Hamilton takes sixth Canadian GP win in lively race

2017 Canadian Grand Prix summary

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Lewis Hamilton led an emphatic one-two for Mercedes in the Canadian Grand Prix while an eventful race unfolded behind him.

The Mercedes pair were joined on the podioum by Daniel Ricciardo. The Red Bull driver’s team mate Max Verstappen held second after a great start but dropped out early on when his car lost power.

For the first time in 2017 Sebastian Vettel failed to finish on the podium. The Ferrari driver had to pit early with a damaged front wing, then overtook the two Force Indias in the final laps to secure fourth place.

The pink pair were scrapping furiously as the chequered flag came down. Sergio Perez took fifth place having resisted an order from the team to let Esteban Ocon by. Ocon had the benefit of fresher tyres and made his dissatisfaction with his team mate’s driving clear as the race ended.

Kimi Raikkonen slipped to seventh place at the end of the race after being slowed by a power unit problem late in the race. Nico Hulkenberg was the only other driver on the lead lap.

A first-lap crash with Carlos Sainz Jnr claimed Felipe Massa, but for the first time his team mate Lance Stroll brought points home for Williams in ninth place. Romain Grosjean took the final point for tenth after Fernando Alonso retired a few laps from home.

2017 Canadian Grand Prix reaction

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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62 comments on “Hamilton takes sixth Canadian GP win in lively race”

  1. Cannot believe the bias from the Sky broadcast. For about 15 laps they were justifying why it was correct to swap the Force India’s, and yet were chortling about how Ferrari were going to manage they exact same situation. It seems to me that they have a problem with Ferrari for whatever reason.

    1. I agree. Completely different reactions to a very similar situation.

    2. Michael Brown (@)
      11th June 2017, 21:01

      I was expecting conspiracy theories after Raikkonen’s late race issues.

      1. MG421982 (@)
        11th June 2017, 21:29

        Would have been a conspiracy theory had it been only just a brake problem for RAI at the end of the straight, more exactly that he faked a brake problem to let VET in front. But the fact the problem persisted cleared the suspicion it might have been a staged situation by RAI.

      2. They did actually!! Damon Hill said it was “convenient” how Raikkonen had a brake issue then. Unbelievable!!

    3. Sky always has been biased when it comes to F1. Surprisingly the Channel 4 broadcast which is aired in India is much better than Sky.

    4. Sky always has been biased when it comes to F1. Surprisingly the Channel 4 broadcast which is aired in India is much better than Sky.

    5. Peppermint-Lemon (@)
      11th June 2017, 21:10

      I’m glad I missed this one for two reasons…

      1) Hamilton won (he appears too shallow an individual for me to be able to support).

      2) Sky commentary bias against Ferrari unnecessarily and for their double standards.

      I’m officially considering ditching sky f1 in favour of just watching channel 4 coverage as I find David Croft too biased and inconsistent (not to mention his one line puns are getting worse with each race) and Theodore Slotover to be arrogant and very rude to those he interviews.

    6. MG421982 (@)
      11th June 2017, 21:34

      +1. Sky is ridiculous, Crofty holding the flag. RAI just got out of pits for the 2nd time and they were already seeing him storming past VET… although he was 15sec behind VET! They started to wonder what will Ferrari do when RAI will be behind VET because for them it was something sure that RAI will trash VET.

      1. Apart from crofty’s cheesy commentary(by far sky’s weakest link) I think sky do a very good job to be fair to them.

        1. croft is cancer, indeed

    7. Ferrari is more interested in the drivers’ championship. ForceIndia need to finish higher up in the Constructors’ to earn money.
      The problem with Ferrari’s history is, they always favour a driver even when only their drivers are in contention to win championships. ForceIndia may have scored 9 more points than Redbull today.

  2. Just how many P3s will Ricciardo inherit this year?

    1. Indeed, lucky Ricciardo gets handed his second podium in a row. Max should have had both of them

      1. Third in a row ;)

  3. Perez really screwed up Force India’s race.

    1. Unfortunately. I would have loved to see icon try to pass riccardo.

    2. I guess so too but it is difficult to say if a podium was in the offing with Ferrari’s behind like a rocket.

      But PER, that was stupidest of him to do it. He had to be realistic.

      FI management though gets my points – aft a point they let their drivers fight it out.

      1. Had Ocon succeeded in getting past. He probably could have pulled away leaving Vettel with not enough laps to catch in the end. That was the reason they needed to have tried that earlier.

  4. Michael Brown (@)
    11th June 2017, 20:57

    Weak leadership from Force India.

