Sebastian Vettel dominates the 2013 Canadian GP in true old school Schumacher style.
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| RedBull Photo |
Vettel lapping everyone up to sixth position did not make for the most entertaining race, it was a real crushing performance from the first corner for Red Bull in Canada.
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| Photo: Brando Cairone |
Half way though lap one Vettel had pulled a couple of seconds away from Hamilton and the rest of the pack and really, that was that, Red Bull was gone.
Even with a crushing 20 second advantage Vettel did not stop pushing: he was locking up at the hairpin where he had a close call with a Caterham, he went off all on his own at turn one. One can only suppose he was bored or maybe the team asked him to slow down on that one.
Even with a crushing 20 second advantage Vettel did not stop pushing: he was locking up at the hairpin where he had a close call with a Caterham, he went off all on his own at turn one. One can only suppose he was bored or maybe the team asked him to slow down on that one.
From the stands, at the hairpin it was interesting to see Vettel taking a totally different line from everyone else, he would go deep and late slowing down more but minimizing the amount of time the fronts would be turning and scrubbing. The Red Bull was visibly better than all others in traction. One wonders if Pirelli added a little Taurine to the compounds to make Red Bull happy after all their griping of late.
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| Photo: Brando Cairone |
Ferrari seemed to be the class of the field under braking and the team must be kicking themselves for their inability to get better starting positions in qualifying. If not, Alonso will and should. Fernando had his usual bulldog race coming from sixth on the grid to second but he must be extremely frustrated he has to work that hard while Vettel seemingly cruises.
Hamilton had a good race in an obviously improved Mercedes. Yes, they still lost tires but less so than before their (totally inconsequential, nothing to see here) Pirelli test. The FIA verdict on the "test-gate" saga will be announced in the next two weeks, expect minor consequences.
The biggest disappointment of the race had to have been Lotus, totally off the radar and fighting in the midfield. Maybe it was a matter of setup choice and ambient temperatures which were so different Sunday than they had been all week end. A wet setup was what allowed Valtteri Bottas to earn a third spot on the grid for Williams Saturday but come raceway, ha was a sitting duck.
PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
The Canadian Grand Prix
Montreal, Canada;
70 laps; 305.270km;
Weather: Sunny.
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h32m09.143
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari + 14.408s
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes + 15.942s
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault + 25.731s
5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes + 1m09.725s
6. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
7. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari + 1 lap
9. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap
10. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
11. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes + 1 lap
12. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes + 1 lap
13. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 1 lap
14. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault + 1 lap
15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 2 laps
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault + 2 laps
17. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps
18. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault + 2 laps
19. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth + 3 laps
20. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari + 7 laps
Fastest lap: Webber, 1:16.182
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 45
Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 43
World Championship standings, round 7:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Vettel 132 1. Red Bull-Renault 201
2. Alonso 96 2. Ferrari 145
3. Raikkonen 88 3. Mercedes 134
4. Hamilton 77 4. Lotus-Renault 114
5. Webber 69 5. Force India-Mercedes 51
6. Rosberg 57 6. McLaren-Mercedes 37
7. Massa 49 7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 20
8. Di Resta 34 8. Sauber-Ferrari 5
9. Grosjean 26
10. Button 25
11. Sutil 17
12. Vergne 13
13. Perez 12
14. Ricciardo 7
15. Hulkenberg 5
All timing unofficial
With all the "we are aiming for 2014 to contend" talk coming out of Mercedes at the beginning of the year, is it possible they took part in that clandestine test knowing that any penalty levied against them would be overshadowed by them gaining that much more ground for next year? They've probably been more competitive this year than they thought they'd be but I'd be willing to bet they are still putting all of their chips on 2014.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad race to watch if you ignored seabass out front. Good stuff from Alonso, but frustrating to watch Raikkonen languish midfield.
ReplyDeleteFace it folks, by 2025 Seb will be F1's first ten time world champ. RESPECT....THE FINGER!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a snoozefest! We were sitting at grand stand 12 and I felt like I could see the red Bulls having much better rear grip, especially in qualifying in the rain. They were just so much more planted.
ReplyDeleteAlso so sorry about the Axis Ferrari going out on Saturday. It seemed like it just couldn't catch any luck, first at the hairpin where someone "kamikazed" down the inside and then at wall of champions where it looked like 2 car out breaked themselves behind Gomez. I will add though that your team had the best livery by far!! Can't wait to catch the race again next year.
Well, it was all fixed by Sunday and CG had a blast slicing from 27th on the grid to 5th! And yes, no false modesty here, it WAS the best looking car on the grid! :)
ReplyDelete