Lewis Hamilton showed yet again why he’s the star driver at the Mercedes AMG Formula One team, demonstrating full dominance throughout the past weekend's Canadian Grand Prix. After topping the time sheets during practice and securing pole position at qualifying, the Briton managed to edge out his teammate Nico Rosberg in a tense battle at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to secure the win during yesterday’s race. Rosberg crossed the line a little over two seconds behind Hamilton to make this the 20th one-two finish in Mercedes grand prix history.
The rest of the field were in another race, as the third-placed driver, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, crossed the line 40 seconds off the pace of the leader. Bottas capitalized on a spin on lap 28 by Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen to move into third after his first and only pit stop, subsequently showing strong pace to keep clear of his compatriot to secure the team’s first podium of the season. Despite his error, Räikkönen still managed to cross the line fourth.
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One of the real stars was four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. Starting all the way back at 18th on the grid due to car trouble during qualifying, the German worked his way up to fifth at the end and at times proved the quickest man out on track. It’s thought Ferrari took advantage of some allocated engine upgrades this race.
Another impressive drive was made by Williams’ Felipe Massa. Starting out at 15th on the grid, also due to car trouble during qualifying, the Brazilian drove a brilliant race to pick his way through the field and cross the line sixth.
Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado finished seventh followed by Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg in eighth and a lap off the pace of the top drivers. Ninth went to Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat, who together with teammate Daniel Ricciardo complained about less than normal pace after the race. Rounding out the top ten was Lotus’ Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman could have finished fifth but came into contact with Marussia’s Will Stevens on lap 49, forcing him to enter the pits.
Unfortunately for McLaren, the British team’s woes only seem to be getting worse. Both Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso needed to retire due to problems with their cars’ exhaust systems. Button had already started the race at the back of the grid due to car trouble causing him to miss out on qualifying. And as for Alonso, the first signs of frustration from the Spaniard emerged this weekend.
After being told via radio he needed to save fuel after just 24 laps or else the team would have problems, Alonso replied, "Already I have big problems now. Driving with this, looking like amateur. So I race and then I concentrate on the fuel."
After the race, Hamilton dedicated the win to his engineer Bono's father, who passed away last week. The Briton’s points tally in the 2015 Drivers’ Championship now extends to 151 points. Rosberg is second with 134 points while Vettel is third with 108 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes still has a commanding lead of 285 points followed by Ferrari with 180 points and Williams with 104 points. The next race on the calendar is the Austrian Grand Prix in a fortnight.
Below are the full results of the 2015 Formula One Canadian Grand Prix:
1) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG
2) Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG
3) Valtteri Bottas, Williams
4) Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari
5) Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
6) Felipe Massa, Williams
7) Pastor Maldonado, Lotus
8) Nico Hulkenberg, Force India
9) Daniil Kvyat, Infiniti Red Bull Racing
10) Romain Grosjean, Lotus
11) Sergio Perez, Force India
12) Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso
13) Daniel Ricciardo, Infiniti Red Bull Racing
14) Marcus Ericsson, Sauber
15) Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso
16) Felipe Nasr, Sauber
17) Will Stevens, Marussia
Ret) Roberto Merhi, Marussia
Ret) Jenson Button, McLaren
Ret) Fernando Alonso, McLaren
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