Canadian Grand Prix: Vettel takes F1 championship lead with win
Sebastian Vettel grabbed the lead of the Formula 1 world championship with a dominant victory in a Canadian Grand Prix that ended in a bizarre chequered flag confusion

Vettel led every lap of the race, quickly building a comfortable lead over Valtteri Bottas and controlling the gap from there.
The most eventful part of Vettel's race after that came at the start of the final lap, when the chequered flag was shown more than one lap early.
Vettel was aware enough of the error to complete the full distance at racing speed, although after he crossed the line at the end of the 70th and final lap, the race result was then based on positions at the end of lap 68.
Bottas's main challenge from behind came at the start when a fast-starting Max Verstappen pulled alongside into Turn 1, but Bottas held onto the inside line for Turn 2 and forced the Red Bull driver to back out.
After that moment, which Verstappen was praised for by his team as he avoided getting caught up in an incident, the Dutchman was never able to mount another attack.
Bottas did have a minor scare with 15 laps to go, when he went wide at Turn 1 after lapping Carlos Sainz Jr's Renault, and clipped the grass at Turn 2, briefly falling back behind the Renault.

The second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo claimed fourth place, taking advantage of difficulties for Lewis Hamilton early in the race to jump the Mercedes during the pitstops.
While the Red Bulls pitted earlier than the other leading cars were scheduled to due to starting the race on the hypersoft tyre, Hamilton also came in around the same time despite being on ultrasofts that should have been able to last much longer.
But he was forced into an early stop so Mercedes could attempt to rectify an engine problem, with the reigning world champion having reported "drop outs of power" early in the race.
After falling behind Ricciardo during those stops, Hamilton was then vulnerable to Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari also getting ahead of him when the Finn stopped much later in the race, but he hung on to fifth place as Raikkonen emerged from the pits just behind him at Turn 2.
Despite having tyres that were 16 laps fresher than Hamilton's, Raikkonen couldn't mount a challenge and gradually fell back from the Mercedes.
Mercedes offered Hamilton the option of turning down his engine in the closing laps, but he declined - instead pressuring Ricciardo and getting to within a second of the Red Bull.
Hamilton got close at the hairpin with four laps to go, but was unable to attempt a pass down the following straight after having a big slide in the middle of the corner, and he then lost further time on the following lap stuck behind Sergey Sirotkin's Williams.
Behind the leading cars, Renault took a one-two finish in the 'class B' race, with Nico Hulkenberg leading home Sainz to claim seventh and eighth for the team.
Esteban Ocon, who was ahead of both Renaults early in the race, was the first car to make a scheduled pitstop, and he lost out to Hulkenberg and Sainz having been holding them up before he suffered a slow pitstop, which relegated him to ninth.
Ocon came back at the Renaults in the closing stages of the race, prompting Renault to ask Hulkenberg to pick up the pace to prevent Sainz coming under attack.
The final point went to Charles Leclerc, who inherited 10th when Fernando Alonso retired with an exhaust problem.
The Sauber driver headed Alonso early in the race but he lost out to the McLaren during the pitstops, only to reclaim the position when Alonso came into the pits again to retire.
The only other drivers not to finish were Brendon Hartley and home driver Lance Stroll, who crashed in spectacular fashion at Turn 5 on the opening lap.
Stroll got out of shape through the fast right-hand kink, squeezing Hartley, who was on his left, between the Williams and the tyre barrier, briefly launching the Toro Rosso into the air.
After being examined at the medical centre, Hartley was then sent to hospital for further checks.
Race result
Pos | Driver | Car | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 68 | 1h28m31.377s |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 68 | 7.376s |
3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Renault | 68 | 8.360s |
4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 68 | 20.892s |
5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 68 | 21.559s |
6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 68 | 27.184s |
7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 67 | 1 Lap |
8 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Renault | 67 | 1 Lap |
9 | Esteban Ocon | Force India/Mercedes | 67 | 1 Lap |
10 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber/Ferrari | 67 | 1 Lap |
11 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso/Honda | 67 | 1 Lap |
12 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 67 | 1 Lap |
13 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 67 | 1 Lap |
14 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 67 | 1 Lap |
15 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 66 | 2 Laps |
16 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren/Renault | 66 | 2 Laps |
17 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams/Mercedes | 66 | 2 Laps |
- | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Renault | 40 | Exhaust |
- | Lance Stroll | Williams/Mercedes | 0 | Collision |
- | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso/Honda | 0 | Collision |
Drivers' standings
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Sebastian Vettel | 121 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | 120 |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | 86 |
4 | Daniel Ricciardo | 84 |
5 | Kimi Raikkonen | 68 |
6 | Max Verstappen | 50 |
7 | Fernando Alonso | 32 |
8 | Nico Hulkenberg | 32 |
9 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | 24 |
10 | Kevin Magnussen | 19 |
11 | Pierre Gasly | 18 |
12 | Sergio Perez | 17 |
13 | Esteban Ocon | 11 |
14 | Charles Leclerc | 10 |
15 | Stoffel Vandoorne | 8 |
16 | Lance Stroll | 4 |
17 | Marcus Ericsson | 2 |
18 | Brendon Hartley | 1 |
19 | Romain Grosjean | 0 |
20 | Sergey Sirotkin | 0 |
Constructors' standings
Pos | Constructor | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Mercedes | 206 |
2 | Ferrari | 189 |
3 | Red Bull/Renault | 134 |
4 | Renault | 56 |
5 | McLaren/Renault | 40 |
6 | Force India/Mercedes | 28 |
7 | Toro Rosso/Honda | 19 |
8 | Haas/Ferrari | 19 |
9 | Sauber/Ferrari | 12 |
10 | Williams/Mercedes | 4 |

