Canada – Race: Vettel penalized, forced to yield victory to Hamilton

The heat is crushing the tarmac with over 50 degrees on the ground at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for this 50th Canadian Grand Prix in history. After his magnificent pole position gained in a hard-fought battle against Lewis Hamilton yesterday, Sebastian Vettel starts from the first place alongside his closest British rival.

Unfortunately for the Mercedes driver, his team remains concerned during the formation lap about the hydraulic system of his W10, which was changed yesterday after qualifying.

The start goes smoothly for the front rows except for Valtteri Bottas, who is caught off guard by Nico Hülkenberg’s Renault. Further back, Alexander Albon leaves his front wing in the rear of Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo, sending carbon debris onto Romain Grosjean’s Haas, forcing him to clean up himself in the cockpit while shortcutting the first corner.

Albon’s front wing 🧲 Grosjean’s Halo

Romain got some unwanted aerodynamic tweaks at Turn 1!#CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ROV8URhD2O

— Formula 1 (@F1) 9 juin 2019

At the front, Sebastian Vettel pulls away slightly from Lewis Hamilton, reassured about his car by his engineer. They lead Charles Leclerc and a bit further back, Daniel Ricciardo, who managed to hold onto his fourth place with his Soft tires.

Carlos Sainz is the first to make a pit stop on the 3rd lap to clean his sidepods filled with carbon debris following the Albon/Giovinazzi collision, and switches to Hard tires. On the 7th lap, after some slight resistance, Max Verstappen overtakes Lando Norris and begins his comeback.

The drivers who started on Soft tires are beginning to change their compounds. Pierre Gasly stops on the 8th lap, followed by Daniel Ricciardo one lap later.

Lando Norris is slowing down on the finish straight! The Briton suffers a suspension failure and has to leave his car immobilized, the right rear on fire, at the exit of the first corner.

LAP 9/70

Lando Norris’s race is over 😩

His McLaren develops some unwanted, fiery three-wheel steering 🔥
#CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/c4tX9v0Xmw

— Formula 1 (@F1) 9 juin 2019

Nico Hülkenberg is the last of the drivers who started on Softs to stop on the 16th lap. He manages to come out ahead of Pierre Gasly, who has been stuck for several laps behind Lance Stroll’s Racing Point, which still hasn’t made a stop and is in 8th position.

Just in front of the two Renaults, Max Verstappen puts pressure on Valtteri Bottas for the 4th place. The Dutchman launches a strong attack while the Mercedes driver is struggling with his rear tires and Medium compounds.

In 10th position, Giovinazzi brushes against the Wall of Champions but without damage. First warning for the Italian who is ahead of his teammate Kimi Räikkönen, an anonymous 15th in front of Kevin Magnussen, who started from the pits, and George Russell. He will spin a little later on lap 27 in the first corner…

LAP 31/70

Giovinazzi takes a less-than-ideal route at Turn 1 😬#CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/e3lXnzJewR

— Formula 1 (@F1) 9 juin 2019

The leader Sebastien Vettel makes his first stop on the 26th lap. He leaves after 2.7 seconds on hard tires. Lewis Hamilton bides his time on his team’s orders and stops two laps later while the German sets the fastest lap of the race. The two men have relinquished the lead to Charles Leclerc, who stops on the 33rd lap, a lap after Bottas whose stop is prolonged, allowing Ricciardo to steal the 5th place from him. The two men battle down the straight before the final chicane with the Australian being very aggressive in his defense and the Mercedes driver quite cautious.

LAP 35/70

Bottas lines up Ricciardo for fifth, but can’t find a way past the Honey Badger

How close can you get! 😯#CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/8tS981iQty

— Formula 1 (@F1) 9 juin 2019

At mid-race, Hamilton manages to close in on Vettel, and the two men battle against the clock, unable to get close enough. On the 48th lap, the German makes a mistake in the first chicane and cuts the corner, suddenly coming back onto the track, forcing Hamilton, who was following closely, to jump on the brakes to avoid him! The incident is immediately submitted to the stewards for judgment.

That. Was. Close. 😅#CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/v7Wqoj2IOD

— Formula 1 (@F1) 9 juin 2019

Max Verstappen stops at the end of lap 45 for his first and only tire change. He comes out behind the two Renaults in 7th place but quickly gets past the two yellow cars to begin his chase towards Bottas and fourth place.

A lively radio exchange at Haas between Kevin Magnussen and now “punchliner” Günther Steiner, who responds to his driver’s complaints about the car: “Now that’s enough!” Let’s recall that the Dane destroyed his Haas in qualifying yesterday, and his team had to reconstruct an entire car for him to start the race. The reaction from his driver clearly irritated the American team’s Director to the highest degree.

On lap 58, the penalty comes down; Sebastian Vettel is penalized 5 seconds on his race time for his unexpected return to the track right in front of the Mercedes. However, the German manages to extend his lead to 3 seconds over the Briton with 11 laps to go. The Ferrari driver is furious and tries to justify his actions over the radio, hoping the stewards will understand his explanations but in vain. Vettel feels that a victory is being stolen from him.

Completely demobilized, the German seems to lose his grip, allowing Hamilton and also Charles Leclerc to catch up behind him. He could also lose the second place to his teammate. Valtteri Bottas makes a late stop with three laps remaining to switch to soft tires and go for the fastest lap in the race, which the Finn achieves in the penultimate lap.

Things are stirring around the 9th place. Lance Stroll removes the cork Sainz, who is also under attack from Danill Kvyat. The Spaniard drops out of the Top 10 with a car struggling with its tires.

Sebastian Vettel crosses the line in second place but it’s Lewis Hamilton who wins the race, taking advantage of the German’s penalty to seize victory. Charles Leclerc completes the podium.

The complete race standings:

RACE CLASSIFICATION

💪 Hamilton clinches his seventh win in Canada
🏆 Ferrari's first double-podium of 2019
✌️ Renault take double points#CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/mvtcJqH3GK

— Formula 1 (@F1) 9 juin 2019