The Canadian Grand Prix made a welcome return to the Formula One calendar for 2010, returning to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal after a one year hiatus. Lewis Hamilton had put his Mclaren on pole, the first time a Red-Bull car had not been.
The opening laps proved to be a hectic affair. Kamui Kobayashi nearly ending his race in the Champions Wall on the very first race. His subsequent retirement was one of only five, and capped another dismal race for the BMW Sauber team, as team-mate Pedro De La Rosa parked his car with what appeared to be an engine failure later in the race. Even before the first corner Vitaly Petrov's Renault had collected De La Rosa, and Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India) touched several times.
It was obvious after only several laps that the softer compound tyre that the two Mclarens had started on was going to fall to pieces very early. However the abrasive nature of the track surface caused problems for those starting on the harder rubber. After a multitude of pit-stops, including one side-by-side pit exit for Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, the race shook out with the two Red Bull cars leading. Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber then took different strategies with Vettel opting to get his soft-tyre phase out of the way. This proved to be crucial, as although Webber had a short-term advantage, once the life had seeped out of the tyres he began to be relentlessly caught by Hamilton, Alonso, Jenson Button and Vettel. Webber was eventually forced to pit and would finish a distant fifth. Vettel had an unspecified problem that caused the team to drop back, leaving a straight fight between the two Mclarens and Alonso's Ferrari. This became resolved as Alonso was caught behind Karun Chandhoks Hispania car, and Button was able to power past on the outside. Hamilton was able to keep some of his powder dry and Button was unable to catch him in the closing stages. A Mclaren one two the end result, allowing them to consolidate their position in the constructors championship and allow Hamilton to take the lead of the World Championship.
Outside the battles of the frontrunners, the new car of Heikki Kovalainen in the Lotus was able to finish ahead of Petrov, who took two drive through penalties in the race. Hulkenberg was also penalised in this manner for pit-lane speeding. Michael Schumacher had a race to forget, having incidents with (among others) Robert Kubica's Renault, Massa and Liuzzi, eventually finishing outside the points in 11th, with probable action to come from the stewards.
The F1 circus moves on next to Valencia, which will do well to achieve the same level of excitement as this race
No comments:
Post a Comment