Hamilton wins 5th time in Canadian GP; Dedicates win to Muhammad Ali

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.

As 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