2011 Canadian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Jenson Button won an extraordinary Canadian Grand Prix, recovering from collisions, a penalty and six pit-lane visits to pass Sebastian Vettel on the final lap. Rain stoppages made it the longest world championship race by elapsed time.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
Pole time	1:13.014
Fastest lap	Jenson Button	McLaren
Fastest-lap time	1:16.956 on lap 69
First	Jenson Button	McLaren
Second	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
Third	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
10 June 2011	Practice 1	10:00 – 11:30
10 June 2011	Practice 2	14:00 – 15:30
11 June 2011	Practice 3	10:00 – 11:00
11 June 2011	Qualifying	13:00
12 June 2011	Race	13:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Sebastian Vettel arrived at round 7 leading the 2011 F1 World Championship on 143 points, with Lewis Hamilton on 85. Red Bull Racing headed the constructors’ standings with 222 points.

Race entries

Sergio Pérez withdrew after first practice because he was not fully recovered from his Monaco accident. Pedro de la Rosa replaced him at Sauber for the remainder of the weekend.

Free Practice

Nico Rosberg led FP1, but Sebastian Vettel struck the Wall of Champions and heavily damaged his Red Bull. Sergio Pérez also found he was not ready to return after his Monaco concussion and withdrew following the session. Sauber called on Pedro de la Rosa, who faced the challenge of taking over midway through the weekend.

Fernando Alonso led an incident-filled FP2 as Sebastian Vettel returned after repairs. Kamui Kobayashi and Jérôme d’Ambrosio hit the barriers, each causing a stoppage, while Adrian Sutil damaged his suspension in another accident. Lewis Hamilton picked up a puncture, and Pedro de la Rosa began reacquainting himself with Sauber after his unexpected call-up.

Sebastian Vettel recovered to lead FP3, but Mark Webber missed the session with a KERS failure. Sauber’s disrupted weekend continued when Pedro de la Rosa crashed in the closing minute. The red flag ended running early, leaving both Mark Webber and the substitute driver short of their intended preparation before qualifying.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2011 Canadian Grand Prix FP1, 10 June 2011

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:15.591	32
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.548s	27
3	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+0.958s	30
4	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+1.067s	26
5	4	Jenson Button	McLaren	+1.085s	20
6	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+1.251s	19
7	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	+1.399s	28
8	15	Paul di Resta	Force India	+1.703s	26
9	9	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	+1.854s	28
10	14	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+1.958s	20
11	17	Sergio Perez	Sauber	+2.071s	27
12	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+2.229s	30
13	19	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	+2.867s	31
14	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	+2.915s	15
15	18	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+3.057s	35
16	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+3.261s	8
17	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+3.341s	20
18	21	Jarno Trulli	Team Lotus	+3.683s	29
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Team Lotus	+3.831s	30
20	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+3.986s	26
21	25	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin Racing	+4.247s	31
22	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT	+4.369s	23
23	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	+4.929s	21
24	22	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	+5.248s	27

Free Practice 2 Classification

2011 Canadian Grand Prix FP2, 10 June 2011

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:15.107	34
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+0.369s	29
3	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.494s	33
4	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.870s	26
5	4	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.882s	25
6	15	Paul di Resta	Force India	+0.982s	34
7	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.995s	28
8	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	+1.217s	32
9	9	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	+1.315s	32
10	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	+1.580s	28
11	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+1.798s	16
12	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+1.834s	39
13	18	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	+1.944s	32
14	19	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	+2.577s	34
15	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+2.650s	20
16	21	Jarno Trulli	Team Lotus	+3.363s	33
17	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Team Lotus	+3.375s	38
18	17	Pedro de la Rosa	Sauber	+3.429s	14
19	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+3.494s	38
20	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+4.102s	28
21	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	+4.703s	25
22	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT	+5.177s	31
23	22	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	+5.204s	38
24	25	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin Racing	+5.815s	26

