Welcome back to Speed, our weekly programme dedicated to the world of motorsport. Merecedes are clearly the team to beat this season as both of
ADVERTISEMENTWelcome back to Speed, our weekly programme dedicated to the world of motorsport. Merecedes are clearly the team to beat this season as both of their drivers have been in great form with six podium finishes out of six races. Let’s see how they got on in Canada.
Hamilton clinches Canadian Grand Prix
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton held his nerve to claim the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 30-year-old took full advantage of his pole position, leading team-mate Nico Rosberg in yet another impressive Mercedes one-two.
Valterri Bottas completed the podium, 40.6 seconds adrift while Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Brazil’s Felipe Massa battled from a lowly grid position for sixth ahead of Pastor Maldonado, who completed his first race of the season in seventh for Lotus.
The victory was Hamilton’s fourth of the season, as he extended his lead over Rosberg at the top of the overall standings to 17 points.
Jean Alesi shines in Canada
The Canadian Grand Prix is one of the most unpredictable events on the Formula One calendar. Belgium’s Thierry Boutsen and Robert Kubica of Poland secured surprising wins in 1989 and 2008 respectively but the 1995 race produced the biggest shock.
When Jean Alesi joined Ferrari in 1991, many believed the Frenchman would dominate the field and secure a few world championship titles. As it turned out he would only win one grand prix, and he did it in Canada 4 years later. It was his 31st birthday, and one he will never forget.
Qualifying fifth, Alesi’s road to victory was aided by some good luck. David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen and Johnny Herbert all crashed on lap one while Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher both ran into trouble with only a few laps remaining
Alesi eventually took the chequered flag ahead of Jordan teammates – and future Ferrari drivers – Rubens Barrichello and Eddie Irvine while Olivier Panis just missed out on a podium finish.
Alesi ended his career with Jordan in 2001.
Nelson Piquet Jr extends Formula E championship lead
Brazil’s Nelson Piquet Jr. triumphed in Moscow to stretch his Formula E championship lead with one event remaining.
The 29-year-old capitalised on a slow start from polesitter Jean-Eric Vergne to move into the lead and never looked back, en route to a convincing win in the Russian capital.
Lucas di Grassi of Brazil overcame an overheating battery to come home second ahead of Switzerland’s Sebastien Buemi who was stripped of his third-place finish after an unsafe release
Piquet Jr now holds a 17 point lead going into the final race, which gets underway in London on June 27.
ADVERTISEMENTThe X-Games
See you on June 7 for another edition of Speed where we will be looking at the Catalunya MotoGP. In the meantime, we end the programme with some of the best moments from the X-Games with motocross rider Nate Adams proving too strong for his opponents in Austin.