Ricciardo victorious in thrilling Canadian Grand Prix

Ricciardo Canada 2014 winner

Daniel Ricciardo ended the Silver Arrows’ domination of Formula 1 this season by claiming his maiden victory in a thrilling Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The Red Bull Racing driver jumped the ailing Mercedes of championship leader Nico Rosberg with just two laps to the chequered flag to claim an unlikely win.

Despite a MGU-K issue meaning a loss of power, Rosberg was able to extend his championship lead by finishing in second position.

The same cannot be said to his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who was forced to retire with brake failure.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel took third as the race finished under the Safety Car when Sergio Perez and Felipe Massa  collided spectacularly on the approach to Turn 1 on the penultimate lap as they battled for fourth position.

That allowed Jenson Button to rise to an unlikely fourth-placed finish for McLaren, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India and Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari.

The first half of the Canadian Grand Prix played out as most others have done this season, as the Silver Arrows drivers engaged in a personal battle for victory.

Rosberg made a slower start than his title rival, allowing Hamilton to attack him on the run to Turn 1.

But Rosberg defended his position on the approach to the first corner, locking a front brake on his Mercedes and forcing Hamilton to run wide which gave Vettel track position.

The race was neutralised almost immediately after both Marussias collided at the first chicane.

Max Chilton oversteered wildly into Jules Bianchi through the middle of the corner, pitching the Monaco Grand Prix hero into a violent impact with the wall on the outside of the left-hander and putting both cars out of the race.

It took seven laps for the track marshals to clear the debris and clean the oil spill from Bianchi’s destroyed car.

Rosberg built a 1.7-second gap after the restart, before Hamilton was able to use DRS to breeze past Vettel’s Red Bull approaching the final chicane on lap ten.

Hamilton set off after Rosberg and the Mercedes drivers dropped Vettel at a rate of nearly a second per lap as another of their personal duels for victory continue.

Rosberg still led by two seconds when he pitted on lap 18. A massive moment on his out-lap through the exit of the first chicane gave Hamilton an opportunity of jumping ahead at his own pit-stop on the following lap, but it was six tenths slower than Rosberg’s and that – coupled with an unremarkable in-lap from Hamilton – allowed Rosberg off the hook for his error.

Hamilton re-focused and looked happier on the soft tyres as he set fastest lap and hunted his team-mate down.

The 2008 world champion closed to within half a second and was within striking distance on Rosberg with DRS open when the race leader straight-lined the final chicane after locking up in the braking zone on lap 25.

Hamilton continued to apply big pressure on his team-mate, closing back to within a second while the race stewards investigated Rosberg’s off.

He was handed a warning, meaning no penalty, so retained the race lead as Hamilton closed in again.

But then, Mercedes drivers reported a sudden loss of power shortly after half distance. Losing two seconds per lap to the chasing pack as they nursed their cars.

They pitted for a second time on consecutive laps, briefly allowing Felipe Massa to lead the race, and a slow front-left tyre change for Rosberg allowed Hamilton to get ahead for the first time.

But Hamilton’s joy was short-lived. He fell back behind his team-mate on the out-lap after locking up at the hairpin, and then suffered a rear brake lock-up as he tried to re-pass Rosberg at the final chicane.

Hamilton straight-lined that corner, but began a slow tour back to the pits to retire on lap 48 having suffered rear-brake failure.

Rosberg nursed his own brakes to the end, helped by Perez having to fend off the Red Bulls on much older tyres.

Massa used his final set of fresher soft tyres to charge back through the field, passing team-mate Valtteri Bottas and the struggling Force India of Hulkenberg for fifth in the closing stages and then hunting down the leading quartet.

Ricciardo jumped the ailing Perez (also suffering brake problems) with just five laps to the flag and chased after Rosberg. The Red Bull was able to pass the Silver Arrows in only two laps left by using DRS on the back straight.

When the Safety Car was deployed for the second time after Perez – who used an alternative one-stop strategy to rise from P13 on the grid to the podium fight – and Massa collided, Ricciardo’s first win in Formula 1 was assured.

Bottas nursed his own Williams to seventh, battling brake problems of his own, while the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne, Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren and the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen – who recovered from a spin at the hairpin – rounded out the top ten.

So a dramatic Canadian Grand Prix, with Daniel Ricciardo achieving his maiden victory for Red Bull Racing. The Mercedes domination has been halted but Nico Rosberg and the Brackley-based team still leads both championships as Formula 1 return back to Austria later this month.

