Hamilton holds off Vettel for fifth Canada win

He led into Turn 1, but strategy proved Sebastian Vettel’s undoing in Sunday’s Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2016, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton fought back to defeat the Ferrari driver and win for the fifth time in Montreal. Valtteri Bottas took an impressive third place to give Williams their first podium of 2016.

RACE RESULTS (TOP-10)
POS. DRIVER          TEAM         TIME
1 LEWIS HAMILTON MERCEDES 1:31:05.296
2 SEBASTIAN VETTEL FERRARI +5.011s
3 VALTTERI BOTTAS WILLIAMS +46.422s
4       MAX VERSTAPPEN RED BULL RACING +53.020s
5 NICO ROSBERG MERCEDES +62.093s
6 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN FERRARI         +63.017s
7 DANIEL RICCIARDO RED BULL RACING +63.634s
8 NICO HULKENBERG FORCE INDIA +1 lap
9 CARLOS SAINZ TORO ROSSO +1 lap
10 SERGIO PEREZ FORCE INDIA +1 lap

With championship leader Nico Rosberg only able to manage fifth after first-corner contact with team mate Hamilton and a late-race puncture, the gap between the Mercedes men at the top of the table is now down to just nine points.

Max Verstappen was a fighting fourth for Red Bull, resisting intense pressure from Rosberg in the closing laps and forcing the Mercedes driver into a mistake and a spin on the final tour.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was sixth, while seventh went to Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull, with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez completing the top ten, split by the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz, who came from 20th in the grid to secure ninth place.

It was Vettel who made the best start, vaulting from third on the grid to lead from Hamilton into Turn 1, as a minor coming-together between the battling Silver Arrows saw Rosberg running off track and dropping to ninth.

But Vettel’s two-stop race plan was ultimately slower than Hamilton’s one, and though the German pushed the world champion all the way, he was five seconds adrift at the chequered flag.

Jenson Button was the first retirement, pulling over on lap 11 after his McLaren’s Honda engine let go. Fellow Briton Jolyon Palmer was next up, pulling his Renault into the garage with a water leak on lap 19. And Felipe Massa made a terminal visit to the Williams pit on lap 38.

F1 Race Recap.