Vettel celebrates an emotional Ferrari victory in Canada

Race winner Sebastian Vettel (GER) Ferrari celebrates on the podium.
© XPB 

Sebastian Vettel admitted that this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix couldn't have gone any better for Ferrari if it had been written as a feel-good feature film.

"Perfect is probably a good way to describe it. Unbelievable," he said after the race. "I think the whole thing, it's been like a cinema - in a movie - with a happy end. It's been a great weekend for us."

He clinched his 50th Formula 1 career win on Sunday in Montreal, and in so doing retook the lead of the drivers championship by one point. He is the first Ferrari driver to win here since Michael Schumacher was victorious in 2004.

"Michael was the last winner [for Ferrari]," he said. "I would never even have known or dreamt that far that I would have been the next one after him to win for Ferrari here with so much support.

"Okay it's 50 for me," he continued. "But I think after a long stretch that Ferrari didn't win here, I saw the people around and they were superhappy. I'm sure they had a blast, and they will have a blast tonight too."

It also clearly meant a lot to Vettel that he had done it 40 years after the late, great Gilles Villeneuve won the 1978 race for Ferrari.

"To have a Ferrari winning today, and me driving it, makes me very proud. It's just a day to remember the great Gilles Villeneuve," he said. We had Jacques driving his father's car earlier, so it's very emotional.

"It's a shame these moments don't last longer, but equally that's what makes them special," he said.

"I said yesterday how much this place means to Ferrari. I think we see it from the moment we touch down and come here. To have a race like we did today - it's unbelievable.

"These days are hard to grasp," he added in a moment of reflection among the celebrations. "The moments don't last long, and now it's a memory."

With such a dominant victory for Vettel, leading from start to finish without any hint of drama during the hour and a half, there was little to talk about when it came to the race itself.

But when it came to the championship situation, Sunday's race had blown the title battle with Lewis Hamilton wide open. Vettel is now back on top albeit by a single point, with 14 or 21 races remaining.

"This year there are so many races to come still," he said, refusing to get carried away.

"I think we enjoy the victory today. We take the points of course, so whatever there is to grasp we'll take it. But still a very long way to go.

"It's very open. We have Red Bull, Mercedes and us in the mix and it's very close. A bit circuit dependence, a bit tyre dependent, whatever you want

"I think it's exciting to watch because you don't know happens. For us as well because you always have a chance, which is a nice look out.

"We hope that we stay strong to stay in that position," he added. "We know what we're doing, or at least we hope so, so we'll try our best."

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