WIND OF CHANGE FOR SUPER LEWIS
After Monaco flop, Hamilton blows rivals away
ALONG the paddock in the makeshift buildings, the TV sets rocked on their awnings and the lamps swung from the ceilings.
But no gust of wind whistling through Quebec could disturb Lewis Hamilton’s serene passage to the victory his title ambitions urgently needed.
After the aberration of Monaco a fortnight ago came the perfection of Montreal. And, when he had taken the chequered flag, Hamilton’s Union Flag fluttered from his cockpit.
‘It’s kind of crazy to think that my first pole came here in 2007, and to repeat it is incredible,’ said Hamilton, who led home Mercedes’ first one-two of the season and won his third Canadian Grand Prix in a row. ‘It’s amazing that I love racing as much now as when I first came here aged 22.’
Even before Hamilton pointed the nose of his Mercedes into that wind — a cross-head down the start straight — his focus was total. The British star wore a pensive air, as if he knew what was riding on the result — a chance to claw back some of the 25-point deficit to Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel — on a track he would love to carry around in his pocket.
Hamilton broke off only briefly for a couple of hellos from wellwishers, including Hollywood star Sir Patrick Stewart. But other than the obligatory kindnesses, it was tunnel vision.
The race was short of being a classic and mostly because Vettel, who started second, one grid place behind Hamilton, was passed by Max Verstappen’s Red Bull at the off. It was then Hamilton’s afternoon to dictate, and he duly did so to claim his sixth win in Canada, one short of Michael Schumacher’s record here. Vettel finished fourth, his lead down to 12 points.
Why such an extravagant talent as Hamilton should have faltered so badly at Monaco is hard to fathom. Too many parties at Cannes Film Festival beforehand, diluting those small fractions of top- end performance that matter? Possibly.
Whatever the cause, the reaction was emphatic. The triple world champion’s qualifying laps on Saturday were truly magnificent, allowing him to equal his hero Ayrton Senna’s 65 poles. And Hamilton’s margin of victory over second- placed Valtteri Bottas — 20 seconds — highlighted his inherent extra speed.
‘It’s a long race,’ added Hamilton, 32. ‘I was hoping the car would hold together. It did, and it has been an incredible weekend. We have delivered a big blow to Ferrari.’
Daniel Ricciardo, of Red Bull, was third again. The Australian took off his shoes for a swig of champagne, as is his wont. Stewart liked the idea and asked for a serving. He knocked back a whole boot-full of the stuff.
‘You see how much sweat is in there,’ said Hamilton, marvelling at the actor’s bravery.
‘I would drink out of anybody’s shoe,’ intoned Stewart, happy, he joked, just to have made it on to the podium for the first time.
Vettel was further hampered by having his front wing clipped by Verstappen at the start. The German fought well, coming from 18th and last after he stopped to have the damage replaced.
He was also helped by the ‘technical problems’ suffered by Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari. Vettel whizzed right past the Finn into sixth place and then cut a path past the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon in the final few laps.
Elsewhere, Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz and Haas’s Romain Grosjean touched in an overexuberant first lap, Sainz’s car careering into Felipe Massa’s Williams. Both Sainz and Massa’s involvement ended after just 200 yards or so.
Verstappen’s typically spirited contribution was itself curtailed after 11 of the 77 laps. His car cut out and he threw his fists into the air. Team principal Christian Horner buried his head in his hands. It was Verstappen’s third non-finish this season.
His car needed clearing and out came the marshals. They produced pure slapstick, falling here and there like Laurel and Hardy trying to lift the piano up the stairs.
All the while the flags in the paddock were out stiff, despite the warm weather and blue skies. A Ferrari cap blew on to the track.
McLaren’s woes continued. Fernando Alonso was his typical reliable self until his Honda engine was its typically unreliable self. His machinery gave up on him two laps from the end.
He clambered into the crowd and threw his gloves at them. McLaren are in an arrangement with Honda, yet are considering a switch to Mercedes.
No deal has yet been done, but talks continued yesterday between Mansour Ojjeh, the McLaren shareholder, and Niki Lauda, the Mercedes F1 nonexecutive chairman.