• Lewis Hamilton won his fourth Canadian Grand Prix to stretch his lead over Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg
• The current Formula One world champion led from the start as he begun the race in Montreal on pole
• Hamilton’s fellow Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg finished in second while Valtteri Bottas took third spot
• Jenson Button had a day to forget as the McLaren driver was forced to retire during the 58th lap 

By

Jonathan McEvoy for the Daily Mail

Published:
19:37 GMT, 7 June 2015

|
Updated:
20:48 GMT, 7 June 2015

It was groundhog day in Montreal. The little animal of that name scampered across the tarmac, narrowly avoiding death at 200mph… and Lewis Hamilton won the Canadian Grand Prix for a fourth time.

He led from lights out to chequered flag, claiming an error-free victory on the high-speed track on Ile Notre Dame.

Hamilton’s previous victories here in 2007, 2010 and 2012 were all for McLaren, the team who nurtured him. His sense in moving to Mercedes was rarely better illustrated than here. While he was blazing ahead at the front, McLaren’s were trundling at the back.

Lewis Hamilton kisses the Canadian Grand Prix trophy while standing on the podium at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal

Hamilton sprays champagne on his team-mates from the podium after finishing in first spot during the race in North America 

Race winner Hamilton acknowledges the Canadian Grand Prix after his impressive victory in Montreal

Hamilton gives a thumbs up to a television camera as he stands on top of his Formula One car after his win

Tempers at McLaren, a model of patience for so long this dreadful season, are beginning to wear thin. No wonder: Hamilton lapped his former team-mate Jenson Button on the 22nd of the 70 lap race, and Fernando Alonso was pushed into the garage, his race over, after 46 laps, where Button joined him before the scheduled end.

But before we return to the problems at McLaren, we should salute Hamilton’s strength of character in rebounding so successfully from the emotional trauma he suffered at Monaco a fortnight ago, when a superfluous late pit stop lost him a race he had dominated.

But Hamilton has a resilience that allows him to get over hitches and bang in a great performance next time. His basic belief in his own driving is strong, and possibly never more so than this year, when he is close to the form of his life.

Starting from pole, Hamilton was in command from the dart into the first corner, a right-hander 280 yards from his grid place. He immediately shut out his team-mate Rosberg. The two danced closely through those early bends but avoided calamity.

Rosberg ran wide just before his pit stop, as he was pushing like mad while Hamilton was having his change of tyres, and never looked as if he could pass the world champion despite getting close to him around the 52nd lap.

There were a few cautionary words to each Mercedes driver from the pit wall. Rosberg was primarily told to nurse his brakes; Hamilton was repeatedly warned to conserve fuel. But there was no repeat of Mercedes’s cooling problems that caused Hamilton to retire last year.

Asked if the victory made up for Monaco, Hamilton said: ‘Not sure. I love this track and love this city. This was really a fantastic weekend. Nico was quick but I had some more speed in my pocket if needed.’

Rosberg was gracious in defeat, blaming qualifying second for losing. ‘Lewis didn’t make any mistakes,’ he said.

Hamilton’s victory takes him 17 points clear of Rosberg. This was his 37th career win, a remarkable tally that puts him fifth in the all-time list, behind Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Sebastian Vettel. His first ever triumph was here in 2007 in only the sixth race of his career.

Fame was beginning to chase him back and it has chased him ever since.

Just as did here for Al Pacino – quite small, crazy hair – who felt buffeted by photographers on the grid. He quickly removed himself from the fray, having arrived in a giant cavalcade of black cars just five minutes earlier.

This was not the actor’s first Formula One exposure. As the eponymous start of the 1977 film Bobby Deerfield, Pacino drove a Brabham. Herbie Blash, an old Brabham hand and now F1’s long-standing deputy race director, admonished him for dropping orange peel on his office floor.

Michael Douglas was the guest of McLaren’s part-owner Mansour Ojjeh. It was about all the glitz they could muster this weekend.

Button started at the back of the grid after missing qualifying while part of his energy recovery system and the turbo were replaced. He then had to take a drive-through penalty for the changes.

It is a remarkably poor stretch of results for McLaren. Yes, their partnership with Honda is having severe teething problems but, given that their last win came at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2012, the problems are deeper.

Button is usually a picture of sangfroid, but even he said: ‘I’m going to have a nice meal and reflect. Today was quite painful.’

And how much longer can the headstrong Spaniard, Alonso, remain positive? Putting up with troublesome teams has hardly been a feature of his distinguished career.

Hamilton finished ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to win the Canadian Grand Prix for the fourth time

British Formula One racer Hamilton takes a curve during the Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal

He showed signs of reaching a breaking point when he was told by his engineer to save fuel. His rasping response was: ‘I don’t want to. I don’t want to. Already looking like an amateur. I will race and then concentrate on the fuel.’

Getting all the way round was not necessary, alas.

Sebastian Vettel, of Ferrari, was a hero of the day, coming from 18th on the grid, where he started because of a problem with his energy recovery system and a penalty for overtaking under a red flag in practice. He was occasionally ragged, but it was great fun to watch him charge up the field to finish fifth.

Hamilton, who finished a couple of seconds ahead of Rosberg and 38 ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who claimed Williams’s first podium of the season, made a V for victory sign on his in-lap. The huge crowd waved flags of St George and of Hamilton’s family homeland of Grenada.

They applauded so loudly that the lucky groundhog must have had a headache.

A groundhog has a lucky escape as he crosses the Canadian Grand Prix during the Formula One race in Montreal 

Nico Rosberg (back left, pictured as go around a curve) was unable to overtake his team-mate during the race in North America

The 30-year-old makes his way around the course while supporters cheer on the Formula One driver from the stands

Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas, who started the race in fourth, pipped his fellow countryman Kimi Raikkonen to claim a place on the podium

Formula One champion Hamilton waves to the fans as he takes to the track ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal 

The Canadian flag is displayed by two women during the parade of flags ahead of the action at the Canadian Grand Prix

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