Lewis Hamilton Wins Canadian GP, Dedicates Victory to Muhammad Ali

Lewis Hamilton had something on his mind before he was ready to ascend to the top step of the Formula One podium for the second week in a row.

So he climbed on top of his car for a little shadow boxing.

Then he jumped down to the ground and did the Ali Shuffle.

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” he radioed to his crew on Sunday after winning the Canadian Grand Prix for the fifth time, and the second in a row. “That was for Muhammad Ali.”

Continuing Mercedes Formula One dominance, Hamilton took advantage of Sebastian Vettel’s two-pit stop strategy to claim his 45th career F1 win.

Vettel took the early lead with an audacious move at the start, but gave it back for good when the Ferrari went to the pits — for the second time — in lap 37. Hamilton made it through the 70 laps on the 2.71-mile (4.363-km) Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with one stop, finishing in 1 hour, 31 minutes, 5.296 seconds, about 5 seconds ahead of Vettel.

Afterward, Hamilton dedicated the victory to Ali, who died last week, and said he couldn’t stop thinking about the former heavyweight champ — even with 15 laps still to go.

I never really dedicate wins to anyone, but it’s someone that’s really inspired me so much throughout my life. I was driving, and I was just thinking of him, and thinking maybe he would be watching the race, I don’t know. So that’s to him and his family. Rest in peace.

Lewis Hamilton

With the victory, Hamilton cut Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg’s lead in the championship standings from 24 points to nine, 116-107.

Vettel moved into third in the points race, with 78, and said he doesn’t second-guess the team’s calculation that fresher tires would help him catch Hamilton.