Formula 1 moves on to Montreal the past weekend for the seventh round of the season.
Amid the rowdy student protests against tuition hikes and the cloudy skies looming above, the Canadian Grand Prix weekend went off to a precarious start.
As for the racing itself, the on-track drama went remarkably as expected, a far cry from the "lottery"-like performances seen in the previous races.
After Saturday qualifying, top teams Red Bull Racing and McLaren Mercedes fill the front row with driving talents Sebastian Vettel on pole and Lewis Hamilton right beside him. Formidable opponents Alonso, Webber, Rosberg, Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, Paul di Resta, Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button, and Raikkonen follow behind. Unfortunately, Spanish GP winner Pastor Maldonado suffered a wall slam and gearbox change during qualifying, knocking himself to the back of the grid.
When the grid lights went out Sunday morning, Vettel's Red Bull was first to dive into the first corner of the first lap while champions Hamilton and Alonso followed closely in tow. A little squabble between Webber and Rosberg unfolded in the opening lap but Webber manages to defend his position as Massa took advantage of the excitement ahead, overtaking Rosberg.
However, Ferrari's Brazilian driver later makes a mistake only three laps after the exciting maneuver. On lap six, Massa spins out at turn one, returning his position back to Rosberg before dropping down to twelfth.
After the first round of pitstops, it became clear that, once again, tire management and pit strategy will define the race results. Alonso emerged into the lead with fresh tires from the first round of pitstops but thanks to a well executed DRS, Hamilton spared no time slingshotting ahead of the Spaniard.
McLaren strategists were convinced that Ferrari and Red Bull would be running a two-stop pit strategy. However, Hamilton had an inkling that a one-stop gamble from the two teams might catch McLaren by surprise.
With every lap completed, Hamilton slowly saw his suspicions materialize. Answering Alonso's aggressive lap times and one-stop strategy, Hamilton turned the dial to 11 and stormed ahead, blitzing the field to build an enormous lead that would allow him to comfortably slot back into first position after emerging from his second round of pits.
"I had feeling that Fernando would be doing one stop. I knew I had to make a gap while looking after the tires, even though Fernando was picking his pace up. It was one of the best stints I had."
Coming into the pits for the 2nd and final tire change, McLaren once again suffered a small hiccup that costed a couple extra seconds in the box, before Hamilton could rejoin the pack.
Despite this, Hamilton was untouchable. Alonso's tires hit the cliff in the closing laps and helplessly fell behind as it was nursed to the finish. Making matters worse for Ferrari, who were aiming for a victory at Montreal, Alonso became a sitting duck for Romain Grosjean in the Lotus-Renault, Sergio Perez in the Sauber, and Vettel in the Red Bull as well.
A dominating race finish, Lewis Hamilton becomes the 7th different winner in just as many Grands Prix this season. What's more, this is the third victory at Montreal in the last five years for the young Briton.
Filled with emotion, Hamilton expressed, "I think I got absolutely everything out of the car today.
"I couldn't believe it when I was coming across the line. the feeling inside, it's like an explosion. This for me feels like one of the very best races I have had for a long time."
Second place Romain Grosjean and third place Sergio Perez round out the podium steps while Sebastian Vettel and Alonso finish just outside at fourth and fifth.
Driver's point standings take Hamilton to the top of the table with 88 points. However, Alonso and Vettel will surely nip at his heels as they each scored a total of 86 and 85 points, respectively.
Next week, Formula 1 returns to Europe for the eighth round at Valencia, Spain.
