After a prolonged red flag period due to torrential rain, McLaren driver Jenson Button claimed his first win of the year, having
used three different types of tyre from the Pirelli PZero Formula One range. Button passed Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel on the final lap to win the race, despite a collision with his team mate, a drive-through penalty, and five pit stops: which at one point in the race put the Englishman as low as 21st. Nonetheless, the
correct strategy calls in the constantly changing conditions – as well as a fantastic drive – enabled him to win one of the most action-packed races of the year. 

The race began in wet conditions behind the safety car for the first four laps, which meant that all the cars started on the PZero Orange full wet tyres: the first time that this has happened all year. 

Button was the first person to switch to the PZero Blue intermediate tyres on lap eight, giving the Italian intermediates their competition debut. But the rain returned just over half an hour after the race started, bringing out the safety car. 

Shortly afterwards, on lap 24, the race was red-flagged as conditions were undriveable. According to the rules, teams were allowed to change tyres and work on their cars while they waited for racing to resume. 

The race restarted behind the safety car nearly two hours later, once again on the PZero Orange tyres. As conditions dried out, the leading runners moved onto intermediate tyres, then slick tyres. Button made a final stop for the PZero Red supersoft tyres on lap 51 to win the race by 2.7 seconds, having taken full advantage of one more safety car period with just 12 laps to go.

Vettel – who led every lap apart from the final one – finished second on the PZero Red supersoft tyres after three stops, while his team mate Mark Webber was third. The final eight laps saw a frenetic battle for the podium places, with Vettel defending
from Button, Webber and Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher, before making a rare mistake.  

At the finish, nearly four and a half hours after the race started, Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Paul Hembery said: “This was one of the most thrilling and unpredictable grands prix we have seen so far this season, with an amazing drive from Jenson Button and all three podium places decided on the very final lap. 

We finally got a wet race, which showcased the effectiveness of our PZero Orange full wet and also the PZero Blue intermediate tyre. Once the race re-started, it was very interesting for us to run the wet and intermediate tyre down to the crossover point, which we’ve never done before in competition: this proved to be a key point in the strategy as both Button and Vettel showed. We really enjoyed watching Kamui Kobayashi as well who delivered a fantastically spirited drive in a race that was well worth the wait: the final battle for the podium was definitely one of our highlights of the year so far.”

2011 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX

“The best win of my career – this couldn’t have been much sweeter!”

“That was the best victory of my career, and today is therefore a very special day for me.. I fought my way from last to first to win the race, and I overtook the cars in front of me on the track. To win a grand prix by getting one over on your rivals with a series of strong overtaking moves makes it even better.

“Races in changing conditions are always very tricky – but I love it when you’ve got to search for grip on the track rather than knowing in advance where it is. It was an amazing victory – I don’t think it could have been any better, especially after Monte-Carlo where we thought we had a win in the bag but were then disappointed at the very end. I was a little bit fortunate today when Sebastian [Vettel] made a mistake on the last lap, but I think we deserved that bit of luck!

“As far as the incident with Lewis is concerned, I couldn’t see a thing behind me except a blur of Vodafone rocket-red, but that could have been my rear wing: obviously, it’s the same colour as Lewis’s car. I moved to the left, which is the racing line, then I felt a bang, and I feared it was game over for both of us. Lewis knows that I didn’t do it on purpose, and I know that he didn’t do it on purpose either. I spoke to him before the race restarted, and it’s all good.

“I want to offer big congrats to Dave [Robson], my race engineer. We haven’t won together before, so this is a very special result for him as well as for me. Now, I just want to enjoy this moment; it’s been a long time coming and it couldn’t have been much sweeter. 

“I can’t stop smiling now!”

“First of all, I have to offer my heartfelt congratulations to Jenson – he drove an absolutely incredible race and thoroughly deserved this victory. It was an utterly fantastic performance, from a truly great driver.

“I’m also sorry for the team; they’ve worked really hard this week and we could have done with the points that a two-car finish would have earned us today. 

“Although the conditions were very tricky from the start, I had pretty good grip and I was doing the best I could to keep the car on the track; I think I had pretty good race pace, and I didn’t have any particular problems.

