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F1: Sebastian Vettel wins the Canadian Grand Prix

June 10, 2018

Sebastian Vettel returned to his winning ways, leading the entire Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. The victory has helped the Ferrari driver surpass Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' standings.

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Formel Eins, Kanada 2018: Sebastian Vettel vor Max Verstappen
Image: Imago/Z. Mauger

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel picked up his 50th career Formula One win in Montreal on Sunday, cruising to victory in the Canadian Grand Prix.

It was the German's first victory since winning the first two races of the season in Australia and Bahrain. The win vaulted Vettel over Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' standings. He now leads the defending Formula One drivers' champion by one point.

Vettel's victory was also the first by a Ferrari driver in Montreal since 2004, when Michael Schumacher won the last of his record seven wins on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. 

"To have a race like we had today is unbelievable," the German driver said in his first television interview. "After a long stretch without a win here, we're all happy."

Vettel, who earned pole position on Saturday, hadn't won in Canada since 2013 — back when he was still driving for Red Bull Racing. But he dominated Sunday's race from start to finish, heading to the box only once and racing mostly on ultrasoft tires.

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas finished second, losing major ground on Vettel after a mistake on Lap 57. Max Verstappen of Red Bull rounded out the podium.

"Since lap one, [Vettel] seemed to be a bit quicker," Bottas said. "They controlled the race and we got into a little trouble in the end with running out of fuel."

Hamilton, who started the race fourth and had won in Montreal six times before, spent the most of the day battling with both Red Bull drivers — Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. The Briton finished the race in fifth, with Ricciardo taking fourth.

Dangerous collision

The race had a rocky start after a dangerous collision between Williams driver Lance Stroll and Brendon Hartley of Torro Rosso on the first lap. 

Stroll, who was born in Montreal, squeezed Hartley into the wall on turn five. Hartley's car flew into the air before both cars spun off the track. Both drivers were unhurt in the incident.

"He ran me off the road," Hartley said on his radio.

It also wasn't a good day for McLaren's Fernando Alonso. Making his 300th career Formula One start, the Spaniard was forced to retire after his car lost power.

The French Grand Prix is the next race on the Formula One calendar on June 24.

As it happened

70/70 — Sebastian Vettel wins the Canadian Grand Prix, his third race win of the season. Here's the top 10...

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
Max Verstappen, Red Bull
***Podium***
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
Nico Hülkenberg, Renault
Carlos Sainz Jr., Renault
Esteban Ocon, Force India
Charles Leclerc, Sauber

69/70 — 1:13.839. Daniel Ricciardo pulls away from Lewis Hamilton with a spectacular lap.

67/70 — Lewis Hamilton still less than a second behind Daniel Ricciardo, but a mistake on turn 3 may have cost him a chance to pass.

66/70 — 1:13.864. Max Verstappen sets a new race best and is now just 1.6 seconds behind Valtteri Bottas in second place.

61/70 — Lewis Hamilton is one second behind Daniel Ricciardo in the race for fourth place.

58/70 — Sebastian Vettel's lead is now up to 6.7 seconds after a costly error from Valtteri Bottas. Max Verstappen is trying to chase down Bottas. 

50/70 — Romain Grosjean pits, but not before an incident with Esteban Ocon.

46/70 — Sergio Perez is back in the box. He is in 14th place after spinning out earlier in the race.

43/70 — McLaren's Fernando Alonso is out of his car after it loses power. It is an unfortunate result in his 300th race.

42/70 — "We are not concerned with the brake temperatures so ignore the alarm." Kimi Raikkonen gets the all clear from his team to chase down Lewis Hamilton in fifth. 

41/70 — "You're doing good persevering with it, your pace is still really good." Haas' Romain Grosjean getting support from his team as he tries to hold off Esteban Ocon in the battle for ninth place.

38/70 — Sebastian Vettel switches from ultrasofts to supersofts as well and keeps his top position.

37/70 — Valterri Bottas finally pits, switching from ultrasoft to supersoft tires.

35/70 — 1:15.026, a new race best from Sebastian Vettel

35/70 — Top 10 at the midway point:

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
Max Verstappen, Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
Nico Hülkenburg, Renault
Carlos Sainz Jr., Renault
Romain Grosjean, Haas
Esteban Ocon, Force India

33/70 — Kimi Raikkonen pits and can't beat Lewis Hamilton out of the box. He drops to sixth place, trying to challenge Hamilton in fifth on supersoft tires.

30/70 — 1:15.059, a new race best from Sebastian Vettel. More breathing room between him and Valtteri Bottas. 

28/70 — Valtteri Bottas closes the gap on Sebastian Vettel after a slow gap from the leader. Now just 3.2 seconds between them. No one in the top three has pitted.

25/70 — Nico Hülkenburg back up to seventh place after passing Romain Grosjean. He had issues with his tires earlier after catching some debris from a collision between Brendon Hartley and Lance Stroll.

23/70 — Lewis Hamilton now a touch slower than Kimi Raikkonen. "Still not safe to Raikkonen," the drivers' championship leader says on his radio.

21/70 — Kimi Raikkonen 16 seconds behind teammate Sebastian Vettel in third place. Sebastian Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo are running faster than Raikkonen right now.

18/70 — Sebastian Vettel, running on ultrasoft tires, just ran at 1:15.210, the fastest lap of the race so far.

18/70 — Daniel Ricciardo now in the box as well, switching to super soft tires. He emerges from the pits ahead of Lewis Hamilton. "Come on boys, good stuff," he says on his radio.

17/70 — Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both pit. 

17/70 — "If he's struggling, let's get him." Daniel Ricciardo is trying to break into the top three after gaining round on Lewis Hamilton.

16/70 — Valtteri Bottas is running slightly faster than Sebastian Vettel at the moment, but he is still 4.5 seconds behind the leader. Vettel was also told that Bottas' tires are "on the limit of overheating."

14/70 — Nico Hülkenberg heads to the pits to change tires. He said earlier that he may have run over debris from the Stroll-Hartley crash.

10/70 — "That should be a black flag really," Carlos Sainz Jr. says of the incident with Sergio Perez. 

8/70 — Sebastian Vettel increases his lead to 2.2 seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Lewis Hamilton is sandwiched by Red Bull drivers, with Max Verstappen in third and Daniel Ricciardo in fifth. The Red Bull drivers are running on hypersoft tires.

5/70 — Carlos Sainz Jr. spins out after contact with Sergio Perez on turn one. Sainz Jr. drops to 13th. The incident is under investigation.

4/70 — Safety care is off and they're back at full speed. Sebastian Vandoorne pitted after punctured tires, and Nico Hülkenberg fears he may have a punctured tire as well. 

1/70 — Big crash between Brandon Hartley and Lance Stroll. Hartley went up on the barricade before the two spun out. The safety car is out.

1(70 — Off they go! Sebastian Vettel holds the top position in turn one in Montreal.

— Formation lap is underway. Here is the grid this afternoon...

Vettel — Bottas

Verstappen — Hamilton

Raikkonen — Ricciardo

Hülkenburg — Ocon

Sainz Jr. — Perez

— Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, second in the Drivers' championship, secured pole position in qualifying on Saturday. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton is fourth on the grid, directly behind Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.

— The G7 summit isn't the only thing happening in Canada this weekend. Drivers are getting set for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, the seventh race of the Formula One season.