Lewis Hamilton drove a superb tactical race to hold off his McLaren teammate Jenson Button and win Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix and jump to the top of the Formula One drivers’ championship standings.
In a repeat of the last round in Turkey, Hamilton crossed the line 2.2 seconds ahead of his fellow Briton to leapfrog Australian Mark Webber and world champion Button at the top of the standings.
Spain’s Fernando Alonso finished third for Ferrari to join the two McLaren men on the Montreal podium, while Germany’s Sebastian Vettel was fourth and his Red Bull teammate Webber fifth after a thrilling race.
PHOTO: EPA
Hamilton’s second win in a row took him from third to first place in the championship with a total of 109 points. Button remained second on 106, while Webber dropped to third on 103 ahead of Alonso (94) and Vettel (90).
“It’s the ultimate challenge that I’ve experienced in Formula One, perhaps in Formula One history,” said Hamilton, the fifth driver to lead the title race after eight rounds this season. “There are so many of us up here, pushing right to the wire and I think inevitably that means that the championship will remain close.”
While there were no major crashes during the 70-lap event, which was back on the calendar after being left off last year, there was no shortage of drama.
With tires falling apart on a demanding street circuit that featured long straights and slow, tight corners, all the teams were forced into a high-speed game of chess.
Different tire strategies produced a riveting tactical race, with the leading five all in contention at different stages, but swapping places during extra pit stops, high-speed wheel-to-wheel racing and some breathtaking overtaking, which has been absent from Formula One in recent years.
“It was not just a race about being flat every lap,” Button said. “You had to really think about every situation.”
McLaren and Ferrari both started the race on soft tires, which gave them an advantage in Saturday’s qualifying but deteriorated more quickly under race conditions than the harder compounds, which Red Bull began with.
Red Bull looked to have won the tactical battle when the McLarens and Ferraris all pitted early as their tires gave out quicker, but Red Bull got caught in heavy traffic when they made their stops later.
While McLaren emerged victorious to extend their lead in the constructors’ championship, Ferrari and Red Bull also came away satisfied with their results, despite being caught up in heavy traffic from the backmarkers.
Alonso was buoyed by the performance of his Ferrari after struggling to keep pace with McLaren and Red Bull since his win in the season-opening race in Bahrain, while Red Bull were also optimistic about their prospects for the rest of the year.
“It was good day for us, the car was very competitive,” Alonso said. “We are moving in the right direction and I think we are back in the fight.”
Red Bull dominated the early part of the season, claiming pole position in each of the first seven races, before Hamilton broke the sequence in Montreal, a track better suited for the McLarens that have faster straight-line speeds than Red Bull.
Webber’s chances of winning were diminished before the race started when he had to change a faulty gearbox and was forced to drop back five places on the grid from second to seventh.
He still managed to weave his way to the front and lead for 22 laps, but his advantage was eaten away as his tires started to crumble and he began sliding all over the course, before returning to the pits for fresh rubber.
“I wanted to get some champagne today, but in the end it didn’t happen,” the Australian said.
Vettel also had his turn in front but, struggling with a gearbox problem, could not catch the cars in front of him once he had pitted for a second time, so he eased up to ensure he got to the finish line safely.
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