Briatore: 'We saw the three greatest champions on the podium in Canada'

The former F1 chief of Benetton and Renault, Flavio Briatore, wrote in a column for Italian newspaper Il Riformista that he loved the podium in Canada with Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

The Italian calls the three F1 champions Formula 1's most important champions. Lewis Hamilton, with seven titles, is on a par with Michael Schumacher with the most F1 titles. Fernando Alonso took two but is the most experienced driver in Formula 1 with 364 race starts. Verstappen is heading for his third title and his class speaks for itself.

Briatore describes the Canada GP as follows: "Max Verstappen again showed the usual supremacy in Canada. His teammate Checo Perez was way off. He shows that not only does the car have to be good, but the driver has to be up to the task. On Sunday, we saw Formula 1's most important champions on the podium. It was a podium with the three strongest forces in the sport."

The Italian breathes a sigh of relief at seeing the Ferrari team's strong form in Canada. The result and performance of drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were only less so. Briatore saw that Ferrari could keep pace with Aston Martin and Mercedes for the first time this year.

"Now we'll be waiting for the next GP," Briatore concluded. "We hope Ferrari continues on the same pace, we hope Aston Martin closes the gap with Red Bull, even though the championship already seems to be claimed by a rampant Max Verstappen."