• Canadian Grand Prix

Vettel extends championship lead with easy Canada win

Sebastian Vettel was never in danger after opening up a two second lead on the opening lap © Getty Images

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• Race:
• Canadian Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso
• |
• Lewis Hamilton
• |
• Sebastian Vettel

• Teams:
• Ferrari
• |
• Mercedes
• |
• Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel extended his championship lead as he eased to victory in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Vettel got a good start from pole position and was able to establish a lead of two seconds on the opening lap before disappearing in to the distance. Fernando Alonso took second place away from Lewis Hamilton late on after a strong drive, but he still dropped 36 points behind Vettel in the championship driving.

It wasn't a popular result in Montreal, as Vettel was booed on the podium as he spoke after the race, saying: "I was able to build a gap and kept that gap throughout the race. At some stages we had a full pit stop in hand which obviously made it a bit easier then to control the race. A great race, great job by the team."

Hamilton came home third having looked comfortable in second place for most of the race, but ultimately losing out to Alonso in the final stint after being held up behind Adrian Sutil and ending the race 1.5s behind the Ferrari.

Mark Webber's race was compromised by Giedo van der Garde turning in on the Red Bull as he attempted to lap at the hairpin, with Webber's front wing receiving damage, limiting him to fourth place. However, he still managed to set the fastest lap ahead of his team-mate.

Kimi Raikkonen's championship hopes took another blow as he laboured to ninth place - losing out to Felipe Massa on the penultimate lap.

While Vettel made a good start, Valtteri Bottas - starting from third - had a cautious one and dropped to sixth by the end of the opening lap. Adrian Sutil attacked Bottas for seventh at Turn 3 but spun when alongside the Williams, somehow the field avoiding him as he recovered. Pastor Maldonado than tagged the rear of the Force India at the hairpin, earning a drive-through penalty.

Hamilton had no answer to Vettel but was able to ease clear of team-mate Nico Rosberg, with the Mercedes holding up Webber and Alonso in the opening two stints. However, while the majority of front runners opted for swap super-softs for mediums at the first stop, Rosberg ran the super-softs and hat to pit early again to take on mediums, dropping him back to fifth.

Jean-Eric Vergne dispatched Bottas early on and then had a trouble-free race to sixth place - the best result of his Formula One career - while Paul di Resta put in a fantastic drive to come through from 17th on the grid to seventh place. Di Resta completed over 50 laps on the medium tyre before making his one and only stop late on, with Massa also climbing through the field to ninth - just 1.9s behind di Resta having passed Raikkonen.

Sutil dropped from eighth to tenth late on as a result of a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags as Hamilton and Alonso approached, but it ensured the two McLarens finished 11th and 12th, bringing an end to the team's run of scoring in 64 consecutive races.

Despite his lofty grid position, Bottas dropped back to 14th place by the chequered flag and it could have been worse had Nico Hulkenberg not retired following contact with van der Garde, while Esteban Gutierrez followed his Sauber team-mate out of the race by hitting the wall on the outside of Turn 2 late in the race.

Chris Medland is assistant editor at ESPNF1

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