Canadian Grand Prix 2014: Daniel Ricciardo wins a thriller; Sebastian Vettel gets on the podium

Daniel Ricciardo

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo came from sixth on the starting grid to first at the chequered flag as he secured his maiden Grand Prix win in Canada.Going by the look of the first six races of the season, everyone presumed that Mercedes was going to be in a league of their own, especially on a track which gives emphasis on horsepower. However, at half distance, both Mercedes drivers reported loss of power, after a failure of control electronics meant that neither of the cars were able to harvest any energy from their ERS. This consequently led to brake problems for both Mercedes drivers and Lewis Hamilton fell prey of this issue, retiring for the second time this season. Meanwhile, Rosberg continued despite similar problems with his car and finished second, increasing his lead in the drivers standings to 22 points.Daniel Ricciardo didn’t mind Mercedes’ problems as he happily took the lead with just three laps to go. For the Australian, the race was won when he jumped teammate Sebastian Vettel during the second round of pit stops. This allowed him to overtake the ailing Force India of Sergio Perez and eventually pass Rosberg for the lead.

Sebastian Vettel, in the other Red Bull, finished third, taking his second podium of the season. The German narrowly avoided the Williams of Felipe Massa after the Brazilian was indulged in an horrifying accident with Sergio Perez on the run down to turn 1. Both the drivers were okay despite the severity of the incident and were taken to the circuit medical centre, and then a reserved hospital for precautionary checks.

Jenson Button’s fourth place result went largely unnoticed. Nevertheless, it was a good result for the Brit who seemed encouraged with McLaren’s progress. The team will bring further updates to Austrian Grand Prix in a fortnight’s time.One team which brought major updates to this race was Ferrari. However, despite all the drama, Fernando Alonso could only manage fifth place while Kimi Raikkonen, who had his own problems, finished 10th.It was a disappointing afternoon for Williams, who were hopeful of a podium finish after a strong showing on Saturday. However, Massa retired on the last lap of the race and Bottas, the sole running Williams at the chequered flag, finished seventh.

In stark contrast, Jean Eric Vergne had the best race of his career. He finished in eighth place.

Ninth place went to the second McLaren of Kevin Magnussen, while Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari rounded up the top 10.

Adrian Sutil in the Sauber finished 13^th, the last of the classified finishers. The Marussias of Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi were engaged in a first lap collision which brought a premature end to their race.

The race also marked the end of Chilton’s race finishing streak. The FIA also deemed him responsible for the collision and the Brit will carry a three place penalty to Austria.