IT’S A KNOCKOUT
Hamilton dedicates his win to legend Ali
MONTREAL with its unyielding walls has staged many remarkable chapters in the story of Lewis Hamilton. It was here he got his first win in the days of his innocence and, yesterday, the victory which he dedicated to Muhammad Ali.
‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,’ he hollered in the mid-Atlantic twang he has refined since his original triumph here nine years ago. ‘That’s for Muhammad.’
Of his five victories in nine Canadian Grands Prix, this one contained more luck than most. For it came down to the rope that the dopes on the Ferrari pit-wall draped around Sebastian Vettel’s neck by putting him on a two-stop strategy. It cost the German victory in the superior car of the day.
Hamilton stopped once for new tyres and that was enough to clinch a victory his tardy start hardly warranted. But, that loitering beginning aside, he drove very well. It was his second victory in two races, both of which relied on the mistakes of others — Red Bull’s error in Monaco and then Ferrari’s miscalculation here.
The world champion has bemoaned some illluck this season, and not without cause, but the good and the bad of fortune are now levelling out.
His deficit to Nico Rosberg (right) in the standings is now nine points. Before Monaco it was 43. Little wonder Hamilton sprayed the podium champagne with gusto and wore a smile as wide as the St Lawrence Seaway on which this island is situated. The flags were waved along the pit lane as Michael Douglas conducted the post-race rituals. Vettel was second and not apparently too angry about having missed out. Valtteri Bottas of Williams was third, with Max Verstappen fourth and Rosberg fifth. But first to the start, when Vettel arrived at Hamilton’s side like a man who had come from another planet. And in that fleeting moment the Ferrari passed Hamilton’s Mercedes and the lead passed to Vettel. It is unlikely Hamilton, who had started on pole, was even aware that Vettel was charging from directly behind him as his focus appeared to be on Rosberg, who started second. Vettel had space to pass and he zoomed into it. Hamilton then went wheel-to-wheel with Rosberg, a conflagration that caused the German to run into the escape road. ‘The Merc drivers were so unprofessional,’ said 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell. Rosberg said afterwards: ‘I was angry at the time, but that is racing.’
Right or wrong, the early excitement warmed everyone at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where the temperatures fell to 13 degrees. Rain spots fell on the grid beforehand as the stars gathered. Tom Brady of NFL legend and actress Penelope Cruz brought their white-teethed glamour to the grey-sky day by the Olympic rowing lake.
Hamilton’s starts are proving a problem. In Australia and Bahrain he was sluggish away. In Spain he got going fine but almost immediately surrendered the lead.
‘I am at a loss to explain what went wrong today,’ he said.
The pit boffins ordered Vettel to be re-shod as early as the 11th lap of 70. He went in leading and came out fourth, though he zipped past the two Red Bulls and up to second. Vettel was still the fastest man out there but Hamilton was banking on stopping just once, which he did after 24 laps.
The question now was: would Hamilton’s tyres fall away enough for Vettel, who had come in again midway through the race, to make up the difference? Vettel did narrow the gap but did not ever look likely to overhaul the Brit. As for Rosberg, it was an undistinguished day. He might have been expected to cut a swathe through the field but his driving was stately rather than sizzling.
Nor was his day helped when his steering wheel lit up like Blackpool in illumination season, warning him of perils ahead. He was called in with a slow right puncture, and finished fifth, 62 seconds behind Hamilton, having spun as he tried to overtake Verstappen on the penultimate lap.
These are worrying times for the German, who at times this weekend has worn an air of insouciance when one might have expected fire.
Hamilton apart, it was a bad day for the Brits. Jenson Button had to climb out of his flame-licked McLaren when his Honda engine went pop. Jolyon Palmer was the victim of a water leak and was wheeled in prematurely.
Hamilton’s mind, though, was on spirituality rather than mechanics. ‘Those last 15 laps I was just thinking of the Rumble in the Jungle,’ he said. ‘Muhammad Ali was a hero and I dedicate this to him and his family.’