2016 F1 Canadian Grand Prix: Momentous Montreal win for Hamilton

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The Canadian GP is probably the favorite race of Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton won his very first race back in 2007 while he was driving for McLaren during his rookie year in Canada. With the exception of Michael Schumacher, Lewis has the most number of wins (four) coming to this weeks Grand Prix, and, after qualifying on pole for the fourth time this season, win number five was pretty much within reach.

At the start, Hamilton was again plagued by a poor launch off the grid, this enabled Sebastian Vettel, who was starting from 3rd place, speed by the slow moving Mercedes. Vettel led the field as they made their way onto turn 1. Nico Rosberg, who began the race in P2 was alongside Lewis as they reached the first corner, both Mercs touched, forcing Nico to go wide and off the track to avoid another nasty collision with his teammate. By the time Rosberg re-joined the race, Nico was already down in P9.

Out in front, Vettel was pounding in some serious lap times; leading by nearly two seconds in the opening laps; meanwhile Lewis was trying his best to keep the Ferrari within his sights, knowing that an undercut is possible due to the track layout; Mercedes were just waiting for an opportune time to bring in their drivers.

The virtual safety car was deployed when the Mclaren of Jenson Button blew its engine on lap 11; Ferrari immediately called in the race leader for a tire change, but, as Vettel made his way to the pits, race control signalled the resumption of the race. Lewis Hamilton inherited the race lead as Sebastian was parked in pit lane. This was a wrong call from the Ferrari pit wall as seen by many. Not only did Lewis lead the race, but Vettel came out in traffic and had both Red Bulls in front. This was not the case with Lewis and Mercedes though. The Mercedes pit wall called Lewis to inform him that they are switching strategies, Hamilton was made to stay out and manage his ultra soft Pirelli’s and make it last until the team calls him in.

After most of the front runners, including Nico Rosberg, have made their stops, Mercedes called in the race leader on lap 25. This promoted Sebastian back to first, but when Lewis came out, he had a clear track ahead of him, this enabled him to get close to the Ferrari in the least possible time. Lewis, using the Pirelli soft tires, was now on a one stop strategy, while the Ferrari of Vettel would be needing to stop once more.

Lap 38 saw Sebastian dive into the pits for his last stop to take on Pirelli soft tires, this again handed the lead back to Lewis, who went about establishing fast lap times. Vettel, who was sometimes hampered by back markers, was in a catch up mode. He needed to get close to the Mercedes before he runs out of laps.

Rosberg for his part was fighting it out in the mid-field, the German was able to reel in Bottas in the Williams for P4 but a puncture ruined this challenge. Rosberg dove in to get another set of tires only to come out in 7th. Nico then set off to establish fast lap times and get back in the thick of the fight. Rosberg made quick work of his rivals and in the closing laps, he was shadowing Verstappen in the Red Bull for P4.

Verstappen soaked in the chalenge of Rosberg, the teen-ager didn’t flinch as Nico tried in vain to get past. Max knew enough to make his RB12 as wide possible, thus making it difficult for the Mercedes to get by. This was eveident on the penultimate lap, as Nico tried to brake late into turn 13, the Mercedes locked its brakes and overshot the corner. This gave Verstappen a bigger gap to maintain track position over Rosberg.

Lewis Hamilton, coming off his Monaco win two weeks prior, crossed the line to take his 2nd win this season. This is also Lewis’ 5th win in Montreal, he just needs two more to tie the record of Michael Schumacher for most wins in the Canadian GP. Sebastian Vettel, who was 5 seconds back of the Mercedes, finished in 2nd place, with Valtteri Bottas in the Williams taking the last step of the podium.

The win pushes Lewis’ points total in the championship standings to 107 points, just 9 points shy of Nico Rosberg’s 116 points. Sebastian Vettel is 3rd with 78 points, Daniel Ricciardo holds on to 4th with 72 points while Kimi Raikkonen rounds up the top five with 69 points.