Flawless Hamilton delighted

Lewis Hamilton slashed the deficit to rival Sebastian Vettel in the Formula One championship after a flawless lights-to-flag victory in yesterday’s Canadian Grand Prix.

On the 10th anniversary of his very first victory in the sport, Hamilton romped to his sixth win at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to move to within 12 points of Vettel in the title race.

Vettel’s afternoon was scuppered by a first-corner incident with Max Verstappen which forced him to stop for a new front wing, and with it, fall to the back of the field.

The Ferrari driver recovered to finish fourth, while Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas crossed the line in second to complete Mercedes’ first one-two finish of the season as Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo claimed the final spot on the podium.

An ecstatic Hamilton emerged on the podium with a Union Jack draped around his neck.

“I had my first pole here, and my first win here 10 years ago, so to repeat it this weekend is incredibly special,” Hamilton said.

“I have to thank my team. All the guys back at the factory who have worked so hard to really fix what we had in the last race, to bring it here and really give it to the Ferraris.”

Sir Patrick Stewart conducted the podium interviews before downing champagne from Ricciardo’s race boot.

“I am proud of you for doing that,” Hamilton said.