Canadian GP: Williams fail to deliver

The AT&T Williams team would see their cars start from eleventh and twelfth, with Rubens Barrichello ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, for the seventy lap Canadian Grand Prix. But for Red Bull's Mark Webber he was given a five-place grid penalty Red Bull Racing changed the gearbox on his car ahead of the race. Webber will now start seventh for the race while team-mate Sebastian Vettel will move up to the front row alongside pole position man Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton would be starting the race on the softer tyre while Vettel was on the harder tyre. This would be one of the interesting aspects to the race. Alonso would now be starting from third and Button fourth. Liuzzi was fourth followed by Massa, Webber now in seventh, Kubica, Sutil, Rosberg, Rubens and Nico.

With there being every likelihood that this race would be very unpredictable there was every chance that the Williams team could score points in this race. The grid would move off on its parade lap with both Rubens and Nico starting on the harder tyre. The grid would form up and the lights would go off and the field would head down to Turn one with Hamilton leading from Vettel, Alonso, and Button. Massa and Liuzzi would make contact seeing Liuzzi facing the wrong way. Webber was in fifth from Kubica, Sutil, and Schumacher. Nico was in ninth while Rubens had dropped to be down in fourteenth. De la Rosa and Liuzzi would both pit at the end of lap one. Massa would join them while Kobayashi would end his race when he would cut across the final chicane and hit the wall at the Wall of Champions. Both Liuzzi and De la Rosa had new front wings fitted.

Lap two and Hamilton was fastest with a time of 1m:22.636 while Kobayashi had retired. Lap three and Hamilton was again fastest with a 1m:22.109 with Vettel now 1.1 seconds behind. Alonso was still third from Button, Webber, and Kubica in sixth. Rubens had lost out in the mess of Turn one while Schumacher had gained moving up to eighth. Massa was back out and would set a new fastest lap on lap four with a 1m:20.605. Schumacher would pass Sutil for seventh while at the front Vettel had closed the gap to Hamilton. Rosberg and Trulli would pit but we would also see Button, Sutil, and Nico all come in on lap seven. Hamilton was now struggling on the softer tyre while Button had taken on the harder tyre.

Lap eight and Hamilton and Alonso would both pit joined by Alguersuari and Rubens. Like the other drivers Hamilton would switch to the harder tyre. Alonso would come out in front of Hamilton doing so as they left the pits. Vettel was now leading from Webber, Kubica, Schumacher, Buemi, Alonso, Kovalainen, Hamilton, Button, and Sutil. Nico's pit stop was forced upon him when he hit the rear of a Force India damaging his front wing. Lap ten and Kubica would pit from third. After all the pit stops Nico and Rubens were now running in fourteenth and seventeenth. What a disaster with any hope of a result disappearing for the Williams team. Lap eleven and Vettel was leading by 2.9 seconds over Webber with Schumacher now third. Rubens would again pit on lap twelve while Button had set a new fastest lap, 1m:19.845.

Schumacher would also pit on lap thirteen taking the harder tyre while Rubens would come back out last. Webber would from second pit on lap fourteen remaining on the harder tyre. Schumacher and Kubica would take to the grass as they fought for position. Webber was now in sixth while Vettel still lead but now in second was Buemi. Vettel would also pit on lap fifteen taking on the softer tyre while Schumacher was also back in. Nico was now in tenth while Buemi was also in for new tyres seeing Hamilton now leading from Alonso, Button, Vettel, Webber, Kubica, Sutil, Rosberg, and Nico. Prior to Buemi pitting Hamilton had passed Alonso at the hairpin. Rosberg was fastest on lap seventeen, 1m:19.431. Rubens was now in twentieth as ninth placed Rosberg continued to push.

The reason why there was such a large number of tyre changes was due to the teams finding the tyres were degrading quicker than they thought. Lap twenty and the race had settled down Nico was running 8.2 seconds behind ninth placed Rosberg while Rubens had moved up to eighteenth. Fifth placed Webber was picking up his pace while Rubens was able to find one place and move up to seventeenth. Massa would pit from fourteenth on lap twenty four. Nico would pit from tenth on lap twenty five, joined by Liuzzi. Vettel was also to pick up his pace as eleventh place Alguersuari pitted. Hamilton would pit on lap twenty seven, joined by sixth placed Kubica. Hamilton would again take on the harder tyre returning in fifth. Alonso was now leading from Button but on lap twenty eight both Button and Vettel would pit joined by Rosberg.

Lap twenty seven and a fastest lap from Alonso, 1m:19.050. Vettel was now back on the harder tyre after his stop while Alonso would pit on lap twenty nine. Webber was now leading from Hamilton and Button. Alonso would come back out in third. Nico would get a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Sutil had pitted with a right rear puncture. Nico would take his stop on lap thirty while Webber was now leading while Rubens would also come in on lap thirty two. Nico was now in eleventh while Rubens had dropped to be in sixteenth after De la Rosa stopped out on the track with what looked like an engine failure. Kovalainen would pit from fifteenth seeing Rubens take this position. Rubens was now one lap down while on lap thirty four Schumacher would pit from ninth, taking on the softer tyre.

