2011 Canada Grand Prix Results
For the seventh race in the season, teams left Europe and headed to North America. The Canadian Grand Prix, more formally known as the Grand Prix du Canada, held at the famous Gilles Villeneuve Circuit. This Grand Prix race went into racing history as the longest F1 race, taking over 4 hours to complete (including a 2 hour suspension due to the heavy rain), as well as the most number of times the safety car was deployed (six times!). The Gilles Villeneuve Circuit is known for its speed and overtaking opportunities along the long back straight and this racing weekend was no different, with plenty of dramatic action. Jenson Button finally clinched a win, overtaking rival Sebastian Vettel on the last lap! Third place went to Vettel’s teammate, Mark Webber.
This win was Jenson Button’s first Grand Prix win this season and puts a pit a crimp in Sebastian Vettels’ winning streak (he has won five out of the seven races so far!). The weekend already started out with problems, Vettel and Button having mechanical problems during the practice session and Vettel finally crashing out at the so-called ‘Wall of Champions’ – where many a champion race driver has crashed out. Kamui Kobayashi and Jerome d’Ambrosio crashed out during practice as well. Sergio Perez withdrew from the race, forcing Pedro de la Rosa to replace him for Sauber.
In contrast, qualifying was rather uneventful. With Vettel taking pole position, followed by Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton. Vettel was lucky his engineers were able to put his car back together again after his crash during the practice session. This was Vettel’s sixth pole position in seven Grand Prix.
The actual race at the Gilles Villeneueve circuit did not start well, with heavy rain already soaking the racing track. The race was actually started and led by the safety car for the first four laps - this was the first of many safety car appearances during this Grand Prix race. Although this was not a thrilling start, the rest of the race was exciting. Hamilton almost collided with Webber in lap five, spinning Webber out of the track. Then running wide of Nico Rosberg, in an overtake manoeuvre. This all was capped off with an overtake move on teammate Button, who squeezed Hamilton against the wall, damaging his rear wheel. All this before lap 7 and Hamilton was out of the race. Veteran race car driver, Nikki Lauda, openly criticised Hamilton for his reckless and unprofessional driving. He will no doubt be in trouble with stewards after this race.
Then, due to heavy rain and low visibility, the race was stopped after 24 laps for two hours. This became the longest delay in F1 history. The race re-started with the safety car in lead. The first incident after the re-start was Button tangling with Alonso, which left the Spaniard out of the race in lap 36, forcing the safety car out again. In the end, seven drivers retired out of the Canadian Grand Prix in accidents.
In the end, Vettel lost his own race. With Button pretty much pressuring him until the end, Vettel braked too much and slid in the last lap, giving Button just the opening he needed to make a clean overtake and that was that. Button first, followed by Vettel in second place.
Even after this eventful weekend and Vettel’s loss. He still remains the leader in the Driver’s Championship standings, with 161 points. Followed by Button with 101 points and Mark Webber with 94 points. Michael Schumacher’s fourth place finish in Canada gives him 12 points, putting him in an overall 9th place with 26 points. Jaime Alguersuari gets his first points of the season in Canada.
For the Constructors’ Championship standings, Red Bull rakes in the points with a 2-3 finish in Canada, giving them a total of 255 points. McLaren is inching up, with 186 points, but still with a 69 point differential with Red Bull. Third place is Ferrari with 101 points. All teams beyond that are pretty much out of contention. Three teams still have zero points: Lotus, Virgin and HRT-Cosworth.
Full Race Results
- Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 4:404:39.537s
- Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing-Renault) +2.709s
- Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) +13.828s
- Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) +14.219s
- Vitaly Petrov (Renault) +20.395s
- Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +33.225s
- Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari) +33.270s
- Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +35.964s
- Rubens Barrichello (Williams-Cosworth) +45.117s
- Sebastian Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +47.056s
- Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) +50.454s
- Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber-Ferrari) +1:03.607s
- Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT-Cosworth) +1 lap
- Jerome d’Ambrosio (Virgin-Cosworth) +1 lap
- Timo Glock (Virgin-Cosworth) +1 lap
- Jarno Trulli (Lotus-Renault) +1 lap
- Narain Karthikeyan (HRT-Cosworth) +1 lap
- Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) retired, lap 67
Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Cosworth) retired, lap 61
Nick Heidfeld (Renault) retired, lap 55
Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) retired, lap 49
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) retired, lap 49
Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus-Renault) retired, lap 28
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) retired, lap 7