After a mega lap, Sebastian Vettel was on pole at Montreal. He converted that pole into a dominant performance reminiscent of Schumacher’s drive in 2004. The result, a happy Canadian tifosi, and a Championship lead with all the momentum purely in terms of mindset. It started off right after Stroll and Hartley collided (see tweet below).
Making it through the Monday morning commute like…#CanadianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/dT5IWTY8FZ
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 11, 2018
Vettel did not look back after the restart. Verstappen had a resurgent afternoon race taking third, his first race in a few grand prix without incident, behind Valtteri Bottas who finished in second place. Bottas proved once again that he can be more than a match for his world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton who had a horrendous race by his standards racing to a distant 5th.
In the psychological battle that is the World Drivers Championship, Sebastian Vettel has seized the momentum of beating his title rival by 15 points. Hamilton knows all too well about the nuances of psychological warfare from his battle with Nico Rosberg. Only in this case, there happens to be no spoken words for now.
Elsewhere at the middle, Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz completed the best of the rest and Renault further solidified their claim to 4th place in the standings. They crucially finished ahead of the sole Force India car that scored points, in the form of Esteban Ocon. Force India were in the mix until Ocon had a botched pitstop that put him behind both Renaults, whom he beat off the line. Sergio Perez meanwhile had a incident with Sainz and was furious. Evidently, Sainz and Perez blamed each other post race.
The Safety Car came in… but almost had to come back out after this collision between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez ?#CanadianGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/lDWajKXAxK
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 10, 2018
He spent his afternoon passing cars but couldn’t make the points. The final spot was taken by Charles Leclerc, who gave Ferrari every ounce of the time and money they invested in him. He, like Verstappen and Ocon, show the hallmarks of future WDC contenders.
Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, had yet another retirement. The 24 hours of Le Mans, could not have come sooner for the McLaren man who won from sister #7 Toyota alongside ex-F1 drivers Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastian Buemi. Despite having the sister Toyota as the only means of competition, the outright pace on display was staggering as the #8 had to overcome two stop and go penalties. It’s no wonder that he is the gem that F1 will sorely miss. As the fanbase says, give this man a Mercedes and see what he can do, Truer words haven’t been spoken.
Williams had a torrid day as did Torro Rosso and yet again they score no points, however they will secure a large invoice for new parts. Williams are on track for their lowest ever finish unless they have some form of updates that can prop them up the standings. A fall from grace is sad to see, and this holds true to a fault for the once world champion side that, as recently as 2015, finished 3rd.
Kazuki Nakajima who put the Toyota #8 on Pole, and Alonso in Practice. The circus heads to Paul Ricard, for the first French GP since the 2008 race, which Felipe Massa won. It seems like a long time ago.
by Rutvik Bhaskar Perepa
Rutvik Bhaskar Perepa is a student at The University of Manchester working towards a MEng in Mechanical Engineering hoping to be on a placement after Year 3. He has had the privilege to travel around his home country, India and discover the rich heritage and diversity. His personal interests include Food and travel, history, Sport among many others. Often found in discourse on various issues ranging Engineering to Religious Practices, he never shy’s away from being expressive. He believes in being open minded, empathetic and analytical is the key to problems posed on a daily basis.
