So we are now seven rounds in to the F1 calendar this season, and round 7 brought an almost routine one-two finish for Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton taking his fourth win of the year.
(Hamilton led Rosberg for the entire race)
Hamilton had qualified on pole, once again out-qualifying Rosberg, and at the start he got away cleanly enough to keep his teammate at bay, whilst the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen nearly squeezed by, but had nowhere to go but the outside of turn 2.
From then on it was tyre, brake and fuel management for a lot of drivers, which led to frustration flaring for some.
Alonso blows a Fuse
(McLaren’s Fernando Alonso was passionate on the radio, likening the team’s performance to that of ‘amateurs’)
It was a sorry race for McLaren, with both cars retiring due to exhaust problems, and Alonso getting worked up over a request to save fuel. The team once again did not have the power to remotely challenge for points, with Alonso battling it out with Saubers and Toro Rossos – a far cry from where he wants to be. Button meanwhile, didn’t even make it to qualifying, having to start at the back of the grid and taking a penalty for replacing parts to the car.
Red Bull Obscurity
Yet again Red Bull accomplished nothing of note. Daniil Kvyat took 9th place, and teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who won here last year, was a measly 13th, outperformed by the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz. Things however, did take a turn for the better for Lotus.
(Grosjean had a bump with Manor’s Will Stevens)
Pastor Maldonaldo picked up his first points of the year with a credible 7th place, and Romain Grosjean finished 10th (though he might have been higher up the field, but not for an ill-timed lapping of Will Stevens – he cut across the Manor driver as they approached the final chicane, doing so too quickly and running over Stevens’ front wing in the process. He punctured a tyre in doing so and was forced to pit).
Vettel shows Class
A combination of car trouble and a grid penalty put Vettel back to 16th on the grid for the race – but he was the man of the race, making move after move to climb up the order and eventually finish 5th. His Ferrari teammate missed out on third after spinning at the tight hairpin toward the end of the lap, handing the initiative to Williams’ Bottas (his and the team’s first podium of the year). Massa, who started 9th, was able to finish 6th, meaning Williams have consolidated 3rd place in the constructor’s championship.
All in all, it was not the most exciting race, with the two Mercedes both being told to manage different issues, and therefore not really getting to fight it out. Rosberg would sometimes get to around 1.1 seconds of Hamilton – nearly in DRS range – but Hamilton would always manage to keep ahead, ultimately seeing out his fourth Canadian GP win. He now leads Rosberg by 17 points in the championship standings.
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