Feature
Canada stats - Hamilton matches two more Senna records
Lewis Hamilton was left speechless by the presentation of a genuine Ayrton Senna race helmet to mark matching the Brazilian on 65 poles on Saturday - but that wasn't the only Senna record he equalled in Montreal…
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A day after equalling his hero Ayrton Senna’s record of 65 pole positions, Hamilton matched the great Brazilian in another category – career Grand Slams. The Briton has now done the quadruple of pole, fastest lap, every lap led and victory in four races, including twice this year (the other coming in China).
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Amongst the other drivers to have scored four Grand Slam victories are Nigel Mansell, Sebastian Vettel and Briton’s only other three-time world champion, Sir Jackie Stewart, who coincidentally celebrated his 78th birthday on Sunday. Only Jim Clark (8), Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher (both 5) have more Grand Slams than Hamilton.
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The most Grand Slams in one season is three (Ascari in 1952, Clark in both 1963 and 1965, Mansell in 1992) – Hamilton has 13 races left this year to either match or surpass that record.
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Sunday’s win was Hamilton’s third of the season (the same number as Vettel), his 56th overall and his sixth in Montreal, meaning the Briton also joins Senna in becoming one of just three drivers (the other being Michael Schumacher) to have won as many as six times at one circuit.
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Senna did it at Monaco; Schumacher at Spa-Francorchamps, Barcelona, Suzuka (all six wins), Imola (7), Montreal (7) and Magny Cours (8).
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Hamilton’s pole/victory double came ten years after he scored his first career pole and win at the same circuit.
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Valtteri Bottas meanwhile finished second to complete Mercedes’ first one-two of the season. The Finn has now stood on the Montreal podium in each of the last three years.
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And speaking of three podiums in a row, Daniel Ricciardo came home in P3 for his third rostrum in as many races. By contrast, Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen recorded his third retirement of the season.
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For the first time this season, Sebastian Vettel finished off the podium and outside the top two. Still, he did keep up his 100% point scoring streak with P4, and he won the fan-voted Driver of the Day for the fifth time in seven races.
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After getting both cars home in the points in the first five races, then neither into the top ten in Monaco, Force India returned to their old ways in Montreal, with Sergio Perez (whose own 15-race points streak was snapped in the Principality) fifth and Esteban Ocon sixth. The Mexican has finished in front of the Frenchman in all but one race this season.
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For the fourth time in five races, Nico Hulkenberg bagged himself a top ten finish. Renault team mate Jolyon Palmer meanwhile finished just outside the points in 11th for the second race in a row.
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But while Palmer’s wait goes on, Lance Stroll came home ninth at his home race for his first career points. The Williams rookie is just the third Canadian, after father and son duo Gilles and Jacques Villeneuve, to score points in F1. The country has had a long wait for more points - since the 2006 British Grand Prix in fact, when Jacques Villeneuve finished P8 for BMW-Sauber.
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At 18 years 7 months and 13 days old, Stroll is also the second-youngest points scorer in F1 history, behind Max Verstappen.
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Elsewhere, Toro Rosso recorded their first double DNF of the season, with Daniil Kvyat going out on lap 54 and Carlos Sainz eliminated on the first lap after contact with Romain Grosjean and then Felipe Massa.
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Speaking of Grosjean, the Frenchman scored points for the third consecutive race, despite contact with Sainz at the start.
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Up next is Azerbaijan, and a race no one on the current grid has won. Who will join Nico Rosberg on the Baku roll of honour?
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