MONTREAL (AFP) – Torrential rain brought a red-flag suspension to the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday after 25 of the scheduled 70 laps.
World champion Sebastian Vettel, who had started from pole in his Red Bull, was in the lead when the action was halted.
"It's the right decision to stop the race," said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. "The drivers are just passengers, the water lifts the cars up and there is no drive."
The race had started behind the safety car because of the wet conditions.
Former world champion Lewis Hamilton had crashed out after colliding with McLaren teammate Jenson Button after just eight laps.
Hamilton came off worst when he tried -- and failed -- to go up the inside of his fellow Briton.
"What's he doing?" complained Button over the team radio as the safety car was summoned onto the track.
It was a second successive controversial race for the 26-year-old Hamilton.
At the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago, the Englishman was penalised for collisions with Felipe Massa of Ferrari and Pastor Maldonado of Williams.
Afterwards he criticised the stewards in an outburst during a television interview, in which he jokingly suggested, with a reference to the comic character Ali G, that he was being victimised because he was black.
He apologised to the stewards in Monte Carlo and wrote a letter of apology to the FIA.
