Jenson Button made five pit stops, had one drive-thru penalty and forced his team mate Lewis Hamilton into retirement by crashing into him down the pit straight. Yet he still won the race. I think this sums up the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix. In a race which took over four hours to complete thanks to a heavy deluge, Button found himself incredibly hunting down race long leader Sebastian Vettel with just a handful of laps to go. Vettel, who has defended stoutly in the previous two races, made a rare mistake into Turn Five and Button swooped past to take a remarkable win. It was his tenth victory in F1 and arguably his best.
Button remains under investigation following a collision with Fernando Alonso but the stewards would be mad to take this victory away from him. There have been question marks over whether or not his ability is comparable to that of team mate Hamilton, but in truth they compliment each other wonderfully. Hamilton is the aggressor, while Button the calculator who remains calm and collected under pressure. China was Button's for the taking following the switch to a three-stop strategy but it wasn't his type of race. The opposite occurred here and I think even without their incident, Button would have been the more likely Mclaren man to take the victory. His win, coupled with his apology to Lewis, will go some way to healing the wounds following their collision.
The race was affected by rain right from the off and the race was started under safety car conditions. It stayed out until lap 5 and immediately the lack of visibility caused chaos into turn 1. Hamilton, after his shenanigans in Monaco, was involved in yet more contact, this time with Mark Webber. Hamilton dived down the inside of the Red Bull but couldn't make the move stick, and the two made contact. Webber spun around while Hamilton managed to recover behind the Mercedes of Rosberg. I called it a racing incident at the time and no further footage has changed that. Hamilton then went wide going into the hairpin trying to pass Michael Schumacher, costing him further ground as he dropped behind Button.
On the very next lap it appeared the harmony between the two Mclaren's had finally come to an end. As Hamilton got better drive out of the final chicane, Button appeared to weave across his team mate which put Hamilton into the pit wall. Although initially attempting to continue, the 2008 champion's driveshaft was broken and he was forced to retire. Having watched the incident numerous times, I'm still unsure why Jenson forced Lewis towards the wall. If he was looking in his mirrors, which the footage appears to show, then why did he continue left if he knew Hamilton was there? On the other hand, with the visibility levels deteriorating by the lap, I'm not convinced Button even saw him.
Much will be made of their collision but I think their relationship will remain intact. Team mates, in all forms of racing, do make contact. The reaction from Lewis when seeing Button pass Vettel was of genuine emotion, pleased for his team mate's achievement. Likewise Button, on a high from his magnificent win, was very open following the race and said the two had sorted things out. I don't believe this is a PR influenced statement, a la Ferrari in Hockenheim last year. Like I said, in F1 where passions run high and egos overwhelm there is always a possibility of contact. They have threatened to do so previously don't forget. Their attitude of 'it happens, let's race' should be applauded. Even if Hamilton's title chances have now seemingly evaporated.
The safety car was brought out after Hamilton stopped out on track and at the restart Vettel led from Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Schumacher and Kamui Kobayashi, who was doing a superb job in the Sauber. As ever, Button was leading the way in terms of gambling and pitted for a set of intermediates on lap 12, dropping him down the order. He fell further back after he was given a drive-thru penalty for a speed-limit breach under the safety car but once he returned he seemed on a different race track to anyone else. With the intensity of the rain so light, the intermediate tyres were the perfect choice on a drying track and the Englishman was flying through the field. Button's rise through the field prompted those ahead, such as Alonso and Schumacher, to pit for intermediates but their timing was less inspired.
Almost immediately the rain began to fall heavier, and the decision of the leading trio to stay out paid off. On lap 20, Button made his third stop of the afternoon to revert back to full wets while the safety car was brought as the circuit became ever more treacherous. Having a race under a precession behind the safety car for long periods is inexcusable and quite rightly the red flag was brought out in hope that the track would dry. We would have to wait a further two hours and five minutes before the race restarted.
After an hour and a half or so of uncertainty, it was declared that the race would finally resume at 3.50pm local time. Likewise the start, the race was restarted under safety car conditions. For me, this was far too cautious. I watched 'Senna' earlier in the day and after his incredible drives in the wet in Estoril '85 and Donnington '93, God only knows what he would have thought of this negativity. However, such is the legacy of the great Brazilian, safety of the drivers is paramount.
As the race fully got underway, Vettel led Kobayashi and Massa, while Schumacher and Button dived into the pits for a set of intermediate tyres. Yet unbelievably Button was involved in controversy again, this time with Alonso. Despite pitting for intermediates, Alonso was unable to hold a charging Button back as they entered turns three and four. The Mclaren dived down the inside, but Alonso regained some momentum at the exit of the corner and they touched, causing the Ferrari to spin into the wall and out of the race. Button managed to continue despite a puncture and limped back into the pits for his fifth stop of the race. He dropped to 21st.
