Ricciardo snatches maiden win in Montreal thriller

2014 Canadian Grand Prix summary

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Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo has claimed his first grand prix victory after a chaotic and thrilling Canadian Grand Prix in which Lewis Hamilton was forced to retire with brake issues.

Nico Rosberg finished second after Mercedes were struck by a mysterious problem that slowed both cars. Sebastian Vettel finished third.

At the start, Hamilton appeared to get the better start of the two Mercedes drivers, but was pushed out wide by Rosberg at the apex, forcing Hamilton to tuck in behind Vettel into third.

Then, chaos ensued into Turn Four when Max Chilton lost control of his Marussia and collected team mate Jules Bianchi, sending the Frenchmen into the wall and eliminating both cars on the spot.

After a long period behind the Safety Car, the race eventually resumed on Lap 8 with Rosberg able to make a clean jump on Vettel behind. Hamilton took immidiate advantage of DRS being activate on Lap 10 to breeze past the Red Bull on the long back straight while Daniil Kvyat spun at Turn Two, dropping him to last on the track.

Daniel Ricciardo was the first of the front runners to pit on Lap 14, with Bottas, Vettel and Massa following suit in the following laps. A long stop for Massa with a sticking left-front tyres dropped the Williams driver behind Alonso and Vergne.

Rosberg pitted first of the Mercedes drivers from the lead on Lap 18 after almost throwing the car into the wall at Turn Four on his in lap. Hamilton pitted the following lap, rejoining with around a two second gap to his team mate. The Force India pair of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg inherited third and fourth respectively having stayed out.

Hamilton began chipping away at the gap to Rosberg, closing to less than a second behind the leader. On Lap 25, with Hamilton in DRS range, Rosberg locked up on the approach into the final chicane and ran through the tarmac run-off on the inside of the corner, holding on to the lead in the process. Despite Hamilton not actively attempted to pass his team mate, Rosberg was investigated by the stewards for exceeding track limits and later received a final warning but no penalty.

After half a race distance on a single set of Supersoft tyres, Perez eventually pitted from third, rejoining in 9th. Hulkenberg stayed out, maintaining his third position. Both Red Bull drivers pitted, with Ricciardo successfully leapfrogging his team mate.

Suddenly, there was drama as both Mercedes drivers reported a loss of power. Instantly, the leading Mercedes dropped over two seconds over their previous pace. Frantic radio calls suggested that both cars may have been suffering a energy recovery issue.

Both Mercedes pitted for a second time, handing Felipe Massa the lead of the race, but, more crucially, Hamilton was able to get out ahead of Rosberg. But then, Hamilton suddenly ran wide at the hairpin and Rosberg was through. Hamilton immediately tucked back in behind his team mates slipstream, but ran straight through the final chicane.

Hamilton was forced to allow Rosberg back through, but after missing yet another corner, this time at Turn Five, it was obvious that Hamilton was suffering a severe braking issue. Inevitably, Hamilton was pulled into the pits and forced to retire for only the second time this season.

With Hamilton out, Massa pitted and Rosberg regained the lead but was quickly under pressure for Perez with the two Red Bulls immediately behind. Despite an obvious mechanical issue, Rosberg was still quick enough to hold off the chasing pack behind him, but entirely unable to pull away.

There was a similarly tight battle for fifth with Nico Hulkenberg, Bottas, Massa and Alonso line astern. With Massa on fresher tyres, the team informed Bottas to let his team mate through, which he achieved by running wide at the hairpin. Massa then passed Hulkenberg soon after.

With Massa released, he was able to catch the leading pack ahead. With five laps remaining, Rosberg, Perez, Ricciardo, Vettel and Massa were all together on the race track. Then, Perez was heard complaining of braking issues and Ricciardo was able to dive down the outside of the Force India into Turn 1 and take second place. Vettel then passed Perez himself soon after.

Ricciardo then chased down Rosberg and with just over two laps remaining was able to pass the Mercedes into the final chicane to take an unlikely lead. At the start of the final lap, Massa attempted to pass Perez but the two collided, sending both crashing into the wall and out of the race in a violent accident.

