Following wet conditions in qualifying, the race was entirely dry today. Even though they had a free choice of slick tyres with which to start the race, the top 10 all chose to begin on the supersoft. The softest tyre in Pirelli’s Formula One range proved to be up to a second faster than the medium with a rapid warm-up time, making it a key element of Vettel’s sprint strategy. German got a good start from pole position and was able to establish a lead of two seconds on the opening lap before disappearing in to the distance.
Having gathered very little experience of running on the slick compounds up to the race due to the wet weather, the teams had to adopt a flexible approach to their strategy today, with little information on relevant wear and degradation rates. As expected, both wear and degradation rates remained low.
Fernando Alonso managed his way from sixth on the grid to second for Ferrari. In the first half of the race he joined a battle for third with Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber, having passed qualifying hero Valtteri Bottas early on. The Williams had dropped from third to fifth behind the Mercedes and Red Bull off the line. Rosberg could not keep his tyres alive as well as those pressuring him.
After some very close calls, Webber got ahead on lap 30, with Alonso following on the next straight. Webber then seemed able to keep Alonso at bay until Giedo van der Garde turned in on him while being lapped, taking a chunk from the Red Bull's front wing. Unsurprisingly its pace slowed and Alonso overtook Webber then set off after second-placed Hamilton.
Briton came home third, losing out to Alonso in the final stint after being held up behind Adrian Sutil and ending the race 1.5s behind the Ferrari.
The Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal.
70 laps, 305.270km., Weather: Sunny.
CLASSIFIED:
P. DRIVER TEAM TIME
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1h32m09.143
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari + 14.408
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG + 15.942
4. Mark Webber Red Bull + 25.731
5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG + 1:09.725
6. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso + 1 lap
7. Paul di Resta Force India + 1 lap
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari + 1 lap
9. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus + 1 lap
10. Adrian Sutil Force India + 1 lap
11. Sergio Perez McLaren + 1 lap
12. Jenson Button McLaren + 1 lap
13. Romain Grosjean Lotus + 1 lap
14. Valtteri Bottas Williams + 1 lap
15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso + 2 laps
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams + 2 laps
17. Jules Bianchi Marussia + 2 laps
18. Charles Pic Caterham + 2 laps
19. Max Chilton Marussia + 3 laps
20. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber + 7 laps
Fastest Lap: Mark Webber - 1:16.182
Not classified:
DRIVER TEAM ON LAP
Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 45
Giedo van der Garde Caterham 43
After 7 races:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. S.Vettel 132 1. Red Bull 201
2. F.Alonso 96 2. Ferrari 145
3. K.Raikkonen 88 3. Mercedes AMG 134
4. L.Hamilton 77 4. Lotus 114
5. M.Webber 69 5. Force India 51
6. N.Rosberg 57 6. McLaren 37
7. F.Massa 49 7. Toro Rosso 20
8. P.Di Resta 34 8. Sauber 5
9. R.Grosjean 26
10. J.Button 25
11. A.Sutil 17
12. J.Vergne 13
13. S.Perez 12
14. D.Ricciardo 7
15. N.Hulkenberg 5