The safety car was deployed yet again and, as ever, Vettel remained cool under pressure and bolted away from the chasing pack at the restart. Speaking of the chasing pack, the changeable conditions limited the performance advantage of the Red Bulls and allowed many drivers to shine, none more so than a rejuvenated Schumacher. On a drying track, the seven-time world champion was in his element and duly dispatched of Webber for sixth after the Australian made a small error. Schumacher then passed Paul di Resta on the next lap after the Scot ran into Nick Heidfeld's Renault at the final chicane. Let's not forget di Resta is still learning in F1 and this rookie mistake was certainly ill-timed. It was not long before Schumacher climbed up to fourth and with his intermediates working wonderfully he was just 10 seconds behind Vettel.
Up ahead, Vettel was stretching his lead over Kobayashi to just over four seconds while the Japanese driver was defending expertly from Massa's Ferrari. However, both were to be outdone by a man some thought had lost all of his race craft. As Massa tried to find a way past the Sauber on lap 51, Schumacher seized his opportunity and drove clean past the pair of them out of the turn seven and eight complex. It was an inspired move and vintage Schumacher. He was now up to second, closing in on his fellow countrymen. Button was also on a similar charge and replicated Schumacher's double overtake by passing Pastor Maldonado and then Jaime Alguersuari for 10th.
After the pace of Button and Webber on slicks, Schumacher followed suit on lap 53. Webber's pace on the drying track was phenomenal yet he could not find a way past the 42 year old veteran. For anybody that criticised Schumacher's current attributes, his defensive work on Webber here was absolutely magnificent. However, just as this exciting battle for second place was bubbling, the safety car made yet another appearance. A collision between Kobayashi and Heidfeld saw the German slide off into retirement, with pieces of his front wing scattered across the circuit. In one of the more amusing moments of the race, a marshal found the track so slippery that he slipped over twice, almost getting himself ran over by a Hispania. Clearly he was lacking some grip.
The race restarted for the final time on lap 61 and Kobayashi was overtaken by Vitaly Petrov, who had quietly gone about his business, for fifth. The main battle, though, was for second place between Schumacher, Webber and the boomerang-esque Button. With the DRS activated, Webber got a run on the Mercedes down the back straight but overcooked his attempt and had to pass Schumacher by cutting the chicane. Button kept a watching brief as the Red Bull returned the place back to the veteran but it seemed only a matter of time before he passed Schumacher. Yet unbelievably, Webber made the same mistake the following lap and Button punished him for his error by snatching third. Button was not hanging around and used the DRS to full effect by passing Schumacher down the back straight for second. With Vettel just three seconds ahead and with four laps to go the chase was on.
The gap between the last two world champions began to diminish at a considerable rate. Button closed in on Vettel by one and a half seconds on lap 67 as the 23 year old remained cautious on a damp track. Sadly for Schumacher, he was denied a podium finish on the very next lap as Webber finally made us of the DRS to take third.
It was disappointing for Schumacher, who had looked competitive throughout the Grand Prix and was unlucky to miss out on a first podium since his comeback. He also looked much quicker than Webber over the course of the lap but the Australian stayed within the one second zone to use the DRS, and Schumacher had no chance. Nevertheless, he will have done his confidence and reputation the power of good.
As the leading duo began the final lap, Button was within a second of the reigning World Champion. I genuinely believed Button would dive down the inside into the final chicane in a desperate Dan sort of manoeuvre, but he did not need to. Vettel, who had defended brilliantly in the two previous Grand Prix, ran a wheel onto the wet part of the track at turn 3 and spun off the race track, gifting Button a quite astonishing victory. The German showed he was human after all and cracked under heavy pressure. Some may argue that he would have won without the safety cars and race incidents but truth of the matter is these things happen in F1. If Alonso had passed Petrov in Abu Dhabi last year, Vettel may not have won the title. He might have lost the battle today, but I'm still convinced he'll win the war.
After just over four hours, we saw one of the greatest F1 races ever. On Thursday, Mclaren thought they had the edge on Red Bull and despite everything that was thrown against them this weekend, they came out on top. Button's last gasp victory will undoubtedly boost the viewing figures for F1 which had been flagging in recent weeks given Red Bull's dominance. For those newcomers who are still left in shock at what they have witnessed in Montreal today, I must unfortunately warn you that F1 isn't always like this. But my God do I wish it was.
Canadian GP result
1 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 4hrs 04mins 39.537secs
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull + 2.709
3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull + 13.828
4 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP + 14.219
5 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault + 20.395
6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari + 33.225
7 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Sauber + 33.270
8 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso + 35.964
9 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams + 45.100
10 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso + 47.000
11 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP + 50.400
12 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) Sauber + 1:03.600
13 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Hispania +1 lap
14 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) Hispania +1 Lap
15 Jerome d'Ambrosio Bel Virgin Racing +1 Lap
16 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing +1 Lap
17 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Team Lotus +1 Lap
18 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India +3 Laps
Not Classified
19 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 61 Laps completed
20 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Renault 55 Laps completed
21 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 48 Laps completed
22 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 36 Laps completed
23 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Team Lotus 28 Laps completed
24 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 7 Laps completed
Josh.
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