Vettel takes dominant Canadian GP victory, reclaims points lead

Sebastian Vettel moved back into the lead of the Formula 1 drivers’ championship after leading from lights-to-flag en route to victory in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix, scoring Ferrari’s first Montreal win in 17 years.

After clinching pole position on Saturday, Vettel was able to retain his lead at the start before quickly pulling out a healthy buffer to Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in second, maintaining the margin throughout the race.

Despite predictions heading into the race weekend it may be a two-stop race, all of the points-scorers were able to make it to the finish with just one visit to the pit lane, offering little variation in terms of strategy at the head of the field.

Bottas’ only real chance of catching Vettel at the front came when the Ferrari driver was lapping traffic, causing the gap to fall from around six seconds to just three during the second stint of the race. However, an error with 15 laps to go ended the Finn’s slim win hopes, allowing Vettel to ease home to victory.

The result marked Vettel’s third win of the season following his successes in Australia and Bahrain, and saw him move back into the lead of the drivers’ championship as chief title rival Lewis Hamilton could only finish fifth after being hamstrung by an engine issue.

Hamilton qualified fourth and held position through the first stint of the race, but dropped behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo in the pit stops, reporting occasional power outages. Mercedes confirmed that an issue was causing Hamilton’s car to run too hot through the first stint, with additional cooling being added at his pit stop.

Despite the Briton’s best efforts, he was unable to recover the position, leaving the six-time Canadian Grand Prix winner a disappointing P5 at the chequered flag, and down to second in the drivers’ standings, one point behind Vettel.

Behind Vettel and Bottas, Max Verstappen was able to complete the podium for Red Bull with a clean drive, bouncing back after a rough time in Monaco two weeks ago. While the cars around him started on Ultrasofts, Verstappen and teammate Ricciardo were able to make a one-stop race work going from Hypersofts to Supersofts. Verstappen had gone wheel-to-wheel with Bottas on the opening lap, but could not make a pass.

A late charge saw the Red Bull driver cut the gap to Bottas down to less than a second as the Finn went limited on fuel, crossing the line after 70 laps just 0.1 seconds behind. However, a mix-up with the chequered flag meant the race was called one lap early, leaving the gap at nine-tenths of a second.

Kimi Raikkonen had tried to get into the thick of the battle for the podium by going more than 15 laps longer than Verstappen, Ricciardo and Hamilton on his first stint, attempting to make the overcut work, but a lack of pace left the Finn down in sixth at the chequered flag.

Renault comfortably finished as the leading midfield team as Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr. finished seventh and eighth respectively, with both managing to pass Esteban Ocon during the race. Ocon picked up two points for Force India in ninth place.

Charles Leclerc’s impressive rookie F1 season continued as he recorded his third points finish in the last four races, crossing the line 10th for Sauber. The Monegasque driver came home less than five seconds clear of Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, who after starting last due to an engine change was able to rise up the order thanks to a long Hypersoft stint early on, eventually finishing 11th.

Gasly’s teammate, Brendon Hartley, had lined up 12th on the grid for Toro Rosso with hopes of points, only to get caught up in an opening-lap with Williams’ Lance Stroll. Trying to overtake around the outside of Turn 5, Hartley’s car was pushed into the wall when Stroll had a snap of oversteer, causing the Toro Rosso to ride up on the barrier briefly. Both drivers emerged unharmed when their cars came to rest, but it was nevertheless a disappointing end to their races which sparked the sole Safety Car period of the race.

McLaren was also left with a bitter taste as it failed to score points for the second race in succession, as Fernando Alonso retired at mid-distance due to an exhaust issue. Alonso had been battling with Leclerc through the first stint of the race, getting the jump at the pit stops, but reported a loss of power before being forced to retire. Teammate Stoffel Vandoorne picked up a puncture on the opening lap that dropped him to last, with the Belgian ultimately being classified 16th behind Sergio Perez and Marcus Ericsson.

Haas was left without points for the second race in a row as Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen finished 12th and 13th respectively. Grosjean tried a long first stint before a late switch to Supersofts with 21 laps to go, but could not make his pace advantage tell, eventually finishing half a second back from Gasly. Sergey Sirotkin was the last classified finisher in P17 for Williams.