2015 Canadian GP: Hamilton wins as Räikkönen spin helps Bottas

At the 2015 Canadian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton took a commanding win from pole position. He gave up the lead for just a single lap during the pit stop phase. His Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg followed in second, while Valtteri Bottas completed the podium in third for Williams. The fight for third was settled by a spin from Kimi Räikkönen straight after his first pit stop.

Under sunny skies at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, this was a race of management: fuel, brakes and tyres dictated the pace at least as much as wheel-to-wheel battles.

Both Silver Arrows got away cleanly at the start, and Hamilton immediately built a gap that kept Rosberg out of DRS range. According to grandprix.com, the margin stood at 3.7 seconds after 20 laps. Hamilton pitted on lap 29, Rosberg a lap later. After that brief interlude, Hamilton was back in front.

It got close once more in the second half of the race. Rosberg closed to around 1.3 seconds (grandprix.com) but was never able to mount a proper attack. Both drivers had to manage their cars: radio messages to Hamilton revealed that he was worse off on fuel than his team-mate. Rosberg's brakes, meanwhile, were classed as “critical” according to the FIA, and the team advised him to back off for ten laps before attacking again. At the flag, 2.285 seconds separated the pair (FIA).

According to grandprix.com, it was Hamilton's fourth win in Canada and the 37th of his career. He also overtook Nigel Mansell as the British driver with the most laps led in Formula 1 history (formula1.com).

For a long time, Ferrari looked like the third force. Räikkönen started third and was the first of the front-runners to pit, on lap 26. On his out-lap he spun at the hairpin on cold tyres. According to Wikipedia, that cost him around twelve seconds, and Bottas stayed ahead after his own stop. Räikkönen apologised over the radio and later blamed a torque mapping problem after the stop. Ferrari also suspected an irregularity on the SF15-T, according to formula1.com. A second stop on lap 40 gave him fresh tyres and the fastest lap of the race, but he could no longer catch Bottas.

Williams switched Bottas from a two-stop to a one-stop strategy during the race (formula1.com). The Finn pitted just once, on lap 28, and secured his first podium of the season.

The biggest climber of the day was Sebastian Vettel, who gained 13 places. He had to start from 18th on the grid, partly because of a five-place grid penalty: in third free practice he had overtaken Roberto Merhi under a red flag (Wikipedia). Early in the race, several things went wrong. The Ferrari was stationary for around six seconds at his first stop on lap 7, and Vettel dropped to the back of the field (Wikipedia, FIA).

From there, he fought his way through. At the final chicane he dived down the inside of Nico Hülkenberg. The Force India driver spun while taking avoiding action. The stewards decided against a penalty (FIA). Without that spin, Hülkenberg might have finished sixth, according to formula1.com; as it was, he came home eighth. Vettel later also picked off Pastor Maldonado and crossed the line in fifth.

Felipe Massa drove just as strongly. After power unit problems in qualifying he had to start from 15th, and a one-stop strategy carried him up to sixth. He too passed Maldonado shortly before the finish (Wikipedia, formula1.com).

Montreal brought another setback for McLaren. According to formula1.com, both drivers struggled badly to save fuel.

• Fernando Alonso retired after 44 laps. The official classification lists an engine failure, while McLaren cited an exhaust problem, according to formula1.com. It was Alonso's third retirement in a row (Wikipedia).
• Jenson Button had missed qualifying after a power unit failure in third practice and was only allowed to start with special dispensation. Because further engine components had been replaced, he had to serve a drive-through penalty as early as the first lap. He parked the car after 54 laps, according to formula1.com with an unrelated exhaust problem.
• Roberto Merhi (Manor Marussia) retired after 57 laps. According to formula1.com, a driveshaft had broken.

Romain Grosjean squandered his strong starting spot of fifth on the grid. While lapping Will Stevens, the two made contact, and Grosjean damaged his left-rear tyre in the process. He was handed a five-second time penalty and two penalty points. He accepted the blame and could only finish tenth (Wikipedia, FIA). Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) arrived carrying penalties from Monaco and for an engine change. Because the grid penalties could not be fully applied and, in 2015, were no longer carried over to the next race, he had to sit stationary for an extra ten seconds at his stop on lap 39 (Wikipedia). He finished 15th.

Winners: Vettel (+13 places) and Massa (+9) made up the most ground in the field. Maldonado scored his first points of the season for Lotus F1 in seventh (formula1.com). Bottas put Williams back on the podium with third place.

Losers: Grosjean lost five positions, Alonso seven compared with the start. Red Bull took just two points through Daniil Kvyat in ninth. Daniel Ricciardo, the previous year's winner, could only manage 13th. According to formula1.com, he was baffled by how little power his car had. Sergio Pérez narrowly missed out on the points in eleventh, followed by Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso and Marcus Ericsson of Sauber. Felipe Nasr battled brake problems and a loss of power and finished 16th (formula1.com).

After the seventh round of the season, Hamilton led the 2015 standings with 151 points, 17 clear of Rosberg (134). Vettel was third on 108 points, ahead of Räikkönen (72) and Bottas (57). In the constructors' standings, Mercedes already held a clear lead on 285 points over Ferrari (180) and Williams (104).

The race showed how the balance of power looked around mid-season: Mercedes were out of reach and only had to nurse fuel and brakes to the finish. Ferrari had the pace for third but threw it away through mistakes. Williams capitalised on every opportunity that came their way. After Rosberg's win in Monaco, Hamilton regained the initiative in the intra-team battle.