Lewis Hamilton gestures in front of the cameras at parc ferme.Lewis Hamilton put Monaco misery behind him yesterday with a controlled Canadian Grand Prix victory that sent the Formula One world champion 17 points clear of Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg.
The Briton’s fourth victory in seven races this season, and fourth career win in Montreal, denied Rosberg a third triumph in a row and provided the perfect response to losing out in the showcase race two weeks ago.
There he had been leading comfortably from pole only to lose out after a needless late pitstop when the safety car was deployed.
There was no need for the safety car yesterday, at a circuit that has seen it plenty of times in the past, and there was little in the way of drama either – other than a startled groundhog appearing on the track – as Hamilton led from pole.
Rosberg was never close enough to attack and the rest of the field was so far behind as to be out of sight, with Hamilton lapping all but six of the cars behind him at the circuit where he took his first Formula One win in 2007 with McLaren.
Finland’s Valtteri Bottas was third for Williams, a massive 40.6 seconds behind Hamilton, to be-come the first driver from outside Mercedes or Ferrari to appear on the podium this year.
“I love Montreal,” Hamilton told the crowd.
“Nico was quick today but I felt like I always had this race under control.
“Did I need this?” he asked the spectators to raucous cheers.
“I think so.”
Bottas moved up one place from where he started, beating his fellow-Finn Kimi Raikkonen after the Ferrari driver spun following a pitstop.
Raikkonen finished fourth, ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel who fought his way through the field from 18th at the start.
Bottas’s Brazilian team-mate Felipe Massa finished sixth after starting 15th.
Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado scored his first points of the season for Lotus in seventh place and Germany’s Nico Huelkenberg limbered up for his Le Mans 24 Hours debut next weekend with eighth place for Force India.
Russian Daniil Kvyat was ninth for Red Bull and Frenchman Romain Grosjean took the final point for Lotus after a late coming together with Manor Marussia’s Will Stevens.
Neither of the McLarens finished the race, with Spain’s double world champion Fernando Alonso expressing his frustration over the radio at being told save fuel.
Race result and standings
| 1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) | Mercedes | 1:31:53.145 |
| 2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) | Mercedes | +00:02.285 |
| 3. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) | Williams-Mercedes | 00:40.666 |
| 4. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) | Ferrari | 00:45.625 |
| 5. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) | Ferrari | 00:49.903 |
| 6. Felipe Massa (Brazil) | Williams-Mercedes | 00:56.381 |
| 7. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) | Lotus – Mercedes | 01:06.664 |
| 8. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) | Force India – Mercedes | 1 lap |
| 9. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) | RedBull – Renault | 1 lap |
| 10. Romain Grosjean (France) | Lotus – Mercedes | 1 lap |
| 11. Sergio Perez (Mexico) | Force India – Mercedes | 1 lap |
| 12. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) | Toro Rosso – Renault | 1 lap |
| 13. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) | RedBull – Renault | 1 lap |
| 14. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) | Sauber – Ferrari | 1 lap |
| 15. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) | Toro Rosso – Renault | 1 lap |
| 16. Felipe Nasr (Brazil) | Sauber – Ferrari | 2 laps |
| 17. Will Stevens (Britain) | Marussia – Ferrari | 4 laps |
| r. Roberto Merhi (Spain) | Marussia – Ferrari | 13 laps |
| r. Jenson Button (Britain) | McLaren | 16 laps |
| r. Fernando Alonso (Spain) | McLaren | 26 laps |
Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1m 17.105s (lap 59).
Next race: Austria Grand Prix, June 21.
Drivers
1. Hamilton 151; 2. Rosberg 134; 3. Vettel 108; 4. Raikkonen 72; 5. Bottas 57; 6. Massa 47; 7. Ricciardo 35; 8. Kvyat 19; 9. Grosjean 17; 10. Nasr 16; 11. Perez 11; 12. Huelkenberg 10; 13. Sainz Jr 9; 14. Verstappen 6; 15. Maldonado 6; 16. Ericsson 5; 17. Button 4.
Constructors
1. Mercedes 285; 2. Ferrari 180; 3. Williams-Mercedes 104; 4. RedBull – Renault 54; 5. Lotus – Mercedes 23; 6. Sauber – Ferrari 21; 7. Force India – Mercedes 21; 8. Toro Rosso – Renault 15; 9. McLaren 4.