Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel took a comfortable victory in the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix, leaving his trailing F1 rivals to provide the entertainment behind him. It was Red Bull's first win in Canada.
The reigning world champion's only hiccups came when he ran wide early on and brushed the circuit perimeter wall and then, towards the end of the race, he dropped off the circuit, losing time as he cantered across the grass before finding his way back on to the track. Such was his advantage over his pursuers that it barely mattered.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton had looked likely to maintain his starting position, second, but as his tyres wore towards the end of the race the persistent Fernando Alonso, up from sixth on the grid, was able to squeeze his Ferrari by with just light contact between the two. While Hamilton looked to use his DRS system to counter-attack, he was unable make any moves stick and was forced to settle for the final podium position.
Vettel's Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber came home fourth after a eventful race. Early on he battled Monaco Grand Prix winner Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes, and looked comfortably faster than Alonso. However, backmarker Giedo van der Garde turned in on him while being lapped, his Caterham knocking part of Webber's front wing awry. That cost Webber time, allowing Alonso by. He stayed ahead of fifth-placed Rosberg with ease, though.
Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) claimed a career-best sixth, finishing ahead of Scot Paul di Resta (Force India), who drove a remarkable race from 17th on the grid to seventh by nursing his first set of tyres for more than half the race. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) were disgruntled in eighth and ninth respectively, while Force India's Adrian Sutil survived a spin, a collision with Pastor Maldonado (Williams), and a penalty for ignoring blue flags to take 10th.
The hero of qualifying, Williams driver Valterri Bottas, slumped from his starting slot in third to 14th.
2013 Canadian Grand Prix finishers: 1. Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 1h32:09.143; 2. Alonso (Ferrari) +14.408sec; 3. Hamilton (Mercedes) +15.942; 4. Webber (Red Bull-Renault) +25.731; 5. Rosberg (Mercedes) +1:09.725; 6. Vergne (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +1 lap; 7. Di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) +1 lap; 8. Massa (Ferrari) +1 lap; 9. Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault) +1 lap; 10. Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) +1 lap; 11. Perez (McLaren-Mercedes) +1 lap; 12. Button (McLaren-Mercedes) +1 lap; 13. Grosjean (Lotus-Renault) +1 lap; 14. Bottas (Williams-Renault) +1 lap; 15. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +2 laps; 16. Maldonado (Williams-Renault) +2 laps; 17. Bianchi (Marussia-Cosworth) +2 laps; 18. Pic (Caterham-Renault) +2 laps; 19. Chilton (Marussia-Cosworth) +3 laps; 20. Gutierrez (Sauber-Ferrari) +7 laps.
Fastest lap: Webber, 1:16.182sec
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Why no mention that
A marshal was killed in the recovery of Gutirrez's Sauber after the race.
Fernando Alonso said the was nothing to celbrate after he found out. I had hoped Autocar might edit the article to cover this tragedy.
Depends....?
devil's advocate@
Maybe the death wasn't made known till after the story went to print.....?,don't always assume they did.
getting fed up of that cry
getting fed up of that cry baby winning, i wish Webber was good enough to compete for wins. i do however love when the BBC do live coverage they do it well and the team are fantastic. Eddie Jordans grid walk was great.
BBC Coverage
Slightly off topic but Canada was the first race I've sat down to watch in over a year, and was my first introduction to the BBC's latest presenter / commentary line up. I didn't make the start of the grand prix as Eddie Jordan had me scrambling for the remote control half way through his pit lane stint.
Perhaps it's just me but watching Perry, who I used to like, and Jordan bumbling their way through an old script routine was cringworthy, making Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood look like old pro's. Really surprised at Coulthard as well, looks uncomfortable and adds nothing.
Where once BBC professionalism stood head and shoulders above everyone else, it's pretty sad to see what's become of them.