George Russell eases Max Verstappen’s conscience after groundhog incident revives 2023 Canadian GP nightmare

Max Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix for the third year in a row and it was time to celebrate a win as Monaco were not among the favourites. The competition is getting tougher every race as Red Bull keeps coming up with new challenges. In Miami it was Lando Norris, in Monaco it was Charles Leclerc and in Montreal it was almost George Russell. Mercedes are back on form and Red Bull will not win this championship easily.

However, it would not be fair to say that Max Verstappen drove a clean race. There was one incident where Verstappen almost took someone’s life during the race. Although it was not another driver’s life and in the end no one was hurt, George Russell had to come to the defending world champion’s aid to console him and give him the relieving news. Although there was one injured person at last year’s Canadian GP, ​​Verstappen managed to avoid an accident that could have ended very badly for the victim.

Max Verstappen’s near-accident with a small animal

In 2023, Max Verstappen finished the Canadian Grand Prix by crossing the checkered flag first. Although he won, he later noticed that a bird had hit his car and was only rescued at the end of the race. This year, something similar almost happened when a marmot found its way onto the track, right into the path of the Red Bull driver.

Verstappen reacted quickly and was able to avoid the animal. During the post-race interview, the race winner spoke about the animal on the track and said: “It was almost dead! At first I thought it was debris, but then I thought, oh my God, it’s an animal! I swerved at the last moment. I don’t know what happened to it.” When George Russell heard this, he told Verstappen that the marmot had survived.

When Verstappen learned that he had not injured the animal, he was relieved and said: “He ran away? OK. Last year a bird flew into my car and I didn’t want to experience that again.” This reassures Russell Verstappen, as he now knows that no animals were injured in this race.

The Red Bull driver remained calmer than expected, especially because it was not the first time that he accidentally ran over an animal during a race.

Verstappen takes the win at the Canadian Grand Prix

Last year, a stray bird came onto the race track. The bird didn’t know that Max Verstappen was going down the road at 200 miles per hour. The car was too fast for the bird or Verstappen to react and the bird ended up getting stuck on the front of the car.

After the win, Verstappen sees the bird still hanging on the car and told Sky Sports F1: “It was was still stuck to my car when I came in, that didn’t look good!” TThe Red Bull driver began to think about his teammate, who would have to remove the bird and clean the car, he said. “I also feel sorry for the mechanic who had to remove it.”

The collision with the bird could have had devastating consequences for the Red Bull driver. However, he managed to get the car under control and bring it across the finish line without losing control of the car. Such incidents are far from favourable and for some reason it is only Verstappen who has been involved in such situations in recent years. If Verstappen had hit the groundhog, do you think he would have won the race anyway? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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