The Safety Car was deployed, freezing the field and guaranteeing Ricciardo his first grand prix victory. Rosberg and Vettel rounded out the podium, with Jenson Button and Nico Hulkenberg inheriting fourth and fifth following the last lap accident. Fernando Alonso finished sixth, Bottas seventh, followed by Jean-Eric Vergne in eighth, Kevin Magnussen in ninth and Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari rounding out the points.

2014 Canadian Grand Prix

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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116 comments on “Ricciardo snatches maiden win in Montreal thriller”

  1. Perez’s brake problems cost him a win. :-(

    1. Team orders cost vettel then win as well. It’s good to be ric and be gifted wins without working for it.

      1. I don’t know about that, to be honest. Around lap 50, Vettel’s engineer told him to let RIC kill his tyres behind Perez, then attack him.

      2. Ben (@scuderia29)
        8th June 2014, 21:38

        @f1andy83 yeah because red bull are so anti-vettel :S

      3. Tough luck. Team orders got him the championship in 2010

      4. Yes, Vettel can tell us all about it, he did too benefited from team orders plenty of times in the past, too bad they are not going his way now, as he would say: “Tough luck”

      5. And we can add to this, Riccardo’s stuff up by the RB pit crew cost him either 3-4 and the fuel delivery cost him 2nd which all amounts to at least 30-32 points extra to his points tally. Dan was quickest all throughout the practice and qualifying ahead of Vettel and throughout this race Dan was more calculated and of course he had luck with the Mercs troubles but you make your own luck in a race like this and once he overtook Perez he was much quicker and deserved to overtake Rosberg and win this race. now can you imagine if the RB’s can gain the power and speed to be on par with the Mercs. Then we would see some great racing and the Canadian GP would be a normality every race, which would be so much greater then what we have seen when the Mercs just runaway with every race.

        1. @SteveoG I’m sorry but you’re stating quite some inaccuracies there. First of all, Ricciardo was not “quickest all throughout practice and qualifying”. Vettel was faster in P1, P2 and Q3.
          Secondly, the fuel flow issue in Australia did not cost Ricciardo second. Ricciardo was running faster through the fuel flow being higher than allowed. As RBR themselves indicated during the trial, they would not have been competitive anymore when complying to the FIA, he would have been looking at a finish somewhere in the lower top-10.
          Third, I don’t know how Ricciardo would have been “more calculated”. Vettel looked the faster driver actually, he was opening up a gap on Bottas in the first stint, with 2 things deciding against him: being stuck behind Hulkenberg who was too fast on the straight to overtake (Ricciardo got by Perez because Perez had brake issues, Hulkenberg didn’t have them), and coming in first for his second stop with the primes proving very slow on the out-lap.

          Credit to Dan though, it’s always nice to see a driver win his first race and he certainly deserves it. All those nay-sayers who said he was brought in to be a #2 to Vettel now can certainly suck it up bigtime.

          1. @SteveoG: lastly let’s not forget we can “add to this” quite some points for Vettel as well. In all probability strong points in Monaco, points in Australia, possibly extra points in Spain as well (grid penalty not exactly his fault).

            If you’re going to count points on one side of the garage, you have to do it on the other side as well.

    2. And Hamilton’s brake problems cost him the win… and Rosberg’s engine problems cost him the win.. And Kvyat’s problem cost him yet another points finish lol.. We could do this all day

      1. Except team orders got vettel behind ric and not to attack him.

        1. I find ironic that somone could say that after all those years where vettel has been helped the way it was… Remember British GP where Redbull took webber’s wing to put on Vettel’s car? Malasya last year?

          1. We’re only talking about this GP, and it seems like Ricciardo benefitted the most from the strategy

          2. Of course Ric benefited the most…. But to say that Red Bull have purposefully hurt Vettel is dumb. They try to get the best result for both drivers. It’s just unlucky that it didn’t work out.

          3. @mike I agree. I obviously find it to be a shame on the basis of where my allegiance lies but Ricciardo has earned a victory on his season performance as a whole.

          4. @oliveiraz33 what about Malaysia last year? That was a team order AGAINST Vettel. Funny how so many people manage to still get that one wrong.
            Poor Webber’s wing was taken off. You know, that wing he had expressed not to feel any better about than the other wing he got to race, when Vettel did express preference.