Canadian Grand Prix, race result after 70 laps:

1. Daniel Ricciardo      Red Bull-Renault        1h39m12.830s
2. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes                +4.236s
3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault        +5.247s
4. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes        +11.755s
5. Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes    +12.843s
6. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                 +14.869s
7. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Mercedes       +23.578s
8. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Renault      +28.026s
9. Kevin Magnussen       McLaren-Mercedes        +29.254s
10. Kimi Raikkonen        Ferrari                +53.678s
11. Sergio Perez          Force India-Mercedes   69 laps
12. Felipe Massa          Williams-Mercedes      69 laps
13. Adrian Sutil          Sauber-Ferrari         69 laps
14. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari         64 laps

Retirements:

Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault            59 laps
Daniil Kvyat          Toro Rosso-Renault       47 laps
Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes                 45 laps
Kamui Kobayashi       Caterham-Renault         22 laps
Pastor Maldonado      Lotus-Renault            21 laps
Marcus Ericsson       Caterham-Renault         6 laps
Max Chilton           Marussia-Ferrari         0 laps
Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Ferrari         0 laps

Drivers’ championship:

1. Nico Rosberg            140
2. Lewis Hamilton          118
3. Daniel Ricciardo        79
4. Fernando Alonso         69
5. Sebastian Vettel        60
6. Nico Hulkenberg         57
7. Jenson Button           43
8. Valtteri Bottas         40
9. Kevin Magnussen         23
10. Sergio Perez            20
11. Felipe Massa            18
12. Kimi Raikkonen          18
13. Romain Grosjean         8
14. Jean-Eric Vergne        8
15. Daniil Kvyat            4
16. Jules Bianchi           2

Constructors’ championship:

1. Mercedes               258
2. Red Bull-Renault       139
3. Ferrari                87
4. Force India-Mercedes   77
5. McLaren-Mercedes       66
6. Williams-Mercedes      58
7. Toro Rosso-Renault     12
8. Lotus-Renault          8
9. Marussia-Ferrari       2
10. Sauber-Ferrari         0
11. Caterham-Renault       0

Next race: Austrian Grand Prix, Red Bull Ring. June 20-22.

6 thoughts to “Ricciardo victorious in thrilling Canadian Grand Prix”

  1. Canadian Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo admitted that winning this race was just surreal. Autosport.com has the news story.

    Daniel Ricciardo described his maiden Formula 1 win in the Canadian Grand Prix as “surreal” because he took the lead so late.

    The Red Bull driver was running third in a five-car lead queue behind Nico Rosberg’s limping Mercedes and the Force India of Sergio Perez going into the last five laps.

    Ricciardo was finally able to overtake Perez around the outside of Turn 1, and then chased down and overtook Rosberg with a DRS pass two laps from the end.

    “It still is a bit surreal I think, and just really cool,” said Ricciardo.

    “It is not that we were leading the whole race, it is not like I had time to understand that I was going to win, that is why it is taking a while to comprehend in my head.”

    The Australian said he needed a slight slip from Perez to finally get the run on the Force India after following it for most of the second half of the race to no avail.

    “We were struggling to pass them, they had a strong car down the straights and a really good car in the corners,” said Ricciardo.

    “I was trying the whole time I was behind him. He was driving well and not making any mistakes.

    “Realistically I needed a bit of a mistake from him. He got quite close to Nico and perhaps overshot the braking a bit at the last chicane and I managed to stay with him.

    “I knew we were strong braking into Turn 1, or really quick into the there, and once I had outside line I went in and just made it work.”

  2. Despite losing power and suffering brakes issue, Nico Rosberg was able to finish in an incredible second position. Autosport.com has the the full story.

    Nico Rosberg believes second in the Canadian Grand Prix is still a great result given his problems, despite Mercedes’ Formula 1 winning streak coming to an end.

    Mercedes was unbeaten in the 2014 F1 season prior to Montreal, where Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull pounced on Rosberg with just two laps to go.

    Both Rosberg and team-mate Lewis Hamilton had what Mercedes described as a “high-voltage control electronics failure”, leaving them without their MGU-K facility.

    They also began to suffer from brake problems, with Hamilton’s severe enough to force him out.

    “When you lose ERS it doesn’t harvest anymore, then any braking is done by rear braking, so that is why the rear brakes overheated,” said Rosberg.

    “That made it massively difficult: I needed to cool the brakes and lost speed on the straights.

    “I was able to hold off the pack behind me until two laps until the end so it’s still a really good result.

    “I was trying to hold on, doing qualifying laps all the time, but it didn’t work out against Daniel.”

    Rosberg said the issues in Canada showed that Mercedes still had work to do to improve its reliability, even though it was its first mechanical drama in a race since Hamilton’s Australian GP retirement.

    “We need to keep pushing,” he said.

    “We need to make sure that we are bulletproof.”

    The Canadian race result rebuilds Rosberg’s championship lead to 22 points over Hamilton.

  3. Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel was very ‘lucky’ to avoid big accident involving Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez. Autosport.com has the details.

    Sebastian Vettel believes he was very lucky to escape Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez’s collision at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix.

