Montreal - Lewis Hamilton put Monaco misery behind him on Sunday with a controlled Canadian Grand Prix victory that sent the Formula One world champion 17 points clear of Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg.
The Briton's fourth victory in seven races this season, and fourth career win in Canada, denied Rosberg a third triumph in a row and provided the perfect response to losing out in the showcase race two weeks ago.
There he had been leading comfortably from pole only to lose out after a needless late pitstop when the safety car was deployed.
There was no need for the safety car on Sunday, at a circuit that has seen it plenty of times in the past, and there was little in the way of drama either - other than a startled groundhog appearing on the track - as Hamilton led from pole.
NO REAL THREAT
Rosberg was never close enough to attack, finishing 2.2 seconds behind after having to manage his brakes while Hamilton also had to coast at times to save fuel.
The rest of the field was in another race entirely, with Hamilton lapping all but six of the cars behind him at the circuit where he took his first F1 win in 2007 with McLaren.
Finland's Valtteri Bottas was third for Williams, a massive 40.6 seconds behind Hamilton, to become the first driver from outside Mercedes or Ferrari to appear on the podium this year.
“I love Montreal,” Hamilton told the crowd as he stood on the podium after his 37th career win. “Nico was quick but I felt like I always had it under control.
“Did I need this?” he asked the spectators to raucous cheers. “I think so.”
A NEW RECORD
On his way to victory, Hamilton also replaced 1992 champion Nigel Mansell as the British driver to lead most laps in Formula One history.
Bottas moved up one place from where he started, beating his fellow-Finn Kimi Raikkonen after the Ferrari driver spun following a pitstop, and looked forward to more podium appearances.
“I think we really needed this result,” he said.
“Like last year we saw that it really boosts confidence. We know again now that we are a top team and that we can fight for podiums.”
Raikkonen finished fourth, ahead of team mate Sebastian Vettel who fought his way through the field from 18th at the start.
Bottas's Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa finished sixth after starting 15th, and provided some of the more memorable ovartakes.
Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado scored his first points of the season for Lotus in seventh place and Germany's Nico Hulkenberg limbered up for his Le Mans 24 Hours debut next weekend with eighth place for Force India.
Russian Daniil Kvyat was ninth for Red Bull and Frenchman Romain Grosjean took the final point for Lotus after a late coming together with Manor Marussia's Will Stevens.
MCLAREN WOES PERSIST
Neither of the McLarens finished the race, with Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso expressing his frustration over the radio at being told save fuel.
“Already I have big problems now. Driving with this, looking like amateur. So I race and then I concentrate on the fuel,” Alonso told his race engineer.
Reuters
CANADIAN F1GP RESULTS
1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:31:53.145
2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes +00:02.285
3. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Mercedes 00:40.666
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 00:45.625
5. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 00:49.903
6. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams-Mercedes 00:56.381
7. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus - Mercedes 01:06.664
8. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India - Mercedes 1 lap
9. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) RedBull - Renault 1 lap
10. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - Mercedes 1 lap
11. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - Mercedes 1 lap
12. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso - Renault 1 lap
13. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) RedBull - Renault 1 lap
14. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber - Ferrari 1 lap
15. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Toro Rosso - Renault 1 lap
16. Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber - Ferrari 2 laps
17. Will Stevens (Britain) Marussia - Ferrari 4 laps
r. Roberto Merhi (Spain) Marussia - Ferrari 13 laps
r. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 16 laps
r. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 26 laps
(rank: r = retired, nc = not classified)
Fastest Lap: Kimi Raikkonen,1:16.987, lap 42.
DRIVER STANDINGS
1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 151
2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 134
3. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 108
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 72
5. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams 57
6. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams 47
7. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull 35
8. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Red Bull 19
9. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus 17
10. Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber 16
11. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India 11
12. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India 10
13. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso 9
14. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Toro Rosso 6
15. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus 6
16. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber 5
17. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 4
18. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 0
19. Roberto Merhi (Spain) Marussia 0
20. Will Stevens (Britain) Marussia 0