Canadian GP: Vettel cruises to dominant win

Sebastian Vettel stretched his Formula 1 championship lead to 36 points with a commanding victory in the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Red Bull's world champion was on a different level to his rivals throughout the race.

He converted his pole position advantage to a two-second lead over Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes by the end of lap one.

That lead built to 20s before Vettel heeded team advice to cool his pace, though along the way he still had a brush with the Turn 4 wall and a trip over the Turn 1 grass.

Vettel's victory was Red Bull's first ever in Canada, and by the end of the race he had lapped all bar the top five.

Fernando Alonso clawed his way from sixth on the grid to second for Ferrari.

In the first half of the race he joined a battle for third with Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber, having passed qualifying hero Valtteri Bottas early on. The Williams had dropped from third to fifth behind the Mercedes and Red Bull off the line.

Rosberg could not keep his tyres alive as well as those pressuring him. After some very close calls, Webber got ahead on lap 30, with Alonso following on the next straight.

Webber then seemed able to keep Alonso at bay until Giedo van der Garde turned in on him while being lapped, taking a chunk from the Red Bull's front wing.

Unsurprisingly its pace slowed and Alonso overtook Webber then set off after second-placed Hamilton.

Another long and close tussle ensued, and the pair spent much of lap 63 side by side before Alonso made it ahead.

Hamilton stayed within DRS range and tried to retaliate on the next lap, but the move failed and he had to settle for third ahead of Webber and Rosberg.

Jean-Eric Vergne drove a strong race to a career-best sixth for Toro Rosso, dropping away from the lead quintet while keeping the rest of the field covered.

Paul di Resta converted 17th on the grid to seventh, not making a pitstop until lap 57.

His Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil survived a spin while trying to pass Bottas, a punt from Pastor Maldonado, and a penalty for ignoring blue flags to take 10th.

The Force Indias were split by the battling Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.

McLaren simply did not have the pace to score, as Sergio Perez and Jenson Button struggled to 11th and 12th.

Romain Grosjean also tried a one-stop but ultimately had to pit again, dropping him from potential points to 13th.

Bottas slumped to 14th, leaving Williams still without points this season.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Canadian Grand Prix
Montreal, Canada;
70 laps; 305.270km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver                Team                   Time/Gap
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1h32m09.143
 2.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                +   14.408s
 3.  Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes               +   15.942s
 4.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       +   25.731s
 5.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               + 1m09.725s
 6.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     +     1 lap
 7.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   +     1 lap
 8.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                +     1 lap
 9.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault          +     1 lap
10.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   +     1 lap
11.  Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes       +     1 lap
12.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       +     1 lap
13.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault          +     1 lap
14.  Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault       +     1 lap
15.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     +    2 laps
16.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault       +    2 laps
17.  Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth      +    2 laps
18.  Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault       +    2 laps
19.  Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth      +    3 laps
20.  Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari         +    7 laps

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:16.182

Not classified/retirements:

Driver                Team                         On lap
Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari                45
Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault              43

World Championship standings, round 7:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel        132        1.  Red Bull-Renault          201
 2.  Alonso         96        2.  Ferrari                   145
 3.  Raikkonen      88        3.  Mercedes                  134
 4.  Hamilton       77        4.  Lotus-Renault             114
 5.  Webber         69        5.  Force India-Mercedes       51
 6.  Rosberg        57        6.  McLaren-Mercedes           37
 7.  Massa          49        7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         20
 8.  Di Resta       34        8.  Sauber-Ferrari              5
 9.  Grosjean       26       
10.  Button         25       
11.  Sutil          17       
12.  Vergne         13       
13.  Perez          12       
14.  Ricciardo       7       
15.  Hulkenberg      5       
       
All timing unofficial