F1: Hamilton wins in Canada

Lewis Hamilton is back on the top step of the podium! His Mercedes teammate made it another 1-2 for the German team. Looking back though, it sure wasn’t an easy win; both Silver Arrows looked vulnerable to mechanical issues throughout the race, with the Briton having to fuel save, and Rosberg having to fuel save and brake save. Joining them on the podium is Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. The Finn looked set to finish in P4 pretty early on, right up till his compatriot, Kimi Raikkonen, spun his Ferrari at the hairpin not long after his pitstop. Speaking of the Ferraris, Canada has been a dismal weekend on the back of the successes of the first few races. Vettel dropped out of Q1 with issues, and a penalty picked up as a result of passing under the Red Flag in FP3 meant he had to start way back in the field. He sliced through the field with relative ease, but as he failed to pass Massa, Ferrari decided to bring him in extremely early. Post pitstop, Vettel continued to charge, eventually getting up to P6 post 2nd pit stop. Raikkonen, as previously mentioned, spun his SF15-T. In a fit of frustration, he spun the car around in a cloud of tyre smoke, pretty much melting his set of primes. Ferrari brought him in for an unplanned second stop for a switch to the faster option rubber, but he failed to close the gap to the fourth placed Williams. Once again, talking about the Williams, the second FW37 of Felipe Massa came across the line in P6, after starting way down the pack. Not unlike Vettel, Massa had excellent pace throughout the race, overtaking many cars over the course of 70 laps. Whilst the bulk of his battles were relatively unremarkable (mostly due to the dominance of the Mercedes powerplant), his scrap with Ericsson was easily the highlight of the race.

OneShift Editorial Team

08 Jun 2015

Lotus looked to have both cars comfortably in the points for the most part of the race. However, a late crash with Will Stevens’ Marussia meant he had to box for a fresh set of tyres, and that relegated him to a place outside of the points. His Mercedes powerplant, accompanied by cars around him pitting, allowed him to eventually finish in P10. Maldonado drove a fairly uneventful race to P7.

Hulkenburg drove his VJM08 to P8. Just like many drivers in Canada, he drove a fairly uneventful race from lights out to checkered flag. His teammate finished in P11 after a hard charging Grosjean passed him late in the race.

The first of the Red Bull cars finished in P9. Both Kyvat, and the 14th place Ricciardo struggled for pace in the race, with Ricciardo claiming that he was surprised by the RB11’s lack of pace.

However, when it comes to Red Bull backed cars and the lack of pace, the A team has nothing on Toro Rosso. Verstappen has an engine penalty for using a fifth engine this season, and a further 5 place grid penalty for tangling with Grosjean in Monaco. This meant he started well down, eventually finishing in P15. Sainz had a few battles on track with more superior cars, and finished P12.

The Saubers struggled once again, with Ericsson in P14 and Nasr in P16.

A Manor Marussia has failed to complete a race for the first time in 2015. Merhi’s Manor developed an issue, he had to pull into the pit and retire. Stevens tangled with Grosjean, which meant an extra pitstop for the Briton.

Both McLarens retired with issues. They struggled from the beginning, with McLaren telling both Alonso and Button to fuel save from lights out. Canada is the very first time both McLaren drivers have expressed their frustrations with the Honda powerplant. However, if their tweets are to be believed, both of them are upbeat and positive about the progress of the car.

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