      2. Caterham’s lack of funds cost them being a top team.

        1. What garbage, Ricciardo won vetel did not simple as that.

      3. Indeed @timi you just didn’t mention Perez brake problems cost Massa a podium…

        1. C’mon Massa mis-timed it badly and rammed Perez

      4. My lack of funds cost me the win.

  2. Given a win rather than snatches. Thanks for team orders on your favor. Not a worthy winner.

    1. It’s funny, i didn’t hear anything. And when Alonso has won with the help of team orders, almost none cares. But when a young, talented smiling Australian called Daniel comes and wins, some are instantly saying “Not a worthy winner” and this kind of stuff. Daniel won because he got pass Nico and Vettel didn’t get pass him quick enough. But, i let’s see what happens in Austria then.

    2. Tough luck!

    3. vettel can’t win because he can’t drive the car faster than his team mate. given the win? i think not. Look at the data and you will see.

      1. Just like Ricciardo was driving the car faster than Vettel yesterday? ;-)

    4. Leave Andre in his own little world. Vettle doesn’t follow team orders. Remember “Multi 21”. That’s right it was some mythical payback to who everyone described as the nicest guy in F1. Vettle has had the bennifits of newer chassis and technology over Webber and Riccardo and he keeps coming up short. He blames everyone else for his poor performance. He is a bad sports man, rubbish person and Andre he doesn’t need you to come up with his excuses. I think he will have a book of them by the end of the season.

      1. Wait, what? Vettel has had the benefit of newer chassis over Ricciardo? How/when/where? Do enlighten me, because I’m quite sure you’re talking nonsense.

        Also, seen the “bad sports man” congratulating Ricciardo, lifting him up, showering him with champagne? Again, talking nonsense.

    5. Bit like vettels first win. Given the win thanks to the rain.

    6. Seriously! What team orders. All I heard was an engineer telling giving Vettel some advice on the best strategy to pass Ricciardo and it almost worked. Vettel almost had Ricciardo a couple of times before Ricciardo managed to pass Perez.

  3. After three cardiac arrests, I can type again!
    The drama was what made this race great!
    Loved almost every moment of it (Yes, I am a Rosberg fan)

    1. Would you as a Ros fan be happy with him winning the title by winning around 7 races and Ham winning 12?. Ros has been lucky you have to admit.

      1. It’s race seven, still a long way to go. And yes, I would be happy, the more world champions on the grid, the better. And lots of World champions needed a bit of luck to win a championship ;-)

    2. You have to ask the question that If Rosberg had not cut the chicane, would Hamilton have had a break failure? He was 0.5s behind then suddenly 1.3s and having to push hard again to chase again. I simply can’t understand what part of the “gaining an advantage” rule Rosberg did not break? Surely he should have been told to slow a little to allow hamilton back into DRS range?

      1. Hamilton got back into DRS range after 2-3 laps, maybe Rosberg slowed a few tenths down per lap after cutting the chicane. We can’t judge that in the end without telemetry

        1. Erm, I think we can. He was catching at that rate before the chicane incident! Which is probably what caused Rosberg to make the mistake in the first place.

    3. Rosberg was very good this weekend, he didn’t quite have the pace of Hamilton but outqualified him and was just about holding on to the lead, then drove very well to hold on against Perez. He’ll get my vote for DotW this week.

  4. I don’t understand why Red Bull pitted Vettel when they did for the last stop, Pitting him as early as they did put him behind Ricciardo & is a big part of what put Ricciardo in the position to win.

    1. You sure you don’t understand? Just loo at the last few races.

      1. You mean the last few races like Monaco?

    2. Yeah, they really messed up his race there.

    3. Well the driver in front get priority for pit stops so he did. It just didn’t work out for him. It’s not like he didn’t have the chance to overtake. This is maybe why ric won.

    4. I don’t understand how it happened because the order before the pit stops was VET-BOT-RIC. And then RIC managed to get both of them in one lap. Horner said it was RIC’s quick inlap, and someone on F1FL said that VET was stuck behind PER. Still surprised that RIC could get past VET and BOT.

  5. What a race! 10/10! Brilliant driving from all the top 6 as well as Perez and Massa and congrats to Ricciardo. I still can’t believe it. And can someone explain to me where the hell Jenson Button finished 4th from?! I swear he was behind both Alonso and Hulkenburg with 3 laps to go! Correct me if I’m wrong.

