Hamilton wins thrilling Canadian GP

Lewis Hamilton made it seven different winners from as many races this season when he charged to a thrilling victory in the Canadian Grand Prix today.

The 2008 world champion staged an epic tactical duel with Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso to win the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

The three drivers, starting on super-soft Pirelli rubber, ran at the front of the field from the start, and Alonso’s Ferrari looked to have the edge on pace over the Red Bull of early leader Vettel and Hamilton’s McLaren. Nevertheless, the Briton turned in a strong middle stint of the race and opened out a small gap over his pursuers.

But the race victory seemed to have completely swung away from Hamilton when his team brought him in for a second pitstop for fresh tyres, assuming that Ferrari and Red Bull were both going to follow a similar strategy.

When it became clear that Alonso and Vettel were both gambling on getting to the end of the race on a one-stop strategy, McLaren ordered Hamilton to go on a charge to make up the ten-second gap to the leaders.

He quickly reeled in Vettel, who offered little resistance, and then steamed past Alonso, who encountered severe tyre wear issues in the closing laps.

The Spaniard slumped to fifth at the end as Lotus’s Romain Grosjean and Sauber’s Sergio Perez moved up into the podium places, and Vettel – who had to dive in for new rubber – recovered to fourth.

Hamilton was overjoyed by his first victory since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last November, and the result also puts him on top of the world championship standings, two points ahead of Alonso and three in front of Vettel.

Provisional results

Canadian Grand Prix, round 7/20, June 10 2012

1 Lewis Hamilton, McLaren

2 Romain Grosjean, Lotus

3 Sergio Perez, Sauber

4 Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull

5 Fernando Alonso, Ferrari

6 Nico Rosberg, Mercedes

7 Mark Webber, Red Bull

8 Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus

9 Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber

10 Felipe Massa, Ferrari