Sebastian Vettel WINS Canadian Grand Prix – Hamilton finishes FIFTH

Sebastian Vettel wins the Canadian Grand Prix – leading from start to finish – with Bottas in second place. Lewis Hamilton could only finish fifth.

Sebastian Vettel was the pole-sitter for the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix but, having failed to convert his last two poles to wins it was no means a certainty the German would turn his advantage in to a win. But he did, and he did it by leading from start to finish.

A strong start saw Vettel leave Bottas behind to fend off Max Verstappen, but almost immediately the race was under a safety car after a major coming together between the Toro Rosso of Hartley and the Williams of Stroll. But when the race restarted on lap five Vettel put his foot down and pulled away – and that’s where he stayed.

Bottas managed to drive his Mercedes in to second place – despite a late challenge from Max Verstappen in the Red Bull – and finished where he started, with Max Verstappen doing the same and ending the race in third.

Hamilton had an early pit stop as he struggled with engine temperatures and rejoined the race behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo – leaving him running in fifth – and nearly lost that place too as Raikkonen’s Ferrari emerged from the pits alongside him. But Hamilton hung on for a fifth place finish with Raikkonen ending in sixth.

Behind the big three teams, Hulkenberg and Sainz took seventh and eighth for Renault, and the Renaults of Ocon and Leclerc were ninth and 10th.

McLaren’s woeful qualifying looked like it might yield a point as Alonso ran in tenth, but his car gave up the ghost on lap 30, and Vandoorne could only manage a 16th place finish. 

It’s off to Provence in two weeks time, with Vettel now a point ahead of Hamilton in the drivers title race.