Max Verstappen established himself as the Formula 1 championship leader as he withstood pressure from Carlos Sainz Jr. in the final laps to take his sixth win of the season.

Verstappen dominated with ease after starting from pole position at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The reigning world champion increased his lead in the general classification to 46 points over Mexican Sergio Pérez, his Red Bull teammate, who had to retire prematurely with a gearbox problem.

“There’s a long way to go 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 had no problem distancing himself from Fernando Alonso, who started from the front row for the first time in a decade.

Alonso joked that he would attack Verstappen in the first corner to steal the victory, but such an attack never materialized. By the time Sainz left Alonso behind 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 melted down on the final lap at 0.993sec.

“It was quite an entertaining race, it’s always more enjoyable when you’re in a speed duel than reserving tyres,” said Verstapeen, adding that Sainz didn’t have room to pass him, “but he was close.”

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

“When I accelerated with everything, I was risking everything,” Sainz said. “I can tell you that I was tight. I left everything. For the first time this season, he can say he was the fastest on the track, which gives me confidence and a bit of hope for the next races.

Mercedes have bounced back remarkably after a very difficult season, including a dismal test day 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, came in fourth.

“It’s nice to feel part of the battle and at the end I was fighting with them. It gives me hope, also for the team,” 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 over the 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 was fifth after starting 19th.

Esteban Ocon finished sixth with his Alpine. Alonso, his teammate who had said he would be happy with 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 through 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.