All change at the top again after Hamilton enjoys Canadian win

Hamilton perfectly executed a two-stop strategy to take his third Canadian Grand Prix victory, and with it reclaim the lead in the drivers’ championship.

Come a breathtaking conclusion to the 70-lap race at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve just seven seconds covered the top five drivers.

Hamilton was joined on the podium by Lotus’ Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez in his Sauber, the duo nursing their tyres to make a one-stop strategy pay dividends.

Asked whether his win felt incredible, Hamilton said: “It does. Thanks to the team who never seem to give up. I want to dedicate this one to all the fans who are sending me messages of support.

“I knew this would be a tough race, but I loved every single minute of it, and I never had a doubt in my mind (about) not winning.

“I knew I had to keep pushing, opening the gap. I had a couple of problems pulling away (in my pit stops), maybe it was my fault, but it shows we can always keep improving.

Summing up his emotions, Hamilton added: “It’s been five years since I won for the first time here, but it feels good.

“It feels great to finally be up here on the top step.”

At one stage it appeared as if double world champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso would join Hamilton on the podium – although in what order was unclear as the dying stages unfolded.

Instead, Vettel was forced to settle for fourth in his Red Bull, while Alonso’s Pirelli tyres badly deterioated over the closing laps as six from home he was leading for Ferrari, but could only finish fifth.

It means having started the day fourth in the standings, Hamilton now has a two-point cushion to Alonso and three to Vettel, with a further six-point gap then to Mark Webber who was seventh behind Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg.

Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen, Kamui Kobayashi in his Sauber and Ferrari of Felipe Massa completed the top 10, with Force India’s Paul di Resta 11th.

As for Jenson Button it was another afternoon to forget as not for the first time he was unable to make his tyres work, making three stops to finish 16th and trail Hamilton in the overall standings by 43 points.