The Formula One Canadian Grand Prix had everything a race could possibly offer: tremendous speed, clever strategy, plenty of passing, and underdogs on the podium after an unpredictable finish.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton earned his first win of the 2012 season with an inspired drive. He conserved his tires better than the maestro, Sebastian Vettel, in the first stint, and drove faster than everyone on the track for his second and most of his third stints.
On the way to winning Hamilton passed both Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, both two-time world champions. Vettel and Alonso both tried to finish the race with one pit stop and two sets of tires, while McLaren gambled that Hamilton could make up enough time on fresh tires to allow a third stop.
McLaren’s strategy proved correct, but not by a lot. Hamilton finished only 2.5 seconds ahead of the Lotus of Romain Grosjean, who was also on a one-stop strategy. Grosjean crossed the line 2.7 seconds ahead of Sauber’s Sergio Perez, who also pitted only once.
For both these drivers, Canada marked their second F1 podium finishes. Perez scored second in Malaysia, and Grosjean finished third at Bahrain. Stars of the near future, it would seem.
