Hamilton takes title lead as seventh winner of 2012

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton took the lead of the world championship on Sunday by winning his first race of the 2012 season in Canada.

The Briton becomes the seventh different winner of the year after the opening seven grands prix, and pulls two points clear of former championship leader Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton won with a two-stop strategy, so therefore had to pass one-stoppers Sebastian Vettel and Alonso with mere laps to the checkered flag.

But until then, the 2008 world champion wondered whether McLaren had made another team blunder.

"Are you sure they (Vettel and Alonso) are not trying a one-stop?" Hamilton asked his engineer on the radio.

"We're sure, Lewis," came the reply.

Ultimately, McLaren was wrong about Red Bull and Ferrari's plans, but the two-stop turned out as superior.

"It was a big mistake by Ferrari not to stop more than once. A big mistake," said Jaime Alguersuari on British radio.

But Lotus' Romain Grosjean and Sauber's Sergio Perez made their one-stoppers work, easily passing the struggling Alonso – and also beating pole sitter Vettel – in the closing stages to lock out the podium.

Hamilton became the seventh different winner for the first seven races of the 2012 season. Hamilton now leads the championship with 88 points, ahead of Alonso (86) and Vettel (85). Grosjean's second place is his career best, after finishing third in Bahrain.

QUOTES

Red Bull-Renault

Sebastian Vettel (4th): "It was a difficult race today. We found ourselves in third place, quite far away from Lewis. He decided to box again, but Fernando and I took the decision to stay out. I felt pretty comfortable on the tires and obviously we were hoping to get the place back, but as it turned out it was the right thing to go for the second stop. We decided a few laps from the end to do a pit stop ‚ a stop here is not so long, about 15 seconds ‚ and in the end it was the right decision. Before the stop we were three four seconds behind Fernando, but we ended up six seconds ahead of him. It was a good call considering what you can lose with only eight laps to go. It's easy now to analyze and know everything, but I think we learned a lot today and we've seen that races can be interesting until the very last lap. All in all it was a good weekend. We had a very smooth run up to qualifying and a very good qualifying in the race we maybe lost some of that edge, but we were there or thereabouts. We have another winner today also, I think Lewis deserved to win today, no doubt, but we have learned more and will make step forward in Valencia."

Mark Webber (7th): "I knew it was going to be mixed up today, but not that mixed up. In the first ten laps, we had a small issue with the engine which we had to manage, but then I settled into the pace. We pitted and came out behind the one stoppers. It's hard to get it right here if you push to try and pass you kill the tires but if you wait, then you find you're on the same strategy and finish behind them anyway. I think ultimately we were quick at times today and it's good that we finished in the points. With hindsight we could have done a different strategy, but it's easy to say that now and I've had worst days than today."

Christian Horner, Sporting Director: "A tricky race. Having been in the lead at the start, it was obvious early on that we were a little bit harder on the tires, which necessitated Sebastian to pit earlier than we wanted. That permitted Hamilton and Alonso to get the jump on us. Then there was a dilemma as to whether we do a one or two stop race. We were going well on the tires and at that stage it seemed our best option was to do a one stop. But then the tires really started to go away from us, so we made a late call to go on to the super soft tires, which enabled us to get back up to fourth position, behind the one-stopping Grosjean and Perez. With Mark, again we were running okay early on. He had an engine hesitation in the first few laps, but then he settled into a good rhythm. Again we were heavy on the tires towards the end of the stints and it was clearer with Mark to go to a two stop earlier, but unfortunately the one stoppers managed to get ahead. So, a tactical race, a tricky race, but nonetheless we have still managed to salvage respectable points today."

Cyril Dumont, Renault: "It was a shame today, to start on pole and finish fourth and seventh is not the best, but will work to understand it. It's always easy to see what we could have done with strategy after the event. Engine-wise we did what we could to get the most power and best usage out of the engines for this race, but it was not enough today."

