McLaren's Lewis Hamilton has become the seventh winner of a Formula 1 Grand Prix this year, taking out a thrilling Canadian Grand Prix.
The former world champion took his first win of 2012 using a two-stop strategy, passing one-stopping rival Fernando Alonso in the closing laps.
Hamilton's Canadian Grand Prix win is his third at the Circuit Gilles Villenueve and vaults him to the top of the world championship table.
Lotus driver Romain Grosjean and Sauber's Sergio Perez finished second and third and were the best of the one-stop drivers. The duo nursed their tyres to make a one-stop strategy pay dividends, passing the fading Alonso in the closing laps who eventually slipped down to fifth.
Red Bull's pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel took fourth place. The German led the opening stint but was passed by Hamilton and Alonso during the first pit stops. Vettel abandoned his one-stop attempt, making a late tyre change and was the last driver to get past the fading Alonso.
In sixth was Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg ahead Red Bull's Mark Webber, who both used a two-stop strategy.
Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus, Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber and Felipe Massa's Ferrari completed the top 10. Massa's position was compromised when he spun from fifth place, dropping seven places.
Race result
Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Pts |
1 | 4 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 70 | Winner | 2 | 25 |
2 | 10 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 70 | +2.5 secs | 7 | 18 |
3 | 15 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 70 | +5.2 secs | 15 | 15 |
4 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 70 | +7.2 secs | 1 | 12 |
5 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 70 | +13.4 secs | 3 | 10 |
6 | 8 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 70 | +13.8 secs | 5 | 8 |
7 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 70 | +15.0 secs | 4 | 6 |
8 | 9 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 70 | +15.5 secs | 12 | 4 |
9 | 14 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 70 | +24.4 secs | 11 | 2 |
10 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 70 | +25.2 secs | 6 | 1 |
11 | 11 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 70 | +37.6 secs | 8 | |
12 | 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 70 | +46.2 secs | 13 | |
13 | 18 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 70 | +47.0 secs | 22 | |
14 | 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 70 | +64.4 secs | 14 | |
15 | 17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 69 | +1 Lap | 19 | |
16 | 3 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 69 | +1 Lap | 10 | |
17 | 19 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 69 | +1 Lap | 16 | |
18 | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 69 | +1 Lap | 17 | |
19 | 21 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 69 | +1 Lap | 18 | |
20 | 25 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 67 | +3 Laps | 23 | |
Ret | 24 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 56 | +14 Laps | 21 | |
Ret | 7 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 43 | Rear wing | 9 | |
Ret | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 24 | +46 Laps | 20 | |
Ret | 23 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 22 | +48 Laps | 24 |
Note – Maldonado qualified 17th, but dropped five grid places as penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.
Championship standings
Pos | Driver | Nationality | Team | Points |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | British | McLaren-Mercedes | 88 |
2 | Fernando Alonso | Spanish | Ferrari | 86 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | German | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 85 |
4 | Mark Webber | Australian | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 79 |
5 | Nico Rosberg | German | Mercedes | 67 |
6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Finnish | Lotus-Renault | 55 |
7 | Romain Grosjean | French | Lotus-Renault | 53 |
8 | Jenson Button | British | McLaren-Mercedes | 45 |
9 | Sergio Perez | Mexican | Sauber-Ferrari | 37 |
10 | Pastor Maldonado | Venezuelan | Williams-Renault | 29 |
11 | Kamui Kobayashi | Japanese | Sauber-Ferrari | 21 |
12 | Paul di Resta | British | Force India-Mercedes | 21 |
13 | Bruno Senna | Brazilian | Williams-Renault | 15 |
14 | Felipe Massa | Brazilian | Ferrari | 11 |
15 | Nico Hulkenberg | German | Force India-Mercedes | 7 |
16 | Jean-Eric Vergne | French | STR-Ferrari | 4 |
17 | Daniel Ricciardo | Australian | STR-Ferrari | 2 |
18 | Michael Schumacher | German | Mercedes | 2 |
19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Finnish | Caterham-Renault | 0 |
20 | Timo Glock | German | Marussia-Cosworth | 0 |
21 | Charles Pic | French | Marussia-Cosworth | 0 |
22 | Narain Karthikeyan | Indian | HRT-Cosworth | 0 |
23 | Vitaly Petrov | Russian | Caterham-Renault | 0 |
24 | Pedro de la Rosa | Spanish | HRT-Cosworth | 0 |