Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton
fought back to defeat the Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel to win for the fifth
time in Montreal in the Canadian Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas took a well
deserved third place to give Williams their first podium of 2016.
Lewis’s teammate and championship
leader Nico Rosberg could only manage a fifth place, primarily due to a after
first-corner contact with Lewis Hamilton and a late-race puncture. With this,
the gap between the Mercedes men at the top of the table is nine points.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull
Racing thankfully did not go crashing as he came in fourth despite Rosberg
snapping at his heels. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was sixth, while seventh went
to Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull. For Force India, it was a good day
as both drivers came in the points table of first ten. Force India’s Nico
Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez completed the top ten with eight and tenth
positions respectively. Carlos Sainz of Toro
Rosso came from 20th on the grid to grab the ninth position.
Lewis Hamilton dedicated his win to the late
Muhammad Ali, out of respect for the inspiration the boxing legend provided
during his early careerAs the race started It was Rosberg
who appeared to have made the slightly better getaway as he moved alongside
Hamilton, but then Vettel came grabbed the lead ahead of both Silver. But then a touch
between Hamilton and Rosberg in Turn 1 left the second Mercedes driver down in
ninth place.
Race strategy went a bit awry
when in his first pit stop, on the 11th lap, Ferrari put Vettel on to the
supersoft Pirellis, committing him to a second stop later on as use of the soft
tyre was mandatory here. Hamilton led for the next 13 laps, dropping to second
again as he switched to soft rubber. When Vettel then pitted for softs on the
37th lap, the battle was well and truly on.
Vettel rejoined only 7.8s
behind the Mercedes, and victory seemed assured, but by the 55th lap a mistake
at the final corner cost him time, as did another five laps later. By then it
was clear that Ferrari’s strategy of using Pirelli’s optimum tyre choice was
not going to work. It had been based on 40 degrees C track temperature, but in
the race that never went beyond 23 degrees.
Vettel had to be content with second,
five seconds adrift, having shown sufficient speed with Ferrari’s revised
turbocharger to suggest that the rest of the season will be a fantastic fight.
Rosberg continues to lead the
title chase, but what was once a 43-point lead has been reduced to only nine
over Hamilton, with Vettel third on 78 from Ricciardo on 72, Raikkonen on 69
and Verstappen on 50. In the constructors' stakes Mercedes extend their lead
with 223 points over Ferrari’s 147, with Red Bull third on 130.
The paddock now moves to
Azerbaijan and the inaugural race at the new Baku City Circuit, the 2016
Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe, next Sunday (June 19, 2016). Azerbaijan is a former
Soviet republic, bounded by the Caspian Sea and Caucasus Mountains, which span
Asia and Europe. Its capital is Baku.
FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DU CANADA
2016 - RACE RESULT
POS DRIVER CAR
1 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES
2 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI
3 Valtteri Bottas WILLIAMS MERCEDES
4 Max Verstappen RED
BULL RACING TAG HEUER
5 Nico Rosberg MERCEDES
6 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI
7 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER
8 Nico Hulkenberg FORCE
INDIA MERCEDES
9 Carlos Sainz TORO ROSSO FERRARI
10 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES
11 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN
HONDA
12 Daniil Kvyat TORO ROSSO FERRARI
13 Esteban Gutierrez HAAS
FERRARI
14 Romain Grosjean HAAS
FERRARI
15 Marcus Ericsson SAUBER
FERRARI
16 Kevin Magnussen RENAULT
17 Pascal Wehrlein MRT MERCEDES
18 Felipe Nasr SAUBER FERRARI
19 Rio Haryanto MRT MERCEDES
NC Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES DNF
NC Jolyon Palmer RENAULT DNF
NC Jenson Button MCLAREN HONDA DNF