Australian Daniel Ricciardo celebrated his first Formula One victory last night in a Canadian Grand Prix that put Red Bull back on top of the podium and dealt Mercedes a first defeat of the season.
An afternoon of high drama at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve ended behind the safety car after Felipe Massa’s Williams smashed into the back of Force India’s Sergio Perez as they entered the final lap in a fight for fourth.
Ahead of them, Ricciardo was able to cruise to the chequered flag with championship leader Nico Rosberg second for Mercedes after starting on pole position. Last year’s winner Sebastian Vettel was third for Red Bull.
“I’m still a bit in shock,” beamed Ricciardo from the podium.
“It’s an amazing feeling right now.”
Rosberg still stretched his lead to 22 points after team mate Lewis Hamilton, his closest rival, retired with a rear brake problem.
The pair had fought wheel-to-wheel, their cars touching at the hairpin on lap 46, before 2008 world champion Hamilton suffered his second blank in seven races.
Rosberg, who reported a problem with the power unit half way through the race, held out until he was passed by Ricciardo with two laps to go.
“The boy has been brilliant all year,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. “It was an incredible drive. It’s been a great team effort.”
McLaren’s Jenson Button benefited from the last lap chaos to take fourth followed by Nico Hulkenberg in a Force India and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Starting alongside each other on the front row, pole sitter Rosberg and Hamilton had looked poised for another of their private duels.
Hamilton tried to force his way past at the start but was squeezed out and lost a place to Vettel.
Rosberg was unable to capitalise on Hamilton’s setback, however, with the safety car immediately deployed after the two Marussias collided and left debris scattered across the track.
Canadian GP result
| 1. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) | Red Bull | 1:39:12.830 |
| 2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) | Mercedes | +00:04.236 |
| 3. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) | Red Bull | 00:05.247 |
| 4. Jenson Button (Britain) | McLaren | 00:11.755 |
| 5. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) | Force India | 00:12.843 |
| 6. Fernando Alonso (Spain) | Ferrari | 00:14.869 |
| 7. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) | Williams | 00:23.578 |
| 8. Jean-Eric Vergne (France) | Toro Rosso | 00:28.026 |
| 9. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) | McLaren | 00:29.254 |
| 10. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) | Ferrari | 00:53.678 |
| 11r. Sergio Perez (Mexico) | Force India | 1 lap |
| 12r. Felipe Massa (Brazil) | Williams | 1 lap |
| 13. Adrian Sutil (Germany) | Sauber | 1 lap |
| 14r. Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) | Sauber | 6 laps |
| Retired drivers | ||
| Romain Grosjean (France) | Lotus | 9 laps |
| Daniil Kvyat (Russia) | Toro Rosso | 21 laps |
| Lewis Hamilton (Britain) | Mercedes | 23 laps |
| Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) | Caterham | 46 laps |
| Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) | Lotus | 48 laps |
| Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) | Caterham | 62 laps |
| Max Chilton (Britain) | Marussia | 70 laps |
| Jules Bianchi (France) | Marussia | 70 laps |
Fastest lap: Felipe Massa, 1:18.504, lap 58
Next GP: Austria GP, June 22.
Drivers standings
1. Rosberg 140; 2. Hamilton 118; 3. Ricciardo 79; 4. Alonso 69; 5. Vettel 60; 6. Huelkenberg 57; 7. Button 43; 8. Bottas 40; 9. Magnussen 23; 10. Perez 20; 11. Massa 18; 12. Raikkonen 18; 13. Grosjean 8; 14. Vergne 8; 15. Kvyat 4; 16. Bianchi 2.
Constructors standings
1. Mercedes 258; 2. Red Bull 139; 3. Ferrari 87; 4. Force India 77; 5. McLaren 66; 6. Williams 58; 7. Toro Rosso 12; 8. Lotus 8; 9. Marussia 2.