Lewis Hamilton Wins Controversial 2019 Canadian Grand Prix

• Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel loses victory over a controversial track rejoining incident.
• Renault secures best points finish of the season with 6th and 7th position.
• Hamilton now leads by 29 points over Valtteri Bottas in the driver’s standings.
• Mercedes extends constructors lead to 123 points over Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton continued his winning streak with a 7th win at the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix. But he did it under controversial circumstances after a race-long battle with Sebastian Vettel.

The race was set up to be a cracker with Sebastian Vettel on pole and in prime form to finally break Mercedes’s unstoppable winning streak in 2019. Vettel started off well with Hamilton fending off Charles Leclerc for 2nd at the first couple of corners. Lower down the field , Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo used his strong qualifying position to retain 4th at the start with Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly in 5th. Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, after struggling in qualifying, failed to make up places at the start and were left to battle Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and McLaren’s Lando Norris for 7th, 8th and 9th places initially. With the tight and twisty nature of turns 1 and 2, it was bound to be a carbon fibre confetti as Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon and Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi realized with contact at turn 1, leading to unscheduled pit stops.

Vettel and Hamilton were locked in a race-long battle for the lead, with the pair looking unchallenged all race long. Vettel looked to be in control of the race initially but Hamilton started to claw back the gap after the first round of pit stops. Being quicker is one thing, but passing is a challenge at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Ferrari’s straight-line speed looked to have Hamilton at bay even when he came within half a second of Vettel.

That is until Lap 48, where the entire race turned over its head. With Hamilton breathing down Vettel’s neck, Vettel went off wide at Turn 3 and somehow rejoined in the lead despite a very close shave with the wall. The stewards deemed that Vettel rejoined the track in a dangerous manner and forced Hamilton off-track. Vettel was handed a 5 second time penalty for the incident, which would be added to his total time at the end of the race.

This essentially made the race an anti-climatic affair. The prospect of a Ferrari win was destroyed, as Vettel was too evenly matched with Hamilton to create a 5-second gap. He eventually finished 1st on track but was relegated to 2nd with the added time. Charles Leclerc rounded off the podium in 3rd after a rather quiet race.

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Lower down the field, Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen finished a damage limiting 4th and 5th position. Daniel Ricciardo’s 6th place and Nico Hulkenberg’s 7th place marked Renault’s best finish of the season. Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly finished 8th, while Racing Point’s home hero Lance Stroll powered into 9th from a lowly 17th. Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat finished 10th, earning a single point.

Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon and Lando Norris were the non-finishers of the race, with Norris retiring early on due to a brake failure and Albon suffering too much car damage after a Lap 1 incident.

With this result, Lewis Hamilton equals Michael Schumacher’s record of seven grand prix wins in Canada. Lewis Hamilton extended his lead in the driver's standings significantly over his teammate Valtteri Bottas - he will have to finish outside the top ten or not finish a race to be overtaken now. With Mercedes extending its lead over Ferrari by 123 points, the 2019 season is now looking more and more gloomy for the boys in red.

Formula One will now head to the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castelle, France for the French Grand Prix from 21-23 June 2019. With teams like Ferrari and Renault expected to bring upgrades to their cars, their fans can hope for some strong performances.

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Photo Source : Formula 1