Canadian F1 Grand Prix 2019 Results: Lewis Hamilton Wins After Vettel's Penalty
June 9, 2019
Sebastian Vettel missed out on winning the 2019 Canadian Formula One Grand Prix after incurring a five-second penalty after an incident with Lewis Hamilton during the 48th lap on Sunday.
It meant that while Vettel finished first, the race win was handed to Hamilton, who had stayed within five seconds of Vettel following the penalty.
Vettel was penalised after running wide and nearly colliding with Hamilton. The Ferrari star was adjudged to have re-entered the track illegally.
Hamilton admitted he would have preferred to claim the victory another way:
Meanwhile, Vettel was understandably disappointed:
At least his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc was able come in third, while Hamilton's fellow Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas finished fourth, one spot ahead of Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen:
Hamilton dispelled any fears about his ability to produce a good start when he maintained P2 off the line:
Bottas suffered on the mediums, losing initial speed and falling behind Nico Hulkenberg. The Renault man wasted little time forcing his way among the front-runners.
While Mercedes' start was solid, Ferrari did better as Vettel forged into an early lead.
Vettel was two seconds ahead of the chasing pack by the sixth lap.
Meanwhile, Verstappen started to make his move. His first target was Bottas, who was continuing to toil in fifth.
After 14 laps in, Vettel was still holding off Hamilton, with Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc also in the mix. Vettel was still among those setting the pace six laps later:
The German went into the pit after Lap 27 to switch to hard tyre. It prompted a similar switch from Hamilton two laps later.
Bottas was called into the pits by the Silver Arrows moments later, leaving Verstappen to forge ahead. He was still some way off the leading two, though, with Vettel ahead of Hamilton by almost four seconds.
The latter nearly halved the lead with a fastest lap on his new tyres. However, Hamilton soon ran into problems just as he was closing in on the lead:
Things had evolved into a straight scrap between Vettel and Hamilton, with the gap closed to a single second. Events took a turn when problems with his steering wheel forced Vettel to run wide and nearly collide with his rival.
Vettel was getting instructions to adapt approaching the final 25 laps:
The near collision prompted an investigation from the stewards, who soon hit Vettel with a penalty for re-entering the track.
Vettel was still in front by just under three seconds, but Mercedes now had genuine hope of producing a seventh win this season.
Hamilton worked to make sure Vettel wouldn't get the five-second advantage he needed to eradicate the impact of the penalty. The Mercedes man reduced the lead to barely over a second.
Keeping things close meant Hamilton had done enough to take the win, even though not many in attendance were pleased with the outcome:
The circumstances of Hamilton's fifth win of the campaign will only intensify the heated rivalry between the top two drivers in the sport.