The Canadian Grand Prix weekend is famous for its unpredictability. Even though it didn’t stand up to its usual erratic nature there were still some surprises in the offing.
The two biggest surprises came in the form of no driver hitting the famous Wall of Champions – at any stage of the weekend and the none appearance of the safety car at a grand prix where it has been a near certainty in the past.
The rain that had dominated the first two days of running was nowhere to be seen as race day brought with it blue skies and little chance of rain. Sebastian Vettel effortlessly led the pack into turn one as Bottas in the Williams was quickly mugged of his third place starting position.
The pace that Vettel had threatened throughout the practice sessions was finally unleashed as he pulled away from Hamilton to the tune of a second per lap. With the benefit of hindsight the race for victory was over the second Vettel stuck his Red Bull on pole. So was the German’s dominance that he came within several seconds of lapping fifth-placed Nico Rosberg. The pace shown by Red Bull, particularly Vettel, is not something we’ve seen so far in 2013. A closer look at the run he put together in Canada reveals that he pushed from lights to flag; sometimes lapping more than second faster than second-placed Hamilton. This lends itself to deduce that the pace may have always been available in the car but limited by the obligation to protect the Pirelli tyres. Red Bull’s complaints about the tyres seem to have a lot more basis now, don’t they?
Vettel may have been long gone but Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso entertained the masses with a late race scrap for second position. Hamilton had the younger tyres of the two but it was no match for the relentless Fernando Alonso as the he scythed past his former teammate to take second place. Hamilton left Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg well behind but still described his third place finish as ‘disappointing.’
Mark Webber looked an early threat to finish on the podium but for a clash with back marker Giedo van der Garde. The Caterham driver appeared to turn in Webber at the hairpin causing the Red Bull driver to lose part of his front-wing. Webber finished a distant fourth well ahead Nico Rosberg. Red Bull have announced Sebastian Vettel’s contract extension to the end of 2015 while Mark Webber’s future with the Milton Keynes based team remains a mystery. The Silverstone grand prix has traditionally been the weekend that the Australian has made any announcements regarding his career.
Jean-Eric Vergne went about his business fairly anonymously and scored an excellent sixth place finish for Toro Rosso. Results like this certainly won’t hurt the rumours that suggest Jev could be in the running for the second Red Bull seat. Scotsman Paul di Resta started his race down the field but a brilliant stint of 56 laps on the medium compound tyres transformed his 17th starting position into seventh on race day.
Felipe Massa overcame a qualifying crash to finish in eighth ahead Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus in ninth. Raikkonen’s chances had looked good on a one-stop strategy but a problem with the rear-jack in his pitstop and a brake issue put the podium well beyond reach. Kimi Raikkonen is now 44 points adrift of Sebastian Vettel in the championship standings – a hefty deficit but the high-speed circuits will play to Lotus’ strength.
Force India’s Adrian Sutil survived a spin and a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags to finish in tenth place. Jenson Button described the race as a ‘painful’ experience as neither McLaren driver was able to score points. For the first time in 64 races McLaren failed to score a point – surely it is now time to admit that somewhere something went seriosuly wrong. Is it a coincidence that several of McLaren’s key people have jumped ship?
Sebastian Vettel’s dominant victory wasn’t without a few nervy moments as he kissed the wall on the exit of turn four and took a trip across the grass of turn two. But such was his dominance that not even a few mistakes could put the champ under any kind of pressure. Vettel now holds a very healthy lead in the championship on 132 points to Alonso’s 96 and Raikkonen’s 88. But there has always been something special about Fernando Alonso and his driving in the last year and a half has been spectacular. Combined with his relentless tenacity this championship battile with almost certainly feature the Ferrari driver.
It was with great sadness that the FIA announced the death of a Canadian grand prix marshal on Sunday night. The marshal was helping to retrieve the car of Esteban Guitierrez when he was hit by a mobile crane. Very much considered the unsung heroes, the unidentified man is the third marshal to have been killed since 2000.
