F1 Canadian Grand Prix 2022 result: Verstappen holds off Sainz to claim his first Montreal victory as Perez retires

Nathan Evans

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F1 Canadian Grand Prix 2022 result: Verstappen holds off Sainz to claim his first Montreal victory as Perez retires image

Red Bull's Max Verstappen claimed his sixth win of the 2022 F1 season to extend his lead at the top of the drivers' championship.

The Dutch star managed to hold off Ferrari's Carlos Sainz as the Spaniard pushed for his maiden F1 victory up until the very last lap. A late safety car set up a thrilling duel between the pair over the final 15 laps.

For the second time this season, Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez was forced to retire from the race due to engine problems, while Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton grabbed his second podium this campaign in third. 

Hamilton's teammate George Russell kept up his own personal streak of finishing in the top five of every race so far this season by claiming P4, while Charles Leclerc put together a strong performance to come home in P5 despite starting from the back of the grid. 

Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10, though Alonso dropped to P9 in the final results as the Spanish driver was issued with a five-second penalty late on by the FIA. 

2022 Canadian Grand Prix results

Position Driver Team Points
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 25
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 20
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 15
4 George Russell Mercedes 12
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 10
6 Esteban Ocon Alpine 8
7 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 6
8 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 4
9 Fernando Alonso Alpine 2
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1
11 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren  
12 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin  
13 Alexander Albon Williams  
14 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri  
15 Lando Norris McLaren  
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams  
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas  
DNF Sergio Perez Red Bull  
DNF Mick Schumacher Haas  
DNF Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri  

How many times has Max Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix?

Max Verstappen proved too much to handle once again for the rest of the field as the current world champion claimed his sixth GP win of the 2022 season.

A late safety car had gifted Ferrari's Carlos Sainz a huge chance but, despite the Spanish driver's best efforts, he was never close enough to make a move on the Red Bull driver in an effort to try and claim his first career victory. 

With Perez laid low by engine failure and Leclerc battling gamely against the effects of his grid penalty, Verstappen extended his lead at the top of the standings to 46 points.

The result means Red Bull have won six successive races, only the second time the team has managed that feat in Formula 1. 

How many podium finishes has Lewis Hamilton had in 2022?

Despite coming into the weekend nursing a back injury due to his Mercedes' severe porpoising last time out in Azerbaijan, Lewis Hamilton claimed his second podium finish of the season in Canada

Coming into the race weekend, Hamilton had described his current car as "the worst I've ever driven" after practice 1 and 2 on Friday in the wet conditions.

Nevertheless, it all finally came together for Mercedes when it mattered most as Hamilton finished in P3 with Russell continuing his own impressive form a place further back.

How many places did Charles Leclerc make up at the Canadian Grand Prix?

Starting from P19 after taking several pre-race penalties following his Ferrari's engine failure in Baku, Leclerc put together a fantastic race to eventually finish P5.

Frustrated at times by his car's lack of straight-line speed compared to Esteban Ocon's Alpine, who he was chasing for a significant amount of the race, Leclerc took advantage of a one-stop strategy to limit the damage to his world drivers' championship bid and claim 10 precious points. 

Formula 1 Drivers' Championship standings after Canada

Position Driver Team Points
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 175
2 Sergio Perez Red Bull 129
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 126
4 George Russell Mercedes 111
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 102
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 77
7 Lando Norris McLaren 50
8 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romero 46
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine 39
10 Fernando Alonso Alpine 18
11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 16
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas 15
13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 15
14 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 13
15 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 11
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 5
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 3
18 Alxendar Albon Williams 3
19 Mick Schumacher Haas 0
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams 0

2022 F1 Canadian Grand Prix as it happened: commentary and highlights

RACE FINISHES: And it's Max Verstappen who wins the 2022 Canadian GP!!! It's a truly inspired victory from the Dutch driver who was pushed all the way by Ferrari's Carlos Sainz who finishes P2.

Hamilton takes the final podium position with Russell in P4 and Leclerc in P5. Ocon, Alonso, Bottas, Zhou and Stroll round out the top ten. 

Lap 69: Sainz has one final lap to try and claim the first GP win of his career as Verstappen keeps him at bay for now. 

Lap 67: Four laps to go and Verstappen still leads the 2022 Canadian GP for now. Sainz is so close yet so far away lap after lap. 

Lap 65: Sainz grabs the fastest lap of the race as he gets back to within a one second gap to Verstappen. Elsewhere, Lance Stroll overtakes Daniel Ricciardo down the main straight to move into P10 and the points at his home GP. 

Lap 63: Leclerc now moves up to P5 as he overtakes Ocon though that will likely be best case scenario for him with Russell four seconds further up the road. Hamilton remains in P3 as Verstappen breaks the DRS threat to Sainz down the back straight. That could be vital in these closing laps

Lap 60: Leclerc is up to P6 at the expense of Alonso as his Ferrari teammate Sainz continues his assault for the race lead. He has ten laps left to make the move! 

