GROUNDHOG SLAY
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen nearly ‘killed ANIMAL’ during Canadian Grand Prix
The animal has caused chaos at the Canadian Grand Prix in previous years
MAX VERSTAPPEN revealed he nearly killed an ANIMAL during the Canadian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver came within a whisker of running over a rodent known as a groundhog - made famous in the classic Bill Murray film - or a woodchuck, in Sunday's race.
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Groundhogs have caused problems in Montreal before, with Romain Grosjean and Nicholas Latifi unable to avoid a collision in recent years.
Just off the halfway mark in Sunday's race, Verstappen had a near miss with a groundhog who had wandered on to the track.
The Dutch driver said: "He was almost dead.
"I started to get to the last chicane and I thought it was debris initially.
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"I started to close in and then I’m like, oh my god, it’s an animal.
"So yeah, I swerved right at the last moment. I don’t know what happened after."
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Mercedes driver George Russell confirmed to Verstappen in the post-race press conference that he had seen the groundhog scamper off to safety.
Verstappen responded: "Good. Luckily, I mean, if that hits your car...
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"I really had to slow down for it because I was a bit off the dry line. Last year, of course, a bird flew into my car.
"So I didn’t want to have a groundhog stuck in my car as well."
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The chaos and wet weather didn't stop Verstappen claiming his 60th F1 career triumph in Montreal ahead of Lando Norris to move 56 points clear of Charles Leclerc in the standings.
Meanwhile Russell apologised to his Mercedes team and fought back tears after blowing pole position to Verstappen.
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