McLaren-Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton (1st): "It's a phenomenal sensation to come back to Canada and put on a performance like we did today. This win feels as good as my first Formula 1 victory back in 2007. In fact I'd say it's one of the best races I've had for a very long time. I feel fantastic, to be honest. Just brilliant. I could hardly believe it when I was driving across the line. That emotion inside, it's like an explosion. It's really just incredible. It's what I love best about motor racing. I always knew today's race was going to be incredibly tough. So, in the first stint, I was really pleased that I could keep up with Seb [Vettel], and at that point I already felt sure I'd be involved the fight for victory. Our strategy was always for a two-stopper: we knew it was going to be the fastest way to get to the finish. I looked after my tires really well today, and I used them knowing we were going to two-stop. I had 100 per cent control and understanding of what was happening in the race ‚Air it was one of our best races for that. I told my race engineer, Andy [Latham], to keep the information flowing, and he was fantastic today. I always knew where I was losing or gaining time, which really helped. Every win is different. Every victory is new, special and fresh. And to see the team all wearing their Vodafone 'rocket red' victory T-shirts, knowing the guys back at the factory are doing the same, makes everything feel even more special. Finally, the support from the fans has been amazing this victory is dedicated to them. I'm so grateful to be here today."

Jenson Button (16th): For me, though, I didn't find the speed today, and I couldn't seem to look after the tires. Generally, the past few Grand Prix weekends haven't been great for me. But every time you make changes to the car, you're hopeful that it's going to go well and give you an improvement, so hopefully we'll be able to solve it sooner rather than later."

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal: "A hat-trick of Canadian Grand Prix wins for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes [2010, 2011, 2012]! Five wins out of the past seven Canadian Grands Prix for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes [2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012]! The 13th Canadian Grand Prix win in our history more than any other team! A third Canadian Grand Prix win for Lewis [2007, 2010, 2012]! And Lewis is now leading the Drivers' World Championship! And all of that in the historic 300th Grand Prix of the McLaren-Mobil1-Mercedes-Enkei partnership! So, yes, today was a very good day. Lewis drove brilliantly. He shadowed Seb for the first dozen-or-so laps, then closed right up on him as the first pitstop window approached. When Seb took on fresh rubber on lap 16, Lewis really got the hammer down, made his stop on lap 17, and rejoined the race just ahead of Seb. Then, when Fernando [Alonso] made his pitstop, and re-emerged just ahead of Lewis, he [Lewis] showed his innate racer's instinct by passing him [Fernando] in short order and then steadily pulling away. It was a majestic performance by a master of his craft at the peak of his form. For Jenson, by contrast, today was another day on which we, his team, failed to provide him with the tools with which to do the brilliant job we all know he's capable of, and which he did so superbly here last year. He lost track time on Friday through no fault of his own, was unable to qualify as well as he would have done had he not lost that track time, and may have been further troubled today by a suspension set-up, different from Lewis's, that left him with excessive rear tire wear. We'll have to check that out. Lastly, I want to pay tribute to Akebono, whose brake calipers coped brilliantly on the circuit that by some margin poses the biggest braking challenge of the Formula 1 year."

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso (5th): "There's a certain feeling of disappointment this afternoon and there's no point denying it. It's the first weekend in which we have not got the most out of what we had, but it's also down to the fact that the level of expectation was higher thanks to the progress we have made. Let's not forget that yesterday we were fighting for pole and today, we were in the battle for the win right to the end: in Bahrain, a month and a half ago, not a year ago, we only got one driver into Q3 and we finished the race one minute off the winner. Today, we made two mistakes: we did not cover Vettel when the German stopped the second time and Felipe's spin in the early stage of the race. All things considered, the first error cost us relatively little, while the second came at a higher price, because Felipe, who nevertheless had another good weekend after the one in Monaco, had the pace to stay with the lead group. Having made this preliminary analysis we need to look at the weekend in terms of the championship. Fernando is only two points off the leader and the F2012 is back to being competitive enough to fight with the best. However it was important to score points on a track that, going into the event, was definitely not one that suited us: knowing we can count on a driver like Fernando, capable of completing a year's races all in the points is a factor that has its part to play when it comes to thinking about the title race. We must continue to push on the development to close the gap which still separates us from pole position: only when we have done this can we claim to have reached our first objective. Another theme we need to look into further is the tire degradation, which is proving to be ever more the key to this season."