    The Force India and Williams went either side of Vettel’s Red Bull as they tangled at high speed on the approach to Turn 1 on the last lap of the race. Both Perez and Massa were unhurt in the violent impact with the barriers, while Vettel continued to finish third.

    The reigning Formula 1 world champion had overtaken Perez into the final chicane just prior to the clash.

    “I saw they were close to each other, I saw something white coming in the mirror and I opened the car, turned right, and Felipe was in the air coming past,” said Vettel.

    “I was quite lucky and saw him just in time.”

    Vettel had spent the second half of the race queued behind team-mate Daniel Ricciardo as both chased second-placed Perez and the ailing Mercedes of leader Nico Rosberg.

    The Red Bull-Renault’s lack of power proved costly, reckoned Vettel, although Ricciardo was eventually able to overtake both Perez and Rosberg to win.

    “It was difficult for us all the time, getting stuck behind the Force India,” he said.

    “We were just not quick enough down the straights. We lacked power.

    “It’s the first win for Renault in this new era of engines and they had a good comeback, but there’s still plenty of work ahead of us as Mercedes is still ahead on the straights.

    “After the first stop, until I caught Nico, basically my race was over.

    “There was no way to get past, the Mercedes-powered cars were too quick and we were in trouble defending to Williams behind.

    “At the very end, I was lucky to capitalise on Perez’s brake problems which allowed me to be closer down the straights and make the move stick, but you could see with my DRS open and his closed, he was still gaining downs tragits.

    “But this is what we are fighting.”

  4. Lewis Hamilton believes running so close behind Nico Rosberg in their early lead battle contributed to the brake issues that took his Mercedes out of the Canadian Grand Prix.

    Hamilton chased Rosberg throughout the first half of the race before both cars began to slow with an energy recovery system problem.

    The Briton then jumped Rosberg in the second pitstops as they both rejoined behind Felipe Massa’s Williams – which was on an alternate strategy – but Hamilton immediately ran into brake trouble and had to retire.

    “I was following him and when you’re following someone you’re gaining more heat,” said Hamilton of his pursuit of Rosberg.

    “He was in clean air all the time in front.

    “There was not much I could do. When I came out in front, everything was cooked already.”

    Hamilton said he was informed soon after his first pitstop that both he and Rosberg had mechanical problems.

    “We knew as a team that we had some issues in the second stint, but we thought we would be able to manage it,” he said.

    “I got him in the stop and was thinking ‘finally, wow, what an amazing feeling’. Then straight away on that lap the brakes failed.”

    With Rosberg nursing his car home second behind the winning Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, Hamilton is now 22 points behind his team-mate in the 2014 Formula 1 standings.

    “The team still got 18 points so we’ll move on and hope we don’t have any more DNFs,” said Hamilton.

    “I’ve had a lot of work to do since race one [when he retired in Melbourne]. That’s now two DNFs I’ve had and none for Nico.

    “We’ll keep pushing and I’ll come back stronger.”

    Source: Autosport.com

  5. Good to hear Sergio Perez and Felipe Massa are fine after a scary crash in the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the details.

    Sergio Perez and Felipe Massa have both been released from hospital after their violent accident at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix.

    The pair were taken for precautionary medical checks in Montreal having collided at the beginning of the last lap of round seven of the 2014 Formula 1 season.

    Perez, who was struggled with a brake issue, had just been overtaken for third by Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull when the right front wheel of Massa’s Williams hit the left rear of the Mexican’s Force India.

    Both cars were sent flying into the barriers, going either side of Vettel and nearly collecting the Red Bull as they did so.

    “I saw something white coming in the mirror and I opened the car, turned right, and Felipe was in the air coming past,” said Vettel.

    “I was quite lucky and saw him just in time.”

    The FIA stewards are investigating Perez and Massa’s collision, although both were still in hospital when they had been due to visit the officials.

  6. Such a shame Marussia were unable to score a result in Canada after the highs of Monaco. The collision between Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi means the former will get a three-place grid penalty at the Red Bull Ring. Autosport.com has the news story.

    Max Chilton has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the Austrian Grand Prix following a collision with team-mate Jules Bianchi in Canada.

    The Marussia driver clashed wheels with Bianchi at Turn 3 on the opening lap, pitching the Frenchman in to the wall on the outside of the corner.

    The race stewards summoned both drivers to explain what happened, and in the end they decided that Chilton had been the guilty party.

    Despite the stewards’ viewpoint, Chilton himself was adamant that he had given Bianchi enough room to safely get around the corner.

    “I got a mega start and was really good into turns one and two,” he explained.

    “We were side-by-side into turn three and I was half down the inside and I braked at point where I knew I could get around corner.

    “He [Bianchi] braked later – and he was only in front of me because he braked so late. There was nothing I could have done.

    “I am not going to back off down the inside because he is my team-mate, he should have seen me.”

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