Formula One Canadian Grand Prix (Round 7, Montreal)
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel cruised to his third win of the season and his first Canadian Grand Prix victory at Montreal yesterday. The reigning champion led almost the entire running in what amounted to little more than a demonstration ahead of nearest rivals Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.
Vettel was barely seen on screen as he drew away from fellow front row man Hamilton in the early stages, with the Red Bull racer only relinquishing the lead when he stopped for new tyres before the one-third mark. From there, he kept a gap at the front, winning easily from Alonso’s charging Ferrari.
Alonso took Hamilton late in the race, but he also had to fight his way through Valtteri Bottas, Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg in the initial stages. Once Hamilton’s Mercedes began to cook his tyres, Alonso caught the former McLaren man, but was made to work for it, eventually passing on lap 63, finishing just 1.5s up on Hamilton.
Webber finished 4th after he was caught behind Rosberg during the first half of the race and later lost part of his front wing in a collision while lapping Giedo van der Garde. Rosberg came home 5th, nearly 70s shy of Vettel.
Jean-Eric Vergne took a brilliant 6th for Toro Rosso – the highest position for the Italian team since 2008, while Paul di Resta claimed 7th from 17th after running a startling 57 laps on the Pirelli mediums. Felipe Massa ended up 8th, ahead of a quiet Kimi Raikkonen, while Adrian Sutil nabbed 10th, despite an early spin and a drive through penalty.
McLaren missed out on the points for the first time since the 2009 British Grand Prix, while the reality of Williams caught up with Bottas, as he finished 14th from 3rd on the grid. The race was marred by the death of Mark Robinson in an incident clearing Esteban Gutierrez’ stricken Sauber after the Grand Prix had finished.
GP3 Series (In-season test; Hungaroring)
Kevin Korjus and Facu Regalia topped the GP3 Series in-season test at the Hungaroring toward the end of last week.
Korjus (Koiranen GP) headed Lewis Williamson on an opening day tempered by mixed weather conditions – not ideal considering the poor weather that hampered much of the pre-season running.
Patric Niederhauser was the first to set a representative time, before Daniil Kvyat broke into the 1’33” barrier; however it was Williamson who set the first true benchmark with 1:32.781 in the morning, only for the Scot to be pipped at the top before lunch. Rain made the afternoon tricky, especially for spinners Adderly Fong, Dino Zamparelli and finally Niederhauser. Williamson set the quickest time in the afternoon.
The final day’s running also saw some heavy rain, but that did little to deter Regalia. The Argentine racer set the fastest time of the tow days with a best of 1:32.341, once again topping the steady Williamson. Aaro Vainio headed the afternoon session in his Koiranen GP entry.
Amidst overcast and humid conditions, Emanuele Zonzini was first out, although his initial times were brushed aside by the confident Korjus, before Melville McKee topped the sheets as the rain drew in. The track dried not long before lunch giving drivers an opportunity to put on slicks and go for it with Nick Yelloly and Williamson going quick until they were pipped to the head of the sheets by Regalia. The afternoon session was mostly a washout, ensuring numerous red flags.