Canadian GP: Gasly to start on back row with new Honda F1 engine
Toto Wolff: Mercedes F1 team needs to 'wake up' after Canada defeat

Latest news
Why the future is bright for the British GP
It wasn’t so long ago the situation looked bleak at Silverstone with the future of the British Grand Prix under threat. But a transformation has seen it restored to one of the most important races on the Formula 1 calendar, with bigger and better to come
Could mixed fortunes for F1's leading Brits turn around at Silverstone?
For the first time in many years, none of the local racers starts among the favourites for the British Grand Prix. But George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris could have reasons for optimism
Verstappen exclusive: Why F1’s champion isn’t fazed by Silverstone return
Max Verstappen is the world’s number one racing driver… and he’s determined to keep it that way. Speaking exclusively to GP Racing's OLEG KARPOV, the Red Bull driver explains why he’s relishing the 2022 championship battle with Charles Leclerc – and why he’s not worried about returning to Silverstone, the scene of the biggest accident of his career last year
Why Red Bull’s RB17 hypercar can help its F1 team
On Tuesday, Red Bull laid out its plans to develop and build a new hypercar - the RB17 - penned by Adrian Newey. As the project itself sates Newey as a creative outlet, it also offers Red Bull's Formula 1 team a number of new and exciting avenues to pursue
What to expect from Mercedes as F1 returns to Silverstone
OPINION: The British Grand Prix is a home event for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, with their Mercedes team based just a few miles away too. But there’s another reason why the Silver Arrows squad is eager to arrive at Silverstone this weekend, which may help it fix its remaining problems with its 2022 Formula 1 challenger
The “solemn promise” that cost quiet hero Brooks an F1 title
After two terrifying crashes, one of the best British racers of the 1950s retired before his career peaked. But that’s why GP Racing’s MAURICE HAMILTON was able to speak to Tony Brooks in 2014. Like his friend Stirling Moss, Brooks was regarded as one of the best drivers never to have won the world championship. Here, as our tribute to Brooks who died last month, is that interview in full
Inside the Faenza facility where AlphaTauri’s F1 pragmatic vision is realised
AlphaTauri’s mission in F1 is to sell clothes and train young drivers rather than win the championship – but you still need a cutting-edge factory to do that. Team boss Franz Tost takes GP Racing’s OLEG KARPOV on a guided tour of a facility that’s continuing to grow
Connecting two of Ferrari's favourite F1 sons
Gilles Villeneuve's exploits behind the wheel of a Ferrari made him a legend to the tifosi, even 40 years after his death. The team's current Formula 1 star Charles Leclerc enjoys a similar status, and recently got behind the wheel of a very special car from the French-Canadian’s career