Button snaps up F1 win after Vettel’s mistake

Button snaps up F1 win after Vettel’s mistake

While it took what felt like forever and fans were likely soaked to the bone when it was finally done, Montreal’s rain-soaked Formula One racedelivered a result the series needed.

After five wins in the first six races, having anyone other than reigning champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull on the top step of the podium in Montreal was something that many in the paddock and in the stands hoped to see.

While it took what felt like forever and fans were likely soaked to the bone when it was finally done, Montreal’s rain-soaked Formula One racedelivered a result the series needed.

After five wins in the first six races, having anyone other than reigning champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull on the top step of the podium in Montreal was something that many in the paddock and in the stands hoped to see.

In the end, Vettel and Red Bull beat themselves rather than another team stepping up and making them honest. After the race, the young German admitted that he should have pushed much harder after the final safety car period late in the race and try to build a bigger gap from the pack. That way, he suggested, the mistake would not have been so costly.

“I was building up something like a four-second lead and then I thought that the people behind would run a similar pace, so I wasn’t trying to pull away too much because I don’t know what might happen afterwards with tires or another safety car phase. I was probably a bit too cautious there. If I would have pulled away by six or seven seconds, then it would have been a different story.”

Judging from Vettel’s body language in the post-race press conference, he wasn’t exactly pleased with his strategic or driving mistakes and is unlikely to make one again.

And that too isn’t great news.

While the stewards were busy handing out several penalties during Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix, the strangest ruling of the weekend came following qualifying when Jerome d’Ambrosio failed to post a time within 107 per cent of the best effort in the first session. Under the F1 rules, any driver not meeting this standard is not allowed to start the race.

Instead, the stewards decided to allow the Virgin driver in the field because he was forced to qualify with a spare car that was not completely set up for him due to a hard crash in the final practice session. So, in essence he was given a free pass into the race because he made a massive mistake and wrote off his car. Go figure.