Lewis Hamilton secures his second successive win and fifth win at the Canadian Grand Prix after a strategy fuelled race around the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve.
Lewis Hamilton Wins Again
After a long race around the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve, it was Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton who once again proved to be the fastest driver on track, securing victory for a second successive race running. Following Hamilton home was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, securing 18 points and gaining one position in the race after starting in third. Rounding out the podium positions was Williams driver, Valtteri Bottas, securing his first podium of the year as well as the first podium for Williams this season, with Bottas’ team mate, Felipe Massa, retiring in the early stages of this race due to some issues.
The Canadian Grand Prix began in shock, with Sebastian Vettel making a fantastic start from third, jumping both Hamilton and Rosberg into turn 1, taking the lead. Not only did this put Vettel in contention for the win but also put Rosberg on the back foot, with the German driver and championship leader being tapped out wide by his team mate, Lewis Hamilton in turn 1, forcing the driver down to 9th place. Despite being in such a strong position in the early stages of the Canadian Grand Prix, questions must be brought up over the strategy of Ferrari, pitting both Vettel and Raikkonen during a virtual safety car period following the explosive exit of Jenson Button for McLaren. However, despite this, the factor of the most influence was in fact the poor capabilities of the Ferrari when under braking, with Vettel making several mistakes into the final chicane of the Canadian Grand Prix circuit, causing the Ferrari driver to ultimately lose touch with Hamilton ahead.
Finishing fourth and securing 12 points was Red Bull Racing‘s Max Verstappen after a closely fought battle with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg who finished the race in fifth after a mistake with one lap to go when battling with Verstappen, locking his rear wheels and spinning off the circuit. Finishing in sixth was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, being followed by Daniel Ricciardo in seventh, with the Australian driver again experiencing a disappointing race for Red Bull.
Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg finished in eighth followed by Toro Rosso‘s Carlos Sainz Jr in ninth, securing 2 points. Hulkenberg’s team mate Sergio Perez also finished in the points, rounding out the top 10 finishers, securing 1 point in his championship campaign. This marks a fairly successful race for Force India, with both of their cars making it into the points.
Failing to finish in the points were McLaren, with the poor Honda power unit proving to be detrimental to the Woking based team, with Fernando Alonso finishing in eleventh place and his team mate, Jenson Button, becoming the first victim of the Canadian Grand Prix, retiring after an engine issue forced the Brit to stop on the back straight. In this race Alonso’s frustration began to emerge for the first time in 2016, with the Spaniard requesting to retire in the latter stages of the race after being out of the points and being unlikely to gain in position.
There are a number of drivers that could secure the title of ‘driver of the day’ for the Canadian Grand Prix. Hamilton drove a sterling race, yet Vettel made a fantastic start- one of his best in fact. Rosberg drove a fantastic recovery race after facing a number of issues whereas Max Verstappen displayed fantastic defensive driving in fourth. However, driver of the day for me is Carlos Sainz Jr, finishing in 9th place after starting in 20th place, gaining the most positions and again beating his team mate, Daniil Kvyat.
Results from the Canadian GP:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 25 points
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 18 points
- Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 15 points
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 12 points
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 10 points
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 8 points
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 6 points
- Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 4 points
- Carlos Sainz .Jr, Toro Rosso, 2 points
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 1 point
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 0 points
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 0 points
- Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 0 points
- Romain Grosjean, Haas, 0 points
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 0 points
- Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 0 points
- Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 0 points
- Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 0 points
- Rio Haryanto, Manor, 0 points
- Felipe Massa, Williams, Ret
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, Ret
- Jenson Button, McLaren, Ret
Drivers Standings After 7 Races:
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 116 points
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 107 points
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 78 points
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 72 points
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 69 points
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 50 points
- Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 44 points
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 37 points
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 24 points
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 22 points
- Romain Grosjean, Haas, 22 points
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 18 points
- Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 18 points
- Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 18 points
- Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 6 points
- Jenson Button, McLaren, 5 points
- Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1 point
- Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 0 points
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 0 points
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 0 points
- Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 0 points
- Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 0 points
- Rio Haryanto, Manor, 0 points
Constructors Standings After 7 Races:
- Mercedes, 223 points
- Ferrari, 147 points
- Red Bull Racing, 130 points
- Williams, 81 points
- Force India, 42 points
- Toro Rosso, 32 points
- McLaren, 24 points
- Haas, 22 points
- Renault, 6 points
- Sauber, 0 points
- Manor, 0 points
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