British driver Lewis Hamilton took a gamble in taking the start of the Grand Prix of Canada on a set of Super Soft tires. But he played his cards right and clinched victory in Montreal.
Moment after the green, Vitaly Petrov (Renault) got out of shape and collected the Sauber of Pedro de la Rosa. Moments later, Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Tonio Liuzzi (Force India) banged wheels in the Senna corner and damaged their nose cones.
Out in front, Lewis Hamilton led from Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. But the McLaren team badly needed an intervention of the Safety Car to change their quikly deteriorating Super Soft tires to Mediums. But that that never happened.
On lap 7, Hamilton had no choice but to pit, so was Fernando Alonso (Ferrari). The Ferrari did the tire change faster than McLaren, and there was a drag race between the two to emerge first from the pit lane. Alonso was now ahead.
Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber, in second place behind his teammate Sebastian Vettel, pitted in lap 13. One lap later, Vettel pitted for a set of Super Soft tires. Sébastien Buemi took over the lead of the race in his Toro Rosso.
Before Buemi pitted, Hamilton passed Alonso for the lead along the main straight. The running order was now Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Vettel, Webber and Kubica with the top three being covered by just 2.9 seconds.
Degradation of the Medium tires was much greater than anticipated. Drivers were told by radio to take great care of the tires.
Heikki Kovalainen was driving a stunning race in his Lotus-Cosworth. On lap 20, the Finn was running 15th, ahead of Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber).
Adrian Sutil (Force India) was putting pressure on the slightly damaged Renault of Robert Kubica for 7th place.
Lap 27, race leader Hamilton pitted for a set of Medium tires. Vettel pitted on lap later, so was Button. When Alonso pitted, Webber inherited the lead.
On lap 30, the running order was Webber, Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Vettel, Buemi and Kubica. Webber had to stop again to drive a stint on the other type of tire, thre Super Softs. As far as the other drivers were concerned, they had to nurse their tires and try to reach the end of race, slowly if they needed.
On lap 40, Hamilton started to close on race leader Webber who was struggling on his old set of tires and who was caught in traffic. The top 5 drivers were covered by just 9 seconds!
“We are managing an issue…” Vettel was told by his team on lap 48. That meant that the Red Bull-Renault was suffering from a mechanical problem.
On lap 48, the top were running nose to tail, and that the start of lap 49, Hamilton took the lead.
Lap 50, Webber pitted and his Red Bull was fitted with Super Soft tires.
Hamilton led the race from Alonso and Button. Vettel was 4th ahead of Webber, Kubica, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. However, Button had caught the Ferrrari of Alonso and was ready to pass the Spaniard. On lap 56, Button passed Alonso to make it a McLaren 1-2 with 13 laps to go.
On lap 63. Schumacher, being passed by his former teammate Massa, pushed him off slightly, damaging the front wing of the Ferrari, forcing him to pit for the new nose. Schumacher was going backward and in the closing laps of the race, he got passed by Buemi, Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil.
“We have a car problem. Short shift,” Vettel was told with five laps to complete.
Hamilton scored his second win of the season, crossing the line in first place, 2.2 seconds ahead of his teammate Button and 6.2 seconds in front of Alonso.
Grand Prix of Canada, results*:
1 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/25-Mercedes) - 70 laps in 1.33'53"456
2 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/25-Mercedes) - 2"254
3 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F10) - 9"214
4 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB6-Renault) - 37"817
5 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB6-Renault) - 39"291
6 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W01) - 56"084
7 - Robert Kubica (Renault R30) - 57"300
8 - Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR5-Ferrari) - 1 lap
9 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India VJM03-Mercedes) - 1 lap
10 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM03-Mercedes) - 1 lap
11 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W01) - 1 lap
12 - Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso STR5-Ferrari) - 1 lap
13 - Nico Hulkenberg (Williams FW32-Cosworth) - 1 lap
14 - Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW32-Cosworth) - 1 lap
15 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F10) - 1 lap
16 - Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus T127-Cosworth) - 2 laps
17 - Vitaly Petrov (Renault R30) - 2 laps
18 - Karun Chandhok (Hispania F110-Cosworth) - 4 laps
19 - Lucas Di Grassi (Virgin VR01-Cosworth) - 5 laps
Fastest lap: Robert Kubica 1'16"972
Drivers’ championship:
1.Hamilton 109 points; 2.Button 106; 3.Webber 103; 4.Alonso 94; 5.Vettel 90; 6.Rosberg 74; 7.Kubica 73; 8.Massa 67; 9.Schumacher 34; 10.Sutil 23; 11.Liuzzi 12; 12.Barrichello 7; 13.Petrov 6; 14.Buemi 5; 15.Alguersuari 3; 16.Hulkenberg, Kobayashi 1.
Constructors’ championship:
1.McLaren-Mercedes 215 points; 2.Red Bull-Renault 193; 3.Ferrari 161; 4.Mercedes 108; 5.Renault 79; 6.Force India-Mercedes 35; 7.Williams-Cosworth, Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8; 9.Sauber-Ferrari 1.
