Canadian GP driver ratings

Title rivals unite in display of excellence as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel produce the outstanding displays in Montreal...

By James Galloway and Pete Gill

It doesn't get much better than that for Lewis Hamilton. Pole position, race win, fastest lap and the lead of all 70 laps notched up the fourth 'Grand Slam' of his career - and second of the season - to get back within striking distance of Sebastian Vettel in what the Mercedes driver is describing as the toughest title chase of his career.

Toto Wolff, who has often said Hamilton is unbeatable when at his best, told Sky F1 after the race the triple champion was "worth every cent" of his bumper Mercedes contract and Montreal certainly righted the tyre-triggered wrongs of Sochi and Monaco. And justifiably, after struggling so badly in the Principality last time out, Hamilton also praised Mercedes' forensic round-the-clock work to understand their tyre problems and get the W08 back in race-winning shape.

Vettel still holds a handy 12-point advantage, but such is the compelling narrative of this season that you wouldn't like to predict who will eventually emerge on top.
Rating out of ten: 10

While Canada accounted for Mercedes' first one-two finish of the season, Valtteri Bottas' joy would have been strictly rationed. While there was some mitigation in the form of traffic and strategy - Bottas put on the softs for his second stint while Hamilton used the supersofts - the 20-second deficit to his team-mate when he crossed the finishing line was a chasm.

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Qualifying was equally concerning: Bottas was seven-tenths behind Hamilton in Saturday's shoot-out. Has Mercedes' improved understanding of the W08 unlocked the car's potential at Hamilton's advantage over his team-mate?
Rating out of ten: 7

Three third-place finishes on the spin now for Daniel Ricciardo, who took advantage of the misfortune of other front-running rivals and then expertly handled a "race of defence" to hold off the marauding Force Indias and then, as the chequered flag neared, the flying Vettel.

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Had team-mate Max Verstappen's Renault power unit not given up on the Dutchman then it's unlikely Ricciardo would have made the podium, particular as the younger of Red Bull's drivers had held a slight edge on pace up until race day. But, after a disrupted Friday, Ricciardo took his chance and then resolutely held on to that final podium spot.

And, just who else could have got Sir Patrick Stewart to do a 'Shoey?'
Rating out of ten: 8

If we were being harsh, we might argue that Sebastian Vettel was the architect of his own problems in Canada. First there was his failure to live with Hamilton in qualifying and then there was a rather cautious entry into the first corner, offering just a hint of an opportunity to Max Verstappen which the Red Bull bludgeoned into the start of the season at the expense of the Ferrari's front-wing.

But it's what Vettel did over the final few laps, rescuing fourth position and a successful damage-limitation operation, which deserves focus. And in particular, there was that oh-so-risky move on Ocon into the first corner, so deep it required a fracking permit, startling the youngster off track and within a whisker of sliding ruinously into Perez.

Stop for a moment. Remember all those times all through Vettel's era of domination when it was said he couldn't overtake? Debate over.
Rating out of ten: 9

Pushed all the way by his team-mate in Montreal, Sergio Perez's most impressive moment of the weekend just might have been the way he calmly negotiated his way out of the 'place swap' with Esteban Ocon which had been floated by the Force India pit wall. After the race, Perez made the case that, given he had followed Ricciardo's Red Bull to no avail for most of the race, Ocon wouldn't have fared any better in the same car.

It's a rather subjective view, particularly as Ocon had fresher tyres, but Perez stood his ground - on both the radio and the track - and although both Force Indias were overhauled by Vettel in the end, fifth was still a very decent result.
Rating out of ten: 8

Let's be blunt about it: Esteban Ocon finished sixth in Montreal when he probably should have finished third and at least fourth. It was a good result when it could have been season-defining.

While Force India excelled in the immediate aftermath of the race by quelling the story with a masterclass of diplomacy, Vijay Mallya's late-night tweet that "I will specify guidelines" was tacit confirmation that this was a big opportunity missed.

And a question for Ocon: could, and should, he have done more to force the issue?
Rating out of ten: 8

No Monaco-style heartache, but Montreal still wasn't a weekend to remember for Kimi Raikkonen. Like Bottas at Mercedes, Raikkonen was left standing by his championship-contending team-mate in the battle for pole in Q3 and then his race was compromised by a bruising first lap when he dropped down between the Force Indias.

A switch to a two-stopper improved the situation and Raikkonen was lining up as the first Ferrari to attack the Ricciardo-Perez-Ocon train. But brake problems intervened, then got worse, and in the end just finishing seventh was an effort.
Rating out of ten: 6

It's too easy to overlook what a solid job Nico Hulkenberg is doing for Renault this term. The German has scored all 18 of the team's points so far, with another four banked in Montreal, and has out-qualified Jolyon Palmer in every event so far. Where would they be without him?
Rating out of ten: 8

Would Lance Stroll be able to handle the pressure of his maiden home grand prix? Ninth place and his first two F1 points would suggest the 18-year-old did just that, particularly as he had to come through from 17th on the grid.

