Max Verstappen solidified his lead in the Formula 1 championship by resisting pressure from Carlos Sainz Jr. in the final laps to take his sixth victory of the season.

Verstappen happily dominated after starting on pole at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The reigning world champion extended his overall lead to 46 points over Mexican Sergio Pérez, his Red Bull team-mate who had to retire early due to a gearbox problem.

“There’s still a lot to do and I understand the gap is quite wide, but I’m also clear that everything can change quickly,” Verstappen said of his points lead. He recalled that he was 46 points behind Charles Leclerc after the third race of the season.

The Dutchman was not afraid to distance himself from Fernando Alonso, who started on the front row for the first time in a decade.

Alonso joked that he would attack Verstappen at the first corner to steal the win, but such an attack never materialized. By the time Sainz passed Alonso on lap two, Verstappen had already opened up a 2.4 second lead in his Red Bull. Sainz closed the gap in the final 10 laps and made the Dutchman sweat, but the Ferrari driver faded out on the final lap, falling 0.993 seconds behind.

“It was quite an entertaining race, it’s always better to be in a speed duel than to reserve tyres,” said Verstapeen, adding that Sainz didn’t have the room to pass him, “but he was near.”

Sainz stressed that second place was the best he could get on Sunday.

“When I sped with everything, I risked everything,” Sainz said. “I can tell you it was pushing. I left everything. For the first time this season, I can say that I was the fastest on the track, which gives me confidence and a little hope for the next races.

Mercedes has recovered remarkably from a season full of difficulties, including a terrible day of testing on Friday. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton scored his first podium since the first race of the year in March. George Russell, along with the other Mercedes, entered fourth.

“It’s nice to feel part of the battle and at the end I was fighting with them. It gives me and the team hope,” Hamilton said. “The potential is there, if we can make it all work and I think that’s been the hardest thing this year.”

Hamilton was cheered after crossing the finish line and said he had no back pain, which he has suffered throughout the season due to a rebound effect.

“It’s good to feel young again,” said the 37-year-old Briton. But he warned that “we still have a rebound, but the difference was total”.

“Checo” Pérez retired from the race after just nine laps due to gearbox failure. It was the fourth mechanical failure for the Red Bulls this season.

“Everything went wrong this weekend,” Perez said. “Reliability issues continue to hurt and going to zero hurts a lot.”

Verstappen, meanwhile, has won six of the first nine races in his title defense.

This is Verstappen’s best result in Montreal. F1 reported that the Canadian circuit set a record by attracting 338,000 spectators over the three days of the weekend, returning to Canada after a two-year absence due to the pandemic.

Leclerc managed to bounce back after picking up a 10-position penalty at the start for an engine change in his Ferrari. He finished fifth after starting 19th.

Esteban Ocon finished sixth with his Alpine. Alonso, his teammate who said he was satisfied with a fifth place, finished seventh but was penalized five seconds for a maneuver on the last lap.

The penalty left Alonso in ninth place, while Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) moved up to seventh. Bottas was followed by team-mate Zhou Guanyu, who moved up to eighth thanks to Alonso’s penalty and scored for the second time this season. Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) finished tenth.

The next race will be the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 3.