Felipe Massa (10th): "Today we tried to win the race, but the gamble of only making a single stop did not pay off. When Hamilton came back into the pits for his second stop, we chose to try and play our hand: now it's easy to say that we should have made that choice too, but it would have meant we had tried nothing and we could also have lost position to Vettel. The last laps were very long indeed: the tires dropped off suddenly and I was too slow to defend myself from those coming up behind. My engineer was telling me to hold them off but there was no way I could do it. The real problem today was the tire degradation, definitely not the strategy, which at the very most cost us one place, but let's not forget that it was that very same strategy that allowed to us to get ahead of Vettel at the first stop. The car was competitive practically all race long: it wasn't the quickest because here the McLaren, as was expected, was very quick, but definitely we have made a step forward in terms of performance. We need to work out how to improve the tire degradation: it can be affected by very minor factors such as a few degrees more or less in temperature, although here maybe they had also come to the end of their life. It is not a tire world championship, but every detail must be studied to aim for victory. For the first time this year, we have not just been trying to limit the damage, in that we were actually aiming for the win. It's a positive sign and now we must confirm it at Valencia and Silverstone. We are definitely returning home with more confidence in our chances, because this was the most significant step forward we have made in terms of car development for a long time."

Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal: "I am angry with myself for the mistake at Turn 1. I lost touch with the quickest group and then my tires were vibrating too much, which meant I had to pit early. Then I tried to extend the next stint of the race as much as possible, even hoping not to stop again. Unfortunately, towards the end, I did have to make a second stop, because they were almost down to the canvas. Maybe bringing forward the final stop could have got me ahead of Kobayashi again, but it would not have changed much after that. I am disappointed, because we showed we were competitive with our main rivals: now we are there, fighting with them, which was not the case just a few races ago. Tenth place definitely does not reflect our potential. Now it is vital we continue to work in this direction: it was a weekend in which we were always fighting for the top places and we have improved in every area and that has to be a confidence boost for the rest of the season."

Pat Fry: "To finish a race struggling with the tires always hurts a bit, but for we engineers it's best to evaluate the situation with a cool head and not with the emotive images from the television in mind. Today, Hamilton was quicker and the fact we were able to pass him was down to the strategy, by trying to do something different. Furthermore, given the behavior of the tires at that moment, from a certain point onwards, we decided on going for a single stop to try and at least make it to the podium. We did not manage it, but we tried right to the very end. Maybe we could have shadowed Vettel and come into the pits when he did: that was a mistake which cost us a position, but anyway Fernando would have finished outside the top three. A shame for Felipe, because he showed a good pace: a mistake early on meant he ended up in traffic and the last of the points places is definitely not the result that was within his grasp this afternoon. We leave Montreal convinced we have made a step forward in terms of outright performance, but aware that we did not pick up what was in our reach The F2012 has improved, but it is still not enough and we will have to work a lot on understanding the tire degradation. We will head for Valencia with the aim of further improving performance and getting the most out of the potential available to us."

Mercedes GP

Nico Rosberg (6th): "Sixth place is a decent result today and it's important for both me and the team to keep scoring points for the championship and maintain our consistency. It was a mixed-up race and it was difficult to find a rhythm, particularly at the start, but by the end, the gap to the leading cars was not that big. It could have gone better this weekend, and we just need a little bit more performance to be competing at the front. However we are making good progress and increasing our understanding of the tires all the time."

Michael Schumacher (DNF, DRS): "Unfortunately, our weekend in Montreal didn't turn out trouble-free for me and a hydraulic problem with the DRS forced me to end my race early. At first, I didn't know exactly what the problem was; I overshot the corner, ran through the grass and asked myself what was going on. Then the team told me about the problem and I saw it in the mirrors. Of course it's disappointing for all of us but it's not a question of pointing fingers; stuff like this happens. I know the team are doing their best and that it probably hits them even harder than me. We'll be back on the attack in Valencia."

Ross Brawn, Team Principal: "We had a very quick car today, as Nico's performance in particular showed, but a combination of failing to achieve our potential in qualifying and a messy race cost us positions at the flag. We asked both drivers to be cautious with the super soft tires in the first five laps to ensure we didn't push them too hard, but when we gave them the go-ahead, it was clear that Nico – who was running in clean air – was extremely quick and one of the fastest cars. Michael was caught in a train of cars in the lower half of the top ten, and although we tried something different by stopping early in order to get him into clean air, it didn't quite work for us. He then suffered a hydraulic issue which left his DRS jammed open and it was not possible to fix it in race conditions. I can only apologize to Michael for a further technical failure. As for Nico, his race was running to plan and he was gaining on the leaders when he ran across Massa, who was running out of tires and defending vigorously before his final stop. This cost Nico both track position and time that proved crucial in the closing laps. Ultimately, that's part of racing, but the real lesson from today is that achieving our potential in qualifying, and running clean races, is vital for strong results."

