The Formula One Canadian Grand Prix had everything a race could possibly offer: tremendous speed, clever strategy, plenty of passing, and underdogs on the podium after an unpredictable finish.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton earned his first win of the 2012 season with an inspired drive. He conserved his tires better than the maestro, Sebastian Vettel, in the first stint, and drove faster than everyone on the track for his second and most of his third stints.
On the way to winning Hamilton passed both Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, both two-time world champions. Vettel and Alonso both tried to finish the race with one pit stop and two sets of tires, while McLaren gambled that Hamilton could make up enough time on fresh tires to allow a third stop.
McLaren’s strategy proved correct, but not by a lot. Hamilton finished only 2.5 seconds ahead of the Lotus of Romain Grosjean, who was also on a one-stop strategy. Grosjean crossed the line 2.7 seconds ahead of Sauber’s Sergio Perez, who also pitted only once.
For both these drivers, Canada marked their second F1 podium finishes. Perez scored second in Malaysia, and Grosjean finished third at Bahrain. Stars of the near future, it would seem.
In the post-race press conference on Formula1.com, Hamilton praised the pair: “Firstly, I want to say congratulations to these two guys [Grosjean and Perez], who have done an incredible job.”
Canada was the site of Lewis Hamilton’s first grand Prix victory, back in 2007, which made it a fitting site for his first victory of 2012.
“It’s a phenomenal sensation to come back to Canada and put on a performance like we did today,” Hamilton said in a team press release. “This win feels as good as my first Formula 1 victory back in 2007. In fact I'd say it’s one of the best races I’ve had for a very long time.
“I always knew today’s race was going to be incredibly tough. So, in the first stint, I was really pleased that I could keep up with Seb [Vettel], and at that point I already felt sure I'd be involved the fight for victory.
Our strategy was always for a two-stopper: we knew it was going to be the fastest way to get to the finish. I looked after my tires really well today, and I used them knowing we were going to two-stop.”
Winning hasn’t lost its thrill for the 27-year-old Hamilton. In the press conference he described the race as “one of the most enjoyable races that I’ve had ’til now.
“I was just thinking today to finish at the front, as I did in my first win here in 2007, would be very, very special for me—which it has been. I couldn’t believe it when I was coming across the line. That feeling inside, it’s like an explosion. It’s really just incredible. And that’s what I love about racing and if I continue to have this feeling for many, many years, then hopefully I'll be here for a long, long time.”
By winning the race Hamilton moved into the lead in the drivers’ championship, surpassing Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso by two points. Vettel is third a point behind Alonso, and his teammate Mark Webber is a further six points back.
If half-a-dozen drivers have a legitimate shot at the championship, at least a dozen could win the next race. There have been a record-setting seven different winner in the first seven races; five different teams have scored wins, and from the looks of it Lotus and Sauber are both due for a win soon.
After two years of domination by Red Bull and a season owned by Brawn before that, 2012 is proving to be the most exciting Formula One season of the decade and possibly of the century—with two-thirds of the races still to run.
The series heads to Valencia, Spain in two weeks where absolutely anything could happen.
Next: Vettel Has the Early Lead
Sebastian Vettel won the pole, his 32nd, tying him with Nigel Mansell and one behind Jim Clark and Alain Prost. Lewis Hamilton started second with Fernando Alonso third.
Vettel made his familiar excellent start, opening a big gap on the first lap so his opponents couldn’t use the Drag-Reduction System rear wing to pass him when it was activated on lap 4. Vettel pulled away by two seconds on lap eight, but then started slipping back; apparently Vettel, usually so careful with his tires, had pushed too hard. Lewis Hamilton started to close the gap, so on lap 16 Vettel pitted for fresh tires.
The Red Bull driver rejoined the race behind Hamilton, who pitted on the next lap. Hamilton’s in-lap was good enough that even though the McLaren driver stumbled leaving the pits, he still got back on track ahead of Vettel.
Meanwhile Fernando Alonso, driving the originally miserable but now functional Ferrari F2012, was turning in blazing laps prior to pitting on lap 19. Alonso’s fast laps, coupled with Ferrari’s quick pit stop, got Alonso back on track ahead of Hamilton, but the Ferrari driver, on cold tires, couldn’t hold off the McLaren.
By lap 21 the order was established: Hamilton held the lead, with Alonso a few seconds back and Vettel a further few second behind.
Through the middle of the race Hamilton set repeated fast laps, keeping Alonso or Vettel from making up any ground. For a while this seemed like a sound strategy; then the McLaren brain trust started to worry.
What if Alonso and Vettel were planning a one-stop strategy? In that case Hamilton would need enough of a gap to make it into the pits and back out without losing track position: that would mean a 20-second lead, which the McLaren driver simply couldn’t gain; he was already driving amazingly quickly, and eking out a tenth or two only.
If his opponents were planning a one-stop race, then victory would come down to tire conservation; whether Hamilton would be fast enough on fresh tires to catch Alonso and Vettel on degrading rubber.
Equally worrisome were Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean of Lotus and Sauber’s Sergio Perez, both on one-stop schedules. Both stretched their first set of tires 41 laps; if they could get another 29 laps put of the Supersofts, they would be threats at the end.
Hamilton needed two things: fast laps and a quick pit stop. The fast laps he took care offsetting a new quickest time every few minutes. The pit stop didn’t go so well. Yet again, McLaren had pit stop problems; this time the right rear tire wouldn’t tighten. The stop took five seconds, dropping Hamilton to P3, 14 seconds behind Alonso.
Next: A Simple but Monumental Task
