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Montreal, QC – Montreal has always been a second home to Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and he used the Canadian stop for his second win in a row closing the drivers' championship gap on his teammate Nico Rosberg to nine points.

It was Hamilton's fifth victory at the Canadian Grand Prix after starting on pole position for the fourth time. However, it wasn't a clear cut race for the 31-year old Brit who lost the lead on the first corner of the race as Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel took the inside lane to gain an advantage and an early 1.2 second cushion over the defending champion.

The start of the race was exciting, but it was pit stop strategies that would determine the outcome. Vettel would be the first driver to the pits on Lap 11 – a two-stop strategy that didn't pay off for Ferrari – and he wouldn't be able to recover that lost time as Hamilton would brilliantly only pit once, while managing his ultra-soft and soft tired to the finish line.

“I was really enjoying this race,” said Hamilton. “They [Vettel's Ferrari] really gave us a run for our money and I just happened to be on a one-stop.”

In the end, Hamilton would finish five seconds ahead of Vettel – the closest gap thus far in the season between Mercedes and Ferrari.

As for Rosberg, it was a challenging afternoon that saw him make tire contact with Hamilton after the first turn on Lap 1. Hamilton would call the incident unintentional, but it sent the German off track and back into ninth position. Rosberg would work his way into the top-five setting up a exhilarating battle with young sensation Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing. Rosberg would attempt several moves including a pass on the outside of turn 13 on the final lap, but he would spin out while trying to complete the turn and pass. Rosberg recovered to finish fifth as no other challenger was in striking distance.

Rounding out the podium was Williams' Valtteri Bottas for his second consecutive third place finish in Canada.

“Montreal has been pretty good to me, and to us as a team,” said Bottas. “We've been really pleased with what we have done and it didn't come easy.”

After winning the race, Hamilton dedicated the victory to the late Muhammad Ali. He even did a few boxing dances in his memory to the feverish chants of the Montreal crowd.

“I never dedicate wins to anyone, but Ali really inspired me throughout my life,” said Hamilton. “For the last 15 laps, all I could think about was him: Rumble in the Jungle. This win is to him and his family.”

Hamilton went on to talk about what Ali meant to him in the press conference following the race.

“More importantly it was his political views that inspired me. To not let anyone dictate what you have to be...he was someone to look up to.”

The drivers will not have much time to reminisce about Canada as the next race will be in Baku, Azerbaijan in one weeks time. It's the latest new addition on the Formula One calendar, making it a level playing field for all the competitors. Can Hamilton make it three-in-a-row and take over the lead in the driver's championship? We will have to wait-and-see.

Montreal, QC – The 2015 Canadian Grand Prix was dominated by Mercedes with a 1-2 finish at the historic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve race track. Nothing new based on what's been happening this season, making it six wins out of seven on the season for the German racing outfit.

Lewis Hamilton led the race from pole to take his fourth win of the season, as well as his fourth career win in Montreal. Hamilton had a steady lead ranging between 1-2 seconds throughout the majority of the race over teammate Nico Rosberg. Hamilton expanded his lead late, eventually ending with a 2.2 second gap.

“I love Montreal, I love this track,” said the victorious Hamilton. “The team did an amazing job, and I'm really just proud to be up here and I said, my first grand prix win was here back in 2007, so to be back up here feels really historic.”

The battle between Hamilton and Rosberg was intense throughout, but Rosberg never got under 1 second to really make a charge. On lap 65, Rosberg had concerns in regards to his fuel levels, as well as his teammates who were both on a one-stop strategy, but under new FIA rules, they were not allowed to divvy up that vital information. Rosberg would end up losing plenty of time after that interaction making it a cruise to the finish for the defending driver's champion.

“I wanted to know if Lewis would run into trouble or not, and see when I can put the pressure on,” said Rosberg in the post-race press conference. “Unfortunately, it's been banned...that's the way it is.”

The 2015 Canadian Grand Prix was filled with quality racing at the top, but uneventful throughout the rest of the field for the most part. The only two big movers during the overcast Montreal afternoon was Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Williams' Felipe Massa.

Vettel started the race in 19th position, after a disappointing qualifying session that saw him end up in 16th, but then get assessed a five-place grid penalty landing him in 19th, as McLaren's Jenson Button would start from the pits. Vettel made his way through the field eventually finishing in fifth position in impressive fashion passing numerous drivers along the way.

It was a similar poor qualifying session for Massa, minus the penalty. He started in the 15th spot, but manoeuvred his way all the way up to 6th with a strategy that had him the last driver to pit.

It was Massa's teammate, Valtteri Bottas that rounded out the podium in third place for his best finish of the season. Rounding out the top-10 was Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen in fourth, Lotus' Pastor Maldonado in seventh, followed by Force India's Niko Hülkenberg, Infiniti Red Bull Racing's Daniil Kvyat and Lotus' Romain Grosjean.

The McLaren team of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, both previous winners in Montreal, had a disastrous weekend that ended up with them rounding out the field in the bottom two places with DNFs.

With this win, Hamilton's lead in the driver's standings improves to a 17-point gap over Rosberg (151-134), and breaks Rosberg's momentum after two consecutive victories. Vettel rounds out the top three with 108 points, but Hamilton believes the season is still not a two-horse race.

“Kimi spun and we didn't get to see Sebastian, and he's been the fastest of the two,” said Hamilton. We were not able to see Ferrari's true pace.”

With 12 races to go, it's possible we will be seeing a Mercedes battle until the end. But for now, the many attendees rejoiced in a Hamilton victory with chants of “Lewis” ringing out over and over again as he raised the trophy.

