Lewis Hamilton will rue missed chances at the Canadian Grand Prix if he fails to win the Drivers Championship this season following a disappointing display on familiar territory.

The British driver started second on the grid behind Sebastian Vettel but was powerless to stop the three-time world champion taking a routine victory in the Montreal sunshine. Hamilton should at least have secured second place but Fernando Alonso pipped him to the post, leaving the Mercedes driver 55 points adrift of the Championship lead.

Hamilton’s third-place finish was a real shock for Titan Bet F1 fans, many of whom expected the 28-year-old to repeat past success on this circuit.

Montreal was the scene of Hamilton’s maiden F1 race victory in 2007 and he’s gone on to win twice more since then. Last season he also started second on the grid behind Vettel but showed great understanding of his tyres to win via a superior pitting strategy.

On Sunday the Mercedes driver again started second but Vettel went unchallenged. The Mercedes proved its limitations on lap 63 when Alonso, using a combination of good tyres and DRS, finally wore Hamilton down and snuck into second place, leaving the former to consolidate third.

“I hope we can get a bit more pace in the next race. We just need to keep pushing to close the gap to these guys,” he told BBC Sport.

Unfortunately, it looks like he’ll be playing this game of catch-up all season long as the F1 calendar reaches its halfway stage. For Titan Bet F1 punters Canada was their best bet to see a Hamilton victory and the driver is unlikely to find success at Silverstone later this month.

He may have won the race in 2008 but this is Red Bull’s territory and Vettel is clear favourite along with teammate Mark Webber to continue their recent success in Northamptonshire. Victory for Vettel and Hamilton can almost wave goodbye to the title this season, a disappointing predicament only six months into his Mercedes career.