Norbert Haug, Mercedes Motorsport Director: "It was a great, exciting race this afternoon, during which Nico was able to lap at the same speed as the leaders after a tricky opening few laps. Nico was 14 seconds behind first place at the end of the race – the same gap as we saw after 10 laps. Our team has taken an important step forward and got the most from the tires in track temperatures that exceeded 40 degrees, which was demonstrated by Nico several times setting the fastest laps of the race during his stints. We got the tire management right here, as in Monaco, and we are working hard to push this process further forward. After seven races, Nico is 21 points behind the championship leader – he has scored on average just three points fewer than leader Lewis Hamilton, which is not too big a gap. Michael was running well after his early stop until he was forced to retire with his rear wing flap stuck open. It's clear to everybody in the team that we must achieve the same levels of reliability on his car as we have with Nico, who has completed every racing lap so far this season. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes on their victory today – it was the 300th race for McLaren and Mercedes, a milestone which adds extra significance to Lewis' appearance on the top step of the podium."

Lotus-Renault

Romain Grosjean (2nd): "It's been a great day for the team. It was an incredible race and the one stop strategy worked perfectly for us. It wasn't an easy race, but we wanted to be aggressive to achieve a good result. Yesterday was a bit disappointing, but we learnt a lot from Friday to Saturday and the fruits of all these lessons were seen today. It wasn't easy to manage the second set of tires for so long, but it worked so I'll happily do that again for another result like today. It's fantastic to finish in second position on my first visit to Montreal, hopefully I will finish in first on my second time! I would like to thank the entire team for the amazing job we've done this weekend"

Kimi Raikkonen (8th): "The car was a bit better in the race than it was in qualifying. I seemed to get stuck behind people a few times. The DRS zone is not very long, and it's still a difficult battle if the car ahead of you is also using the DRS. We had a chance to do a bit better, but it didn't quite all come together today. We scored points again so that's always a good thing, especially this season. Qualifying yesterday wasn't perfect so obviously that left us with more work to do. If you start further forward it's easier to finish higher up the order. We'll try to achieve that in the next race. "

Eric Boullier, Team Principal: "Today's result is due to very good team work and keeping focused on the task at hand. The E20 was very well setup for the race, our strategies worked for both cars to finish much higher than they started and both drivers drove superbly. Romain drove an excellent race and P2 is superb for the whole team, especially everyone at Enstone who keeps pushing to develop every area of the car. We know that if we can get more in qualifying we will be able to achieve even better things in the races, so that is our task ahead."

Alan Permane, Chief Race Engineer: "Today all went very much to plan. Coming into the race we were fairly confident that we could do a one stop strategy; it would be a bit tight on the tires, but it was clear from Friday that the tires had the pace and the durability to do one stop. Today was a lot hotter, and we had a fall back of a two stop strategy, which we didn't need. Romain did everything he needed today and it's a well deserved result. For Kimi we used the opposite tire strategy from Romain by starting him on the soft tire and it worked for him to finish four places higher than he started in what was a very competitive race. It's two very solid drives we've had today so we're very happy to bounce back from Monaco in emphatic fashion. "

Riccardo Penteado, Engine Support Leader: "A fantastic double points finish for the team with a career-best result for Romain. It was not an easy race as fuel consumption was difficult to gauge on Friday, but we took a risk to go very aggressive and it was the right choice: Romain's pace in the last few laps was impressive. Congratulations to all as the result moves us ahead of Ferrari in the championship now."

Force India-Mercedes

Paul di Resta (11th): "I think we all feel a bit disappointed to miss out on points today. To qualify eighth and run as high as fifth shows we were well placed and things were running smoothly for the first few laps. Then I seemed to suffer with some high tire degradation on the super-softs so we pitted quite early, but on the soft tires we just didn't have the performance to race the cars around us and we slipped back. It's a missed opportunity but sometimes you get weekends like this. We need to go away and analyze things, lift our heads high and bounce back harder next time."

Nico Hulkenberg (12th): "Our result today is a bit disappointing. We thought we could get in the points, but every race is hard to predict this year and we were not able to deliver what we hoped for. Ultimately we didn't have enough speed today and suffered with high tire wear compared to the cars around us. We had to do a two-stop strategy while a lot of our rivals were able to stop once and they got a big benefit from that."

