2014 Canadian Grand Prix

The 2014 Canadian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2014) was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, on 8 June. It was the seventh race of the 2014 Formula One World Championship and the 45th time the Canadian Grand Prix formed part of the series. Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo won the 70-lap race from sixth position. Nico Rosberg finished in second position for Mercedes and Ricciardo's teammate Sebastian Vettel took third.

Rosberg took the pole position by setting the fastest lap in qualifying. He held off his teammate Lewis Hamilton to lead the field into the first corner. The race was neutralised with the safety car on the same lap due to a crash between Marussia teammates Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi, which ended Chilton’s streak of 25 straight races without a retirement. Rosberg maintained the lead until his first pit stop on the 18th lap. Rosberg retook it from his teammate Hamilton on lap 19. Kinetic motor–generator unit failures slowed both Rosberg and Hamilton just after halfway through the race. Rosberg made a pit stop at the end of lap 44. Hamilton led that lap and the next before his own pit stop. Williams driver Felipe Massa took the lead for the following two laps and relinquished it back to Rosberg on the 48th lap. Ricciardo overtook Sergio Pérez of Force India for second on lap 66, and Rosberg two laps later. Competitive racing ended with the safety car's deployment on the final lap due to a first turn accident between Massa and Pérez that saw both drivers briefly hospitalised. Ricciardo took the first victory of his career and the first for an Australian driver since 2012.

The result increased Rosberg's lead in the Drivers' Championship to 22 points over his teammate Hamilton who retired with overheating rear brakes. Ricciardo's victory advanced him to third, demoted Fernando Alonso of Ferrari to fourth and elevated Vettel to fifth. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes maintained its lead over Red Bull in second. Ferrari, Force India and McLaren all maintained third to fifth with twelve races left in the season.

The 2014 Canadian Grand Prix was the 7th of 19 races of the 2014 Formula One World Championship, and the 45th running of the event as part of the series. It was held at the 14-turn 4.361 km (2.710 mi) Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec on 8 June. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the yellow-banded soft compound and the red-banded supersoft compound tyres to the race. The drag reduction system (DRS) had two activation zones for the race: one was on the main straight linking turns 11 and 12 and the second was on the straight between the 13th and first corners. After the 2013 round, gravel to the outside of turn 10 and turn 13 was replaced by an asphalt surface. A barrier at turn 13 was moved further back and its debris fence updated. New guardrail posts were built so that there was no space more than 2 m (6.6 ft).

After winning the preceding Monaco Grand Prix, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg led the Drivers' Championship with 122 points, four ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton in second. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was in third with 61 points, and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was seven points behind him in fourth. Force India driver Nico Hülkenberg rounded out the top five with 47 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes led with 240 points, and Red Bull was second with 99 points. Ferrari with 78 points and Force India with 67 points contended for third position. McLaren completed the top five with 52 points.

Rosberg took the Drivers' Championship lead with a win at Monaco; his relationship with Hamilton diminished after the latter felt Rosberg prevented him from taking pole position. Both drivers spoke to each other before the event and Hamilton declared their relationship restored. Rosberg said his relationship with Hamilton had not been affected and commented on the situation, "We're fighting every single race weekend, it's me against him and there's nobody else. So that definitely makes it more difficult and there's more at stake. There is the opportunity of winning the championship this year – that is the ultimate goal in racing – so there's a lot at stake." Hamilton had won in Canada three times in 2007, 2010 and 2012 and said that the track's long straights would help Mercedes, "We have a very good power curve on our engine, Mercedes have done the best job with the engines. Renault (Red Bull's power-plant supplier) and Ferrari would have to have done an exceptional job coming into this weekend, in terms of that area, to be able to keep up with us on the straights."

A total of 11 teams (each representing a different constructor) each fielded two race drivers with one change of driver for the first free practice session. GP2 Series participant and Caterham reserve driver Alexander Rossi drove the CT05 in lieu of Kamui Kobayashi for the first time in 2014. In technical developments, Mercedes installed fins and turning vanes to the F1 W05 Hybrid's lower front wishbone on its front suspension and the rear section of its frontal brake ducts. This was to improve airflow and lessen drag to the inside of the front wheel. Toro Rosso built new exhaust systems for their two cars following the development of fractures from possible overheating that led to their retirements in Monaco. On the FW36, Williams mounted a duct over the top of its brake discs to divert airflow from the main duct to the outside of the caliper. Ferrari tested a tighter-mounted engine cover that went to the inside of the rear tyres. It featured longer sidepods to better cool the F14 T and removed downforce. During practice, McLaren used a rear suspension blocker to replace some downforce lost on the MP4-29 with the lower rear wing's removal at the cost of including drag.

Per the regulations for the 2014 season, three practice sessions were held, two 90-minute sessions on Friday and another 60-minute session on Saturday. The first practice session was held under heavy cloud cover that threatened a heavy rain shower. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was fastest with a benchmark lap of 1 minute and 17.238 seconds. He was ahead of the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Rosberg. The Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Ricciardo were fourth and sixth; they were separated by Valtteri Bottas for Williams. Jenson Button, his McLaren teammate Kevin Magnussen, Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen and Toro Rosso's Jean-Éric Vergne rounded out the top ten fastest drivers. During the session, several drivers went off the circuit because of a low amount of grip and unable to get the optimum tyre temperature. Jules Bianchi damaged a right track rod on his Marussia from contact against a wall at turn four. Hülkenberg spun by putting his wheels in the grass at the turn eight chicane. Williams driver Felipe Massa stopped early with an ERS battery issue.