The best race of the season so far may have resulted in a familiar winner but there were plenty of impressive drives up and down the grid.
With three different drivers looking like they may win at certain points, the Canadian GP certainly was a thriller and here’s how we rated the racers.
Driver ratings for the F1 2024 Canadian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen 9.5
Not a faultless performance from the Dutchman with a lockup allowing Lando Norris past but nevertheless, even in a chaotic race like this, it is Verstappen top once again.
It was a great race both from a driver and a team perspective with Verstappen being pitted at the perfect time and even if a slightly slower stop made him vulnerable, Verstappen’s speed of thought made him stay ahead.
But Verstappen’s most decisive moment came just after the second safety car period had ended when he picked the perfect moment to put his foot down and ultimately build a gap that Norris could not close. A 60th win for Verstappen and the hardest he has had for a long time.
Lando Norris 9
Another very good drive from Norris to get him back onto the podium but it was one where he will wonder what could have been.
If the Briton got the safety car luck in Miami, he most certainly did not here as he was the only driver unable to pit and the eight second lead he had vanished into dust.
He re-emerged in P3 but fought his way back up the order until a couple of errors let him down. He perhaps was caught napping a little when Verstappen put his foot to the floor after the second safety car and he was unable to stay within DRS of the Dutchman.
George Russell 8.5
When George Russell’s head hit the pillow on Sunday night, he would have no doubt wondered what could have been. Having started from pole, he held the lead well but as the inters began to wear, he found the red and blue front wing of Verstappen in his rear view mirrors.
But as we sometimes see with Russell, some mistakes crept in, including lock ups which allowed Norris to pass, but the Mercedes driver will be kicking himself for going too hard in his pursuit of Piastri late on.
The contact made him lose a place to Hamilton, something he was able to regain, but ultimately it cost him any chance of catching Norris up ahead.
Lewis Hamilton 9
If there were faults to be found with Hamilton’s qualifying, you would be hard pressed to find any errors in his Sunday drive.
Starting from seventh, Hamilton rode the early storm and having finally got by old foe Fernando Alonso, he began to descend on the leaders.
He only really became a threat for the podium late on when his fresh tyres gave him the pace but with him on the hard and the others on the medium, he lost out to team-mate Russell for the P3 spot.
Hamilton was not thrilled with his own performance post-race but it was a fine drive nonetheless.
Oscar Piastri 8
A good drive but a step away front the standard set by his team-mate. Often Piastri at the back of a line of drivers but he did move up and down the order, being as high as P3 at one point.
Ultimately, the second restart was what cost him as he was unable to hang onto the tail of Norris and therefore was vulnerable to both Russell and Hamilton. He defended hard against Russell but that allowed Hamilton a chance to attack before he eventually lost out to Russell as well.
Fernando Alonso 8
A good drive from start to finish for Alonso who managed to keep his former team-mate Lewis Hamiton behind for a long time.
In the end, Alonso finished 17 seconds behind winner Verstappen but it is the gap to Mercedes that will have Aston worried with the Spaniard, 13 seconds behind Hamilton. If Aston do not improve, they could find themselves in no man’s land away from the top four but ahead of the rest.
Lance Stroll 7.5
Did everything expected of him for his home race as he finished within the top seven and behind his team-mate.
A relatively quiet race from Stroll too which was not easy in the conditions on offer.
Daniel Ricciardo 8.5
On a weekend when focus was as much on his off track performance as it was on it, Ricciardo recorded just about the best he could have hoped for with a P8 finish and his first points score in a grand prix of the season.
His P5 in quali was his best moment of the weekend but over the longer race distance, he was unable to keep the likes of the Astons behind him.
Pierre Gasly 8
Back to back points scores for Gasly who finished ninth having started 15th.
Late on, Alpine ordered Ocon to move to the side to give Gasly a run at Ricciardo up ahead but Ocon delayed in his accepting of that team instruction, meaning Gasly had little time to catch his fellow former Red Bull driver.
Still though, more points to be added and further signs that Alpine are going in the right direction.