Fourteenth placed Massa was fastest on lap thirty four, 1m:19.024, while on lap thirty six Buemi would pit from sixth, taking on the harder tyre. Webber was now leading by 11.8 seconds from Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Vettel, Kubica, Rosberg, Buemi, Alguersuari, Schumacher, and Nico in eleventh. Rubens was down in fifteenth while on lap thirty seven Button went fastest with a 1m:19.021. Hamilton would go faster on lap thirty eight with a time of 1m:18.868. Hamilton was now 11.0 seconds behind Webber. Lap thirty nine and Hamilton was again faster with a 1m:18.810. He was now 10.2 seconds behind Webber while Webber would tell his team that his tyres were starting to go away. lap forty and Webber's lead was now only 9.0 seconds. Lap forty and Vettel was fastest with a 1m:18.650, and closing right onto Button.

Hamilton continued to close onto Webber as fourteenth placed Massa would pit on lap forty three. Ninth placed Alguersuari would pit on lap forty three. This would see Nico move up to tenth as Alonso went fastest with a 1m:18.567. Sutil was right behind Nico and the Williams driver would miss the final chicane as he tried to defend his position. Lap forty four and Alonso was again fastest with a 1m:18.207. Webber was now only 4.4 seconds in front of Webber. Rubens continued to run in fifteenth while Nico would also go a lap down as Webber continued to struggle in the lead. Sutil continued to run close behind Nico while Hamilton was now just 1.7 seconds behind Webber. The top three were now running together after forty nine laps with fourth placed Button 4.3 seconds behind Alonso.

Webber would be passed by Hamilton at Turn one and would finally pit from second. He would take on the softer tyre while eighth placed Buemi would also pit. Webber would come back out in fifth while on lap fifty one Nico would set a personal best with a 1m:20.305. Hamilton was now leading Alonso by 3.2 seconds from Button, Vettel, Webber, Kubica, Rosberg, Schumacher, Buemi, and Nico in tenth. Nico was pushing setting another personal best with a 1m:19.716. Massa had passed Sutil for eleventh and was 3.1 seconds behind Nico. Rubens was running in a lonely fifteenth. Despite his efforts Massa had started to close in onto Nico. Button was able to get past Alonso for second, making it a McLaren one-two. Button was able to make the most of Alonso having to pass slower traffic. Massa was now 2.6 seconds behind Nico as they completed lap fifty seven. Alonso was able to run with Button while Button was also closing in onto Hamilton.

Nico would pit on lap sixty seeing him lose tenth place. Sixth placed Kubica also would come in taking on the softer tyre. Nico was now in fourteenth 1.7 seconds ahead of Rubens. Hamilton would respond to Button with a new fastest lap on lap sixty one with a 1m:18.025. Nico continued to set personal best lap times, not that it matter given that he was 5.7 seconds behind thirteenth. Hamilton's lead was now 3.4 seconds as Kubica went fastest running on the softer tyre, 1m:17.606, on lap sixty one. lap sixty three Hamilton continued to lead from Button, Alonso, Vettel, Webber, Rosberg, Kubica, Buemi, Schumacher, and Massa in tenth. Nico and Rubens continued to run in fourteenth and fifteenth. Massa would try to pass ninth placed Schumacher and in the process get front wing damage at the final chicane.

Massa was forced to pit for a new nose on lap sixty six. Nico would set a 1m:18.912 on lap sixty five while Rubens would also set a personal best, 1m:19.470. Liuzzi was now in tenth after Massa's problems. Four laps remained in the race with everyone in the top ten separated by fairly big margins so and changes on places was unlikely. Nico and Rubens were running in thirteenth and fourteenth as Kubica set a new fastest lap with a 1m:16.972 on lap sixty seven. Hamilton would start his final lap and would finish it taking victory in the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. Button was second from Alonso, Vettel, Webber, Rosberg, Kubica, Buemi, Liuzzi, and Sutil was able to finish in tenth. Schumacher had made contact with Liuzzi on the last lap seeing both Force India cars pass the Mercedes.

For the Williams team the race again failed to produce any sort of result. Yes they did have troubles in the opening lap but Nico also got a drive through penalty while Rubens was simply off the pace. Another race where a lot of promise was talked abut but neither driver delivered. With the next race in Valencia one can only hope that the Williams team brings further upgrades for their cars to try and find some extra pace. To have both Force India cars finish in the points made Williams' race even more disappointing.

Pos  Driver  	   Team		  	      Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           1h33:53.456
 2.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     2.254
 3.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +     9.214
 4.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +    37.817
 5.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    39.291
 6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    56.084
 7.  Kubica        Renault                    +    57.300
 8.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
 9.  Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
10.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
11.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +     1 lap
12.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
13.  Hulkenberg    AT&T Williams-Cosworth     +     1 lap
14.  Barrichello   AT&T Williams-Cosworth     +     1 lap
15.  Massa         Ferrari                    +     1 lap
16.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth             +    2 laps
17.  Petrov        Renault                    +    2 laps
18.  Chandhok      HRT-Cosworth               +    4 laps
19.  Di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth            +    5 laps

Fastest lap: Kubica, 1:16.972

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Glock         Virgin-Cosworth              50
Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth               43
De la Rosa    Sauber-Ferrari               31
Senna         HRT-Cosworth                 14
Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari               2