Hamilton: Crash just a part of life as Alonso claims second win

Lewis Hamilton refused to blame Pastor Maldonado for the crash which cost him a podium finish at the European Grand Prix. 

The McLaren driver was headed for an important third-place finish in Valencia before Maldonado crashed into him while trying to pass on the penultimate lap. 

 The incident helped Michael Schumacher to his first podium finish since returning to Formula One, while Fernando Alonso became the first driver to win two races this season. 

 Alonso moved 20 points clear atop the drivers' standings after his win and Hamilton's failure to finish, but the 2008 world champion was not critical of Maldonado. 

My tyres were gone. I don't know where I would have finished. 

Over the last lap or so, my tyres just went - it was almost like I had flat tyres at the back," he said. "You never let people past, you've got to race for every position you can get. 

I don't really know what happened, if I'm honest. 

I went into the corner and I didn't come out. "It happened so fast, I really do not remember what happened. All I remember is sitting in the wall with only a lap to go. 

You put your heart and soul into some things, and when you don't get the results that you feel you worked for, it's very tough, but that's life. 

Maldonado, who finished 10th but received a 20-second penalty for the collision and consequently dropped to 12th, blamed Hamilton for the crash. 

He tried to put me off the track. He didn't leave any room for me to stay on and do the corner side by side. 

I jumped over the kerb and I couldn't avoid the accident," the Williams driver said. 

I don't know why he drove like that. 

He was struggling too much with the tyres. He was completely lost and at that moment I was getting very good pace. He tried a very aggressive move on me.

Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Jenson Button bemoaned a lack of luck after finishing eighth in an entertaining race during which drivers struggled with their tyres. 

It was a really difficult race to read. Obviously I got a terrible start and I think I was 14th after the start. I just got unlucky," Button said. 

We had a strategy in mind, but nobody seemed to be able to look after the tyres. 

It just seemed that if you pushed like hell, destroyed your tyres and just kept coming in and getting new tyres - that was the way to go. 

Normally that wouldn't be because you can't get past people here. "I don't think we did a bad job in terms of strategy, but I think a few people lucked into their strategies at the end there when they put new tyres on with 10 laps to go and nearly won the race."

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Hamilton wins in Canada

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton stormed to victory at the Canadian Grand Prix to become the seventh winner in seven races this season.

 The 28-year-old Briton drove magnificently as he reeled in dual world champion Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, after a second pitstop, to seize the championship lead. Frenchman Roman Grosjean was second in his Lotus while impressive youngster Sergio Perez rounded out the podium in his Sauber after he overtook Alonso. It was a third career victory for Hamilton at his favoured Montreal island circuit - where the 2008 champion also won his first race, in 2007.

 Hamilton had a few worrying moments in his two pitstops - where the team has struggled at times this season - but was unstoppable on track. Red Bull's Vettel had started on pole and held the lead early but slipped back to fourth in the later laps.

 Former championship leader Alonso also fell away to finish fifth in his Ferrari and is now two points behind Hamilton in the drivers' standings.

 Hamilton leads with 88 points while Vettel is third on 85 in one of the most even championships in many years. Mercedes' Nico Rosberg was sixth in Montreal ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber (seventh), Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus (eighth), Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi (ninth) as well as Ferrari's Felipe Massa in 10th.

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Vettel plays down Ferrari rumours

Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel has rubbished claims he is set to leave Red Bull for Ferrari.

Reports from the Monaco Grand Prix suggested Vettel had agreed to switch teams in 2014, but the German insists his future lies with Red Bull.

"I've been wearing a Red Bull helmet for almost my entire career. It is difficult to imagine another kind of life if you are so used to it," Vettel told Autosport.

"It would be like when you turn 18, 19 and move out of your family's home. I am very happy where I am right now and I don't want to move on to anywhere else."

While Vettel is contracted at Red Bull until the end of 2014, the team's advisor Helmut Marko has conceded there is an escape clause should results slide.

"2013 is fixed for us," Marko told German newspaper Bild.

"For 2014 there is a performance-related clause in his contract for him and for the team.

"It depends on the rankings in next year's world championships.

"If Vettel and Red Bull slip in the drivers' or constructors' championship, he could go."

Vettel, who joined Red Bull in 2009, recorded 15 poles and 11 victories from 19 races on his way to a second consecutive drivers' world championship title last year.

With six different winners from the first six races of the 2012 season, Vettel believes consistency will prove vital in his quest for a third straight F1 crown.

"This year there are much more candidates to win races than before," he said.

"Therefore it gets more essential to collect as many points as possible in every race.

"From the first day of winter testing I had confidence in our car.

"We have not got out the most of the potential though we make steady progress."

Vettel is currently equal second in the drivers' standings alongside Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber, three points behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

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