Championship leader Lewis Hamilton placed aside his disappointment from Monaco with a victory at the Canadian Grand Prix. His fourth win at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
The Mercedes driver finished 2.2 seconds ahead of his team-mate Nico Rosberg at the end of 70 relatively-uneventful laps around Montreal, to extend the points gap to 17.
After cutting off Rosberg at the start from the 44th pole of his Formula 1 career, Hamilton comfortably led for the opening 29 laps, during which time he became Britain’s all-time lap leader, passing Nigel Mansell’s haul of 2089, before pitting.
Rosberg followed a lap later, and with both drivers on soft tyres after starting out on the super-soft Pirelli compound, it was Rosberg who managed to get his rubber up to temperature far quicker, closing to within a second at one point.
With Hamilton managing fuel and Rosberg brakes, it then became a question of who would manage best with their situation, and in the end despite being told to lift and coast at times, it was Hamilton who held on for the victory.
Valtteri Bottas finished third for Williams, the first time this season a driver outside of Mercedes and Ferrari had visited the podium, with the Finn aided by a spin from Kimi Raikkonen at the hairpin on lap 28.
Raikkonen had settled into his starting position of third through the opening stage of the race until his first stop after 26 laps, only to lose the back end of his Ferrari a lap and a half later. “That’s exactly the same as last year,” he complained. “The energy store kicked in.”
Williams and Bottas took full advantage as he emerged from his pit-stop ahead of Raikkonen, and from there the latter could do no better than fourth.
Star driver of the Canadian Grand Prix was Sebastian Vettel. Despite starting from P18 following problems and penalties, the Malaysian Grand Prix winner came through the field to take fifth. Just 4.9 seconds behind his team-mate.
Vettel swiftly made up five places in the opening laps, but then found himself stuck behind Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Massa and was called in for a surprise early pit-stops.
It was a tactical decision, but a problem with the left-rear wheel added a further delay to the stop, ensuring he returned to the track in last position.
Vettel attacked again, taking on another set of softs after 35 laps, and despite a moment with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg 10 laps later that led to the latter spinning through the chicane, the four-time champion made it into the top five.
Massa finished in sixth, followed by Pastor Maldonado in his Lotus. This was the best finish since the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Hulkenberg was eighth, Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat ninth, with Romain Grosjean claiming the final point, despite having five seconds added to his time for cutting up Will Stevens at one point, suffering a puncture, with the Manor sustaining front-wing damage.
Sergio Perez was P11 in his Force India ahead of Carlos Sainz for Toro Rosso. Last year’s winner Daniel Ricciardo was a lowly P13 in his Red Bull.
As for McLaren-Honda, Fernando Alonso finally allowed his frustration with his car to come to the surface as after 24 laps he was involved in an exchange with engineer Tom Stallard.
Told to save fuel, a disgruntled Alonso said: “I don’t want to! I don’t want! Already I have big problems now. Driving with this, looking like an amateur. So I race and then I concentrate on fuel.”
Alonso ultimately retired with a loss of power from the Honda.
Team-mate Jenson Button’s terrible weekend also concluded with a retirement, having made little progress after missing qualifying, starting last and receiving a drive-through – all consequences of his final practice engine problems.
So car number 44, driven by Lewis Hamilton has won his fourth Canadian Grand Prix from pole number 44. Not the greatest race but a solid result for the reigning champion and Mercedes.
Canadian Grand Prix, race results after 70 laps:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31:53.145
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +2.285s
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes +40.666s
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +45.625s
5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +49.903s
6 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes +56.381s
7 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes +66.664s
8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
9 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault +1 lap
10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes +1 lap
11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
12 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Renault +1 lap
13 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault +1 lap
14 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
15 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault +1 lap
16 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari +2 laps
17 Will Stevens Marussia-Ferrari +4 laps
– Roberto Merhi Marussia-Ferrari DNF
– Jenson Button McLaren-Honda DNF
– Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda DNF
Fastest lap: Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1m 16.987s (lap 42)
Drivers’ championship:
1 Lewis Hamilton 151
2 Nico Rosberg 134
3 Sebastian Vettel 108
4 Kimi Raikkonen 72
5 Valtteri Bottas 57
6 Felipe Massa 47
7 Daniel Ricciardo 35
8 Daniil Kvyat 19
9 Romain Grosjean 17
10 Felipe Nasr 16
11 Sergio Perez 11
12 Nico Hulkenberg 10
13 Carlos Sainz 9
14 Max Verstappen 6
15 Pastor Maldonado 6
16 Marcus Ericsson 5
17 Jenson Button 4
18 Fernando Alonso 0
19 Roberto Merhi 0
20 Will Stevens 0
Constructors’ championship:
1 Mercedes 285
2 Ferrari 180
3 Williams-Mercedes 104
4 Red Bull-Renault 54
5 Lotus-Mercedes 23
6 Sauber-Ferrari 21
7 Force India-Mercedes 21
8 Toro Rosso-Renault 15
9 McLaren-Honda 4
10 Marussia-Ferrari 0
Next race: Austrian Grand Prix, Red Bull Ring. June 19-21.
