Hamilton reiterated his dedication in the post-race press conference as he explained how he hoped to emulate Ali’s character both inside and outside their respective sporting arenas.
Advertisement
“I think it was a couple that wanted to commit suicide”.
Growing up in Britain and setting his sights on a sport that had few black role models, Hamilton said Ali was someone he latched onto as a child. In a bid to cling on to second place, Hamilton made contact with team mate Nico Rosberg, forcing the latter wide and dropped to tenth by the end of the first lap. “But RIP. This was for him”, said Hamilton.
“Of course that was very costly for me because I lost a lot of places.From then it was an uphill battle trying to fight back”. He never recovered and, late in the race, lost control and spun his vehicle after suffering the indignity of being unable to get past the 18-year-old Verstappen, who has been driving lately with the maturity of a much older racer.
Hamilton, though, stayed out on his starting ultrasofts and the battle between his one-stop gambit and Vettel’s two-stop plan began. Then I had fun chasing down this guy (Vettel).
Both Mercedes drivers retired from that race, while Rosberg was seventh in Monaco and fifth in Canada.
Vettel was five seconds behind in second, while Williams’ Valttero Bottas claimed the third place.
Hamilton (107 points) managed to regain the lead, however, thanks to his use of a one-pit-stop strategy, while Vettel’s two stops gave him fresher tires but also too big of a gap to overcome.
After winning the Canadian Grand Prix for the second time in a row and a fifth time overall, Hamilton opened his remarks at a news conference by paying homage to “someone who really inspired me so much throughout my life”.
“It was very hard because his pace was pretty strong”, said Verstappen.
“It feels just as great as my first win”. Maybe that’s where we lost the race but I want to make one thing clear: I am not a fan of blaming anyone or anything. With hindsight it is always very easy, but then the vehicle behind has the possibility to take a bit more risk.
Ferrari seized upon an early Virtual Safety Car period to pit Vettel – who had seized the race lead at the start – on lap 11, ensuring the German would need to stop again. Dutch teenager Max Verstappen was second quickest in his Red Bull ahead of German Nico Rosberg of Mercedes and Finn Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari.
Advertisement
“Bluntly, today was a day to forget”, McLaren race director Eric Boullier said.
