Stewards’ call gives Lewis Hamilton the win in Montreal.
MONTREAL, Canada—June 9th—It might have been an excellent week for Sebastian Vettel–a best Friday practice time, best in the final practice, too, and (ultimately) a pole position. But Sunday afternoon changed all that at a hot Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec.
An incident on lap 46 with Lewis Hamilton caused the German to be penalized five seconds by the stewards. That penance gave Hamilton the Canadian Grand Prix win and the seventh consecutive win by the Mercedes team. Vettel was repositioned to second while Ferarri teammate, Charles Leclerc, took third.
The incident occurred when Vettel slid at turn four, went into the grass, and came out onto the racing line in front of Hamilton. Mercedes protested immediately and, only a few minutes later, Vettel was penalized while still holding the lead.
The two battled right down to the checkered flag, with Vettel crossing the finish line first in a presumed win.
But it was Hamilton, not Vettel, who was awarded the victory. For Hamilton, it was a win, but a sour one at that. “It is not exactly and absolutely the way I wanted it to turn out,” he said afterward, “but I was trying to get past and for him. It was an error. He ran a bit wide, but he came out of that corner, and we nearly collided. It was unfortunate.”
At race end, Vettel stopped his engine right at the beginning of the pit lane and walked immediately to the Ferrari sponsors’ tent. The German emerged a few minutes later, walking through the Mercedes garage, and joining Hamilton and Leclerc for podium ceremonies. It was a bitter ending for Vettel, who led the race right from the start.
While the Vettel-Hamilton situation dominated attention, what happened there wasn’t the only action of the day.
Valtteri Bottas had a tough day in his Mercedes but finished fourth. And there were double points finishes for Red Bull Racing and Renault. Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly took fifth and eighth, respectively, while Daniel Ricciardo finished six, and Nico Hulkenberg ended in seventh.
Racing Point’s Lance Stoll gave his home crowd something to cheer about, taking ninth. Dani Kvyat passed Carlos Sainz Jr. a few laps from the end to take the last point position in tenth.
For Hamilton, a win is a win. But despite taking a victory under penalty circumstances, he still felt that what Vettel did was wrong.
But what is done is done, and all teams will now focus their attention on the next race. It’s on to southern France where the French Grand Prix will be run at Paul Picard on Sunday, June 23.
