McLaren Win The 2010 Canadian Grand Prix

It was deja vu all over again for the McLaren Mercedes team at this year's Canadian Grand Prix. Once again, the team finished one-two, just as they did a couple of weeks prior at the Turkish Grand Prix. It's now up to the rest of the F1 teams to figure out what McLaren's doing right, and what they're doing wrong, as they continue to battle for the 2010 Grand Prix crown.

It was Formula 1's return to Montreal after a one-year absence. The F1 racing teams welcomed a return to the city and the circuit situated on Ile Notre-Dame on the St. Lawrence River.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve at Parc Jean Drapeau on the man-made island honors Canada's Formula 1 great Gilles Villeneuve. He died in 1982 during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve represented the 41st running of the Canadian Grand Prix. The circuit length is 4.361 kilometers and the race consists of 70 laps. The total race distance is 305.270 kilometers.

Qualifying on Saturday in Montreal saw Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes take the pole position for the race. Second place on the starting grid went to Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing (RBR-Renault).

Fernando Alonso of Ferrari secured third spot on the grid. Jenson Button of McLaren Mercedes took fourth spot, while Vitantonio Liuzzi of Force India-Mercedes took fifth.

A couple of mishaps occurred right from the get-go at Sunday's race. Before the first corner, Renault's Vitaly Petrov bumped BMW Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa onto the infield grass to start the race, which caused damage to the nose of the BMW.

Pedro de la Rosa stayed in the race but eventually retired on lap 31 due to engine trouble. In addition, BMW Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi left the race on the first lap when he hit the wall exiting the last corner.

In the first part of the race Britain's Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, and Spain's Fernando Alonso all came into the pits early to take on the harder compound tires. While this was going on, Sebastian Vettel grabbed the race lead. His teammate Mark Webber was behind him in second place.

However, they ended up pitting to change tires on the 13th and 14th laps. Vettel lost his lead, with Webber now taking over first place.

Eventually, Webber relinquished top spot when he had to put up with heavy traffic halfway through the Canadian Grand Prix. He ended up finishing the GP race in fifth.

The heavy traffic encountered by Webber allowed Lewis Hamilton to take over top spot after he won a hard fought battle with Fernando Alonso on the track. Subsequently, Jenson Button, now in third, applied significant pressure to Alonso and finally overtook him on lap 56 according to post race press releases

Ferrari's Alonso continued to fight hard and did garner third on the podium. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel hung on for fourth place despite gearbox problems in the race.

Fifth spot in this GP race went to his teammate Mark Webber. There was no repeat of the Turkish Grand Prix. In that race, the two Red Bull drivers banged and jostled each other on the track, losing the team significant points.

To round out the top point-earning positions, Nico Rosberg of Mercedes came in sixth spot. He put together some "fastest laps" and drove a solid race.

Renault's Robert Kubica finished in seventh position. He ended up having the fastest lap at the Canadian GP, clocking a time of 1:16.972 on lap 67.

Eight position went to Sebastien Buemi of Toro Rosso, who drove a consistent race. Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi was fortunate to finish in the points in ninth place.

He had contact with Ferrari's Felipe Massa three times in the first corner but managed to avoid putting himself out of the race. Liuzzi's teammate Adrian Sutil took tenth spot and earned one Championship point for his efforts.

This year's race in Montreal, Quebec, Canada is the only Grand Prix race in North America for 2010. However, come 2012, another race will appear on the calendar on this continent.

The U.S Grand Prix will make its return to Formula 1 that year. Austin, Texas will serve as the host city of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. This is for the years 2012 through 2021.

A presence in North America is necessary if F1 wants to see itself as a truly worldwide sport. The return of the race to Canada, and now the United States bodes well for the sports growth and popularity. Add to that the new venue in Abu Dhabi, a hit last year, and plans for a GP race in Russia, and F1 is full steam ahead.

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