6 Winners and 5 Losers from the Canadian Grand Prix — Who made all the right moves in Montreal?

Max Verstappen headed a decorated Canadian Grand Prix podium that featured three world champions from three different teams. But while they gave their respective squads reason to pop the cork on some bubbles, others were left ruing what might have been. Here are our picks for this week’s edition of Winners and Losers…

Winner: Max Verstappen

Verstappen is becoming a near unstoppable force in Formula 1, the Dutchman securing his sixth win in eight races – and fourth on the bounce – with a commanding performance in Montreal.

It was his 41st career victory, tying him with the late, great Ayrton Senna, and Red Bull’s 100th Grand Prix triumph, making them only the fifth constructor to reach that total – and only second in the last 26 years (following Mercedes).

As a measure of Verstappen’s dominance right now, he is the first driver to lead three consecutive races from start to finish since Sebastian Vettel achieved the feat in 2012.

Race Highlights: 2023 Canadian Grand Prix

Losers: Haas

The Canadian Grand Prix looked so promising for Haas after the chequered flag fell in qualifying, when Nico Hulkenberg was classified a superb second.

However, he was handed a three-place grid penalty for a red flag infringement and then lost ground from fifth after he stopped out of sequence with the Safety Car.

MUST-SEE: Russell clatters the wall and falls down the order in Canada

To add insult to injury, the race pace of the Haas didn’t allow him to fight back. His team mate Kevin Magnussen had a frustrating afternoon, too – leaving the American team point-less for the third race in a row.

Hulkenberg qualified second but was demoted to fifth and then endured a race-day slump

Winner: Alex Albon

Alex Albon delivered one of the best race weekend performances of the season in Canada, the Thai driver judging the conditions to perfection in Q2 to top the times and ultimately qualify inside the top-10.

He made the most of a slippery Williams that was very strong on the straights to keep a plethora of cars behind him and then executed a one-stop strategy to perfection to secure a brilliant P7 and the fan-voted Driver of the Day accolade.

DRIVER OF THE DAY: Albon’s stunning P7 for Williams gets your vote in Canada

It was Williams’ best result since George Russell took second at Spa in 2021 and helped the British team to leapfrog AlphaTauri into P9 in the constructors’ championship – leaving them just one point behind Haas.

MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JUNE 18: Alexander Albon of Thailand on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Albon was one of the star performers during an action-packed race in Montreal

Loser: Logan Sargeant

This was a challenging weekend for Logan Sargeant, the American rookie missing out on laps on a track he had never raced because of CCTV issues on Friday, in a Williams that wasn’t upgraded because there were only enough parts for one car.

He did a decent enough job in qualifying – especially considering this was only his second time racing wet tyres in F1 – and showed good pace in the opening laps of the race before an oil leak forced the team to retire the car, as the data suggested it was starting to affect the power unit.

FACTS AND STATS: Red Bull match Mercedes’ best-ever season start as Hamilton takes 10th Montreal podium

He remains rooted to the bottom of the drivers’ championship, having failed to score in any of the opening eight races – team mate Albon now P12 with seven points.

2023 Canadian Grand Prix: Every driver's over the line team radio

Winner: Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton was targeting a battle with Fernando Alonso in Sunday’s race – and he got just that, leapfrogging him at the start to run second.

The seven-time world champion didn’t have the pace to retain that position at the flag, but he was still quick enough to hold onto a podium – his second in a row.

Third was also his 10th career podium at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and moved him past the century of points mark this season.

Loser: George Russell

It wasn’t such a good day for the other Mercedes, with George Russell hitting the wall as he attempted to put pressure on Alonso for the final podium spot.

Though the team got him back out, an issue with the brakes forced his retirement. That was his second retirement of the season and dropped him behind Carlos Sainz into sixth in the drivers’ championship.

Hamilton and Alonso enjoyed a close battle as they completed the podium positions

Winners: Ferrari

While fourth and fifth will not get Ferrari bosses excited, it did represent a step forward for the team in terms of total points and pure performance.

Both Sainz and Charles Leclerc were able to run the medium tyre long, generating consistent pace out of the tyre for the duration of the stint. This is not something they’ve been able to do this year.

Leclerc has only finished higher once this year (third in Baku) while Sainz has classified fifth in four of the last five races.

Losers: McLaren

McLaren started the Grand Prix with two cars inside the top eight, but a time-penalty for Lando Norris for unsportsmanlike behaviour plus a struggle for race pace and tyre life meant they left Canada without any points.

This is the second race in succession they have failed to score, however both Norris and Oscar Piastri felt the team had made a step forward in terms of race pace – as evidenced by Norris’s strong end to the race. And they will both know they don’t have long to wait until a big upgrade package hits the track.

EXPLAINED: 'Unsportsmanlike behaviour'? Why Lando Norris was handed a 5-second penalty in Montreal

2023 Canadian Grand Prix: Norris handed five second penalty for Safety Car offence

Winner: Fernando Alonso

Alonso was annoyed to have lost a place to Hamilton at the start, but he had the pace to snatch it back – and while he couldn’t reel in Verstappen, this was the closest he’s been all season to challenging his fellow double world champion.

Second was Alonso’s sixth podium in eight races, which is twice as many as the number he’s scored in his previous seven seasons combined...

Losers: AlphaTauri

AlphaTauri lost both cars in Q1, leaving them with a long afternoon ahead on Sunday afternoon. Yuki Tsunoda’s early pace was encouraging, but he struggled thereafter.

His team mate Nyck de Vries spent most of the race in traffic. Contact with Kevin Magnussen, along with a series of blue flags, meant he couldn’t find a way to battle forward.

The Italian team are now bottom of the constructors’ championship and have failed to score in each of the last four Grands Prix.

MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JUNE 18: Second placed Fernando Alonso of Spain and Aston Martin F1 Team — Alonso has finished on the podium in six of his eight races with Aston Martin so far

Winner: Valtteri Bottas

It’s been a tricky run of races for Valtteri Bottas, but he was back into the top 10 for the first time since the opening race in Bahrain.

The Finn fought his way into the top 10, and while he lost ninth to Lance Stroll on the line on the final lap, the score was fine reward for a solid performance.

It was his eighth successive points score in Canada to move them clear of rivals Haas in the fight for P7.