Montreal, QC – Not all of the regulars made it to the final round of qualifying, but in the end, the same dominant duo of Mercedes drivers will sit on row one of the 2015 Canadian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton took pole with a best time of 1:14.393 over his teammate Nico Rosberg by close to three-tenths of a second. Mercedes has won all seven poles this year with sixth of them going to Hamilton, the reigning driver's champion and current leader by 10 points over Rosberg.

“I won my first Grand Prix here in 2007 and that was incredibly special, so to be back here and to finally...get another pole and it be the 44th that's very, very special to me,” said Hamilton.

Rounding out the top ten was Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen, Williams' Valtteri Bottas, Lotus' Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado, Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, Infiniti Red Bull Racing's Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo, and Force India's Sergio Perez.

What's fascinating about that list above are the names that aren't there. McLaren's Fernando Alonso will start 14th, Williams' Felipe Massa 16th, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel 18th or 19th (we will tell you further down) and Jenson Button will start from the pits making him the 20th runner in the race.

It was a disastrous day for Vettel, the four time driver's champion, who not only failed to make it to the second round of qualification, but was assessed a drop of five grid position penalty moving him down in the order, but it's still not sure if he will start above or below Torro Rosso's Max Verstappen, who was given a 10-grid penalty.
Furthermore, Vettel will lose three points, which puts a sting in the momentum he was carrying, sitting third in the driver's standings.

The incident occurred when Vettel overtook Marussia's Roberto Mehri during a red flag period. After watching video evidence, and Vettel admitting fault, the stewards had no decision, but to penalize the German. Vettel's starting position will be a big blow to the many faithful Ferrari fans that always come out in droves in Montreal.

Verstappen's penalty stems from a fifth engine change to their Renault unit, plus a five-place drop after sparking the collision with Grosjean at the Monaco Grand Prix. The full penalty cannot be applied, as he ended up in 12th position, so Verstappen will serve a 10-second penalty at some point during tomorrow's race.

The Canadian Grand Prix will begin at 2pm ET, and can be seen live on TSN.

GRANOLLERS, Spain (AP) — Nico Rosberg finally got his championship campaign going on Sunday with a commanding win from pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Now the German hopes he can gain further ground on Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton at his favorite Monaco track in two weeks.

Rosberg beat Hamilton for the first time this season, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel placing third.

The morale-boosting win was Rosberg's first since the Brazilian GP — the penultimate race of the last season — which the German driver also won from pole. It also gives him a sense of momentum heading into Monaco, where Rosberg, the son of former world champion Keke Rosberg, grew up. He won the showcase race from pole last year, and then went on to win in Austria and Germany.

A third straight win at Monaco would dent Hamilton's 20-point lead.

"I was able to control the pace and I never felt in danger throughout the whole race," Rosberg said. "It's still early days in the season so it's good to close the gap to Lewis. I will continue to push hard, starting with a home race for me in Monaco."

Hamilton, the defending F1 champion, has won three of five races this season, with Vettel taking the Malaysian GP in March.

"I had a good start, getting past Lewis," Vettel said. "But unfortunately Mercedes were just too quick."

McLaren's poor season continued as two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso retired just short of halfway with faulty brakes — on the same track where he last won a race two years ago with Ferrari.

Hamilton has finished in the top two for 12 straight races since retiring at last season's Belgium GP in August. Dominant Mercedes has finished 1-2 in three of five races this campaign.

"Everyone brought upgrades here and we're still much faster," Rosberg said.

As Rosberg milked the applause after the race, Hamilton walked up to him, patted him on the back and then shook his hand firmly.

There was no Spanish driver in genuine contention and little suspense, either.

With 19 of the past 25 winners here starting from pole, the circuit is arguably the hardest to overtake on in F1. Rosberg finished 17.5 seconds clear of Hamilton and some 45.3 ahead of Vettel.

"I think I'm in the fight," Vettel said. "I'm pretty confident we will get closer again pretty soon. I'm quite confident that in the next couple of races we should be stepping up our game."

Although the 730-meter straight to the first turn offered Hamilton the chance to apply instant pressure, Rosberg got away well. Hamilton stuttered as Vettel overtook him and he only just held off the Williams of Valtteri Bottas heading into the first corner. Bottas finished fourth and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was fifth.

"It's been a long time since I had such a bad start," Hamilton said. "I tried my best to recover."

It wasn't Hamilton's day, as his first pit stop on lap 14 for a new set of medium tires took 5.3 seconds because a mechanic appeared not to get the left rear wheel on cleanly. Vettel's first stop was an extremely fast 2.3 seconds.

"I had a long pit stop and I had to do it all again," Hamilton said. "But fortunately at the end it was enough (to catch Vettel)."

Rosberg came in for his first tire change on lap 16 — at a marginally slower 2.5 seconds — while Raikkonen stayed out in front.

Hamilton was urged by his race engineer to push more strongly to overtake Vettel, to which Hamilton replied: "I can assure you that's pretty much impossible to do, you're going to have to come up with another plan."

The plan chosen was a three-stop strategy.

Alonso overshot his stop as he entered the pits, sending a front jack flying which missed the mechanic nearby.

Nothing was troubling Rosberg as he extended his lead over Vettel to 10 seconds by halfway. Hamilton switched to hard tires after 33 of 66 laps.

Vettel made his second stop on lap 40 while Rosberg made his second with 20 laps remaining, coming out just behind Hamilton as the British driver led for the first time.

Nearing the end of lap 51, Hamilton came in for his final change, getting back onto medium tires, but Rosberg moved ahead and was too far away to catch.