The Canadian Grand Prix could not have lived up to its reputation for a thrilling race in an more spectacular a fashion than it did last weekend when it both began and ended with a literal bang.
Though admittedly the first band between Marussia team mates Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton lead to the lest exciting Grand Prix start in the season so far, bringing the safety car out for near ten laps. Though this may just have helped Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, allowing him to secure his first place for the bulk of the race. The incident also brought an end to Chiltons record of having completed every race he entered.
As the race progressed we saw nine DNF’s including the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton who suffered from a break failure after both Mercedes simultaneously lost their ERS due to excessive heat. This ramped up the end of the race as both Red Bull drivers, smelling blood in the water, took every advantage to catch the suffering Mercedes.
After being held up for some time by Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo broke free and hunted down Rosberg in the closing laps to take first on the podium away from the struggling Rosberg, with Red Bull Team mate Sebastian Vettel Getting by Peze to take third spot.
The big change, however, came when Filepe Massa’s breaks failed him, causing his Williams to launch into the back of Perez and sending both cars and drivers into the barrier. This launched McLarens Jenson Button into fourth having just passed the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg into the final corner before the main straight. The Safety Car Securing all places for the final lap.
Although Rosberg lost his first place to Ricciardo, he did secure an additional 18 point lead in the championship ahead of his team mate Hamilton, who left Canada with no points to his telly, meaning that Rosberg now has a race win lead on Hamilton.
| Driver | Team | Points |
| Nico Rosberg | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team |
140 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team |
118 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing |
79 |
| Fernando Alonso | Scuderia Ferrari |
69 |
| Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing |
60 |
| Nico Hülkenberg | Sahara Force India F1 Team |
57 |
| Jenson Button | Vodafone McLaren Mercedes |
43 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Williams F1 Team |
40 |
| Kevin Magnussen | Vodafone McLaren Mercedes |
23 |
| Sergio Pérez | Sahara Force India F1 Team |
20 |
| Kimi Räikkönen | Scuderia Ferrari |
18 |
| Felipe Massa | Williams F1 Team |
18 |
| Romain Grosjean | Lotus F1 Team |
8 |
| Jean-Éric Vergne | Scuderia Toro Rosso |
8 |
| Daniil Kvyat | Scuderia Toro Rosso |
4 |
| Jules Bianchi | Marussia F1 Team |
2 |
| Adrian Sutil | Sauber F1 Team | |
| Esteban Gutiérrez | Sauber F1 Team | |
| Max Chilton | Marussia F1 Team | |
| Pastor Maldonado | Lotus F1 Team | |
| Marcus Ericsson | Caterham F1 Team | |
| Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham F1 Team |
One thing is for certain as we approach the inaugural Austrian Grand Prix, a track that may have better surfaces than Canada yet similar in its high speed and high g-force corners, this championship is still wide open. If Mercedes suffer more ERS issues and Red Bull are there to capitalise on home soil, we may just see things begun to turn.
What do you think? Does Red Bull have a fighting chance to catch up to Mercedes or does the German team have too great a lead in the Championship? Who do you think will come out on top in Austria? Will hamilton come back fighting or will Ricciardo show who’s boss on Red Bulls home track? Let us know in the comments.
Race Results:
1. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Red Bull-Renault 70 laps 1hr 39m 12.830s
2. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 04.2s
3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 05.2s
4. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 11.7s
5. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Force India-Mercedes +00m 12.8s
6. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 14.8s
7. Valtteri Bottas Finland Williams-Mercedes +00m 23.5s
8. Jean-Eric Vergne France Toro Rosso-Renault +00m 28.0s
9. Kevin Magnussen Denmark McLaren-Mercedes +00m 29.2s
10. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 53.6s
11. Sergio Perez Mexico Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
12. Felipe Massa Brazil Williams-Mercedes +1 lap
13. Adrian Sutil Germany Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
Rtd Esteban Gutierrez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari 64 laps completed
Rtd Romain Grosjean France Lotus-Renault 59 laps completed
Rtd Daniil Kvyat Russia Toro Rosso-Renault 47 laps completed
Rtd Lewis Hamilton Britain Mercedes-Mercedes 46 laps completed
Rtd Kamui Kobayashi Japan Caterham-Renault 23 laps completed
Rtd Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Lotus-Renault 21 laps completed
Rtd Marcus Ericsson Sweden Caterham-Renault 7 laps completed
Rtd Max Chilton Britain Marussia-Ferrari 0 laps completed
Rtd Jules Bianchi France Marussia-Ferrari 0 laps completed
Fastest lap:
Felipe Massa Brazil Williams-Mercedes 1m 18.504s lap 58
all results unofficial
Results and images: Crash.net
Roger Baillie (@Rojn8r)