  6. How has the ferarri car improved? I cant remember the last time a Ferrari upgrade actually worked right away. :(

    1. I noticed how Ben Edwards has been comparing this season to his Minardi one quite a lot of times.

    2. The best upgrade would be to get rid of Alonso even Maldanardo would be better

      1. pastaman (@)
        9th June 2014, 18:37

        Hahaha you’re dumb

  7. The best part was how Ricciardo made the move in about the last 30 seconds of the actual race.

    1. Didn’t realise that until I read your post :p

      1. And that made me realize how unlucky Rosberg was…

    2. @theo-hrp Pity we missed Button’s moves too, did he get Alonso and Hulk on the lap before?

      1. Paul (@frankjaeger)
        9th June 2014, 1:21

        @george My thoughts exactly. I don’t blame the race director for cutting it out since there is more important jostling happening up ahead but i’m really eager to see how he did it. He really charged at them both, at one point he was 11 odd seconds adrift!

  8. Matt (@hamiltonfan1705)
    8th June 2014, 21:08

    Great race! As good as Bahrain I’d say. Still devastated for Lewis, annoys me how it happens to him, not Rosberg, also devastated for Perez, one moment he was even looking at a win, the next he is taken out by Massa. I hope Massa has a big penalty for that incident.

    1. Don’t think Massa would get a penalty… Stewards(, the great) will tell that they studied the data and this was just a racing incident.. however I hope otherwise…

      1. Stewards that let Nico off the hook without a reprimand after skipping a chicane – too bad

    2. I was backing Lewis and I feel bad when I wonder “why didn’t that happened to car #6?” … can’t help.

      Mr. Hamilton has a huge mountain to climb. Again.

    3. @hamiltonfan1705 and @akshay-it It was Perez his fault. He moved back to the left whilst braking.

      1. Of course it was. You can’t move under braking and expect nothing to happen. Massa was clealey on the inside, and people on this site need to realize that Massa is not a bad driver. He drove a great race today, coming back from a bad pitstop, leading, and then jumping all the cars he had been behind. All ruined by Perez.

    4. Massa a penalty? LOL
      The onboard camera shows clearly how Pérez moved to the left at the last moment. Perez spent several laps complaining that the rear brakes were gone and he was clearly reducing speed before the braking point.

      1. Let me see if I get it; No one should be allowed to adjust their driving tactics to changing circumstances in order to preserve or gain position. Perez should not have put the brakes earlier while filling his weak point, nor Massa tried to move on an empty space at that moment (Too fast in a very short space in my opinion) I would not be surprised if this is called a race incident. and if any one is to be penalized We should all be outraged whatever the results as either side can accuse the other of ruining their race. Correct? “Some one has to pay for my frustration” approach to racing viewing. Not cool.

    5. Lewis rolled the dice and destroyed his brakes attacking after the issue cropped up while Nico nursed his car to a well defended 2nd.

  9. Mind blowing race

  10. I was very happy when Massa passed Alonso.. but then he showed why Ferrari dropped him for Raikkonen…
    Because each of them can play second fiddle to Alonso while Raikkonen will bring back the car home in 1 piece…

  11. One of the flukiest wins I’ve ever seen, but they all count.

    Conversely, bad luck for Hamilton, Perez and Vettel.

    1. But on the other hand, Vettel was lucky to escape Massa’s Maldonado move.

      It’s gonna be hard to pick a driver the weekend.

      I almost got the top three right with my predictions (Rosberg, Ricciardo, Vettel) ^^

      1. @paeschli Massa’s Maldonado move? You should look at it again then. Clearly PER moves to the left under braking.

        1. When you know the car in front has brake issues, you have to be at least a bit careful when trying to overtake in the braking zone.

    2. Any car that beats a merc this year in a race will be a fluke win, but is it a fluke that ric was the one to break this?

  12. Fantastic race but it’s sad to see the driver of the weekend retiring again :-(

    Congrats to the Red Bull, Mercedes and Force India drivers, they were fantastic this weekend.

    1. DotW? The one who qualified behind Rosberg? Who couldnt pass him at start? Who couldnt make a move stick his entire race?