Lap 57: Crucially Sainz has kept less than a second gap to Verstappen and he's right there battling for the win. This is going to go right down to the wire as the Spanish driver looks for his first win in F1. 

Lap 55: The safety car is back into the pit and it's all to play for up and down the grid over the last 15 laps of this race. Sainz has far fresher tyres than Verstappen upfront whilst Hamilton looks very pacy in P3. Leclerc sits P7 and has the two Alpines in front for company. 

Lap 51: The safety car is out!! Yuki Tsunoda comes out of the pit lane and on cold tyres goes straight into the wall at the second corner. Sainz could be in the money here as he pits and comes out just behind Verstappen in P2 though his tyres will be far fresher than the Red Bull drivers. 

Lap 49: Leclerc makes up four spots in quick succession as he gets his Ferrari up into P8.

Lap 45: Verstappen pits and comes out right behind Hamilton who nicks P2 from the Dutch driver. The Brit shut the door on him big time there.

That said, Verstappen easily retakes P2 down the main straight in response and Hamilton himself comes into the pit. 

Lap 42: Leclerc simply has no answer to Ocon in the pair's battle for P5. The Ferrari driver closes the gap through the first half of the lap but then the Alpine ends up getting fantastic traction off the hairpin to keep the gap far enough.

In response, Ferrari finally bring their man into the pit though it's a slow stop and he's thrown back onto the track in terrible traffic. It's just not going for him at the minute! 

Lap 38: It's all the same in the front order since lap 33 so let's turn our attention to the back of the grid where Canadian driver Latifi sits plump last. In P17 comes Lando Norris who suffered an engine problem in qualifying and his race isn't going much better today after a pit stop mess up by his McLaren team cost him around 40 seconds in the pit lane. 

Lap 33: As we start to reach the midway point of this race, let's recap the action so far in Canada. 

Verstappen holds an eight second lead over Sainz in P2 with the Spaniard being chased by Mercedes pair Hamilton and Russell behind. Ocon sits in P5 for Alpine, followed by Leclerc in P6 who's trying his hardest to push past the Frenchman but to no avail given he's on very old hard tyres and hasn't pit just yet. Alonso, Bottas, Stroll and Zhou round out the top ten with Perez and Schumacher suffering DNFs. 

Lap 27: Hamilton is the latest to overtake Alonso. The Brit moves up into P3 as he looks to claim only his second podium finish this season after finishing third in Bahrain during the opening race. 

Lap 24: We're back to racing again and Leclerc is absolutely flying now that he's broken the traffic. He overtakes Bottas into the final corner to move up into P7. It's worth while remembering that he hasn't pit yet mind as Sainz gets past Alonso to move back into P2 at the front of the race. 

Lap 20: We have our second retirement of the race as Mick Schumacher pulls up at the same corner Perez did earlier in the race. Once again the virtual safety car is out.

Lots of drivers dive into the pits on the back of that incident with Verstappen now back in the lead followed by Alonso, Hamilton and Russell. 

Lap 16: Verstappen moves up into P2 as he breezes past Alonso down the long straight. Sainz still leads and he remains nearly five and a half seconds ahead of the Dutch driver.

Leclerc has done well to get himself up to P12 after starting the race from the back of the grid but he's now struggling to break through the midfield as Zhou Gangyu and Alex Albon battle infront of the Ferrari driver. 

Lap 12: We're back to green flag racing following that virtual safety car as the top order is mixed up following the early pit stops. Verstappen pits and comes out in P3 as Sainz leads from Alonso though neither have pitted yet this race. 

Back down the road, Lewis Hamilton pulls a great move to snatch P5 away from Alpine's Esteban Ocon at the first corner. 

Lap 8: PEREZ IS OUT!! The Mexican driver suffers some sort of engine failure, maybe a transmission problem, and he's forced to pull up and retire. As a result, the virtual safety car is out. 

Lap 5: Carlos Sainz takes P2 away from Fernando Alonso on the long straight as the Ferrari powers past the Alpine.

Sainz hasn't managed to pull away though and as a result, Verstappen has already pulled a three second gap at the front. Haas' Kevin Magnussen is black and orange flagged due to some damage whilst George Russell is already up to P5 after an electric start.

RACE START: And we're off in Montreal! It's a perfect start for Verstappen who gets away cleanly though Alonso remains in the hunt behind the Dutch driver. Elsewhere and quite unusually at this track, there's no collisions throughout the whole field.

At the back, Leclerc has already made up two places as he looks to ease the damage in the world championship standings given his grid penalty here.

2 mins to lights out: The cars are all out on track to begin their formation lap ahead of the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix.

15 mins to lights out: This race will prove a different sort of challenge for Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who after changing engine parts due to his retirement in Azerbaijan last time out, starts from the back of the grid as a result. 

