The Canadian Grand Prix was one of four current Formula One races that Sebastian Vettel had not won. The German driver laid that ghost to rest in emphatic style, completely dominating in Montreal from lights-out to chequered flag.
He finished over 14 seconds clear of Fernando Alonsos Ferrari, who rose from sixth on the grid to second, having deposed Lewis Hamilton in the last ten laps. Having started second, Hamilton had to settle for third, his third such finish for Mercedes this season.
Starting from pole, Vettel comfortably held off Hamilton into Turn One, and instantly set about building a lead. By lap 17, when he made his first pit stop, he was seven seconds clear of the field. But it was in the second stint he really pushed on: by lap 30 he had 19 seconds in hand and was cruising.
In fact, the greatest danger to Vettel seemed to be lapses of concentration. He first brushed a wall and then, on lap 52, lost control at the first chicane and was forced to cut the corner. Both times he escaped unharmed and thereafter looked entirely untroubled.
I was able to build a gap and then kept that gap basically the whole race. At some stages we had a full pitstop on hand and its a little bit easier then to control the race, he said afterwards. I had a very good start, which was important, and then I was able to really go with the car. I was able to build a gap and then kept that gap through the race. A very important race for us to win. Finally we get it off the list. Very proud of that.
The victory in Montreal now leaves Vettel lacking only wins at his home race in Germany, at the Hungaroring and in Austin.
For Alonso, the race was rather less sedate. He moved up from sixth to fifth on the first lap, passing the free-falling Williams of Valtteri Bottas. After that it was a gritty race as he attacked Mark Webbers Red Bull and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Webber and Alonso both passed Rosberg and, mid-race, Webber reeled off a string of fast laps and looked set to challenge Hamilton ahead. Instead he was hit by the Caterham of backmarker Giedo van der Garde, damaging his front wing. He lost sufficient pace for Alonso to close in and take the position.
The Spaniard then hunted down Hamilton. The Mercedes driver defended stoutly for half a dozen laps but eventually succumbed on lap 63 to the quicker Ferrari.
At the end I think the second place has a victory taste because we scored some good points after a very difficult weekend, said Alonso.
Behind the top four, Nico Rosberg drove a subdued race to fifth for Mercedes, the last car not to be lapped by the leader. Jean-Eric Vergne circulated on his own for most of the race, bringing his Toro Rosso home a career-best sixth.
Paul di Resta was busy: having started 17th, Force India ran him on a one-stop strategy, which paid off handsomely with seventh position. He was chased over the line by Felipe Massa, who had started 16th for Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen took ninth for Lotus, equaling Michael Schumachers record of 24 consecutive points finishes, and the final point went to Adrian Sutil, who would have finished higher but for a late drive-through penalty, incurred for ignoring blue flags.
Vettel moves on to 132 points in the Drivers Championship, with Alonso now his closest rival on 96 points. In the Constructors table, Red Bull likewise strengthened their position, going 56 points clear of Ferrari with 201.
2013 Canadian Grand Prix
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 25pts2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +14.4 secs 18 pts3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +15.9 secs 15 pts4 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing +25.7 secs 12 pts5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +69.7 secs 10 pts6 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso +1 Lap 8 pts7 Paul di Resta Force India +1 Lap 6 pts8 Felipe Massa Ferrari +1 Lap 4 pts9 Kimi Rikknen Lotus +1 Lap 2 pts10 Adrian Sutil Force India +1 Lap 1 pts11 Sergio Prez McLaren +1 Lap12 Jenson Button McLaren +1 Lap13 Romain Grosjean Lotus +1 Lap14 Valtteri Bottas Williams +1 Lap15 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso +2 Laps16 Pastor Maldonado Williams +2 Laps17 Jules Bianchi Marussia +2 Laps18 Charles Pic Caterham +3 Laps19 Max Chilton Marussia +3 Laps20 Esteban Gutirrez Sauber +7 Laps
Ret Nico Hlkenberg Sauber +25 LapsRet Giedo van der Garde Caterham +27 Laps
Pos Driver Team
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2. Alonso Ferrari 3. Hamilton Mercedes 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault 5. Rosberg Mercedes 6. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes 8. Massa Ferrari 9. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 10 Sutil Force India-Mercedes 11 Perez McLaren-Mercedes 12 Button McLaren-Mercedes 13 Grosjean Lotus-Renault 14 Bottas Williams-Renault 15 Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 16 Maldonado Williams-Renault 17 Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 18 Pic Caterham-Renault 19 Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 20 Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari
Fastest lap: Webber, 1:16.182
DNF
Driver Team
Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari
van der Garde Caterham-Renault
Drivers' World Championship1. Vettel 132 2. Alonso 96 3. Raikkonen 88 4. Hamilton 77 5. Webber 69 6. Rosberg 57 7. Massa 49 8. Di Resta 34 9. Grosjean 26 10 Button 25 11 Sutil 17 12 Vergne 13 13 Perez 12 14 Ricciardo 7 15 Hulkenberg 5
Constructors' World Championship1. Red Bull-Renault 2012. Ferrari 1453. Mercedes 1344. Lotus-Renault 1145. Force India-Mercedes 516. McLaren-Mercedes 377. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 20
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