The Canadian Grand Prix was a strange one this year. Not that anything particularly strange happened, because nothing strange happens in Canada, but it was different from most of the past few races there.
In the same way that the last race in Monaco was considered a bit of a blip, as it was exciting, this Grand Prix in Canada was a bit, well, dull. Usually races at Montreal are full of thrills, with unpredictable weather and the especially daring drivers kissing the wall of champions as they slide around the chicane. This time, Sebastian Vettel started from the pole, and he led the pack all the way until the end with a large margin.
The sure-fire predictability was perhaps a surprise in itself, considering the fact that the teams had practiced on wet tires throughout a rainy Friday practice and the track temperature doubled under sunny skies for the Sunday race. Even still, the technical wizardry of the Red Bull team seemed to make that a null factor.
The real racing (and strangeness) came towards the back, with Valtteri Bottas battling it out with Fernando Alonso early on and with great helmetcam views, courtesy of Bottas. No crashes ensued on the first lap as well, ensuring a smoother start than the one at Monaco. True Canadian manners were observed shortly after, when Adrian Sutil took a bit of a spin and yet somehow he managed to hit nothing and nothing managed to him.
Still, I admired the free-wheeling style he continued from earlier.
Pastor Maldonado managed to stay relatively quiet in Canada despite causing a collision with Sutil and enduring a drive-through penalty, which was a nice break from his earlier crashing and bashing at Monaco. The real nutter this time, however, was Dutchman Giedo van der Garde.
Van der Garde seemed to be all over this race, first earning a 10-second stop-go drive-through penalty after ignoring blue flags to pull over and causing a bit of an incident on lap 40, and then smashing into Nico Hulkenberg on lap 48.
Van der Garde then proceeded to drag his front wing all around the track while he tried to drive back to the pits. Get it together, Van der Garde. Sutil didn't help matters either, earning a drive-through penalty in much the same fashion as Van der Garde on lap 61.
There was perhaps no greater violator of Canadian norms, however, than the fans, who hilariously booed Vettel as he was doing his initial post-race interview with Eddie Jordan. The fans' reaction to Vettel is neatly summed up in this photo:
You know, I'm sure he's a nice guy, but people can't stop hating him. Probably because every time it's so funny. And because he has such a friendly demeanor with well-wishers. Here's that picture again:
Hilarious.
Here are the provisional results:
Photos credit: Getty, AP, Getty