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With 6 Grands Prix wrapped up already, the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal was going to be crucial for the Vettel-Hamilton rivalry, and the race to win the Constructors' Championship between Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes.
Hamilton went into the race in Montreal on top of the Driver's Championship, leading Vettel by just 14 points.
Vettel managed to grab pole position in the Qualifying round, and behind him was Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes and Max Verstappen in the Red Bull in 2nd and 3rd position.
Hamilton didn't really have a successful Qualifying, as he finished 4th on the grid, followed by Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo in the Ferrari and Red Bull respectively.
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Unlike the previous Canadian Grands Prix, this one was fairly straight-forward, as there were no changes in the front three, as Vettel won his 50th Grand Prix, while Bottas and Verstappen grabbed another podium finish of the season.
Daniel Ricciardo who started the race in 6th position, finished the race 4th, ahead of Lewis Hamilton on 5th and Kimi Raikkonen in 6th.
On that note let's take a look at the 5 talking points:
#5 Local man fails to make an impact
Williams' drivers Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin, both were disappointing in the Qualifying round, as they finished 17th and 18th on the grid respectively. But, it was the local man, Lance Stroll who had the worst possible start to the Grand Prix.
Torro Rosso's Brendon Hartley and Stroll crashed into each other in the very first lap of the race. Although initially, it looked like it was the Kiwi's fault, multiple replays later, it turned out that it was actually Stroll's fault.
Coming into Turn 6, Hartley was trying to overtake Stroll round the outside. The Canadian tried to defend his position and moved closer to the Torro Rosso. The Kiwi had no other choice but to hit the wall and subsequently crash into the Canadian.
Brendon Hartley had a very good Qualifying round with the Torro Rosso, as he finished 12th on the grid. He surely will be disappointed by the way his race finished.
#4 Alonso's 300th Grand Prix ends in disappointment
Veteran driver Fernando Alonso didn't really have a great Qualifying round with McLaren, as he finished 14th on the grid. But, the Spaniard would have wanted his 300th Grand Prix appearance to have finished on a positive note.
Alonso had a decent start, but a little past the halfway point, in the 42nd lap, Alonso's car gave him troubles, and he couldn't race anymore. He was told to pull into the garage immediately.
The former World Champion has always been unlucky in Montreal, but he wouldn't have wanted this to happen today.
#3 Lewis Hamilton falls behind Vettel in the Driver's Championship
After Sebastian Vettel won the first two Grands Prix, consecutively, Lewis Hamilton made a comeback in the other 4 Grands Prix, and overtook the German in the Drivers' Championship.
Hamilton never lost in Montreal in the past 3 years. This time, he had the opportunity to extend the lead in the Drivers' Championship. But, a minor and a rare mistake by Hamilton in the Qualifying round, made him the 4th fastest on the day.
Hamilton made an early pit-stop in the 16th lap and fell behind Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo, who started at 5th and 6th respectively.
Although Hamilton went ahead of the Finn in the Ferrari when he made a pit-stop, Hamilton's spent the rest of the race chasing the Australian in the Red Bull. He did come very close in the final laps of the race, but couldn't get ahead of Ricciardo who finished 4th.
Hamilton finished 5th and dropped down to 2nd place in the Drivers' Championship (120), behind Sebastian Vettel (121), but 34 points ahead of his Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas.
#2 Vettel wins and leads the Drivers' Championship
Sebastian Vettel was at pole position going into today's race. The German had the perfect start and never gave up his position at any point in the race.
Even though he didn't have the fastest lap today, no other driver came close to him, and he was under no threat whatsoever. Sebastian Vettel became the first driver for Ferrari to win in Montreal, since Schumacher won, way back in 2000.
With this win (and his 50th career win), the 4-time World Champion goes on top of the Drivers' Championship with 121 points and leads Hamilton by just a point. With 6 European Grands Prix coming up, in the span of 5 weeks, it'll be a really interesting battle between the two 4-time World Champions.
#1 Mercedes still ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship
With Bottas and Hamilton finishing 2nd and 4th respectively and Kimi Raikkonen finishing 6th, Mercedes extend their lead in the Constructors' Championship.
Mercedes sit comfortably on top with 206 points. Trailing by 17 points in the 2nd place are Ferrari with 189 points, while Red Bull are on third with 134 points.
Red Bull cars have been very impressive this season. Max Verstappen's car was the fastest in FP3 and Daniel Ricciardo had the fastest lap in the main race. So, this season should be really close between the three big Constructors.
What do you have to say about The Canadian Grand Prix? Let us know in the comments below!