Esteban Ocon 8
Finishing 10th having started at the back is a very respectable result for a driver under the microscope at the moment.
With chaos often going on around him, Ocon was able to move up through the order and some luck fell in his lap when Tsunoda spun and allowed the Frenchman to move into P10 for his first points since Miami.
Nico Hulkenberg 7
Like his team-mate, his stint on the full wet at the start allowed him to move up the order but the pit stop for the German was much quicker, meaning he saw the benefits of his risky move much more than Magnussen did.
He could not quite break into the points but after a poor Saturday, it was a good recovery for Hulkenberg.
More reaction from the race in Montreal
👉 Lewis Hamilton needs to ‘get head on right’ after ‘worse race’ Canada verdict
👉 Canadian GP: Max Verstappen triumphs in instant wet-dry classic in Montréal
Kevin Magnussen 7
For a second there, it looked like Kevin Magnussen and Haas had pulled off the greatest tactic of all time as their choice to start both drivers on the full wet allowed the Dane to fly up the order until he remarkably reached the front runners.
A safety car or red flag would have been very much welcomed by Magnussen at that point as the track began to dry but it unfortunately did not appear and he ultimately came in for an additional stop. That stop was slow at over eight seconds and saw all of his good work vanish.
Valtteri Bottas 5.5
Starting from the pit lane meant it was only his team-mate he could be fairly measured against and Valtteri Bottas comfortably beat Zhou Guanyu in that regard.
Yuki Tsunoda’s late spin gave Bottas a P13 finish but his barren points run goes on.
Yuki Tsunoda 6.5
For the first half of the race, Yuiki Tsunoda’s rating would be up near the 8 mark but a crucial error has seen him tumble down.
While all the other drivers were on fresh inters, Tsunoda somehow found pace in his 30-odd lap old tyres meaning that when he did pit, he had a good chance of finishing high up within the points.
Unfortunately for the Japanese driver, he lost it between Turns 7 and 8 and his attempt to stay to the left of the sign, as requested by the race director, resulted in him crashing into it and out of the points he went.
Zhou Guanyu 5
Started from the pit lane and was ultimately the last driver to cross the chequered flag as his quest for the first point score of the season goes on.
Did not finish
Carlos Sainz 4.5
Like his team-mate, the early exit from quali was not his fault but that spin certainly was.
With Leclerc’s engine issues, Sainz was Ferrari’s best chance for some points this weekend but he cost them that when he lost it and collected Alex Albon for good measure.
Alex Albon 7
Just an unfortunate moment that cost Alex Albon his race at a time when he was running well.
The events that transpired meant Albon could have scored some points but by the time of the chequered flag, he was back in the garage having been tagged by Sainz.
Sergio Perez 1
An awful weekend from start to finish and one where it is hard to think of anything that could have gone worse.
Having been rewarded with a new deal, Perez gave Red Bull every reason to reconsider and a poor quali saw him start well away from where the team would want him to.
He did take damage in the opening lap in what was a racing incident but his spin late on was pure driver error, meaning not only did he bring home zero points for the team, but also gave them a large bill to fix the damage.
Christian Horner said the team “got away with it” given Ferrari’s troubles but with three teams now challenging them, Red Bull cannot afford many more of these weekends from their second driver.
Charles Leclerc 5
If the Monaco curse was broken last time out, Charles Leclerc may have transferred all his bad luck to Montreal.
The team’s decision to run on used softs gave him a Q2 exit but then an engine issue meant he was only ever looking behind him and not in front.
Leclerc asked to pit in an attempt to do something but while the extended break did look to have solved the engine issue, the hard tyres were put on his car too soon and he was forced to go back into the pit lane for some inters.
Having been lapped, Leclerc retired to cap a miserable weekend.
Logan Sargeant 4
Sometimes it is just painfully obvious a driver is not where they should be and has lost all confidence.
A spin early on very nearly resulted in him crashing into the wall but he went one step further in lap 26 when he brought out the safety car.
Read next: Canadian GP conclusions: Villeneuve v Ricciardo and Russell’s new nickname