Lewis Hamilton wins Canadian GP

Associated Press

MONTREAL

Lewis Hamilton and his McLaren team made all the right moves in the Canadian Grand Prix, leaving Red Bull behind at sunny Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Hamilton raced to his second straight Formula 1 victory and second Canadian victory in four years Sunday, holding off teammate Jenson Button to take the season points lead from Red Bull’s Mark Webber.

“I don’t know why I do well here,” Hamilton said. “I love it here. It’s a great track, great city, great food and great weather today. ... I’m just able to dial in my car here and have a better feel here than some other places.”

Hamilton, the 25-year-old British star who raced to his first F1 victory in 2007 in Montreal, started from the pole en route to his 14th career victory after gambling on Bridgestone’s super-soft compound tires in the qualifying finale. The top 10 starters are required to start the race on the tires they used in the final qualifying segment.

Webber qualified second on the more durable medium-compound tires, but was dropped from second to seventh on the starting grid because of a gearbox change.

The Australian took the lead after the other front-runners made their second and last stops, but gave up considerable time on his badly worn tires. He didn’t pit until just after Hamilton took the lead on the 50th of 70 laps.

“Tires played a huge role in the race today and, in the end, we did the best we could,” Webber said. “I was trying to keep my pace constant, but in the end the tires didn’t want that pace and they go away from you. It’s virtually impossible to keep the tires from degrading here, no matter how slow you drive.”

Hamilton and McLaren managed their tires and pit stops perfectly.

“It was difficult to know how much to save your tires and how much to push,” Hamilton said. “It was very, very challenging.”