F1: Sebastian Vettel Wins Canadian GP; Retakes Championship Lead

Pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel took a remarkable win in the 2018 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, taking the championship lead once again from Lewis Hamilton. The German driver dominated the race right from the start and cruised to victory with a gap of 6.4s over Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished third in what would be his most mature performance so far. F1 title rival Hamilton finished fifth behind Daniel Ricciardo after he could not build the required pace to take on the race leader. After a strong start to the season, Vettel once again leads the 2018 F1 championship by a single point.

(Pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel led the Canadian GP from the start to finish)

The opening lap saw Torro Rosso's Brendon Hartley and Williams driver Lance Stroll end their race after a collision, but that was the only dramatic crash to witness. Vettel, leading from the opening lap did not lose sight of what was to come right from the start and build a comfortable lead over Bottas, even as the drivers swapped places in the battle for second.

(Valtteri Bottas was a distant second, and sits third in the championship standings)

Starting third, Verstappen continued to breathe down Bottas' neck for P2 through the race, but the Mercedes driver defended his position. The Dutch driver, however, could never fully attack Bottas, in a bid to avoid an incident. The leading drivers opted to run longer on their tyres and it was the Red Bull duo who decided to pit first having started on hypersofts. But Hamilton pitted earlier to switch to supersofts, and also attempt try to rectify an engine problem after the driver reported dropouts in power early in the race.

(Lewis Hamilton trails behind Vettel by one point in championship standings)

Daniel Ricciardo came out of the pits ahead of Hamilton and while Hamilton did put up a fight for P4, the Aussie driver retained the position until the end of the race. Lewis, meanwhile, was facing heat from Kimi Raikkonen. The Ferrari driver though finished fifth, after being unable to pass Hamilton despite a fresher set of tyres towards the end of the race.

Coming in seventh was Nico Hulkenberg of Renault, while teammate Carlos Sainz took eighth after briefly contesting against Bottas for second in the final stages of the race. Force India's Esteban Ocon finished ninth behind the Renault cars, while Charles Leclerc of Sauber took the final point after Fernando Alonso retired in the pits from P10 after reporting a loss of drive.

(Brendon Hartley and Lance Stroll crashed in the opening lap of the Canadian GP)

However, the most dramatic event in the race turned out to be at the start of the final lap when the chequered flag was shown one lap earlier than it should have. Despite the error, Vettel did complete the final distance at race speed taking his career's 50th win. The race result was calculated on the basis of positions at the end of Lap 68.