*Unofficial results
Moment after the green, Vitaly Petrov (Renault) got out of shape and collected the Sauber of Pedro de la Rosa. Moments later, Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Tonio Liuzzi (Force India) banged wheels in the Senna corner and damaged their nose cones.
Out in front, Lewis Hamilton led from Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. But the McLaren team badly needed an intervention of the Safety Car to change their quikly deteriorating Super Soft tires to Mediums. But that that never happened.
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| Lewis Hamilton (Photo: WRI2) |
On lap 7, Hamilton had no choice but to pit, so was Fernando Alonso (Ferrari). The Ferrari did the tire change faster than McLaren, and there was a drag race between the two to emerge first from the pit lane. Alonso was now ahead.
Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber, in second place behind his teammate Sebastian Vettel, pitted in lap 13. One lap later, Vettel pitted for a set of Super Soft tires. Sébastien Buemi took over the lead of the race in his Toro Rosso.
Before Buemi pitted, Hamilton passed Alonso for the lead along the main straight. The running order was now Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Vettel, Webber and Kubica with the top three being covered by just 2.9 seconds.
Degradation of the Medium tires was much greater than anticipated. Drivers were told by radio to take great care of the tires.
Heikki Kovalainen was driving a stunning race in his Lotus-Cosworth. On lap 20, the Finn was running 15th, ahead of Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber).
Adrian Sutil (Force India) was putting pressure on the slightly damaged Renault of Robert Kubica for 7th place.
Lap 27, race leader Hamilton pitted for a set of Medium tires. Vettel pitted on lap later, so was Button. When Alonso pitted, Webber inherited the lead.
On lap 30, the running order was Webber, Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Vettel, Buemi and Kubica. Webber had to stop again to drive a stint on the other type of tire, thre Super Softs. As far as the other drivers were concerned, they had to nurse their tires and try to reach the end of race, slowly if they needed.
On lap 40, Hamilton started to close on race leader Webber who was struggling on his old set of tires and who was caught in traffic. The top 5 drivers were covered by just 9 seconds!
“We are managing an issue…” Vettel was told by his team on lap 48. That meant that the Red Bull-Renault was suffering from a mechanical problem.
On lap 48, the top were running nose to tail, and that the start of lap 49, Hamilton took the lead.
Lap 50, Webber pitted and his Red Bull was fitted with Super Soft tires.
Hamilton led the race from Alonso and Button. Vettel was 4th ahead of Webber, Kubica, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. However, Button had caught the Ferrrari of Alonso and was ready to pass the Spaniard. On lap 56, Button passed Alonso to make it a McLaren 1-2 with 13 laps to go.
On lap 63. Schumacher, being passed by his former teammate Massa, pushed him off slightly, damaging the front wing of the Ferrari, forcing him to pit for the new nose. Schumacher was going backward and in the closing laps of the race, he got passed by Buemi, Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil.
“We have a car problem. Short shift,” Vettel was told with five laps to complete.
Hamilton scored his second win of the season, crossing the line in first place, 2.2 seconds ahead of his teammate Button and 6.2 seconds in front of Alonso.
Grand Prix of Canada, results*:
1 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/25-Mercedes) - 70 laps in 1.33'53"456
2 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/25-Mercedes) - 2"254
3 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F10) - 9"214
4 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB6-Renault) - 37"817
5 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB6-Renault) - 39"291
6 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W01) - 56"084
7 - Robert Kubica (Renault R30) - 57"300
8 - Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR5-Ferrari) - 1 lap
9 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India VJM03-Mercedes) - 1 lap
10 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM03-Mercedes) - 1 lap
11 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W01) - 1 lap
12 - Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso STR5-Ferrari) - 1 lap
13 - Nico Hulkenberg (Williams FW32-Cosworth) - 1 lap
14 - Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW32-Cosworth) - 1 lap
15 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F10) - 1 lap
16 - Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus T127-Cosworth) - 2 laps
17 - Vitaly Petrov (Renault R30) - 2 laps
18 - Karun Chandhok (Hispania F110-Cosworth) - 4 laps
19 - Lucas Di Grassi (Virgin VR01-Cosworth) - 5 laps
Fastest lap: Robert Kubica 1'16"972
Drivers’ championship:
1.Hamilton 109 points; 2.Button 106; 3.Webber 103; 4.Alonso 94; 5.Vettel 90; 6.Rosberg 74; 7.Kubica 73; 8.Massa 67; 9.Schumacher 34; 10.Sutil 23; 11.Liuzzi 12; 12.Barrichello 7; 13.Petrov 6; 14.Buemi 5; 15.Alguersuari 3; 16.Hulkenberg, Kobayashi 1.
Constructors’ championship:
1.McLaren-Mercedes 215 points; 2.Red Bull-Renault 193; 3.Ferrari 161; 4.Mercedes 108; 5.Renault 79; 6.Force India-Mercedes 35; 7.Williams-Cosworth, Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8; 9.Sauber-Ferrari 1.
*Unofficial results