It was 2016 all over again as Mercedes went 1-2 as Lewis Hamilton won easily and his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was comfortably in second place ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who claimed the final podium position.
Hamilton was the pole-sitter as the race began with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel starting in second alongside him. But it was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who rocketed from behind Vettel and into second position at the race start – clipping Vettel’s front wing in the process – causing damage that would be crucial to Vettel’s chances for a podium position as he would be forced to pit early a few laps later in order to replace the front wing. Vettel would eventually re-join the race in 18th place and spent the remainder of the race working his way up to fourth place.
Meanwhile, out front, Hamilton did not have to deal with either Vettel or Verstappen [who left in the ninth lap with an electrical issue] and Bottas was not interested in challenging him for the victory, leaving Hamilton to what was essentially a 70-lap parade.
With the win, Hamilton trails Vettel by 12 points in the overall driver’s points standings – with Vettel leading with 141 points to Hamilton’s 129 points.
2017 Canadian Grand Prix – Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – 70 laps – 190 miles
1 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
2 Valtteri Bottas – Mercedes
3 Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull
4 Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari
5 Sergio Perez – Force India
6 Esteban Ocon – Force India
7 Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari
8 Nico Hulkenberg – Renault
9 Lance Stroll – Williams
10 Romain Grosjean – Haas