With a world championship still to fight for, he'll be hoping to perhaps sneak into the top five as a realistic ambition although the Canadian GP does have a reputation for throwing up some shocks.. 

30 mins to lights out: Speaking of Fernando Alonso, the 40-year-old Spaniard managed to wrestle his Alpine up into P2 yesterday in qualifying, a phenomenal result for the French team and the former two-time world champion.

That's the first time since the 2012 German Grand Prix that Alonso has qualified in the top-two whilst here in Canada, he'll be looking to claim second spot or better on the podium for the first time since 2014 in Hungary back when he was with Ferrari! 

45 mins to lights out: Well after the drama of yesterday's qualifying session for the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix due to the wet weather, it looks like we'll have a full dry race this afternoon in Montreal which will surely come as music to the ears of pole sitter Max Verstappen.

He simply proved far too good for the rest of the pack yesterday, claiming top spot by over half a second and unless Alpine's Fernando Alonso can pip the Dutchman into the first corner, it's difficult to see a situation in which Verstappen doesn't claim the 26th race win of his career here in Canada today. 

1 hour to lights out: Welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of the Canadian Grand Prix, the ninth race of the 2022 Formula 1 calendar.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen took the chequered flag last time out at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were both forced to retire from the race due to engine issues.

As a result, the Dutch driver opened up a sizeable lead at the top of the world drivers' championship, with teammate Sergio Perez moving above Leclerc into second spot after picking up his fifth top-two finish across the past six races in Baku last weekend. 

Lewis Hamilton will be racing this weekend despite suffering a back injury after struggling with his Mercedes' porpoising in Azerbaijan.

With seven previous wins in Montreal, the Briton has won the joint-most Canadian GPs in history alongside Michael Schumacher, though it's expected that his Mercedes team will again be one step behind Red Bull and Ferrari in terms of race pace. 

MORE: Audi and Porsche to join Formula 1 in 2026, Volkswagen CEO confirms

Canadian Grand Prix 2022 starting grid

Reigning world champion Verstappen dominated qualifying from start to finish on Saturday as he took just his second pole position of the season.

The flying Dutchman finished more than half a second ahead of the field during an action-packed and wet qualifying session, which saw Sergio Perez hit the wall in Q2. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc - currently third in the drivers standings - starts from the back of the grid after receiving a penalty for taking new engine parts after his retirement in Azerbaijan last time out. 

The big storyline of yesterday's session though was Alpine's Fernando Alonso claiming a top-two position in qualifying for the first time since the 2012 German Grand Prix. In fact, 15 of the drivers who will be racing in Montreal this afternoon alongside the former world champion hadn't even started their F1 careers the last time the Spanish great started a race from the front row. 

Elsewhere, Ferrari's Sainz starts P3 and Hamilton will be fourth despite stating his car was "undrivable" in first practice. Haas also recorded a third row lock-out with Kevin Magnussen P5 and Mick Schumacher claiming his best-ever qualifying result with P6.

Full starting grid line up for the F1 Canadian Grand Prix:

Position Driver
1 Max Verstappen
2 Fernando Alonso
3 Carlos Sainz
4 Lewis Hamilton
5 Kevin Magnussen
6 Mick Schumacher
7 Esteban Ocon
8 George Russell
9 Daniel Ricciardo
10 Zhou Guanyu
11 Valtteri Bottas
12 Alexander Albon
13 Sergio Perez
14 Lando Norris
15 Charles Leclerc
16 Pierre Gasly
17 Sebastian Vettel
18 Lance Stroll
19 Nicholas Latifi
20 Yuki Tsunoda

MORE: Formula 1 to race in Melbourne until 2035 following Australian Grand Prix extension

What time does the Canadian Grand Prix race start today?

  • Date: Sunday, June 19
  • Start time: 2 p.m. local time / 7 p.m. BST / 2 p.m. ET / 4 a.m. AEST

How to watch the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix 

USA: The ESPN family of networks will broadcast all 2022 F1 races in the United States using Sky Sports' feed, with select races airing on ABC later in the season. You can also stream Formula 1 races live in the U.S. with fuboTV, which offers a free trial.

ESPN Deportes serves as the exclusive Spanish-language home for all 2022 F1 races in the U.S.

UK: Sky Sports F1, or online through Sky Go, is the place to catch all the F1 action in the UK.

Canada: In Canada, you can watch F1 via the English-language TSN or French-language RDS.

Australia: Fox Sports is the carrier of live F1 coverage in Australia.

  UK USA Canada Australia
Date June 19 June 19 June 19 June 19
Time 7 p.m. BST 2 p.m. ET 2 p.m. ET 4 a.m. AEST
TV Channel Sky Sports F1 ESPN TSN Fox Sports

Nathan Evans

Nathan Evans Photo

A Sports Journalism Masters graduate, Nathan Evans joined The Sporting News in 2022 after working at Opta/Stats Perform for six years. He's an avid fan of Bradford City, FC Köln and the Pittsburgh Penguins.