DHL Fastest Lap Award: 2016 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DU CANADA

Nico Rosberg had the speed but not the luck. While his Silver Arrow team-mate Lewis Hamilton took his second victory of the season in Canada thanks to pole position and good tire strategy, the championship leader dropped way down the field in the first corner. But Nico Rosberg showed strong pace and fought his way back up to fifth place. The Mercedes driver was the fastest on the track towards the end of the race.

Another spectacular race weekend for Formula 1! The premier class again produced plenty of action in Canada. The weather was changeable for the entire three days of the 2016 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DU CANADA. Lewis Hamilton took pole position in qualifying with a lead of just 0.062 seconds on Nico Rosberg. Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel in P3 was waiting to seize his chance which he did right at the start when he shot into the lead! Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg made contact in Turn 1, dropping the German quite a way down.

Lewis Hamilton fought back against Sebastian Vettel and benefited from strategy. Ferrari stopped early under a virtual safety car, so the Scuderia had to pit later for a second change of tires. Mercedes switched tires only once, giving Lewis Hamilton his second win of the season and the 45th of his career.

And his teammate? Nico Rosberg brilliantly fought his way back up out of the mid-field, but a slow puncture meant a second stop for the championship leader. „I did my best to fight back, and there was a chance of a podium - but then I got the puncture and had to pit again - dammit!“ said Rosberg. Nico Rosberg subsequently caught up massively on fresh tires and burned one top time after the other into the asphalt. „I was pushing hard after that to regain the positions but it was a massive mission managing the car with brake warnings coming on and running low on fuel,“ said Rosberg.

But his time came, nevertheless, on Lap 60 with ten laps to go. The Mercedes driver posted a 1:15.599, the fastest lap of the Canadian Grand Prix. He was almost four tenths faster than Lewis Hamilton, who set the second fastest lap time of the race on Lap 68. Sebastian Vettel placed third in this special award category, posting a 1:16.297.

With his fastest lap in Canada, Nico Rosberg has for the first time pulled out a small lead on the others in the standings of the 2016 DHL Fastest Lap Award. With three fastest laps after seven rounds of the season, Nico Rosberg now leads from four drivers, who have posted one fastest lap each.

The drivers will get their next opportunity to set the fastest lap of the race next weekend at the 2016 FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX DE EUROPE (17th - 19th June 2016), which means for the teams’ logistics specialists that they must deal with the demands of a long journey in a very short time, shipping about 35-40 tons of equipment as quickly as possible back across the Atlantic. From a logistics point of view, the first European GP to be held in Baku has long since begun.

Fastest race laps: 2016 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 

01 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 01:15.599 - on Lap 60
02 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 01:15.981 - on Lap 68
03 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 01:16.297 - on Lap 70
04 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 01:16.319 - on Lap 49
05 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 01:16.506 - on Lap 51
06 Sergio Pérez (Force India) 01:16.559 - on Lap 54
07 Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) 01:16.578 - on Lap 54
08 Nico Hülkenberg (Force India) 01:16.604 - on Lap 68
09 Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) 01:16.919 - on Lap 44
10 Valtteri Bottas (Williams) 01:16.938 - on Lap 68