Max Verstappen was dominant again on Sunday, claiming victory at the Canadian Grand Prix for his sixth win of the Formula One season.
In doing so, not only did he have to battle his opponents. He also had to deal with the elements in a bizarre way.
After the race, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted that Verstappen hit a bird during the race, and it got stuck in the car.
“The biggest moment [Verstappen] had was hitting a bird that did half the race behind the front right brake duct,” Horner said, via ESPN’s Nate Saunders. “A very, very controlled race by him.”
Horner then added that the bird stayed in the right brake duct for the rest of the race.
“Yes, the remains of the bird,” he said.
Verstappen did indeed hit a bird sitting on the red/white curb exiting one of the chicanes pic.twitter.com/V4L09MYu2G
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) June 18, 2023
With the win, Verstappen now has 41 wins to tie F1 great Ayrton Senna for fifth place on the career wins list. Nothing, not even an errant bird, appears to be able to stop Verstappen right now.