Canadian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton recorded his 56th race win after cruising to victory

Lewis Hamilton slashed title rival Sebastian Vettel's Formula 1 championship lead with a dominant victory in the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Hamilton led away from pole and remained unchallenged for most of the 70-lap race to cross the line 19.7 seconds clear of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo completed the podium, with Vettel recovering to fourth place having dropped to last after sustaining damage at the start

That happened when Max Verstappen made a lightning getaway from fifth, going around the outside of Vettel at the start to take second behind Hamilton.

But with Bottas simultaneously attacking Vettel on the inside, the Ferrari found itself squeezed and damaged its front wing on Verstappen's left-rear wheel.

Vettel continued initially but was soon forced to pit when part of the wing broke off, dropping him to 18th and last.

The race had been neutralised on the opening lap, when the safety car was called into action following a collision between Carlos Sainz Jr and Romain Grosjean.

Sainz appeared to move across on Grosjean on the straight after Turn 2, causing contact that pitched the Toro Rosso into a spin approaching Turn 3.

The out-of-control Sainz violently collected an innocent Felipe Massa. Both were out but unhurt, while Grosjean had to pit for a new front wing.

Hamilton held off an attack from Verstappen at the safety car restart but that challenge ended when the Red Bull driver pulled off track at Turn 2 soon afterwards with a mechanical problem, prompting a virtual safety car.