Formula 1 : Canada Grand Prix Results and Review

By dhanraj.kotian | June 13 2012 11:40 AM

There is something about the Gilles Villeneuve circuit that gets the best out of McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton. It was his third win here and it takes him to the top of the Driver's Standings, two points ahead of Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, who is a point further ahead of defending champion Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton roared past Alonso and Vettel in the last ten laps as his two-stop strategy worked in comparison to the one-stop employed by Alonso and Vettel. Their tires were completely worn off and Hamilton took advantage of that to record far superior lap times and post his first victory for this season, making him the seventh different driver to win a race this season.

Somehow Jenson Button in the other McLaren looked totally out of sorts with none of the changes working for him.

Romain Grosjean drove a no nonsense race to finish second. No risky moves. Waited for his opportunity and used the good race pace of his Lotus to get past Alonso towards the end. Kimi Raikkonen in the other Lotus finished eighth.

It was some super stuff from Sergio Perez that got him his third position. He made a neat move to get past Nico Rosberg for sixth and later got under the slip stream of Felipa Massa and made an excellent move to go fifth. The Mexican driver later passed Alonso, who was just a sitting duck in his Ferrari with completely worn off rear tires. His teammate Kamui Kobayashi finished ninth to add a few more valuable points to the Constructors' championship.

Red Bull would be disappointed, particularly after starting on pole and missing their chance to push ahead in the Driver's Championship. Vettel was leading until the first set of stops. He was the first of the top three to pit. Lewis got in some extra seconds before he could pit and comes out ahead of the Vettel. A few laps later Fernando pushed hard and passed Hamilton.

Towards the end of the race, to avoid further damage after Lewis Hamilton getting past him, Red Bull call in Vettel for a stop in the 63rd lap. He rejoined fifth. He almost lost 12 seconds after Hamilton came out of his second stop. It was a very late call though, as the damage had already been done. Vettel finished fourth. Vettel's teammate Mark Webber finished seventh.

The one stop by Ferrari also cost them dear as Fernando finished fifth. It was just simple calculation, of whether the tires would last or not? After seeing Hamilton pit, and closing in almost a second every lap, they could have called in for a stop after a couple of laps. Their decision to let him stay and defend, cost them a podium finish as Perez and Grosjean passed in the closing stages.

Alonso's teammate Massa, started positively by quickly getting into fifth position, only to commit a silly mistake by running wide a few laps later and losing seven positions. This cost him dear and he could only finish 10th. His pit stop strategy of going into the first stop too early and the second too late, taking into account a safety car interruption also did not work in his favor. Ferrari did put in a very good effort and the car has definitely come a long way from what we saw in Australia. There were a lot of aerodynamic updates on the rear and a few mechanical changes. This has almost gotten them on pace with of the McLaren's.

Nico Rosberg struggled initially while he was over taken by Massa, and the Force India of Paul Di Resta. He later found some grip after his stops and finished sixth. His teammate, Michael Schumacher's run of bad luck continued. Schumacher had a problem in qualifying that saw him missing on the final lap due to a time sync problem in his car. In the race too, after his stop the DRS flap did not fit in and he had to eventually retire.

It was a thrilling race and a great performance by Hamilton that saw him take the checkered flag.

Pos

Driver

Team

Laps

Time/Retired

Pts

Lewis Hamilton

McLaren-Mercedes

1:32:29

Romain Grosjean

Lotus-Renault