F1

Canadian Grand Prix: Hamilton makes in back to back wins

The race marked successive wins for Lewis Hamilton for the first time this year, as the three-time World Champion closed in on Rosberg, who could only finish in a disappointing fifth.

Vettel got off to a flying start by passing the Mercedes pair within seconds following his 3rd place grid start, however, couldn’t build on his impressive start as Ferrari’s two stop strategy for Vettel failed to better Hamilton’s one stop strategy.

There was further controversy surrounding teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, as on just turn one Rosberg was forced onto the gravel by Hamilton, although neither driver made much of the incident after the race.

Hamilton looks to have put his early season woes behind him now, as he dominated the race despite Vettel making a late charge.

The one stop strategy paid off for Hamilton as he dominated the race eventually finishing 5 seconds clear. It wasn’t as easy as the winning margin would suggest for the Brit, however, with Vettel lurking behind Hamilton in the final sector of the race on the fresher tyres.

Vettel will be rueing his chances, and on another day could have left Canada with Victory, however, was unfortunate on the day. Ferrari pitted Vettel early on to switch him to the super softs, however, the German came in just at the end of the virtual safety car period allowing Hamilton to stretch his lead very slightly. Vettel also lost valuable seconds on Hamilton late on after locking up following his aggressive attempts to catch the World Champion.

Ferrari’s Maurizio Arrivabene after the race gave an honest reflection to Sky regarding Vettel’s unusual pitting time. “We overestimated the degradation of the tyres, this is the reason we called him in. It was the wrong decision.”

Nico Rosberg again disappointed as he could only finish in fifth in Montreal. Rosberg will be relieved to finish in the points following a last lap spin out as he tried to overtake young Max Verstappen going into the final 2 corners.

Williams’ Valterie Bottas impressed as he completed the podium after a magnificent race, however teammate Felipe Massa sustained an engine power unit issue which ended his race early. Massa’s early retirement ended his record of been the only driver to score points in every race of this season.

Fernando Alonso finished 11th and just missed out on the points in Canada, despite being told to ‘stop’ by his team. Alonso continued against the will of his team to resume his inconsistent finishes season.

 

Race Results

1

Hamilton

Mercedes

2

Vettel

Ferrari

3

Bottas

Williams

4

Verstappen

Red Bull

5

Rosberg

Mercedes

6

Raikkonen

Ferrari

7

Ricciardo

Red Bull

8

ulkenberg

Force India

9

ainz Jnr

Toro Rosso

10

Perez

Force India

11

Alonso

McLaren

12

Kvyat

Toro Rosso

13

Gutierrez

Haas F1

14

Grosjean

Haas F1

15

Ericsson

Sauber

16

Magnussen

Renault

17

Wehrlein

Manor

18

Nasr

Sauber

19

Haryanto

Manor

R

Massa

Williams

R

Palmer

Renault

R

Button

McLaren