Max Verstappen completed another crushing performance to win the Canadian Grand Prix and match Ayrton Senna’s tally of 41 victories. The Dutchman led every lap at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to draw level with Senna and extend his championship lead. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso finished runner-up, with Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes. Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell retired on lap 55 of 70 following an earlier prang with the wall. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fourth and fifth respectively for Ferrari, with Sergio Perez sixth. Alex Albon crossed the line a commendable seventh in his Williams. Verstappen, who notched up Red Bull’s 100th win in Formula One, now leads Perez by 69 points on his unstoppable march to a hat-trick of titles. A day after taking pole position in the wet, Verstappen reigned supreme in the dry to emulate Senna and move into joint fifth in the pantheon of F1 winners. Verstappen was not even born when Senna won his 41st and final race at the 1993 season-ending Australian Grand Prix. Senna lost his life the following year in Imola following a fatal crash at the Tamburello curve, aged just 34. Verstappen will not celebrate his 26th birthday until September, but his sixth victory from the opening eight fixtures of the year leaves only Hamilton (103 wins), Michael Schumacher (91), Sebastian Vettel (53) and Alain Prost (51) ahead of him in the record books. Remarkably, Verstappen has won 15 of the last 19 races in F1, with Red Bull failing to taste victory on just one occasion in that streak. Indeed, Red Bull could yet become the first team to win every race in a single season. And with Verstappen at the wheel, they have every chance. “I am very happy right now,” said Verstappen. “To win again and take the 100th win for the team is incredible.” Verstappen’s triumph was sealed on the short dash to the opening chicane. Alonso was slow away from his marks, and Hamilton leapfrogged the green Aston Martin machine to take second spot. Hamilton set his sights on Verstappen’s Red Bull gearbox, but by the end of the opening lap, the seven-time world champion was eight tenths back – and when a virtual safety car was deployed on lap eight after Logan Sargeant broke down in his Williams, the gap was the best part of three seconds. With Verstappen racing off into the distance, Alonso was the filling in a Mercedes’ sandwich. But that changed on lap 12 when Russell slammed into the wall on the exit of Turn 9. Russell’s front wing snapped in half, while his right-rear tyre dangled off his Mercedes. With debris littering the circuit, the safety car came out and the main players stopped for new tyres as Russell pulled in for repairs. After changing all four tyres, Hamilton was released into Alonso’s path. Alonso said he had to slam on the anchors to avoid running into the back of the Mercedes man, and the flashpoint was duly noted by the stewards, and latterly investigated, but the British driver would escape without punishment. After five laps behind the safety car, Verstappen executed a fine getaway to leave Hamilton trailing. Indeed, after the opening two turns, he was already one second up the road. Rather than looking ahead, Hamilton’s attention was occupied by Alonso behind. And on lap 22, the Spaniard dived past Hamilton with a fine move at the final chicane. Hamilton had a nibble back at Alonso as they raced to the opening corner, but the evergreen Spaniard held his nerve to keep the Mercedes man behind. A second round of pit stops followed and Hamilton set about reeling Alonso in. But Russell’s race came to an end while running in eighth with 15 laps remaining when he was told to park a Mercedes riddled with excessive brake wear. Alonso was also struggling with a brake problem and Hamilton sensed blood. “Hamilton is 1.9 seconds behind,” Alonso was told with eight laps to run. “Copy,” replied the 41-year-old. “Leave it to me.” Alonso was true to his word, holding off Hamilton’s advances. Verstappen ran across the second chicane with a handful of laps to run. “I nearly knocked myself out on that kerb,” said the Dutchman with a chuckle before taking the flag 9.5 seconds clear of Alonso with Hamilton 4.5 sec further back. “It has been a great weekend for us,” said Hamilton. “We are slowly chipping away. And we will bring more upgrades to move forward. “I do believe we will get there at some stage. We are going in the right direction.” Hamilton added: “It is quite an honour to be up there with two world champions. I was excited to be third, and in that mix. “We didn’t have the pace today, and we knew this would not be our strongest circuit because we struggle in the low-speed corners, and that was where I was losing time.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Max Verstappen claims pole position during rain-hit qualifying for Canadian GP Lewis Hamilton fastest as practice for Canadian Grand Prix finally gets started Max Verstappen closes in on ‘amazing achievement’ of matching Ayrton Senna

