Sebastian Vettel has won the Canadian Grand Prix for the first time. The Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve has been a bogey track for Red Bull in recent years, but any such demons were laid to rest after Vettel cruised from start to finish – unseen by the TV cameras – to take a commanding victory. Fernando Alonso was second ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Vettel was left to run his own Grand Prix, but the race was full of overtaking and drama from second place down. Lewis Hamilton was the reigning champion’s closest challenger as he led Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in the early stages.
Qualifying hero Valterri Bottas knew that he would struggle for dry-weather pace, and sure enough he sank down the field, albeit respectably as he fought hard to defend.
By mid-distance the battle for the second and third podium positions began to hot up, Rosberg’s tyres eventually fell off the proverbial cliff and he has passed simultaneously by Webber and Alonso. Webber seemed to have the Spaniard at bay until he came up to lap Caterham’s Giedo Van Der Garde. The young Dutchman initially allowed Webber space to pass at the hairpin but shut the door on the exit. The resulting collision saw a large chunk of front wing part company with Webbers car. It was enough to allow Alonso to pounce on the battle-scarred Australian.
Alonso continued his rampage into the dying stages, hunting down Hamilton. They spent the whole of lap 63 side by side until Alonso made a move stick in the first DRS zone. Hamilton tried to fight back but just couldn’t quite hold on.
Webber came home fourth ahead of Rosberg. The mid-field drivers were able to showcase their potential, with Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne bringing his improved Torro Rosso home to a highly commendable sixth place. Paul Di Resta, however, was the man who threw out the playbook and turned the most heads. After his qualifying nightmare that saw him start from 17th place, the young Scotsman opted for a one-stop strategy and remarkably made his first set of medium-compound tyres last an astonishing 57 laps. With only 13 laps of the race remaining, and on fresh option tyres, the Force India driver lit up the timing screen to take a hard earned seventh place.
Felipe Massa was full of energy and was involved in some great racing after having to come up from the back of the grid. He was just able to pass an off-song Kimi Raikkonen in the races dying stages. Adrian Sutil was 10th but will be lamenting what could have been after he spun out on his own accord early on and then had to nurse a damaged rear wing after being hit by Pastor Maldonado.
Spare a thought for the McLaren drivers; Jenson Button and Sergio Perez. The Woking giants had an anonymous race in Canada with neither driver able to fight for points. As the 2013 season nears its halfway point they must surely be considering writing this year off and looking forward to next seasons new era.
The result means that Sebastian Vettel continues to extend his championship lead, he now sits on 132 points. Fernando Alonso’s second place means that he leapfrogs Kimi Raikkonen into second position on 96 to the Finn’s 88. Lewis Hamilton is keeping with them in fourth on 77.
In the Constructors Championship, Red Bull still leads on 201 points from Ferrari on 145 and Mercedes on 134. Lotus will need Romain Grosjean to start scoring more points as Lotus sit fourth with 114.
Canadian Grand Prix Results:
1. Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull-Renault
2. Fernando Alonso – Ferrari
3. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
4. Mark Webber – Red Bull-Renault
5. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
6. Jean-Eric Vergne – Toro Rosso-Ferrari
7. Paul di Resta -Force India-Mercedes
8. Felipe Massa – Ferrari
9. Kimi Raikkonen – Lotus-Renault
10. Adrian Sutil – Force India-Mercedes
11. Sergio Perez – McLaren-Mercedes
12. Jenson Button – McLaren-Mercedes
13. Romain Grosjean – Lotus-Renault
14. Valtteri Bottas – Williams-Renault
15. Daniel Ricciardo – Toro Rosso-Ferrari
16. Pastor Maldonado – Williams-Renault
17. Jules Bianchi – Marussia-Cosworth
18. Charles Pic – Caterham-Renault
19. Max Chilton – Marussia-Cosworth
20. Esteban Gutierrez – Sauber-Ferrari
Fastest lap: Webber, 1:16.182
Retirements:
Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber-Ferrari
Giedo van der Garde – Caterham-Renault