Dr. Vijay Mallya, Team Principal: "A hot afternoon's work and unfortunately we didn't come away with the results we wanted. The car has shown strong pace throughout the weekend, but for whatever reason we could not find the sweet spot today. It's a shame because for the first stint we looked very strong and Paul moved up to fifth place before his first stop. But we were not able to make the super-soft tires last long enough and we didn't have enough pace on the soft tires. So we leave here feeling that we didn't quite realize our potential, but determined to learn from the lessons of today before we arrive in Valencia."

Sauber-Ferrari

Sergio Perez (3rd): "When you start 15th and there is no rain or chaos you don't really expect to finish on the podium. We were quite aggressive today. The strategy and the pit stop have been very good and I was able to overtake a few cars. I saw that for me the tire degradation wasn't so bad and this allowed me to manage my pace quite well. We have a quick car but since Malaysia we have been unlucky for one reason or another, and then yesterday we had such a disappointing qualifying. Today's result is a great reward for all the guys who work hard. The last time I scored points I was also on the podium and think this is quite a nice way to do it. Also it is particularly sweet to have been at the podium ceremony here in Montreal because we are not too far from my home country and there are many Mexicans here. It is a great boost for the team and I am very pleased for everybody."

Kamui Kobayashi (9th): "My car was okay today and the team deserves the good result. For me we had planned two stops, but it turned out that one stop was possible and even quicker. I started on super soft tires and after my pit stop I did 46 laps on the set of soft tires. I had a good race pace when the tires were in good shape, but in the end it wasn't easy. However, to me the most difficult thing today was traffic and I think, under the circumstances, P9 was about the maximum possible from 11th on the grid."

Peter Sauber, Team Principal: "What an outstanding race! It's quite unbelievable that a driver starting from P15 is able to finish on the podium in a race without any special incidents. Today, Sergio delivered his masterpiece! Kamui was less lucky with his strategy, but he was also able to score points. Recently we haven't been able to exploit our full potential, but today we proved we are a great team. A big thanks to everybody who worked hard to make this possible."

Giampaolo Dall'Ara, Head of Track Engineering: "It's difficult to find the right words after this emotional finish! The race started with a bit of a question mark: How would the tires last in the hot conditions? Mostly for this reason we split the strategy for our two cars. Honestly, I thought two stops would be the way to go. Kamui was planned to have a shorter first stint than he did, but then we realized the tires were holding on well. Unfortunately he came back on the track behind Paul di Resta and lost some time there. He couldn't drive at his own pace, otherwise his result could have been better. With Sergio, who started on the harder compound, we went for a longer first stint without knowing if one stop would be enough. But then things turned out nicely, and we pitted him on lap 41. At the pit stop we managed to overtake Kimi Raikkonen, and then he was able to attack some cars in front of him who's tires were degrading. Sergio did some good overtaking, but the key really was that he was able to manage the tires very well. That's one of his skills. He drove an absolutely fantastic race which delivered the well deserved reward for the whole team."

Toro Rosso-Ferrari

Daniel Ricciardo (14th): "I finished where I started. I got a good launch off the line but there was nowhere really for me to go, so I opted to go down the inside at Turn 1, which put me on the outside of Turn 2, where I tried to go around a few of the guys in front of me. But there was not as much grip there as I had expected and this cost me a few places. So from then on, I had some work to do as it put me on the back foot. From mid-race to the end, I could not match the pace of those I was racing against. Our pace is simply not enough to crack the top at the moment, so we must not get downhearted, but keep working hard to try and improve."

Jean-Eric Vergne (15th): "This has not been a very good weekend for me on my first visit to Canada in terms of how things went at the track, although I enjoyed the circuit and the time I spent here. I qualified twentieth yesterday and finished fifteenth today. It's definitely not an easy circuit with the walls so close and you have to push hard every lap and from that point of view the afternoon was okay, but of course the result is disappointing. Getting a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane did not help and it happened because, as I came in for a pit stop, I had some sort of problem with the pit lane speed limiter, which we will have to investigate. The strategy? I don't think we could have done anything different."

