Verstappen ready to maintain winning run, stretch his lead

MONTREAL - Refreshed by a Mediterranean break since winning in Spain, defending world champion Max Verstappen will be seeking to continue his dominant run and stretch his title-race lead in this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver, who won in Montreal last year, has reeled off successive victories in Miami, Monte Carlo and Barcelona to move 53 points clear of nearest rival and team-mate Sergio Perez in the drivers’ championship.

He has also led every lap since lap 48 in Florida, a total of 154, the longest unbroken run since 2012 when four-time champion Sebastian Vettel was equally supreme for the Milton Keynes-based team.

Another win, in Sunday’s 70-lap contest on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a high-speed semi-street track on the Ile Notre-Dame in the St Lawrence River, would be the team’s 100th in Formula One – and 24th in 27 outings. 

Only four other teams have scored a century of Grands Prix wins – Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Williams – and few individuals have relished such a coincidence of invincibility for man and machine.

“This track is unique,” said the 25-year-old Verstappen. “You get to ride some old-school kerbs and the scenery is quite cool too. The car set-up has to be a balance between straight-line and running well over the kerbs well.”

Perez, recently regarded as the ‘king of street tracks’ before his qualifying accident in Monaco, said he has been working back at the team factory on rekindling the form that brought him early two early-season wins.

“As a team, we have worked well and know what we have to do to get the car into a window where I perform best,” he said. “In moments like this, it’s more important than ever to work as a team.”

Having won all seven races this year, Red Bull will be clear favourites, but resurgent Spaniard Alonso has claimed five top-three finishes already this year and is highly motivated to continue his successes.