Free Practice 3 Classification

2011 Canadian Grand Prix FP3, 11 June 2011

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:13.381	21
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.320s	21
3	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.538s	29
4	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.575s	20
5	4	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.954s	18
6	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+1.088s	16
7	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+1.107s	23
8	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	+1.536s	23
9	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+1.836s	18
10	15	Paul di Resta	Force India	+1.862s	17
11	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+1.931s	19
12	9	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	+1.969s	22
13	18	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	+2.757s	17
14	19	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	+2.764s	19
15	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+2.855s	21
16	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	+3.057s	21
17	17	Pedro de la Rosa	Sauber	+3.325s	22
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Team Lotus	+3.712s	21
19	21	Jarno Trulli	Team Lotus	+4.142s	24
20	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT	+5.529s	20
21	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	+5.692s	19
22	22	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	+5.832s	22
23	25	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin Racing	+7.094s	19

Qualifying

Sebastian Vettel headed qualifying for Red Bull Racing, with Fernando Alonso second and Felipe Massa third.

Sebastian Vettel took pole ahead of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Jérôme d'Ambrosio received permission to race despite falling outside the 107% limit, while Alguersuari later started from the pit lane after set-up changes.

Qualifying Classification

2011 Canadian Grand Prix Qualifying, 11 June 2011

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:14.011	1:13.486	1:13.014	17
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:13.822	1:13.672	1:13.199	19
3	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:14.026	1:13.431	1:13.217	20
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:14.375	1:13.654	1:13.429	22
5	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:14.114	1:13.926	1:13.565	18
6	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:14.920	1:13.950	1:13.814	14
7	4	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:14.374	1:13.955	1:13.838	20
8	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:14.970	1:14.242	1:13.864	14
9	9	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	1:15.096	1:14.467	1:14.062	27
10	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1:14.699	1:14.354	1:14.085	25
11	15	Paul di Resta	Force India	1:14.874	1:14.752	—	19
12	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	1:15.585	1:15.043	—	20
13	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	1:15.694	1:15.285	—	21
14	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India	1:14.931	1:15.287	—	21
15	18	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	1:15.901	1:15.334	—	18
16	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	1:15.331	1:15.361	—	20
17	17	Pedro de la Rosa	Sauber	1:16.229	1:15.587	—	21
18	19	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	1:16.294	—	—	10
19	21	Jarno Trulli	Team Lotus	1:16.745	—	—	12
20	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Team Lotus	1:16.786	—	—	10
21	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT	1:18.424	—	—	10
22	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	1:18.537	—	—	12
23	22	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	1:18.574	—	—	11
24	25	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Virgin Racing	1:19.414	—	—	13

Jaime Alguersuari was required to start from the pit lane, as he modified his Toro Rosso‘s set-up to optimise the car for the wet conditions.

Jérôme d'Ambrosio did not set a lap time within 107% of the fastest qualifying time from the first session, but was allowed to race by the stewards’ discretion.

What happened in the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix?

The race began behind the safety car on a wet circuit. Button and Hamilton collided on the pit straight after racing resumed, ending Hamilton’s afternoon; Button continued but later served a penalty for speeding behind the safety car.

Heavy rain brought a red flag and a delay of more than two hours. After the restart, Button’s contact with Alonso left the Ferrari stranded and the McLaren needing another recovery from the rear.

As the circuit dried, Button became the fastest driver in the field. He passed Webber and Schumacher to reach second, then pursued Vettel until the leader slid wide on the final lap.

Button seized the win ahead of Vettel and Webber. Schumacher finished fourth after running in the podium positions, while Petrov took fifth and Massa narrowly beat Kobayashi for sixth. The full distance was completed and full points were awarded.

Further down the points places, Kamui Kobayashi, Jaime Alguersuari, Rubens Barrichello and Sébastien Buemi completed the scoring positions. Jenson Button set the fastest lap, but no bonus point was awarded under the 2011 rules.

After the race, Sebastian Vettel headed the drivers’ standings with 161 points, followed by Jenson Button on 101. Red Bull Racing led the constructors’ table on 255, with McLaren on 186.

