Lewis Hamilton took a much needed and deserved victory at Montreal fending off team mate Nico Rosberg in second. This was Hamilton’s 4th win in seven races which saw his lead being extended over his team mate to 17 points. Earlier in qualifying Lewis secured his 44th career pole in the number 44 car. Also, the debacle at Monaco which “robbed” Lewis of a dominating race win was still fresh in the mind of everyone and that made this win for Lewis even more special.
Lewis keeps Nico at bay to win Canadian GP
Hamilton after the win said, “I love Montreal. I love the city. I love the track. Really just a fantastic weekend, great to be back on top step”. He added that, “I didn’t feel I had the most comfortable balance, I had a bit too much understeer. Nico was quick but I didn’t feel under pressure. I felt I could pull it out when I needed to”.
“Did I need this win? I think so”, said Lewis.
Nico Rosberg said, “It was a challenging race because we had to manage fuel, brakes and all these things. I was pushing like mad to try to put some pressure on Lewis but he didn’t make any mistakes.”
It was another one-two finish for the Mercedes Silver Arrows. Kimi Raikkonen was on course to finish third before he spun himself out on the hairpin corner on lap 27. That cost him the position to Bottas who drove his Mercedes powered Williams flawlessly to take the podium sport. This is the first ever podium for Bottas and the best result for Williams this season. It is reckoned that the hybrid power system on board the Ferrari kicked in, sending addition torque to the rear wheels which caught Kimi out unexpectedly.
Sebastian Vettel who started from 18th on the grid finished 5th just behind his team mate. Sebastian was on a super-aggressive strategy, frantically overtaking cars to move up the grid positions. He was nearly involved in two accidents but was lucky not to damage his own or other cars. Vettel who faced an engine problem in qualifying was further penalised five grid positions for passing illegally in practise.
Felipe Massa’s Williams finished sixth on the grid after staring from 15th. The Lotus of Pastor Maldonado finished seventh followed by Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India in eighth. It was a disappointing race for Red Bull as they struggled to defend their grid position due to lack of straight line speed and power. Danil Kvyat finished ninth with Romain Grosjean in tenth.
Even more disappointed would be McLaren drivers and team as they had to retire both their cars due to lack of power and high fuel consumption. Fernando Alonso was frustrated being in the back of the grid when he was further asked to lift and coast as the car was using up more fuel than expected. Alonso in a fit of fury replied on the car radio, “I don’t want I don’t want. Already I have big problems now. Driving with this and looking like amateurs. So I’d like to race and then I concentrate on the fuel”.
This was Fernando’s third consecutive retirement from a race. Jenson Button too had to retire with an exhaust related issue which is said to be unrelated to Alonso’s.
Tags: Canadian GP, Canadian Grand Prix, F1, Formula One, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Motorsport, Motorsports, Nico Rosberg
