Verstappen had dead bird stuck in F1 car as he easily won Canadian Grand Prix

19 June 2023 , 08:04

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Max Verstappen celebrates winning the Canadian Grand Prix (Image: Getty Images)

Max Verstappen had a dead bird stuck in his right brake duct as he cruised to victory at the Canadian Grand Prix.

During the race, Verstappen informed his team on lap 11 that he had hit a bird, but it did not affect the Dutchman as he finished ahead of second-placed Fernando Alonso by almost 10 seconds.

And Red Bull chief Christian Horner quipped after the race that the bird hitting Verstappen's care was the most challenging incident he faced all race. "The biggest moment he had was hitting a bird that did half the race behind the front right brake duct," he said.

"A very, very controlled race by him." When asked if the bird had spent the entire Grand Prix stuck on Verstappen's car, Horner replied: "Yes, the remains of the bird."

Verstappen added to Sky Sports F1 : "It was still stuck on my car when I came in, it didn't look great! I also feel sorry for the mechanic having to remove it." Verstappen's victory was Red Bull's 100th F1 win and the two-time World Champion said it was "incredible" to have helped his team reach such a milestone.

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"I'm of course very happy to win here in Canada," he said. "It wasn't an easy or straightforward race though, it was quite difficult to switch on the tyres and get them to the right temperature. This is our 100th win and it's an incredible moment for the team, the hard work doesn't stop here though, the new target is 200 now!

"Right from when I was a young kid karting, I was always dreaming about being a Formula 1 driver and I would have never imagined to actually win so many races, so to tie with Ayrton Senna is incredible and I feel really proud of that. Hopefully we will have plenty more wins in the future, I don't want to stop now."

Verstappen's victory in Montreal was Red Bull's 100th F1 race win (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Horner, meanwhile, hailed a "landmark day" with Verstappen also matching Ayrton Senna's 41 F1 race wins and chief technical officer Adrian Newey overseeing his 200th. "It's a landmark day today and one for our history books," he said.

"An amazing result for the whole team, not just the people here, but everyone back at the factory who works so hard, ensuring we continue to perform at such a high level. I remember our first victory in China in 2009 and being happy that we'd won just one race, and here we are with 99 more.

"To get a century of victories is an incredible achievement, competing in 100 races is a feat in itself, but winning 27% of all races we have entered is something truly to be proud of. It's been an amazing journey in a relatively short space of time and it's down to our incredible people, our spirit and our culture."

Matthew Cooper