Canada – Race: Unstoppable, Vettel wins… and takes the lead of the championship!

We have found the first man of the season with three victories! Sebastian Vettel took control of the Canadian Grand Prix. A well-executed race for the Scuderia Ferrari driver, who left no chance for the competition. Bottas was never able to get within four seconds of the German. After securing pole position on Saturday, Vettel made the most of the weekend as he also takes the lead in the drivers’ standings, just one point ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Starting fourth, the Briton was unable to reverse the trend of a difficult qualifying session, even losing a position at the finish. He ended up behind Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, who finished third and fourth, respectively.

90 minutes earlier, the Quebec race began in an electric atmosphere: the top six cars on the grid were separated by just three and a half tenths after the qualifications, from Vettel’s first place (1:10.764) to Daniel Ricciardo’s sixth (1:11.116). In the midst of this pack, Max Verstappen positioned himself in third place, with the opportunity to attack right from the start, as offered by his team principal, Christian Horner.

At the back of the standings, Pierre Gasly had lined up next to Romain Grosjean, whose engine went up in smoke during Q1. Also disappointed with his performance (16th fastest), the Toro Rosso driver took the opportunity to change his Honda engine, as the young Norman had been using an old power unit.

On the tire front, both Red Bulls started on hyper-soft tires, unlike the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers, who opted for ultra-soft tires.

Spectacular Crash in the First Round

Sebastian Vettel easily maintained the lead at the start. Just behind him, Max Verstappen drew level with Valtteri Bottas, but without success. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo moved up to fifth position right under Kimi Räikkönen’s nose. Further back, a major crash involved Brendon Hartley and Lance Stroll. The New Zealander attempted to pass on the inside in the left-hand turn of the fifth corner, even as the local driver hit the wall on the inside. Lance Stroll’s race lasted less than a kilometer! The safety car was deployed at the end of the first lap.

#CanadianGP 🇨🇦 | T 1/70

[Replay]

Stroll seemed to have lost control of his car and squeezed Hartley into the barriers 😬#F1 pic.twitter.com/BoIbT4iGFb

— Secteur F1 🚔 (@Secteur_F1) 10 juin /f1/actualite/22755-canada-qualifications-sebastian-vettel-surgit-au-meilleur-moment.html

The leader reignited the race on the fourth lap. A difficult recovery for Sergio Pérez, hit by Carlos Sainz in the first corner: the Force India driver dropped to fourteenth place. At the end of the ninth lap, the Mexican switched to super-softs, aiming to finish the race. Seventh since the start, Esteban Ocon did the same on lap 12. A bad move for the Frenchman who lost the advantage to his rivals, the two Renault drivers, after a poor pit stop by his mechanics. The real early laps of this race allowed Vettel to escape: after the first ten laps, the four-time world champion had a three and a half second lead over Bottas.

LAP 14/70: Sluggish pit stop for @OconEsteban – Frenchman comes back out in P14. His teammate Perez has also pitted – he’s P18 #CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/F5WaJwM6XP

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 10

Vettel hammered home the point by repeating the fastest laps. The competition battled behind, and Hamilton conceded a position to Ricciardo after the first pit stops, thanks to a brilliant undercut by the Australian. The driver who won in Monaco pitted on lap 18, one lap earlier than the Mercedes driver. Both opted for the hardest tires of the weekend, the super-softs.

LAP 18/70: Ricciardo comes in, and comes out ahead of Hamilton, and behind teammate Verstappen (both HAM and VER pitted on the previous lap) #CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/FzYRW99U7h

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 10 /f1/actualite/22755-canada-qualifications-sebastian-vettel-surgit-au-meilleur-moment.html

After 25 laps, the Vettel-Bottas-Räikkönen trio still hadn’t pitted, like Romain Grosjean, on ultra-softs and in eighth position. Having been overtaken without issues by Sainz, the Haas driver showed more resistance against Ocon.

Different strategy for leaders, Räikkönen trapped

At the front, the times of the top six were closely monitored: after a few tough laps, Vettel secured the fastest lap… on the 29th, on worn tires. The German gave himself some breathing room as Bottas came within 3.5 seconds. In sixth place, Lewis Hamilton was running half a second slower than Vettel! A small consolation for the Brit, who saw Räikkönen come out of his stop just behind him on the 33rd lap. It remained for Bottas and Vettel to make their tire changes. This was done for Bottas at the end of the 36th lap, just after the halfway point. Vettel followed suit on the 37th lap, also opting for super-soft tires. No issues reported for the two drivers, who resumed the race in the same configuration.

On the 43rd lap, Fernando Alonso was relieved of his McLaren duties. For his 300th Formula 1 weekend, the Spaniard helplessly witnessed an exhaust failure on his car and abandoned once back in the garage. The only reason to be pleased was that the double world champion could quickly turn his attention to his next big challenge: the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Toyota, next weekend. This retirement benefited Charles Leclerc, who moved up to 10th position following Romain Grosjean’s pit stop, which only took place on the 50th lap after a strong maneuver by Esteban Ocon at the end of the long straight.

Fifth at the finish, Hamilton ends up in Ricciardo’s exhausts!

At the top of the standings, the end of the race offered a timid long-distance duel. Vettel controlled the situation, keeping Bottas over four seconds behind, despite the good lap times from the Finn. Especially since the Mercedes driver had a minor scare on the 56th lap, braking late to overtake Sainz’s Renault. Ultimately, the most interesting battle was for fifth place, with Hamilton on the attack to catch Ricciardo. The Mercedes driver could open his DRS on the 62nd lap, with maximum power on his engine, already almost six races old.

In front of them, Verstappen was also throwing his last forces into the fight, coming within one and a half seconds of Bottas with three laps remaining. The Dutchman narrowly missed out: the Finnish driver’s Mercedes was losing power on the final straight! Bottas held onto his second place… by one-tenth!

For his part, Hamilton (with 120 points) lost the lead of the world championship to Vettel (121 points), the winner in Montreal! The Scuderia Ferrari driver claimed his third victory of the season, ending Ferrari’s winless streak in Quebec. The last red car to win dates back to 2003 with Michael Schumacher… 15 years ago! Also noteworthy is the strong performance of the French drivers: Ocon (9th), Gasly (11th), Grosjean (12th), and the Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who was in eleventh position. A good omen ahead of the French Grand Prix in two weeks?

🏁 END OF RACE 🏁

TOP TEN
VET 📸
BOT
VER
RIC
HAM
RAI
HUL
SAI
OCO
LEC#CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/uBdYdjcvgi

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 10 /f1/actualite/22755-canada-qualifications-sebastian-vettel-surgit-au-meilleur-moment.html

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