After winning the Canadian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari’s pace remains hidden. Autosport.com has the news story.
Mercedes cannot be confident it still has an advantage over Ferrari because Sebastian Vettel’s Canadian Grand Prix pace was hidden, insists Montreal Formula 1 winner Lewis Hamilton.
Ferrari used engine upgrade tokens ahead of Canada in a bid to close the gap to the world champion team.
But although Ferrari’s practice times were promising, Vettel’s weekend was ruined by a power loss in qualifying and a subsequent grid demotion for passing Roberto Merhi under red flags in practice.
Vettel came through from 18th on the grid to fifth, with Kimi Raikkonen fourth in the other Ferrari after a mid-race spin.
Asked if Mercedes taking an easy one-two on the weekend Ferrari brought a big upgrade meant he could feel more relaxed, Hamilton replied: “I think it’s impossible to come to that conclusion.
“Kimi spun so we didn’t get to see his true pace in the race, though maybe at the beginning he wasn’t with us.
“Also, Sebastian wasn’t there [at the front]. Sebastian has the been quicker of the two generally so far this season.
“So we didn’t get to see Ferrari’s true pace. I think at the next race we will.”
But Hamilton’s team-mate Nico Rosberg, who chased him home in second, thinks Mercedes has reason to feel satisfied.
“Even though Ferrari are throwing everything at it, we seem to be able to keep our advantage so that is great to see,” he said.
Hamilton’s Canada win followed two defeats to Rosberg in Spain and Monaco, the latter after an errant pitstop call while dominating.
The champion dismissed any suggestion that winning again was a relief.
“I don’t feel I needed to be relieved,” said Hamilton.
“I was quickest all of the previous weekend as well.
“I had that problem which allowed Nico to win the race but otherwise I have had good pace for last two races.
“It’s not a relief, it’s good to continue with good strength.”
Kimi Raikkonen says his Ferrari Formula 1 team must “improve in all areas” if it is to have any hope of catching pacesetter Mercedes.
The Scuderia used engine upgrade tokens ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix with Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel and team boss Maurizio Arrivabene all insisting it was a step in the right direction.
But it was a messy weekend for the team as Raikkonen finished fourth, having lost the chance of a podium with a spin, while Vettel recovered to fifth from 18th after his qualifying was ruined by a power loss.
Raikkonen said: “I think we have to improve in the all areas.
“The car is actually pretty nice. We’ve improved on all the areas since last year but we still have work to be done.
“We have come a very long way since last year like we see from the results but we still have a way to go.”
Raikkonen added the nature of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve did not play to Ferrari’s strengths and thus the Canada result was not disaster.
“I’m sure this circuit layout is one of the most difficult for us in the aspect where we are a lacking a bit but we’ve done our best,” he said.
“We just have to keep working the same way we’ve been doing so far and I’m sure we’ll get there but we need more time.
“It was not the nicest weekend for us but we still came out in fourth and fifth place.
“It’s not a disaster but obviously we’re looking for better results and that what we’re aiming for.”
Source: Autosport.com
Despite finishing first and second, Mercedes faced a dilemma over Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s brake temperatures. Autosport.com has the details.
The Mercedes Formula 1 team faced a difficult decision over whether to ‘interfere’ in Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s Canadian Grand Prix battle amid brake temperature concerns, says Toto Wolff.
With no safety car period, unusual in Canada given 11 of the previous 17 races had incorporated one, there was no opportunity for the drivers to ease off to either save fuel or let their brakes cool at what is a heavy-braking circuit.
The race became a contest between a fuel-saving Hamilton and a brake-conserving Rosberg, with the latter emerging as the driver most compromised as he finished second.
“It is a circuit which is very heavy on the brakes, and it is a fine line between not interfering in the racing between the two drivers and on the other side trying to make sure the car survives,” said Wolff.
“At a certain stage we had more than a 30-second gap to [Valtteri] Bottas, but we had high brake temperatures and were a bit marginal on fuel.”
Rosberg closed to within a second of Hamilton early in the second stint, only for his challenge to fade over the closing stages.
Wolff explained: “Brakes were always an issue, and we wanted to help manage the brakes so the two of them could race each other 10 laps from the end.
“We gave them the call that brakes were OK, but when he [Rosberg] started to push towards the end of the race he missed his braking once.
“After that he probably realised that unless Lewis made a mistake it was going to be very hard to overtake him in the last 10 laps.”
It was earlier in the race where Rosberg was more highly compromised.
“After the first third of the race Nico’s brakes were in danger – very, very high temperatures,” said Wolff.
“There was a very clear message we passed onto him to look after them.
“For us, the brakes were a bigger problem than the fuel.”
In light of the invective directed at Mercedes over the pitstop blunder that robbed Hamilton of Monaco GP victory, Wolff was able to breathe a little easier in Canada.
“It was difficult for the team to handle that,” said Wolff of the Monaco aftermath.
“We were exposed to massive criticism. It looked like all the victories and world championship had been forgotten and suddenly a bunch of idiots were managing the team.
“So the result is a satisfying one given what happened in Monaco and after Monaco.”