Max Verstappen was delighted to secure his sixth win of the year after a "really exciting" battle with Carlos Sainz in Canada.
A Safety Car resulted in a 15-lap sprint to the finish in Montreal, with the reigning champion keeping his composure as the Spaniard ran close without ever really threatening an overtake.
However, before the pause in the action caused by Yuki Tsunoda's off exiting the pits, Verstappen was faced with closing down the Ferrari on newer tyres after opting for a two-stop strategy.
"I think overall, they (Ferrari) were very quick in the race so it would have been really tough for me to close that gap to the end, even on fresher tyres," the Red Bull driver conceded. "But it was really exciting at the end."
A fast and furious fight for the win! 💪 #CanadianGP 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/vN1WveHA0E
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) June 19, 2022
Indeed, with Sainz making his own second step under the Safety Car, that would give Verstappen the track position he maintained until the chequered flag.
"I was giving it everything I had," he stated. "Of course, Carlos was doing the same.
"Following is tricky around here but I could see he was pushing, charging [his battery], but of course, naturally, when you are in the DRS, it is a bit easier to charge.
"The last few laps were a lot of fun. I think I would have preferred attacking instead of defending, but luckily it worked out."
Verstappen's win increased his championship lead to 46 points over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, whose miserable weekend in Canada ended in mechanical retirement early on.
"A big shame. It's hard to digest," commented the Mexican.
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR (LAP 9/70)
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 19, 2022
Perez pulls off to the side with a suspected gearbox issue, and is our first retirement of the afternoon#CanadianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/UO6EAhGfNq
"The pace was good, we were coming through the field, saving the tyres, the brakes especially, so we had plenty of potential in my race to come back.
"The gearbox was at the end of its life so we have to keep on top of these things.
"[A lack of] reliability is very painful, and having a zero for the championship, it's also very painful, very costly.
"It's still a very long championship but today hurts a lot, I want to forget about today and move on to Silverstone. Hopefully I can have a straighter weekend than I've had here."
