Ricciardo ends with Mercedes’ dominance

Daniel Ricciardo left Canada with his first F1 victory under his arm. Nico Rosberg was second and Vettel third. Hamilton retired due to brake problems. 

Daniel Ricciardo was able to fight the Mercedes and took his first victory in Formula 1 in an amazing Canadian Grand Prix. The Australian driver took profit from Nico Rosberg’s problems, who was second. Sebastian Vettel was third, this being the first time in the season that both Red Bull drivers get in the podium.

The Grand Prix began with a dramatic start as Lewis Hamilton went slightly wide in the first turn while trying to pass Nico Rosberg, so he lost his position and Vettel was second then. Safety Car would have to make his appearance as Max Chilton hit his team mate Jules Bianchi and both Marussia had to retire.

After seven laps Safety Car was in and Rosberg stayed in the lead while Hamilton was trying to overtake Vettel. After a few laps the British driver was up to second place. The Williams stayed on top 5, with Valtteri Bottas fifth and Felipe Massa sixth. Daniel Ricciardo was behind them and he was the first to made the pit stop.

After a slow tyre change, Massa lost his position with the Toro Rosso drivers and Alonso. Rosberg was the first Mercedes car to pit and on his out-lap he avoided a contact with the wall that could have ended his race.

Both Force India did a strong race with just one pit stop. Their strategy affected the 4-times-world-champion, Sebastian Vettel, who couldn’t overtake Hulkenberg. Meanwhile Massa overtook the Ferraris easily.

The positions didn’t change so much then with the second pit stop but we had seen both Mercedes with power and breaks problems, and Nico Rosberg having lost a lot of time in his tyres change with Hamilton taking the second place behind Felipe Massa. But the Briton had serious breaks problems and finally had to retire from the race.

So with 17 laps to go, Rosberg was on top followed by Pérez, Ricciardo, Vettel and Hulkenberg. The German Force India driver had a lot of pressure from Bottas who tried to overtake him, but finally was Massa who took the fifth place and started to increase his pace to catch the leader group. He catch them, but he didn’t continue advancing as fast as he should have if he wanted the victory. Ricciardo, however, was able to overtake Pérez and would eventually reach Rosberg, who didn’t take any risks defending his position knowing his teammate wouldn’t score any points.

The race ended under the Safety Car because of the accident Felipe Massa and Sergio Pérez had on the last lap. The Brazilian was trying to overtake him on the main straight, but Pérez moved slightly and they crashed heavily. Fortunately, both drivers are fine, even if they have been taken to the hospital to make sure everything’s alright.

Ricciardo has obtained his first victory and is the first non-Mercedes driver who wins a race this year. It has also been the first race of the season where a lap has been led by someone different from Hamilton and Rosberg. The German driver is now leading the Championship 22 points ahead of his teammate in Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton.

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