Max Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix for the third year in a row and it was time to celebrate a win as Monaco did not go as favored. The competition is getting tougher after each race as there are always new challenges showing up at Red Bull’s doorstep. In Miami, it was Lando Norris, then at Monaco it was Charles Leclerc and in Montreal, it was almost George Russell. Mercedes is back in form and Red Bull will not get to win this championship easily.

However, it won’t be fair to say that Max Verstappen had a clean race. There was an incident that took place 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 harmed, George Russell had to come to the rescue to comfort the defending world champion giving him the relieving news. While there was a casualty during last year’s Canadian GP, Verstappen avoided an accident that could have been very bad for the victim.

Max Verstappen’s close call with a little animal

Back in 2023, Max Verstappen finished the Canadian Grand Prix as he crossed the checkered flag first. Although he won, he later noticed that there was a bird that hit his car and that was only taken out at the end of the race. This year, a similar thing was almost going to happen as a groundhog found its way to the track, right on the path of the Red Bull driver.

Verstappen was quick to react as he managed to dodge the critter. During the post-race interview, the race winner spoke about the animal on the track and said, “He was almost dead! I thought it was debris initially and then I’m like: oh my God, it’s an animal! I swerved right at the last moment. I dunno what happened to it” When George Russell heard this, he told Verstappen that the groundhog had survived.

Hearing that he did not hurt the animal, Verstappen was relieved, saying, “He ran off? Ah good. Last year a bird flew into my car, so I didn’t want to have a similar experience again.” With this, Russell puts Verstappen’s mind at ease, as he now knows that no animals were hurt during this race.

The Red Bull driver was calmer than expected, mainly because this was not the first time he had unintentionally run over a creature during a race.

Verstappen gets the bird at the Canadian Grand Prix

Last year, a stray bird made its way to the circuit. Little did the bird know that Max Verstappen would be coming down the road at 200mph. The car moved too fast for the bird or Verstappen to react and it ended up getting stuck at the front of the car.

After winning the race, Verstappen sees the bird still on the car and he told Sky Sports F1, “It was still stuck on my car when I came in, it didn’t look great!”  The Red Bull driver started to think about his teammate, who would have to remove the bird and clean the car up as he stated, “I also feel sorry for the mechanic having to remove it.” 

Crashing into the bird could have been disastrous for the Red Bull driver. However, he managed to control the car and bring it to the finish line without losing control of the car. Such incidents are far from favorable and for some reason, it’s only Verstappen who gets caught up in such situations in recent years. With that said, if Verstappen had hit the groundhog, do you think he would still win the race? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.