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Race Recap: 2015 Canadian F1 Grand Prix is better behind the front

As of Saturday afternoon in Montreal, Canada, it was all about the number four. Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on pole position for the fourth time at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and now his tally of pole positions matches his race number: 44. Nico Rosberg lines up beside him, which is the fourth time that particular one-two combo has occurred this season. Ferrari spent three engine development tokens to try and close the gap to Mercedes, Kimi Raikkonen making the most of it with third position on the gird. His teammate Sebastian Vettel got the worst of it, however, when the MGU-K unit failed during Q1, leaving him 160 horsepower down and out at the first hurdle. Valtteri Bottas put a revitalized Williams on the grid at fourth, ahead of a Lotus lockout of the third row with Romain Grosjean leading the way in fifth, Pastor Maldonado just beside. Nico Hulkenberg got the first Sahara Force India into seventh – the team is still waiting on the upgraded B car that should be available for Austria – ahead of Daniil Kvyat in the first Infiniti Red Bull Racing and a "pissed off" Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull. Sergio Perez made it two Force Indias in the top ten, a welcome result from a team performing below expectations of late. When the lights went out, at the very front it was much ado about not that much at all. Hamilton got away clean and stabbed across the track to close the door for Rosberg, giving Raikkonen a chance to take the inside line into Turn 1 in an attempt to clear Rosberg for second place. That didn't happen, leaving the two Mercedes' to run in grid position for the entire race. It wasn't boring – Rosberg stayed close, rubber-banding the time gap to the leader from a little more than one second to just under four seconds, and Montreal is famous for race-rearranging safety cars and on-track incidents. But none of those occurred, so Hamilton crossed the line 2.285 seconds ahead of Rosberg after 70 laps to earn his fourth victory in Canada and the first-ever victory for the Brackley, UK-based Mercedes team. Valtteri Bottas drove his Williams to third position, the first podium place for the team this year and a welcome salve to heal the team's wounds from a poor showing in Monaco. That placing came courtesy of being in the right place at the right time, which was not far behind Raikkonen when the Ferrari driver spun at the hairpin on Lap 28 after his first pit stop.

Honda revamps F1 engine for McLaren

Things haven't been going smoothly for Honda since returning to Formula One, and the Japanese automaker says the challenge has been greater than it anticipated. But after a stronger showing at the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, Honda says its reliability issues are behind it and is working on introducing a revamped engine for the second half of the season. "I am confident our reliability problems are now behind us, which means we can turn our attention to increasing power," Honda racing chief Yasuhisa Arai told Autosport. "After the summer shutdown our plan is to apply a new-spec engine using some of our remaining seven tokens." The "tokens" to which Arai refers are a way for the FIA to limit engine development. The power units are broken down into 66 such tokens in the regulations, and each engine supplier can change up to 32 of them throughout the season. The allowance was at first afforded only to returning suppliers Mercedes, Ferrari, and Renault, but Honda succeeded in convincing the FIA to allow it the same leeway. Honda has been spending its development tokens on fixing reliability issues, but will shift its focus to improving performance. The McLaren team that Honda powers has only gotten both of its cars to the finish line at two out of 10 races this season. Most of those problems came down to the new engine package. That's compared to only two retirements the team suffered last season, when it was still under Mercedes power, and none the year before. In Hungary, however, the team not only got both cars to the finish line, but placed both in the points for the first time this season. "The sport has changed immensely since the McLaren-Honda 'glory days'," said Arai. "The current technology is much more sophisticated, and it is tough to make a good racing car. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but perhaps we didn't imagine it would be this hard." The Japanese manufacturer is now spending the summer break developing its power unit. Many of those changes are expected to be rolled out in time for the Belgian Grand Prix later this month, with the rest to follow in the ensuing races. Beyond reliability, engine performance is particularly important for the high-speed races at Spa and Monza, where the subsequent Italian Grand Prix will be held early next month. Related Video:

F1's Daniel Ricciardo a Monaco spoiler? 'I run those streets'

MONACO - Daniel Ricciardo jokes that he has a new strategy for Monaco this year - no pitstops, just keep going all the way to the checkered flag. The rules do not allow him to do that, of course, but the comment underlines the lingering pain of last year when the Australian seized pole position but was robbed of victory by a pitstop bungle. "It sucks. It hurts," said the Red Bull driver, who finished second to Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, at the time. "I got to the pits and everyone's running around like headless chooks (chickens)." The pole position was the only one that escaped champions Mercedes last year, and Ricciardo took some solace when he then won in Malaysia after Hamilton suffered engine failure. Title rivals Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, separated by just six points and with two wins apiece, will be the favorites in Sunday's showcase race around the metal-fenced streets. But Ricciardo reckons he can again muscle in on the action, even if his car's Renault engine is down on power. "Regardless of where the car is at come Monaco, I'm certainly confident going there," he said at the previous Spanish Grand Prix, where he finished third. "I certainly feel like I run those streets ... I already get excited thinking about Monaco, I love that place. It's cool," he added. "The memories of last year are still more sweet than bitter so I'm just excited to get another chance this year." MILESTONES IN MIND Both Hamilton and Vettel have their own milestones in mind on what promises to be a sunny week in the Mediterranean principality for the two multiple title winners. Vettel, the championship leader, is aiming to become the first Ferrari driver to win in Monaco since Michael Schumacher in 2001 -- almost ancient history as far as Formula One is concerned. Hamilton meanwhile can equal his late, great idol Ayrton Senna's career tally of 65 pole positions on the 30th anniversary of the Brazilian's first Monaco win. Mercedes are going for their fifth successive Monaco win, with Hamilton triumphant last year after three victories in succession for now-retired champion Nico Rosberg. The title duel, in the sixth and slowest round of the championship, will also be about absent friends and returning heroes. Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion who called it a day last year, will be filling in for Spaniard Fernando Alonso at McLaren while the double champion takes on the Indianapolis 500 on the same weekend.