2014 CANADA GP: DANIEL RICCIARDO SCORES MAIDEN WIN

2014 Canada Grand Prix delivered a thrilling race. Congratulations to Daniel Ricciardo for his first win after a truly memorable race. The top five cars separated by just five seconds in the closing stages of the race. Tyre strategy was central, with drivers on younger and fresher tyres using them to gain an advantage as the grand prix drew to a close.

Ricciardo took the lead with just two laps to go, from Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, while Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel completed the podium. All three adopted a two-stop strategy. The highest-placed one-stopper was Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg in fifth, who started on the soft tyre and completed a 41-lap stint before his single stop from the soft to the supersoft. His team mate Sergio Perez also stopped only once, switching from the supersoft to the soft on lap 35, exactly half-distance. An accident on the final lap between him and Williams driver Felipe Massa, while both were fighting for a possible podium, meant that neither could finish the race, which concluded behind the safety car. Nonetheless, both their strategies had launched them into podium contention, with Massa benefitting from the extra speed of tyres that were considerably younger than those of his rivals during the final stint.

Another safety car period, lasting eight laps right at the beginning of the race, altered the strategy, with tyre degradation at the most critical fuel-heavy period minimised. Wear on both compounds was generally low, despite track temperatures that exceeded 45 degrees centigrade and 30 degrees centigrade ambient.

CANADA GRAND PRIX, MONTREAL.
70 laps, 305.270km., Weather: Sunny.

CLASSIFICATION:
 P.   DRIVER              TEAM            TIME     
 1. Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull        1h39:12.830
 2. Nico Rosberg        Mercedes AMG     +    4.236
 3. Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull         +    5.247
 4. Jenson Button       McLaren          +   11.755
 5. Nico Hulkenberg     Force India      +   12.843
 6. Fernando Alonso     Ferrari          +   14.869
 7. Valtteri Bottas     Williams         +   23.578
 8. Jean-Eric Vergne    Toro Rosso       +   28.026
 9. Kevin Magnussen     McLaren          +   29.254
10. Kimi Raikkonen      Ferrari          +   53.678
11. Sergio Perez        Force India      +    1 lap
12. Felipe Massa        Williams         +    1 lap
13. Adrian Sutil        Sauber           +    1 lap
14. Esteban Gutierrez   Sauber           +   6 laps

Fastest Lap: Felipe Massa - 1:18.504               

NOT CLASSIFIED:
Driver            Team         On lap              
Romain Grosjean    Lotus          59
Daniil Kvyat       Toro Rosso     48
Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes AMG   46
Kamui Kobayashi    Caterham       23
Pastor Maldonado   Lotus          22
Marcus Ericsson    Caterham        7
Max Chilton        Marussia        1
Jules Bianchi      Marussia        1

 AFTER 7 RACES:
 DRIVERS:                    CONSTRUCTORS:         
 1. Nico Rosberg       140   1. Mercedes AMG  258 
 2. Lewis Hamilton     118   2. Red Bull      139
 3. Daniel Ricciardo    79   3. Ferrari        87 
 4. Fernando Alonso     69   4. Force India    77 
 5. Sebastian Vettel    60   5. McLaren        66 
 6. Nico Hulkenberg     57   6. Williams       58 
 7. Jenson Button       43   7. Toro Rosso     12 
 8. Valtteri Bottas     40   8. Lotus           8  
 9. Kevin Magnussen     23   9. Marussia        2
10. Sergio Perez        20
11. Felipe Massa        18
12. Kimi Raikkonen      18
13. Romain Grosjean      8
14. Jean-Eric Vergne     8
15. Daniil Kvyat         4
16. Jules Bianchi        2