Verstappen matches Senna, despite dead bird: "It was still stuck to my car"

Max Verstappen drove a significant portion of the race with a dead bird lodged in his brake duct. The Red Bull Racing driver reported during the race that he had hit a bird, and at the end of the race, a mechanic encountered it. Nevertheless, it didn't deter Verstappen from securing his 41st victory, thus equaling Ayrton Senna. The two-time world champion and his team of course aim to achieve even more wins.

On his way to his 41st victory, Verstappen didn't encounter any fellow drivers, but the Dutchman still had a collision at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. "The biggest moment he had was when he hit a bird that got stuck in the brake duct for half of the race," Christian Horner reveals to Sky Sports. Verstappen confirms that the little creature had to be removed after the race. "It was still stuck to my car when I came in; it didn't look great. I also feel sorry for the mechanic who had to remove it."

Verstappen sets new goal with Red Bull

Thanks to his 41st victory, Verstappen now matches the Brazilian Senna. The Red Bull driver does not like to compare generations, but he still considers his achievement special. "I can only say that when I was a little kid driving in go-karts, I was dreaming about being a Formula 1 driver," Verstappen is quoted by Motorsport.com. "I would've never imagined to win 41 grands prix. To tie with Ayrton is something incredible. I'm proud of that, but of course, I hope it's not stopping here. I hope that we can keep on winning more races."

At the same time, Red Bull achieved its 100th victory in Canada. "I have won 41 of them, so maybe we'll talk about a new contract because of that," Verstappen jokes. The reigning world champion knows what the next goal should be. "It's a great achievement for the team. We knew this was the first opportunity to achieve that, and I'm happy that we managed to reach a hundred. But again, I hope we win more than a hundred, so the new goal is two hundred!" Verstappen concludes.