Montreal: Lewis Hamilton borrowed both a phrase and a strategy for victory from the late Muhammad Ali on Sunday when he produced a perfectly judged and determined drive to win the Canadian Grand Prix.
The defending three-time world champion recovered from a slow start from his fifth pole position at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to take full advantage of Ferrari’s two-stop strategy and claim his fifth win on his favourite track.
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” said Hamilton on team radio during his slowing down lap. “That was for Muhammad, that was — that’s for Ali.”
The world champion is now just nine points behind Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg after a second successive win to follow his victory in Monte Carlo.
Hamilton’s management of his tyres, and his patience, during a tense race enabled him to hide his true speed until the closing laps when he resisted the revived Sebastian Vettel’s rampant Ferrari to claim his second consecutive victory.
Vettel, who shot into the lead at the start and then made an early pit stop to switch to a two-stop strategy, was unable to make best use of his updated Ferrari power unit and fresher tyres as he came home second.
“I’m just overwhelmed with today,” a beaming Hamilton told Hollywood film star Michael Douglas in the podium interview.
“It feels just as great as my first win. Today, I had another really bad start, I’m not sure why — possibly I overheated the clutch. I feel very grateful that Nico and I didn’t damage our cars and then I had fun chasing down this guy [Vettel].
“We got the set-up right. I won my first Grand Prix here in 2007 and it feels such a blessing.”
Vettel admitted that he did not have enough speed to win. “Lewis was a bit too quick, that was the issue,” said Vettel. “But we had a great weekend — I had a fantastic start. It was very windy and maybe I struggled with the wind behind.
“We committed fairly early to a different strategy and probably Lewis’s tyres lasted better than we expected. It was fun to see this car has performance and to unleash it.”
The four-time champion German gave Hamilton a battle all the way to the flag as they finished clear of a chasing pack led by Finn Valtteri Bottas, who repeated his third place finish of 2015 for the delighted Williams team.
The 31-year-old Briton, who ended seven winless months with victory in Monaco two weeks, has now cut Rosberg’s lead from 43 points to nine in the last two races to set himself up for a tilt at his fourth title.
Record-breaking Dutch teenager Max Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull, finishing ahead of Rosberg, who was fifth in the second Mercedes despite an off-track excursion on his final lap when he failed to overtake.
“I nearly ran out of fuel and that’s why I couldn’t attack Max at the end,” said Rosberg.
“When I did, he defended really well. At the end, it went completely pear-shaped, but I managed to get it back. A very frustrating race.”
Rosberg said he was forced off-circuit by Hamilton when they battled with Vettel at Turn One.
“But that’s racing,” he said. “It’s my job to make sure I come out in front next time.”
Kimi Raikkonen finished sixth in the second Ferrari, ahead of Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull and Nico Hulkenberg of Force India.
Carlos Sainz came home ninth for Toro Rosso and Sergio Perez was 10th in the second Force India.
