Montreal: Daniel Ricciardo ended Mercedes early-season domination when he drove his Red Bull car to a memorable maiden victory in a crash and incident-packed Canadian Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old Australian took full advantage of power problems that hit both championship leader Nico Rosberg and his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages to claim a stirring triumph yesterday. Briton Hamilton was forced to retire, but German Rosberg managed to nurse his car home in second place ahead of Ricciardo’s Red Bull team-mate defending four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Germany.
Rosberg opens up a 22-point lead on Hamilton in the championship standings. The final lap was run behind a Safety Car after a horrifying high-speed collision between Mexican Sergio Perez of Force India and Brazilian Felipe Massa of Williams saw them fly off into the barriers.
Both appeared not to be seriously injured after the incident as they braked from speeds of more than 240 kph at the end of the 70-laps contest. Ricciardo’s win meant he has now beaten Vettel in the last five races, a feat that saw him receive well-deserved congratulations from his teammate.
Briton’s Jenson Button came home fourth for McLaren ahead of fifth-placed German Nico Hulkenberg in the second Force India with two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso sixth for Ferrari.
In the drivers title race, Rosberg now leads with 140 points.