Franz Tost, Team Principal: "We lacked pace this weekend, as was already evident in qualifying and was seen again this afternoon. We started both cars on the Option, with a plan to run them on different strategies: Ricciardo on a two-stop and Vergne on a one stop. However, we changed this after 15 laps, as Jean-Eric came on the radio to say he was losing grip. Therefore we brought him in earlier than planned and from then on, he was on a more conventional strategy. However, his drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding further complicated his race. Daniel had a good start, but lost positions at Turn 2. Therefore, from then on, there was a gap to the Force Indias from which he could never recover. His pace was not bad, as can be seen by the fact he set the fourth fastest race lap. We head back home to prepare for a busy couple of months in Europe and we need to push on with car development, as we are not where we want to be at the moment."

Williams-Renault

Pastor Maldonado (13th): "Today the car felt very consistent and was pretty well balanced, but unfortunately starting so far back after qualifying meant that I could not really have a good run at finishing in a points-paying position. Our one-stop strategy meant that I had to manage the tires carefully but when I did get to push in the final few laps the car was quick. The car's performance in long runs is something we can be optimistic about heading into the next race, we just need to focus on improving our qualifying pace so we start from a better position."

Bruno Senna (17th): "It was a difficult race today because I lost a lot of time on the first stint on the supersoft tires and from that point on it was just a case of trying to look after the tires as much as I could during the second stint. We have learnt a lot from this race and I am looking forward to the next one in Valencia, where hopefully we can get the most out of the car's potential."

p>Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: "It was a tough race today for both cars and ultimately we didn't have the pace that we expected to have and which we showed during our long runs on Friday. Both drivers did a good job managing the tires on their one-stop strategies. We must now learn from the transition in pace throughout the weekend in order to better understand how to optimize the car, and especially the tires, in changeable track conditions."

Laurent Debout, Renault: "It has been a tough and difficult weekend for us. We had the pace in the car, but unfortunately the lower starting positions compromised the race for both drivers. Pastor could make up some positions but just not enough to get any points today. We'll move onto Valencia and hope for better."

Caterham-Renault

Heikki Kovalainen (18th): "That was an uneventful afternoon for me. I had a good start, passed Senna early on but then struggled a little with the tires which maybe held me up a bit. Our pace today was not quite what we thought it would be and we were being lapped a little earlier than we had anticipated, but that was really the only issue for me today – other than that it's been a good weekend."

Vitaly Petrov (19th): "For me that was a good race. I battled with my team mate right to the flag and had a couple of good stops that gave me a chance to keep the pace up through the whole race. The tire deg wasn't too bad, despite the track temperature, and we didn't have any problems with the car, so for where we are right now that's a good afternoon's work. We have some improvements coming in the next few races and the aim is for those to help us get to a point where we can race one or two of the teams ahead – that's another positive sign of progress so we're definitely going in the right direction."

Riad Asmat, Chief Executive Officer: "This has been a good weekend for the team at a race that everyone looks forward to. On Friday we saw just how well the team in the garage perform under pressure and I was very proud of the work they did to repair Heikki's car and make sure he had track time in FP2. Our qualifying performance saw us close the gap to the midfield again and we keep making small steps forward relative to the opposition which is proof that the efforts being made by the team in the factory are paying off. On Sunday we showed yet again that we are almost within reach of the midfield battle and with the upgrades we have in the pipeline I think we could soon be in a position to maintain the sort of early pace we showed on Sunday for the whole race."

Mark Smith, Technical Director: "Today we saw good strong races from both drivers and solid work in the pitstops without any issues. The final positions were about where we expected on this type of track at this stage of the season so I am happy that we have had another decent Sunday and continue to have problem free Sundays and keep edging ever closer to the midfield."

HRT-Cosworth

Pedro de la Rosa (DNF, Brakes): "It was a shame because we were having our best race of the season. From the first few laps they were telling me through the radio to cool the brakes and I did everything I could but, although we held out a few more laps, the degradation was too high and we weren't going to make it to the end so we made the right decision which was to retire. Although it might sound surprising, I've got a good taste in my mouth because we've completed the best weekend of the year and I had a lot of fun ahead of the Marussias and close behind the Caterhams. I take away the most important thing and that is that we've improved notably and that is very satisfying."

Narain Karthikeyan (DNF, Brakes): "This retirement is disappointing because we've performed well since the first day and during the race I was keeping up with Pic. But I started to feel the brakes we're faltering and, although I tried not to go to the limit, it didn't help at all. Now we must analyze what happened and work to ensure it doesn't happen again. It's a shame that the progress we've shown here hasn't translated into a good result, but we must look ahead and focus on Valencia."

