Hamilton wins in Canada, dedicates victory to Ali

Lewis Hamilton survived another first corner clash with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg yesterday to take a fifth Canadian Grand Prix victory and cut the German’s championship lead to nine points.
The duo banged wheels after being overtaken at the start by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel but triple world champion Hamilton, who had been on pole position, recovered to record a second successive win.
Hamilton took the chequered flag five seconds ahead of Vettel while Rosberg finished fifth, behind Red Bull’s Dutch teenager Max Verstappen in fourth, after a frustrating afternoon.
Finland’s Valtteri Bottas finished third for Williams but was 46.4 seconds behind Hamilton in a race that turned into a strategy duel between Ferrari and Mercedes on a cold Canadian afternoon.
Kimi Raikkonen finished sixth in the second Ferrari, ahead of Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull and Nico Hulkenberg of Force India.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz came home ninth for Toro Rosso and Sergio Perez was 10th in the second Force India.
Ferrari’s gamble on pitting Vettel twice did not pay off, with the four times world champion still looking for his first win of the campaign.
Vettel said: “Lewis was a bit too quick, that was the issue. We had a great weekend, a fantastic start. It was very windy today, I maybe struggled with the wind behind. We committed fairly early to a different strategy and probably Lewis’s tyres lasted better than we expected.”
With the victory coming two days after Muhammad Ali’s funeral, Hamilton quoted the late boxing great — ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ — over the radio as he crossed the finish line.
“That was for Ali,” he said.
The opening clash between the two Mercedes drivers was their second in three races, this time with Rosberg pushed wide and dropping to ninth place at the end of the first lap.
“Today I had another really bad start, not sure why — possibly overheated the clutch,” Hamilton said in the podium interviews conducted by actor Michael Douglas.
“Feel very grateful that Nico and I didn’t damage our cars (when they touched at the first turn). Then I had fun chasing down this guy (Vettel).
“We got the set-up right. I won my first Grand Prix here in 2007 and it feels such a blessing.”
The German also suffered a slow right rear puncture and had to make a second pitstop on lap 52 while in fourth place. He then spun while trying to pass Verstappen in the closing laps.
Rosberg now has 116 points to Hamilton’s 107 after seven of 21 rounds.
Formula 1’s next stop is Baku, the
Azerbaijani capital that will make its debut on the calendar on July 19.

Canadian GP results
1. L Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:31:05.296
2. S Vettel (Ferrari) +5.011
3. V Bottas (Williams) +46.422
4. M Verstappen (Red Bull) +53.020
5. N Rosberg (Mercedes) +1:02.093
6. K Raikkonen (Ferrari) +1:03.017
7. D Ricciardo (Red Bull) +1:03.634
8. N Hulkenberg (Force India) 1 lap
9. C Sainz Jr (Toro Rosso) 1 lap
10. S Perez (Force India) 1 lap

Drivers’ Standings
1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 116 pts
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 107
3. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 78

Constructors’ standings
1. Mercedes 223 pts
2. Ferrari 147
3. Red Bull 130