Vettel conquers Canadian GP to clinch maiden victory in Montreal

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel has finally had success in Montreal, after taking the chequered flag for victory in the FIA Formula One 2013 Canadian Grand Prix. It proved to be fifth time lucky for the reigning World Champion, who at last converted a pole position at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit into a race win.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso completed the 70 lap marathon to secure second place for himself. The Spaniard’s race particularly livened up in the latter stages during a battle with Mercedes’ driver, Lewis Hamilton. The pair had such a tight scrap for position that they slightly made contact with each other on lap 65.

Alonso successfully overtook Hamilton to pinch second place from the Englishman. Unfortunately, Hamilton did not escape the fight unscathed and he not only lost the position to Alonso but part of the front wing also got knocked off in the process. Hamilton carried on racing after the incident and had to settle for third place in the end to complete the podium of World Champions.

Vettel’s Australian team mate, Mark Webber just missed out on a podium spot and crossed the line to take fourth place for himself. Webber appeared to have a fairly quiet race until lap 37 when Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde suddenly got a little too close for comfort.

The Dutchman knocked into the front of Webber’s car, which swiftly led to the swift removal of part of the front wing end plate. The two drivers carried on racing in any case and Webber’s car did not appear to have suffered too much damage from the incident, due to the impressive pace he demonstrated following this. Van der Garde was found at fault for the incident by the stewards and he had to serve a 10 second stop and go penalty for this, which was also issued as they reported that he had ignored blue flags around this time as well. Van der Garde was in the limelight once again during the race on lap 47 but also for the wrong reasons. It was reported that contact had been made between he and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg. Van der Garde was spotted with his front wing resting underneath his car, but he was forced to abandon his car just off the track soon after and this spelt the end of his race. Hulkenberg also bowed out of the proceedings due to suspected suspension damage.

Hamilton’s German team mate and winner of the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago, Nico Rosberg did not have the same form of success today and finished in fifth place.

Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne had a fairly positive outcome to his Canadian Grand Prix weekend, as he not only qualified into Q3 but picked up a solid sixth place finish on race day to top it off. The French man may have been accompanied by his team mate Daniel Ricciardo yesterday in the top 10, but the Australian failed to do the same today and ended up a few places further down the field.

The success in the midfield continued for some and not others today. Force India’s Paul Di Resta seemed to have more luck on his side in the race than in qualifying yesterday after he could only do enough to secure 17th place. The Scotsman really turned things around when it mattered and remarkably completed 57 laps before he made a pit stop for a tyre change. He also made up 10 places from his qualifying spot and ended the race in a very well deserved seventh place. Di Resta’s result is likely to be memorable to the team as they marked their 100th Grand Prix appearance today.

Di Resta impressed with his form in the race while his team mate, Adrian Sutil experienced a couple of blips along the way. The German got a surprise on lap seven when Williams’ driver, Pastor Maldonado reportedly misjudged his braking and tapped the back of Sutil’s car. Maldonado appeared to be worse off as he suffered damage to the front wing on his car. Both drivers carried on in the race but Maldonado had to face the consequences of his actions and the stewards issued him with a drive through penalty on lap 16 for causing a collision.

Sutil also came under fire from the stewards and faced the same punishment on lap 61 for ignoring blue flags. Sutil had a bit more luck by the end of the race though and picked up the final top 10 point scoring position.

Maldonado accompanied his team mate, Valtteri Bottas further down the field, after he too failed to secure a position in the points. Bottas was the surprise of yesterday’s qualifying session after he got into Q3 and lined up in third place on the grid. When the race got under way though, the Finnish driver swiftly dropped down the pack.

Alonso’s Brazilian team mate, Felipe Massa managed to recover from his crash in qualifying yesterday and picked up eighth place today. Lotus Renault’s Kimi Raikkonen was the final man to get some points following his efforts in the race and he pipped Sutil in the process to a ninth place finish.

Among those who missed out on a top 10 point scoring position were the McLaren duo of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez. They managed to complete the race but there were three drivers who did not reach the finish line. Van der Garde and Hulkenberg already featured in the retirement list and the second Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez joined them just four laps before the chequered flag. The Mexican driver was spotted off the track in his car, which was resting in the tyre wall just after the pit exit and he took no further part in the race.

Now that Vettel appears to have found his feet at the front of the field again, it is certain that he will want to continue on that road for the races to come, as he continues to extend his lead in the Driver’s Championship from Alonso. The drivers and teams have a short break though until they compete against each other in the British Grand Prix. Having previously won at Silverstone in 2009, Vettel may have his sights set on victory again in three week’s time. The German may have a battle on his hands though as it will be a home Grand Prix for four of the drivers. Three of these particularly feature towards the front and midfield part of the pack. As well as the local heroes and Vettel hoping for success, there will be other Championship contenders involved in the battle to take the chequered flag as the winner.