Hemilton won Canadian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton’s triumph at the Turkish Grand Prix earlier this year was somewhat inconclusive keeping in view the mouthwatering opportunities unleashed by a sensational scramble between Red Bull teammates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Yet the results at the recent Canadian event were far more decisive and the Red Bull men were upstaged convincingly by both McLaren and Ferrari. As the 2010 race calendar hastily progresses to the mid-season mark, the year’s title race could not have been tighter. With McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, his teammate Jenson Button and Red Bull’s Mark Webber, leading the way with only six points between them and with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel also not far behind in the chase.

Fernando Alonso put Ferrari back in the title contention with a stunning performance that saw him end third behind McLaren duo, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, who managed to take the first and second positions respectively. It was an astonishing comeback for the Spaniard, who could not manage any better than the 8^th spot at the Turkish event earlier in the year. Both Alonso and teammate Felipe Massa were held back by the McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes men who battled it out to deny Ferrari the top five spots at Istanbul Park. In a post- match press conference, the 2005 and 2006 world champion Alonso cautioned competitors not to underestimate the Ferrari threat, asserting that the 2010 Canadian victory could very possibly have been his.

Alonso’s teammate, the Brazilian Felipe Massa was not so fortune however, and produced a disheartening run at Montreal before finishing an unspectacular 15^th. Massa aptly described his show as “horrible”, a drama-filled display, where the Brazilian overcame an unfortunate altercation with Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi, at the initial turn before subsequently impairing his F10 machine’s nose in a battle with Michael Schumacher for the 9^th spot.

Red Bull duo, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber ended 4^th and 5^th respectively in a race that did not produce much luck for the Austrian-based team. Vettel’s campaign was thwarted by a gear-box complication later in the race and the German had to gratify himself with a four place finish behind Alonso. His teammate, Webber, slid down the world championship rankings down to the third position from the first, after temporarily taking the second spot from a seventh place start midway through the race before a pit stop delay condemned him to the fifth position.

The Mercedes team also did not particularly dazzle in a venturesome run that saw Michael Schumacher plummet down from the third spot during the 11^th lap to an unimpressive eleventh finish. In a drama-filled display, the German got himself embroiled in a series of clashes involving Felipe Massa and Tonio Liuzzi before Adrian Sutil snatched the 10^th spot from beneath his nose, during the dying stages of the race. However, Schumacher was lucky to escape any punishment for his part in the mishaps.

Meanwhile, the German’s teammate Nico Rosberg produced a concrete display that eventually netted him the 6^th spot. Rosberg suffered heavily after getting caught in the rubble occasioned by a brouhaha, that occurred around the first corner but the Mercedes man did not stumble thereafter and recouped his pace to clinch 8 meaningful points for his team.

Renault enjoyed mixed fortunes as Robert Kubica managed the 8^th position to clinch six meaningful points. However, it was a hard fought reward for the Pole whose run was plagued by considerable rear tire damage and some grueling challenges from both Michael Schumacher and Adrian Sutil.

Toro Rosso men, Sebastian Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari clinched the 8^th and 12^th positions respectively in a show that saw Buemi notch four well-earned points. The Swiss star spectacularly weaved his way through the first corner turmoil and remarkably overtook Michael Schumacher on one occasion in the relentless pursuit for points, despite suffering from a broken exhaust pipe midway through the race.