"There was always something happening every lap and that's what was so much fun about today, it was really a proper race," said a beaming Canadian afterwards, with his overtaking skills put to the test throughout the race.

Now holding the distinction of being the country's first driver since Villeneuve to score a Grand Prix point, Stroll finally has some stronger foundations to build his rookie season on.
Rating out of ten: 8.5

Unfortunately for Romain Grosjean, hardly anyone will recall his point-scoring result in Canada. Instead, the dominant memory will be his radio meltdown during Friday Practice when the Frenchman lost his cool and let his Haas team know all about it.

It shouldn't be difficult to talk about Grosjean being a potential contender for a 2018 seat at Ferrari or McLaren. Unfortunately for Romain, it's moments like these, and the inevitable reputation which follows, when his complaining drowns out all other views, which make it all-but impossible sometimes.
Rating out of ten: 7

There are signs that Jolyon Palmer's 2017 is slowly starting to turn a corner, particularly on race day, but back-to-back 11th-place finishes mean he isn't quite managing to translate that into points just yet.

A sudden lack of grip in Q2 on Saturday left him 0.8s behind team-mate Hulkenberg, when he had been under 0.2s adrift in Q1, and then on Sunday he was tucked up behind Grosjean from lap 17 onwards. Finishing one second away from the final point at the flag was little consolation. The head-to-head with Hulkenberg still doesn't make comfortable reading for the Englishman.
Rating out of ten: 6

The slightest misjudgement was Kevin Magnussen's critical undoing in Canada when the Haas driver overtook Stoffel Vandoorne no more than a yard before the Safety Car line. There was barely a blink of the eye in it, but the rules - rightly - offer no room for manoeuvre or mitigation, and the Dane's subsequent punishment robbed him of a potential points finish. He can have no complaints.
Rating out of ten: 5

With Pascal Wehrlein's Canadian GP heavily compromised from the moment he crashed out of qualifying, Marcus Ericsson was Sauber's lead runner and the Swede even beat the McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne on Sunday.

Not that either driver or team exactly felt euphoric about that. "It has been a tough weekend, but I got the maximum out of the car in the race," said Ericsson after coming home 13th.
Rating out of ten: 7

Stoffel Vandoorne is in danger of becoming the 'other driver' at McLaren. Totally eclipsed by the burning intensity of his team-mate, Vandoorne has been in the shadow of Fernando Alonso all season long and Canada offered no deviation from type as the youngster struggled to keep pace with the Spaniard on race day having been out-qualified by four positions the day before.
Rating out of ten: 5

Pascal Wehrlein has now had three big crashes in the first six months of 2017 and his Saturday meeting with the Turn One tyre barriers not only wrote off large parts of his Sauber car, it also effectively wrote off his weekend. Starting from the pitlane after chassis repairs, the Sauber driver struggled for grip and was the only car lapped twice.
Rating out of ten: 4

Did not finish

Fernando Alonso's weekend in Canada was so familiar that it could have been a cliché.

The embarrassing car failure in practice? Check. The inspired drive in qualifying, out-performing a car which was the slowest of all through the speed traps? Check. A raging bull of a performance on race day, complete with soundbite-laden radio messages dripping with scorn and sarcasm? Check. An engine failure near the end of the race to deny a points finish? Check. A public relations masterclass afterwards to earn even more fans? Check.

A driver absolutely at the end of his tether? Check.
Rating out of ten: 9

If Daniil Kvyat was a footballer, he'd certainly find himself in trouble for his "stupid circus" remark aimed at the stewards after Sunday's race, having already turned the airwaves blue several times on the radio during a Canadian GP which clearly strained his patience levels. The Russian's double penalty for retaking his grid position too late on the formation lap was certainly odd, as was the botched pitstop after his 10s-stop-and-go penalty which ultimately scuppered his hopes of a point or two.
Rating out of ten: 6

Maximum attack from Max Verstappen into the first corner and then the absolute minimum to show for his brilliance when the battery failed on his Red Bull.
Rating out of ten: 8

Comfortably 'best of the rest' in qualifying, but there wasn't anything comfortable for Felipe Massa about Carlos Sainz's out-of-control Toro Rosso when it abruptly knocked him out of Sunday's race after three corners. A poor start meant the Williams ended up in range of the spinning Sainz, but Massa could never have never expected that.
Rating out of ten: 7.5

For all his well-deserved plaudits, Carlos Sainz has now been found at fault for two not insignificant crashes in 2017 with a pair of costly three-place grid penalties the result. But still only 22, the Spaniard is obviously not the finished product yet and, wise enough to issue a public apology to Grosjean and Massa, he's managed to diffuse any tension heading to Baku.
Rating out of ten: 5

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