2011 Canadian Grand Prix race results

The 2011 Canadian Grand Prix was held on 12 June 2011, with a scheduled start of 13:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	4	Jenson Button	McLaren	70	4:04:39.537	25
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	70	+2.709	18
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	70	+13.828	15
4	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	70	+14.219	12
5	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	70	+20.395	10
6	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	70	+33.225	8
7	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	70	+33.270	6
8	19	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	70	+35.964	4
9	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	70	+45.117	2
10	18	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	70	+47.056	1
11	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	70	+50.454	0
12	17	Pedro de la Rosa	Sauber	70	+1:03.607	0
13	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT	69	+1 lap	0
14	25	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Virgin Racing	69	+1 lap	0
15	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	69	+1 lap	0
16	21	Jarno Trulli	Team Lotus	69	+1 lap	0
17	22	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	69	+1 lap	0
18	15	Paul di Resta	Force India	67	Accident	0
Ret	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	61	Spun off	0
Ret	9	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	55	Accident	0
Ret	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India	49	Accident damage	0
Ret	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	36	Collision	0
Ret	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Team Lotus	28	Driveshaft	0
Ret	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	7	Collision	0

Narain Karthikeyan originally finished 14th, but received a post-race 20 second penalty for cutting the chicane and gaining an advantage.

2011 Canadian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time	Avg. Speed
1	4	Jenson Button	McLaren	69	1:16.956	204.007
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	69	1:17.217	203.317
3	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	68	1:19.054	198.593
4	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	70	1:19.138	198.382
5	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	68	1:19.148	198.357
6	15	Paul di Resta	Force India	67	1:19.395	197.740
7	18	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	69	1:19.507	197.461
8	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	65	1:19.572	197.300
9	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	69	1:20.071	196.070
10	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	70	1:20.213	195.723
11	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	68	1:20.316	195.472
12	17	Pedro de la Rosa	Sauber	70	1:20.369	195.343
13	19	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	69	1:20.371	195.339
14	21	Jarno Trulli	Team Lotus	67	1:22.233	190.916
15	25	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin Racing	68	1:22.495	190.309
16	22	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	66	1:23.116	188.887
17	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT	63	1:23.419	188.201
18	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	53	1:24.265	186.312
19	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	68	1:24.590	185.596
20	9	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	55	1:25.135	184.408
21	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India	47	1:30.171	174.109
22	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	14	1:34.223	166.621
23	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	7	1:37.761	160.591
24	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Team Lotus	16	1:38.460	159.451

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

2011 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix.

2011 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Sebastian Vettel	German	Red Bull Racing	161
2	Jenson Button	British	McLaren	101
3	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing	94
4	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren	85
5	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	69
6	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	32
7	Vitaly Petrov	Russian	Renault	31
8	Nick Heidfeld	German	Renault	29
9	Michael Schumacher	German	Mercedes	26
10	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	26
11	Kamui Kobayashi	Japanese	Sauber	25
12	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India	8
13	Sébastien Buemi	Swiss	Toro Rosso	8
14	Jaime Alguersuari	Spanish	Toro Rosso	4
15	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Williams	4
16	Sergio Pérez	Mexican	Sauber	2
17	Paul di Resta	British	Force India	2
18	Pedro de la Rosa	Spanish	Sauber	0
19	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Team Lotus	0
20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italian	HRT	0
21	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Belgian	Virgin Racing	0
22	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	Team Lotus	0
23	Timo Glock	German	Virgin Racing	0
24	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Williams	0
25	Narain Karthikeyan	Indian	HRT	0

2011 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Red Bull Racing	255
2	McLaren	186
3	Ferrari	101
4	Renault	60
5	Mercedes	52
6	Sauber	27
7	Toro Rosso	12
8	Force India	10
9	Williams	4
10	Team Lotus	0
11	HRT	0
12	Virgin Racing	0

2011 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2011 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	27 March
2	2011 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	10 April
3	2011 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	17 April
4	2011 Turkish Grand Prix	Istanbul Park, Istanbul	8 May
5	2011 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló	22 May
6	2011 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	29 May
7	2011 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	12 June
8	2011 European Grand Prix	Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia	26 June
9	2011 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	10 July
10	2011 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	24 July
11	2011 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	31 July
12	2011 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	28 August
13	2011 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	11 September
14	2011 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	25 September
15	2011 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	9 October
16	2011 Korean Grand Prix	Korea International Circuit, Yeongam	16 October
17	2011 Indian Grand Prix	Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida	30 October
18	2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	13 November
19	2011 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	27 November