2015 F1 Round 7, Canadian Grand Prix race: Hamilton beats Rosberg as Bottas takes his first podium of the season

The Canadian Grand Prix on June 7 ran for 70 laps. Hamilton won in 1 hour, 31 minutes and 53.145 seconds, finishing 2.285 seconds ahead of Rosberg. Bottas finished third to secure Williams’ first podium of the season.

Hamilton led for most of the race after starting from pole, relinquishing the lead only briefly during his pit stop. Rosberg kept up the pressure, with the gap narrowing to around a second on several occasions, but Hamilton pulled away again over the final few laps.

Both Mercedes drivers had issues to manage: Hamilton was told to save fuel, while Rosberg had to control his front brake temperatures at one stage. Hamilton ultimately finished 40.666 seconds ahead of third-placed Bottas, with 38.381 seconds separating Rosberg and Bottas.

Räikkönen spun at the hairpin on lap 27, losing his chance to fight for a podium and eventually finishing fourth. Vettel fought his way up from a starting position near the back to finish fifth, while Massa also climbed from 15th to sixth.

Maldonado finished seventh, Hülkenberg eighth and Kvyat ninth. Grosjean made contact with Stevens near the final corner on lap 49, with both drivers pitting. The Frenchman received a five-second time penalty for the incident but still finished tenth to claim the final point.

Pérez finished 11th, Sainz 12th and Ricciardo 13th. Ericsson and Verstappen were 14th and 15th respectively, followed by Nasr in 16th and Stevens in 17th, the last driver to cross the finish line.

Both McLarens retired with exhaust system failures: Alonso completed 44 laps and Button 54. Marussia’s Merhi also failed to finish, with the classification recording 57 completed laps.

After this round, Hamilton led the drivers’ standings with 151 points to Rosberg’s 134, a gap of 17 points. With the laps he led at this race, Hamilton also surpassed Mansell to become the British driver with the most laps led in F1 history.