The 2018 Canadian Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Grand Prix Heineken du Canada 2018)[1] is a Formula One motor race that took place on 10 June 2018 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[1] The race was the 7th round of the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race was won by Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari. It was Vettel's 50th career win, becoming the fourth driver in Formula One history to achieve such a feat (joining Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Alain Prost). It was the 55th running of the Canadian Grand Prix, the 49th time the event had been included as a round of the Formula One World Championship since the inception of the series in 1950, and the 39th time that a World Championship was held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Fernando Alonso also celebrated his 300th Grand Prix entry at this race. This race was Ferrari's first win in Canada since Michael Schumacher won here in 2004.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton went in to the race as the defending race winner.[3] He entered the round with a 14-point lead over Sebastian Vettel in the World Drivers' Championship. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes held a 17-point lead over Ferrari.
The tyre compounds provided for this race were the hypersoft, ultrasoft and supersoft.[4]
Max Verstappen was fastest across all three practice sessions, improving his time in each successive session.[5] In FP2, Grosjean hit a groundhog that was on the track, damaging his front wing, and reducing the Haas team's spare parts.
Romain Grosjean's car had a major engine failure as it left the pitlane in Q1 meaning he failed to set a lap time, and raced at the stewards' discretion. In Q2, when Sebastian Vettel was completing his final flying lap, he aborted the lap because Carlos Sainz, Nico Hülkenberg and a number of other cars were driving slowly along the back straight, leading him to pull into the pits. In Q3, Vettel took pole with a new track record however his teammate made a mistake in Turn 2, meaning he would qualify in P5.
The grid got away largely without incident from the line, but in turn 5, Brendon Hartley and local driver Lance Stroll collided, forcing their immediate retirement and the deployment of the safety car. At the restart, Sergio Pérez touched Sainz, forcing Pérez off the track, losing positions. On Lap 18, Daniel Ricciardo overcut Lewis Hamilton for the fourth position. On lap 43, Fernando Alonso retired from the race with an exhaust issue.
Race officials erroneously directed model Winnie Harlow to wave the chequered flag before race leader Vettel completed lap 69 (the scheduled penultimate lap) and therefore the results were taken from lap 68, according to the Formula 1 sporting regulations article 43.2.[6][7] This meant that Ricciardo's successively faster laps on laps 69 and 70 were voided, and Sergio Pérez's overtake on Kevin Magnussen for 13th did not stand.[8][9]