President Joe Biden's administration announced this week that it planned to spend nearly $1 billion

A number of popular subreddits have cheekily relaunched amid the widespread protest against Reddit from

Max Verstappen put his Red Bull on pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix following Saturday’s rain-hit qualifying session in Montreal. Verstappen has won five of the opening seven rounds and even a wet-dry-wet track in Montreal could not slow the Dutchman down. F1 grid: Starting positions for Monaco Grand Prix Nico Hulkenberg took advantage of the sodden track to take second spot for Haas, 1.2 seconds behind Verstappen, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso third. Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth, one spot ahead of George Russell in the other Mercedes, while Lando Norris claimed seventh for McLaren. Yet Hulkenberg has been demoted three places due to a red-flag infringement, meaning Alonso will line up on the front row. Verstappen has been in a class of one this year and the Red Bull man kept his composure in changeable conditions to take an impressive pole. Follow live updates from the Canadian Grand Prix with The Independent - the race starts at 7pm (BST). Read More F1 grid: Starting positions for Canadian Grand Prix Max Verstappen claims pole with shock front row partner for Canadian Grand Prix Carlos Sainz crashes out of Canadian GP third practice with Max Verstappen fastest

The architecture at Prada’s showroom shifts with every season, but never so fluidly as for Spring-Summer 2024 menswear

Who doesn't want to reduce the number of machines around the house or the office

Chris Hemsworth's Netflix franchise run isn't close to ending, as Netflix greenlights a third installment

There's nothing that says "summer" quite like the opening notes of the Stranger Things theme

ADT's Self Setup smart home security system prioritizes ease of installation and compatibility with Google's

Pope Francis led Angelus prayers at Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican on Sunday before thousands of pilgrims, just days...

We might not have a second season of The Queen's Gambit, but we do have

Dame Deborah James’s dad has recalled their conversation on the day she died, in an emotional new interview published on Father’s Day (18 June). James was diagnosed with incurable stage four bowel cancer in 2016, when she was 35. Using the moniker “bowel babe”, she campaigned tirelessly to raise awareness about the symptoms of the disease until her death on 28 June 2022. Her BowelBabe fund has raised over £11.3m for Cancer Research UK at the time of writing, and James was awarded a damehood last May for her activism. In an interview with The Sun, her father Alistair James explained how James was committed to living a full life until the very end. “She was always full of energy, the driving force in our family. She was always coming up with fun ideas, ways to make memories together,” he said. “She would create outdoor cinemas in the garden, plan last-minute holidays, throw impromptu parties – it was never-ending.” James was receiving palliative care at her parents’ home in Surrey in the weeks before her death. “We all knew how desperate it was and we did have some desperately sad times. But we all made sure there were lots of good times, too,” Alistair told the outlet. He also reflected on the day James died, with him and his wife Heather by her side. “Heather suddenly called for me, telling me it was happening and I needed to come now. Saying goodbye was very hard, but it was peaceful,” the 67-year-old said. “Right towards the end, I told her, ‘You can let go now, you have done enough. You can sleep’. I’d never said anything like that before.” Their Father’s Day celebrations usually involved watching sports together, Alistair said. “I remember her taking me to The Ashes cricket four years ago. She loved every minute of it. We loved days out at Wimbledon together,” he continued. “It’s those things that I’ll really miss.” Alistair also expressed his sadness for James’s husband Sebastian, and their children Hugo and Eloise, who will miss out on celebrating many milestones together. James called Alistair “my unsung hero” in a moving post on Father’s Day last year – days before she died. She shared a picture of him brushing her hair, with a caption that read: “My dad is my unsung hero, more so than ever. He’s quietly there behind the scenes, making sure I am OK.” Earlier this year, an impactful documentary chronicling James’s campaign efforts was released on BBC Two. BowelBabe in Her Own Words stitches together 100 hours of recordings – from James’s podcast You Me, and the Big C, her Instagram and TikTok videos, text messages, voice notes and old home videos – to tell the activist’s story. Read More I’m about to experience my first Father’s Day without my Dad Adam Kay says his ‘life has been transformed’ after ‘welcoming two young babies’ via surrogate Prince William all smiles as he’s pictured with his children to mark Father’s Day Alan Carr’s ex Paul Drayton criticises comedian’s ‘really nasty’ comments about friendship with Adele Somehow everyone has become a body language expert