THE FORMULA ONE SEASON SO FAR
Hamilton, Mercedes team prove top dogs, but Ferrari, Red Bull moving much closer
Montreal marks the seventh stop on the Formula One calendar, which this season comprises 21 races.
To get you into gear for the 40th edition of the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve June 8-10, here’s a race-by-race recap of the season so far.
AUSTRALIA (MARCH 25)
Podium: 1. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
Picking up where it left off last season, Mercedes arrives in strong form — but it’s Ferrari that steals the first win.
Sebastian Vettel, however, has no illusions about his triumph, saying “we got a bit lucky.”
An ill-timed safety car and rare strategic miscalculation by Mercedes make the difference as defending champion Lewis Hamilton is unable to translate his dominant performance in qualifying into victory.
Nevertheless, Mercedes shows no sign of loosening its vise-grip on F1 since the introduction of V6 turbo hybrid engines in 2014.
At the other end of the pack, Lance Stroll ends up 14th out of 15 finishers as the Williams team appears to have taken a step back with its new car.
“We’re not racing out there at the moment,” the Montreal native says. “We’re surviving.”
BAHRAIN (APRIL 8)
Podium: 1. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 2. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
The bad luck continues for Hamilton as he’s served with a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change, dropping him to ninth for the race start.
The good news continues for Vettel as he romps to a second straight win in a hard-fought fight to the finish against Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes.
More notable, perhaps: In qualifying, Ferrari locks up the front row for the first time since 2006, recalling the glory days for the Prancing Horse.
But there are troubling signs of fumbling, too. Kimi Raikkonen runs over a team mechanic during a pit stop, breaking his leg.
Williams, meanwhile, provides no hint of forward momentum. Stroll qualifies dead last, and he and teammate Sergey Sirotkin are the final stragglers on race day. “Everything ” on the car needs improving, Stroll says, while Sirotkin laments “we looked like idiots.”
CHINA (APRIL 15)
Podium: 1. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 2. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
Ferrari again locks up the front row in qualifying, and Vettel seems on course for another victory as he builds an early lead.
This time, though, he gets unlucky and limps home eighth after a crash not of his doing, while Daniel Ricciardo rides his Red Bull to an unlikely win from sixth on the starting grid.
In the other Red Bull, accident-prone Max Verstappen reinforces his reputation as a road hazard, and apologizes for causing the crash that mars Vettel’s race.
Meanwhile, Mercedes goes three races without a win for the first time since 2014, and Hamilton seems in a funk.
“Like the car, he was maybe not in the best place this weekend,” observes team boss Toto Wolff.
Still, Mercedes sits atop the constructors’ standings thanks to its combined podium finishes.
Williams remains the only team out of 10 without a single point after three tries.
AZERBAIJAN (APRIL 25)
Podium: 1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 2. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 3. Sergio Perez (Force India)
In a wild race, Bottas learns the hard way just how cruel F1 can be as he suffers a puncture while leading with three laps to go.
That allows Hamilton to break Mercedes’ winless streak at the expense of his teammate and take the lead in the drivers’ championship.
In another dramatic moment, the Red Bulls collide with each other while fighting for position, putting themselves out of the race and into the doghouse with team principal Christian Horner.
Verstappen seems most at fault with his weaving on the track, but Horner orders both drivers to apologize to the rank and file at factory headquarters.
Amid the chaos, Vettel ends up outside the top three for the second straight race, finishing fourth.
The podium’s unusual makeup, featuring Sergio Perez, leaves Stroll to wonder what might have been on a tumultuous day when “anything was possible.”
Still, he does well to finish eighth and pick up Williams’ first four points of the season.
SPAIN (MAY 13)
Podium: 1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 2. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
At a track seen as a barometer of performance, Mercedes reminds us who’s boss by securing its first front-row lockout of the season and first one-two win.
The starting grid takes on an all-too-familiar form: two Mercedes followed by two Ferraris followed by two Red Bulls.
But the race produces at least one head-scratching result: Vettel makes one more pit stop than his rivals, causing him to be left off the podium again as he finishes fourth.
His explanation — “It was not an option to stay out; we were going through the tires quicker than the others” — gives the tifosi reason to worry.
Meanwhile, Hamilton seems to have rediscovered his groove and widens his lead in the standings with his second straight win.
Over at Williams, the team’s status as the slowest outfit on the grid is confirmed: Stroll qualifies second-to-last, with only teammate Sirotkin behind.
MONACO (MAY 27)
Podium: 1. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 2. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
At a street circuit that plays to the strengths of its cars, Red Bull arrives with justified confidence. But which driver will cash in?
Verstappen responds by — surprise! — crashing during practice, causing him to miss qualifying and start last at a race where passing is notoriously difficult.
Ricciardo, for his part, makes no mistakes and tops the time sheets during practice and qualifying before earning his second win of the season despite an engine problem that left him with reduced power for much of the race.
His two victories match Hamilton and Vettel and leaves him with visions of contending for the championship if Red Bull can keep up its form at a variety of tracks.
“We’ve got to probably prove on at least one other circuit before the summer break that we can win again and then maybe we’ve a nice little outside chance,” Ricciardo says.
Next stop is Montreal, where Stroll will be seeking some home comfort to forget his Monaco nightmare where he suffered two punctures and placed last among the finishers, two laps behind the winner. “Absolutely,” he says.
“I want to have a good race in Canada.”
We’ve got to probably prove on at least one other circuit before the summer break that we can win again and then maybe we’ve a nice little outside chance.