Ricciardo takes his first win in Canada

Updated: Jun 9, 2014 10:00 am

Daniel Ricciardo got his maiden victory in a thrilling Grand Prix. Rosberg managed to finish in second after he faced an electrical problem on his car, disabling the ERS. Vettel came third while just avoiding an incident with Massa on the last lap.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a very unforgiving circuit with almost no runoff and the walls always close. Bianchi experienced this first hand when his teammate Chilton hit him after only 3 corners, also ending his record streak of consecutive finishes. Bianchi’s right rear suspension broke, causing him to spin into the wall at turn 4, destroying the car. This resulted in a safety car, which helped the teams manage fuel.

Rosberg was still in the lead after the first pit stops, but Hamilton was right up his gearbox by a quarter into the race. At this point it looked as if it would be another Mercedes 1-2, with a gap of over 20 seconds to third at this point already.

However, halfway through the race both Hamilton and Rosberg had a loss of power, due to an electrical problem which disabled the ERS-system. This allowed the rest of the field to catch up quickly. Hulkenberg, who was running third doing a one-stop strategy, was lapping some 2 seconds faster per lap than the Mercedes.

After the second pit stops of Rosberg and Hamilton, Massa took the lead. Which meant that this was the first time this year a non-Mercedes car was leading the race.

A couple of laps later Hamilton’s brakes failed and he had to retire the car. Rosberg was able to go on, warned by the team to make sure that he brought the car home.

With a limping car, Rosberg was still able to stay ahead of Perez although his ERS failure meant he had around 160hp less. The Mexican was also on a one stop, just like his teammate, with both the Red Bulls following him.

Further back, Hulkenberg was fending of both Williams cars, Massa eventually getting past him and on his way to chase Perez and the Red Bulls.

With just 5 laps to go, Ricciardo managed to pass Perez. He now had only Rosberg in front of him. 2 laps before the finish, Ricciardo passed Rosberg for the lead on the long DRS straight.

A lap later Vettel got past Perez as well, but It was too late for him to catch up to Rosberg.

On the last lap Massa tried to get past Perez too, but the Mexican changed his line in the approach of the corner, causing Massa to hit him hard in the back. Both cars crashed heavily in the wall. Some good reactions of Vettel avoided Massa form slamming into his side after the incident with Perez.

The incident caused another safety-car, and at this point Ricciardo just slowly got to the finish line to take his first ever win.

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