MICHAEL LAMONATO

Max Verstappen claimed Red Bull Racing’s 100th victory in emphatic style at the Canadian Grand Prix to extend his championship advantage to 69 points.

Verstappen led every lap from pole position, though the advantage of his Red Bull Racing car was much reduced at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. His lead hovered around five seconds for most of the two-stop battle for the podium and never stretched beyond 10 seconds, the Dutchman putting the reduced pace down to difficulty keeping the tires in the temperature window on the cold and green track.

But it was never close enough for pursuers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton to have a genuine shot at the lead on pace or strategy and ultimately amounted to another straightforward win.

Max Verstappen sailed to pole position in a mixed-conditions qualifying hour ahead of shock front-row starter Nico Hulkenberg.

The Dutchman had set a formidable benchmark early in a frenetic Q3 as heavier rain began to fall at the circuit with a lap of 1m25.858s.

Conditions were temporarily improving with all 10 cars on track despite the rain, and the identity of the second-quickest driver was changing rapidly. Esteban Ocon had the place first, followed by Fernando Alonso and then Hulkenberg, who clocked in 1.244s behind Verstappen.

Max Verstappen was fastest on a soaking-wet final Saturday practice session ahead of qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, after Carlos Sainz crashed his Ferrari at the first turn.

The hour started with the track under significant amount of standings water and with drivers requiring the full-wet tire just to make it around the lap. But the rain had eased by the time the pit lane opened, and it took only 10 minutes of cars circulating for the Aston Martin drivers to be the first to sample the intermediates.

The green-marked rubber was faster around most parts of the lap, but puddles in the braking zone for the hairpin and the final chicane prevented Fernando Alonso from taking top spot immediately, the Spaniard repeatedly running off-track in the final sector. By the time he’d strung a lap together, most of the rest of the field had switched to intermediates too, and top spot rotated rapidly between several drivers.