Hamilton: Win a 'great blow' to Ferrariposted in F111 | 06 | 2017
THREE-TIME WORLD champ Lewis Hamilton believes his dominant Canadian Grand Prix victory delivered a "great blow" to Formula 1 title rival Ferrari. It was the first time in 2017 the Maranello team had failed to finish on the podium. (Related: Hamilton dominates in Montreal)
In contrast, Hamilton led home the first Mercedes 1-2 of the season, ahead of his team-mate Valtteri Bottas as the Englishman dominated the race from the 65th pole position of his career.
His Montreal success was in complete contest to his Monaco Misery of a fortnight earlier when he could only finish seventh, behind Ferrari’s easy 1-2.
"It has been an incredible weekend, I couldn't be happier," Hamilton, who has now won the Canadian GP six times and was presented with one of Ayrton Senna’s race helmets after equalling the Brazilian’s total of 65 pole positions on Saturday, said.
“We came away from Monaco, and we were scratching our heads, but we pulled together and look what we achieved.
"In these five years with Mercedes, I've not seen the team pull so well together and work towards the same cause, to understand the car and come here and deliver what we delivered.
“The team did such great work, analysing where we went wrong, all the points — this is where we went wrong and this is what we need to do to fix it — it was just amazing teamwork.
"The car is back to where it should be, but it doesn't mean it'll be like that every time.
“Valtteri did a fantastic job too, and this is our first one-two finish together. We’ve scored a big load of solid points and it’s well deserved.
“It’s crazy to think I had my first pole and win here 10 years ago. The race actually felt very reminiscent of 2007, in terms of how it unfolded. It’s a long race here, especially when you’re out there on your own, but I knew the car would hold together and it did perfectly.”
Mercedes' first one-two finish of the year moved it ahead of Ferrari in the constructors' championship by eight points.
Related: Hoy swaps Le Mans for Caterham
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Jim McGill