but in fairness, he wins the race from pole and extends his championship lead and further crushes the spirit of his team mate.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

FERNANDO ALONSO – Again leading the challenge to Max Verstappen without actually challenging. 

ALEX ALBON – Topped Q2 in qualifying and who knows for Q3 as he didn’t set a time. Raced well, holding onto 7th for a long time despite a long train behind him. 

LANDO NORRIS – Raced well, despite losing points thanks to a five second penalty.

NICO HULKENBERG – Qualified second in the rain affected Q3 in proof he still has it. Sadly he started 5th due to a penalty and drifted back during the race, but still, second in a Haas is good stuff.

LEWIS HAMILTON – A solid weekend with a podium, but his Mercedes package is still not faster than Alonso, but potentially best of the rest team-wise.

THE GRAPE-EST – GEORGE RUSSELL

On track to challenge Alonso and Hamilton for a podium, hit the wall and dropped to the back of the field. Dragged himself into the points but ended up losing those as he had to retire on lap 55.

DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS

SERGIO PEREZ – Normally a driver from 12th into XXth would be worth a good mention, but Perez’s continued failures in qualifying is costing him dear, stopping him competing right at the front. And costing the F1 fans any chance of a championship battle. And probably his seat for 2024.

LANCE STROLL – A disappointing home race for the Aston Martin driver, further compounded by the gap to his team mate at the front of the field. Had a great end to the race by taking 9th right on the finish line, but he’s a long way from Alonso, and if he had a different father might be under pressure for his drive. As it stands, he probably still is.

LOGAN SARGEANT – The race’s only retirement for most of the race, car failure this time, but 2023 hasn’t been too kind for the rookie.

NYCK DE VRIES – You wonder how much longer this rookie will get in the cut-throat world of Red Bull drivers. Looked OK for a while in the lower midfield but a clash with Kevin Magnussen saw him running last.

Was it a good race, loads of action, tense, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest.

We rate the big race itself so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.

SEASON IMPORTANCE –  3 / 10

Another win for Max Verstappen, which is the new standard for 2023, so nothing new here. Sergio Perez fails to get into Q3, which means the championship gap extends. Fernando Alonso tries hard but his Aston Martin isn’t quite good enough. More of the same – Verstappen extends gap.

ON TRACK ACTION – 4/10

A few decent overtakes here and there, and a few midfield trains, but overall quite dull. Or maybe we’re just disappointed as we expected more.

ENDING 5 / 10

Lewis Hamilton closing in on Fernando Alonso gave viewers something to follow in the last few laps, as did the occasional glimpse of the Albon train, which saw some great action on the last half of the last lap.

OVERALL RATING 12 / 30

Quite the dull race for Canada, and is probably scored worse than it should as we are quite disappointed. Little reward for getting up at 4am to watch live.

2023 SEASON RATINGS SO FAR

Want to know what we thought of previous races? Or which ones to to back and watch? 

R1 – Bahrain Grand Prix – 
R2 – Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – 10/30
R3 – Australian Grand Prix – 23/30
R4 – Azerbaijan Grand Prix – 8/30
R5 – Miami Grand Prix – 20/30
R6 – Monaco Grand Prix – 23/30
R7 – Spanish Grand Prix – 15/30

2023 F1 Season Power Rankings

Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated and will be ready on Monday.

Who not check out last season: Our 2022 F1 Season Driver Ratings