“I touched Mark’s [Webber] car after he braked a bit early into the first corner. He left me enough room, but I touched the inside kerb and understeered into him.

“Then I started fighting back. After I fell back behind Jenson, he outbraked himself into the final chicane and got a poor exit, so I was able to get a good run on him. It felt to me like I was halfway alongside him down the pits straight – but, as he probably hadn’t spotted me, he continued moving across on the racing line.

“There was no room for me, so I hit the wall. Of course, I don’t think it was intentional: I know Jenson well enough and I know he wouldn’t do that. He’s a good guy.

“So, now, I’ll just focus on the next race and the rest of the season. It would be great if we could qualify a little higher up the grid in order to stay out of trouble in Valencia; but our race pace is good and I really want to do well there.”

“The 2011 Canadian Grand Prix may well be remembered as one of the most eventful, exciting and suspenseful races in Formula 1 history.

“After a spell of torrential rain that made the circuit undriveable and triggered a lengthy red flag period, the race restarted with Jenson in 21st place. It soon became apparent that his car was in good shape, but what followed almost defied credence. In fact I think I’ve heard the word ‘unbelievable’ shouted at me by joyful colleagues about a hundred times this afternoon, and in truth Jenson’s drive was exactly that: absolutely unbelievable. Other adjectives that spring to mind are ‘heroic’, ‘majestic’, ‘magnificent’ and ‘superb’!

“The boys did a great job too – they performed six pitstops for Jenson alone, in difficult conditions, under enormous pressure – and this dramatic win underlines the extraordinary team spirit that exists within Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.

“Our car’s race pace has been consistently strong in Montreal today, in Monte-Carlo two weeks ago, and in Barcelona a week before that; next we’ll go on to Valencia, where we’ll be hoping to build on this victory and that consistent baseline of competitive speed.

“Lewis had a frustratingly short race, which ended when he and Jenson made contact at the beginning of the start-finish straight. We took the decision to ask him to stop his car on the track, and our post-race inspection revealed that that was the correct choice: his suspension was damaged to such an extent that it would have been impossible to continue.

“In our view it was just a racing incident, and both Lewis and Jenson share that view. So did the FIA stewards, who did an excellent job in tricky conditions today. Sometimes an accident is no-one’s fault, and this was one of those occasions.

“Like Jenson, Lewis is already looking forward to Valencia, where I hope and expect that MP4-26, and both its drivers, will be capable of scoring another win.

“Bring it on!”

Four hours after its start time, the Canadian Grand Prix reached its conclusion after a safety car start, four further safety car appearances and a red flag period of more than two hours due to heavy rain. AT&T Williams’ Rubens Barrichello had a clean afternoon to convert 16th on the grid to ninth position and secure two more points for the team. The race failed to deliver any reward for another strong performance by Pastor Maldonado, however. While running in 10th with nine laps, remaining Pastor ran wide to avoid an incident with Kobayashi but collected Rosberg and damaged his front wing. After an unscheduled trip to the pits, Pastor fell victim to the slippery conditions on exit at turn two which put him out of the race. 

Sam Michael, Technical Director: 

After an incident-packed race it was good to score a couple of points. The first safety car deployment hurt our decision to put both cars on intermediate tyres that were working out really well. After the long race suspension, the calls to switch to intermediates and then dry tyres were spot on to put both cars into the points. We then had some issues on the re-start that meant we dropped back in the order.

Rubens Barrichello: 

Starting from 16th, I am happy that I managed to score more points for the team. Unfortunately, it should have been more but I lost a potential 6th or 7th place when I went offline to avoid Kobayashi after the last safety car went in. He ran wide while overtaking a backmarker and rejoined the track without seeing that I was there. I was then forced offline and lost a lot of positions. That was unfortunate but it was still a good reward to score a couple of points again. 

Pastor Maldonado: 

It was a difficult race for me. I had quite a bit of oversteer at the beginning so the car was difficult to manage. When the race was re-started, the car felt better on inters and then even better on the dry tyres. We then had another safety car. When that went in, Kobayashi made a mistake at the first corner, Rosberg braked in front of me in response and I collided with him. That broke my front wing so I had to make a stop. After that, I just spun out on the wet.