    1. By the looks of it, that’s the obvious conclusion but we don’t know what Pérez’s contractual obligations are.

  5. Great recovery by Vettel after the initial wing loss and dropping to P18. For a guy about whom Hopper Jordan said that “he could not overtake” etc, Vettel has pulled off some pretty daring passes in his career. He could have settled for P6 which would have been only 4 points behind P4 but the two incredibly daring passes that he pulled on the “Pink Panthers” showed how much he valued every additional point.

    1. Arad (@just-an-fan)
      12th June 2017, 11:21

      Eddie who?

  6. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
    11th June 2017, 21:04

    Very entertaining race behind the Mercs. I thought it was interesting that Perez defended so aggressively against Ocon with late changes of direction and moving in the braking zone but yet he let Seb past without even so much as moving to the inside. He definitely has one eye on Kimi’s seat next year.

    1. That was my thought. Ocon definitely looked racier and could pip the Ferrari spot from Sergio who can be consistent but is prone to rookie errors from time to time. So far, Ocon has not shown a tendency to make mistakes. The after race interviews made the whole situation even more titillating..

    2. Vettel’s tyres were newer than Ocon’s tyres.

    3. He definitely has one eye on Kimi’s seat next year.

      @rdotquestionmark

      It’s funny .. because after the race, I don’t think Ferrari have their eye on Perez anymore.

      1. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
        12th June 2017, 8:27

        @todfod I thought the same

        1. @rdotquestionmark Ferrari can always get lawyers to solve that before having anything signed though.

          1. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
            12th June 2017, 10:53

            True and he’d take it just to be at Ferrari

  7. Michael Brown (@)
    11th June 2017, 21:06

    Good on Stroll for scoring two points in 9th. At first he was very hesitant to overtake, braking early instead of trying to go side by side, but eventually managed to get it done (albeit with easy DRS like usual). At one point he was 15th.

  8. Hamilton looked very strong, I wonder how it would have been if Vettel had not lost his wing? But then again Raikonens pace wasn’t that impressive, so i’am leaning towards a secon or third place for Vettel in that scenario.

    1. MG421982 (@)
      11th June 2017, 21:38

      I’m sure HAM would have still won. Simply because VET was 4th after 1st corner, so a lot of precious time would have been lost behind VER and BOT. Best hopes for VET would have been 2nd in my opinion… without any car problems.

      1. Simply because VET was 4th after 1st corner

        That was the Verstappen contact incident. But if the 2 front-runners had got away clean, Vettel would certainly have given Hamilton more than a run for his money. Merc was definitely the faster car here but with the Ferrari’s good race trio, it could have gone either way.

        1. Vettel got away clean, just slowly. Verstappen was way ahead of Vettel at the moment of contact so do enlighten me how it’s Verstappen’s fault

          1. Verst could have easily picked up a punture, hitting the front wing of Seb but he was lucky. Verst has done this before too trying to win the race in the first corner with a car that is 1 Sec slower than his competitors. It was plain stupidity to risk everything in the first corner.

  9. Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
    11th June 2017, 21:13

    Great race,which reminded something from 2014 in the Ricciardo-F,I-Vettel battle,but i’ll wonder something…What would have been for Williams if Massa hadn’t retired?Even from 10th…Im pretty sure he would have been there with F.I,but as usual,he was the victim of other drivers reckless attitude…Its a great shame,because in Russia,Spain & now Canada,he has lost an huge amount of ponts(around 25 points…).

    1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      11th June 2017, 22:32

      @miltosgreekfan
      Yes, because of the Ferrari’s bad luck, I actually think Massa may have even managed a podium today. Remember that last year, the strategy the Williams used on Bottas jumped both the Red Bulls? I think Williams could well have done that on Massa. Especially considering there was only 1 Red Bull remaining. Massa was pretty close to them in qualifying and Massa is usually better in the race than qualifying. He’s been so unlucky this season. Been involved in so many incidents and problems like you say including Russia, loads in Spain and here too. He’d have a load more points if it wasn’t for this. I’d quite possibly say he’d be ahead of Perez in the Championship.

      1. Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
        11th June 2017, 22:45

        @thegianthogweed Its so annoying!!!He has been in pretty good shape,& he has been so unlucky!Williams needs him,he performs,but luck isn’t,again,with his side…I really want to see him once in the podium(despite that he will possibly stay for 2018),but unfortunately,i think the best chances have been lost…

  10. Perez was pathetic, absolutely pathetic. It cost FI the podium.
    Hamilton flawless. Great recovery from Vettel and great drive from Ocon. Ricciardo did well too.
    Stroll and Hulk were aldo good.

  11. The coverage by Sky was appalling. Whatever you do, don’t follow the action or overtakes. And by all means let the audience know your ridiculously biased opinions. Sure wish we had some other option for viewing F1 live.