Luis Perez-Sala, Team Principal: "The truth is I can't deny I'm disappointed because it's the first race we haven't finished with either car. It's a shame because we were going well, but we had a temperature issue with the brakes on both cars which impeded us from finishing. We knew this would be one of our weak points at this circuit, given the strong braking corners and, unfortunately, we confirmed this. On the other hand, I'm happy for the race Pedro and Narain we're doing. Now we must resolve the problems we've detected and think about Valencia. What better place to turn things around than at home."

Marussia-Cosworth

Charles Pic (20th): "First of all, I'm happy to finish the race – my first time here – and although it has been a tough weekend, I think from the perspective of the team, and me personally, it has been a good experience to learn where we need to improve. Our pace here has not been good compared to our closest two competitors, so we have to understand more about why that was. For my side, the start went well and we maintained position, then Timo and I had a good race. From there, it was all about looking after the car and getting to the finish. Next stop is Valencia, a track I've raced at before, so I will lose less time to acclimatization and be able to spend more time preparing the car. I got pole there in GP2 and I have a good feeling for the track another different type of street circuit so I think it will suit me and the car much better. Some work in the simulator next week should also help us prepare well."

Timo Glock (DNF, Brakes): "Not a great race for me. In general the first stint was quite okay I think until I suddenly lost power for some reason; I think the engine temperature went quite high. After 14 laps I was suffering quite badly with rear tire degradation and the combination of the two issues was quite difficult to manage. We had to come in quite early for the pitstop and then I came out in blue flags and was unable to use the new tire effectively. I could at least recover the ground I lost to Charles and close the gap, but at the end I suffered so much with the brakes; they were getting longer and longer on pressure and it was too dangerous to continue, so I had to retire. This was my first DNF and in general Canada has not been that great for us this year, which is a shame because it's a track I love. Now though I'm looking forward to Valencia and to seeing what we can do to improve there."

John Booth, Team Principal: "Our car and the Montreal circuit have been at odds for much of the weekend and it is frustrating that we were unable to improve that situation for the race today. Nonetheless, we've learned a great deal about the package and where we need to focus our efforts to get us back where we were versus our immediate competitors. We were pleased to bring Charles home after a difficult period for him, but obviously the luck ran out on Timo's side, whom we retired with brake issues for precautionary reasons. We now head back home and on to what we hope will be a better second phase of the European season, where we have a couple of 'home' races coming up for Timo and the team."

Results

POS	DRIVER	NATIONALITY	ENTRANT	LAPS	TIME/RETIRE
1.	Lewis Hamilton	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	70	1h32m29.584
2.	Romain Grosjean	France	Lotus-Renault	70	2.513
3.	Sergio Perez	Mexico	Sauber-Ferrari	70	5.260
4.	Sebastian Vettel	Germany	Red Bull-Renault	70	7.295
5.	Fernando Alonso	Spain	Ferrari	70	13,411
6.	Nico Rosberg	Germany	Mercedes GP	70	13.842
7.	Mark Webber	Australia	Red Bull-Renault	70	15.085
8.	Kimi Raikkonen	Finland	Lotus-Renault	70	15.587
9.	Kamui Kobayashi	Japan	Sauber-Ferrari	70	24.432
10.	Felipe Massa	Brazil	Ferrari	70	25.272
11.	Paul di Resta	Britain	Force India-Mercedes	70	37.693
12.	Nico Hulkenberg	Germany	Force India-Mercedes	70	46.236
13.	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuela	Williams-Renault	70	47.052
14.	Daniel Ricciardo	Australia	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	70	1m04.475
15.	Jean-Eric Vergne	France	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	69	1 Lap
16.	Jenson Button	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	69	1 Lap
17.	Bruno Senna	Brazil	Williams-Renault	69	1 Lap
18.	Heikki Kovalainen	Finland	Caterham-Renault	69	1 Lap
19.	Vitaly Petrov	Russia	Caterham-Renault	69	1 Lap
20.	Charles Pic	France	Marussia-Cosworth	68	2 Laps
R	Timo Glock	Germany	Marussia-Cosworth	66	–
R	Michael Schumacher	Germany	Mercedes GP	43	–
R	Pedro de la Rosa	Spain	HRT-Cosworth	24	–
R	Narain Karthikeyan	India	HRT-Cosworth	22	–
FL	Sebastian Vettel	Germany	Red Bull-Renault	70	1:15.752

FL=Fastest Lap