Max Verstappen took a big step towards retaining the Formula 1 world championship with his victory at the Canadian Grand Prix last weekend. The Red Bull driver increased his lead over Charles Leclerc by a full 25 points.
Coming into the race, there was talk of a potential battle for glory in both championships. Leclerc had cut Verstappen’s advantage to 31 points by winning in Monaco, while the Dutchman finished sixth in one of his poorest results in recent years.
But that chatter will be an awful lot quieter as F1 heads to Barcelona at the end of next week. Verstappen is now 56 ahead of his nearest challenger after Ferrari suffered a miserable double DNF in Montreal.
And that wasn’t the only reason the victory seemed especially significant. It was a major missed opportunity for rivals, with Red Bull once again looking fallible.
Verstappen missed out on pole for just the second time this season despite setting the exact same lap time as George Russell. But Russell and McLaren’s Lando Norris both spurned chances to win the wet/dry race on Sunday.
As he showed on a few occasions last year, the 26-year-old is still able to rise to the top when races descend into chaos. And that will be a vital asset as he looks to become the fifth driver in F1 history to win four straight titles.
Max Verstappen names Charles Leclerc and one other as future F1 world champions
Speaking to DAZN Espana, Verstappen was asked to ‘bet a dinner’ on the driver most likely to win a championship in the future. While he clarified that there were a ‘few’ candidates, he picked out Leclerc as the most likely.
The Ferrari driver has won just six Grands Prix so far despite taking 24 pole positions. For reference, Verstappen has taken ‘only’ 15 more poles but has 54 more victories to his name.
The Monegasque came closest to glory in 2022, when he won two of the first four races before falling away. He ultimately finished 146 points adrift of Verstappen in second.
The Red Bull superstar also namechecked Norris, who stood on the top step of the podium for the first time in Miami last month. The Briton’s runner-up finish in Canada saw him collect the 18th trophy of his career.
Verstappen said: “‘Bet a dinner that this driver will be champion, his name is…’ Ah you can bet on a few I think. Only one? Charles. But I can pick many. Lando.”
Verstappen disagrees with Sebastian Vettel on next F1 champion
There are only three world champions on the current F1 grid. Verstappen is by far the youngest, with Lewis Hamilton (39) and Fernando Alonso (42) set to retire in the coming years.
Hamilton’s seventh and most recent title came in 2020, while Alonso is approaching 20 years since back-to-back triumphs in 2005 and 2006. The old guard may be giving way to a new generation.
Verstappen (2021) is the only new champion since Nico Rosberg took the title for Mercedes back in 2016. But there are three race-winners on the current grid aged 26 or younger, and all of them stand a chance of toppling him eventually.
Rather than Norris or Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel named George Russell as the next F1 champion not named Verstappen or Hamilton. Russell took his second career pole last weekend.
Intriguingly, there’s a possibility he could be Verstappen’s teammate come 2026 if Toto Wolff can lure the 105-time podium-finisher to Mercedes. That would depend, though, on whether he prevails in a ‘shoot-out’ with teenage sensation Kimi Antonelli next year.
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