The Canadian GP marked McLaren's second consecutive 1-2 finish, after Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button clinched victory at Montreal. The duo had also managed to get to the top two steps of the podium at the Turkish Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso took third place for Ferrari. It might have been Alonso on the top step of the podium had it not been for him being overtaken by both Red Bulls when trying to make his way past backmarkers.
Tyre strategy is what played a crucial role at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with Lewis Hamilton on softer compound tyres being caught rather rapidly by Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull was shod with hard compound tyres. Similarly, Jenson Button found himself fighting off a hard-charging Mark Webber. Once he was past Button though, it was easy for Red Bull to catch up with the rest of the front-runners. He then made his way past Alonso, and when Hamilton pitted, it was the two Red Bulls at the head of the grid.
After the two Red Bulls pitted, it was Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso who found themselves battling for position behind race leader, Sebastien Buemi. At the end though, it was Hamilton who came out ahead, with Alonso close on his tail. While Hamilton, Alonso, Button and Vettel pitted for the second time, Webber found himself in the lead. But it didn't last too long, with the tyres on the Red Bull wearing out, and backmarkers getting in the way as well. Not too long after, Hamilton caught and passed Webber, and Webber's final pitstop put him down to fifth place. Vettel, meanwhile, had trouble with his car and drove conservatively.
With 15 laps to go in the race, Alonso was trying to get past Karun Chandhok's HRT, when Button managed to pass him. Then, it was Hamilton, Button and Alonso, all the way to the chequered flag.
The race certainly could have been much better for Michael Schumacher. Despite pitting thrice, the Mercedes was not quite able to find its sweet spot and loped around the track 4 seconds off the pace of the leaders in the final stint. Schumacher did have wheel-banging scraps with Robert Kubica, Felipe Massa, and the Force Indias of Vitantonio Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil. The seven-time world champion had to settle for 11th place.
Provisional Results - Canadian GP
Pos Driver Team Time
01. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h33:53.456
02. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 2.254
03. Alonso Ferrari + 9.214
04. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 37.817
05. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 39.291
06. Rosberg Mercedes + 56.084
07. Kubica Renault + 57.300
08. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
09. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
10. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
11. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap
12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
13. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
15. Massa Ferrari + 1 lap
16. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 2 laps
17. Petrov Renault + 2 laps
18. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps
19. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth + 5 laps
Driver's Championship
01 Lewis Hamilton 109
02 Jenson Button 106
03 Mark Webber 103
04 Fernando Alonso 94
05 Sebastian Vettel 90
06 Nico Rosberg 74
07 Robert Kubica 73
08 Felipe Massa 67
09 Michael Schumacher 34
10 Adrian Sutil 23
11 Vitantonio Liuzzi 12
12 Rubens Barrichello 7
13 Vitaly Petrov 6
14 Sebastien Buemi 5
15 Jaime Alguersuari 3
Constructor's Championship
01 McLaren-Mercedes 215
02 RBR-Renault 193
03 Ferrari 161
04 Mercedes GP 108
05 Renault 79
06 Force India-Mercedes 35
07 STR-Ferrari 8
08 Williams-Cosworth 8
09 BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1
10 Lotus-Cosworth 0
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