Agence France Presse
Montreal, June 8: Defending World Champion Lewis Hamilton bounced back and increased his lead in the Drivers’ World Championship here Sunday when he drove to a well-measured victory ahead of his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in the Canadian Grand Prix.
The two-time champion made the most of the 44th pole position of his career to lead from the lights to the chequered flag, finishing the 70 laps contest at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 2.2 seconds clear of the 29-year-old German.
It was Hamilton’s fourth win in Canada, his fourth win this year and the 37th win of his career, lifting him 17 points clear of Rosberg in the title race with 151 points to the German’s 134. “Did I need this (after Monaco)? Yes, I think I did,” said Hamilton. “I love Montreal, I love this track and love this city. And it really feels good to be back on the top step again.”
Rosberg was unable to mount a serious challenge as he came home second ahead of Finns Valtteri Bottas of Williams and Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari. Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel finished fifth after surging through the field from 18th on the grid for Ferrari.
Brazilian Felipe Massa finished sixth in the second Williams car after another strong drive ahead of Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado who completed his first race of the season in seventh for Lotus.
The race proved disastrous for McLaren with both their cars driven by Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button failing to finish. The Spanish was left frustrated by McLaren’s fuel consumption problems. Told on the radio to conserve fuel, he snapped back: “I don’t want to… I don’t want to… I already have big problems… We look like amateur… I will race and then concentrate on the fuel.”
Hulkenberg bags points for FI
Montreal: Nico Hulkenberg earned four points for Force India (FI) by finishing eighth in the Canadian Grand Prix here Sunday. His teammate Sergio Perez narrowly missed out on points, finishing 11th after starting 10th on the grid. Hulkenberg, starting seventh, could have finished higher than eighth but a contact with Sebastian Vettel while defending his position dented his chances of scoring more points. FI are now seventh in the team standings with 21 points.