  12. I don’t think Vettel would’ve been able to catch Hamilton as he was sublime. Easy second though as Bottas showed no pace whatsoever, maybe because there was no challenge from behind and nothing to be gained upfront. Driver of the weekend surely is Vettel, out-qualifying Bottas yesterday and racing back to P4 today, he won’t be happy with it though.

  13. Thoroughly enjoyed that.
    Hamilton inch perfect throughout, such a dominant weekend for him.
    Amazing fightback through the field from Vettel after his front wing damage, even with the reported floor damage he had.
    Force India showing again that they are far and away the best of the midfield. Would’ve liked to see Ocon given a go at Ricciardo for potentially his first podium, and I think if the Ferrari’s weren’t closing in they’d have done that, and if he hadn’t got past, just given the place back at the end
    More solid points for Hulkenberg, still annihilating Palmer, as expected.
    Great race from Stroll for his standards, first points in F1 at your home race is never bad. Made some great overtakes too – not sure why he ended up in 15th and behind Palmer at one point as my stream froze, but an excellent recovery.

    And, rip Alonso.

    1. Palmer was in this race?

    2. Yes Icon had so much potential in this race. A champion material driver. He could have taken the fight to Riccardo, he had the car to do it.

      Too bad Perez was fighting aggressively, yes it’s a race and they want to finish higher, but when you have statistics that shows you are much slower than your team mate, you gotta let him past and allow the team to gain more points. Overall Perez was unsporty today, hell he could have taken out Ocon in one of those moves.

  14. Yesterday’s comment from Keith now seems uncannily prescient!

    Second place is a tricky place to start from at Montreal… Hamilton may already be thinking of how to stitch Vettel up there and open the door for the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas to get through.

      1. We should check if there was an LHamilton logged in here yesterday night.

  15. I’m going to apologise to Arad in advance for reposting his COTD offering here.

    What has Force India done for the sport? Do they bring the same amount of fans/viewing to the sport? Do Force India generate the same level of attention as Ferrari do?

    Imagine the series with Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, Red Bull and Mercedes out of F1, who is going to follow Force India?

    I said that not because I am a Ferrari fan, but because that makes sense.
    Arad (@Just-an-fan)

    Midfield and even lower teams bring excitement and entertainment to these races. What FI demonstrated today was a Herculean effort against the financial behemoths of Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and even Renault.
    No matter what the team orders and strategy, FI scored big time today and showed that the ‘little guys’ can still make an impact.
    That’s what Force India have done for the sport, Arad!

    1. +100

    2. +1000

      1. Arad (@just-an-fan)
        12th June 2017, 11:19

        I still believe Force india adds no value like Mercedes, Ferrari and Redbull do. Force india finishing in front of ferraris because Mad Max had ruined the race for them doesn’t mean Force india add any value. I still remember you saying “Ferrari should start winning everything if they want 100m” I am still laughing hard =))

    3. Touche.

      Unless @Just-an-fan has something new statement on how Force India add no value whatsoever.

    4. @nickwyatt Yeah I thought back to that as well.

  16. Hamilton doesnt put a foot wrong, yet Vettel who made a lot of mistakes, and with the fortune of the fastest car of the rest of the field climbed to 4th, is man of the day… what a bunch of bull… Hamilton if he captured birds with his mouth, he will be disputed and hated no matter what…

    1. I guess the same thing happened when Vettel had a perfect race from pole back in his RedBull days. People would say that anyone can drive from the front and it takes courage and skill to come through the pack. May be that’s the same logic being used here.

      1. Vettel made a lot of mistakes?

        You don’t get from the back of the grid (18th after 2 cars retired) to 4th without running a great race. He made a start equal to Hamilton and had to be in the position he was at the first corner in order to defend from Bottas. Verstappen had a stunning start, carving past Raikonnen and Bottas and catching Vettel’s wing as he took 2nd.

        The big difference that Vettel had was that he had to make pass attempts in order to get through the field, whereas Hamilton would have been aided by the blue flags. It’s races like that, that show the real ability of a racer.

        1. @maddme To be fair VET went from starting in the pitlane to the podium in Abu Dhabi in 2012 after loads of mistakes.

    2. Michael Brown (@)
      12th June 2017, 9:58

      Are people actually hating Hamilton for this race?

  17. Arad (@just-an-fan)
    12th June 2017, 11:27

    Mad Max had ruined the race for Ferraris. AFter all, as Lauda said, only DNF or situations like this can helo Lulu win the title. Vettel would have passed him no problem had Mad max not damaged his car. Anyway… bring on Baku!

    1. Yes, like in Spain you mean.

  18. Vittu! was my favourite bit.

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