      1. The driver who qualified only 7 hundreds of a second slower than his team mate, had a better start but was pushed wide and had to overtake a team mate who drives his own track, ignoring the track limits? Yes, he’s my DotW :-)

    2. Ben (@scuderia29)
      8th June 2014, 21:41

      @paeschli driver of the weekend? :S was slower than rosberg in qualifying and couldnt pass him in the race. easy to see who your favourite driver is lol

  13. Really pleased for Ricciardo, he’s been fantastic all year and seems like such a nice guy on top of that as well. Massive congratulations to him!

    1. Just what I was going to say! Why so negative people?

      Ricciardo is like a smiley little puppy dog, how can one not be happy for him, whatever the circumstances?

  14. Which was better? Bahrain, or Canada? I would say both were terrific, except that Bahrain had 1 big accident and Canada 2. Bahrain had a two-way battle for the lead, but Canada had a 5-way to the lead. In Bahrain there was a chance that Rosberg would snatch his second win as well as Hamilton. In Canada Perez and Ricciardo were hunting their first victories with a resurgent and thirsty Massa and a relentless Vettel, with a huntless Rosberg that was only praying for his brakes and engine problem. Maybe Bahrain had real action all the way, and Canada had lots of DRS action. But when on Earth did you have a FIVE way battle???? Only on Indycar, and ovals, I guess, but never, NEVER, on normal track. This race beated Bahrain. This race beated Canada 2011 in a strange, thrilling, a little dissapointing and incredible way. This season might be dull, but when the Mercedes are no near the victory, the unpredictable begins. Canada, you didn´t dissapoint.

    1. I hope Keith will enable us to vote 11/10.

  15. 10!
    10!
    10!
    10!

    Let’s get the ‘rate the race’ article going!

  16. Williams have disappointed me once again… jeez..

    Happy for Ricciardo though, outclassed by Vettel again…

    1. Oops, I mean Ricciardo outclassed Vettel again xD

      1. Vettel was obviously faster today though

      2. The weird pit-stop strategy might cost Vettel for this, so definitely not outclassed. But nonetheless, it’s a maiden win for Ricciardo.

      3. Ric race was superb but how did he outclassed Vet?

        1. Because people consider the full circumstances only when it suits their purposes.

    2. And me. Went from being irritated by Massa, to daring to believe, to being irritated with the team, to being disappointed with Massa for asking for orders, to being disappointed with the team for giving them, to understanding and then daring to believe again, to frustration to outright anger.

      That’s about as good as disappointment gets, though!

    3. Vettel was faster, of that I’m fairly sure. Circumstances just didn’t transpire in his favour.

    4. Vettel was faster which is why he started in front of ric and finished behind him. Vettel has been better all year which us why every race he has finished behind him as well

      1. > Vettel was faster which is why he started in front of ric and finished behind him

        Oh, the fallacy here is very big

  17. Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
    8th June 2014, 21:14

    Wow….wow…wow After having about 5 heart attacks I am utterly speechless. Gutted for Hamilton, very fortunate for Rosberg.

    10/10 for me!

  18. I think Hulkenburg is jinxing the drivers in front.. somehow he reaches in top 6.. one way or other… :-)

    1. What was his lowest position this year, 5 or 6? He’s having a great season :-)

      1. @paeschli: 10th actually at Spain.

        1. Oh yeah I forgot Spain, but apart from that?

          But in either case, always the points :-)

          1. Hulk is on a roll 5-6-5-6-10-5-5 are his finishes. He, ALO and ROS are the only drivers to score at all the races this season.

  19. Great race and if this does not convince the Vetel fan boys that Ricciardo is every bit as good a driver as Vetel nothing will.

  20. Very sorry for Hamilton. A faliure (again) and Rosberg got away with a “mistake” (he made a mistake and simply accelerated…) where he gained 6 tenths…
    For the other part, amazing race. Great race from Ricciardo, Vettel, Perez, Massa, Button and Rosberg.
    Ferrari nowhere.
    Can’t wait for the next round! These new cars worked beautifully in Canada.

    1. I just can’t believe Rosberg got away with that. There’s no consistency in the decisions of the stewards, remember Monaco last year? Yeah right …

      1. @paeschli: 10th actually at Spain.

        1. Sorry, responded to the wrong post. Would be nice to have a delete button. :x

  21. Absolutely a wonderful race! To me it’s even better than Bahrain!

    Well done Ricciardo! Really like his smile!

    So sad for Massa’s accident……T。T

  22. I’m still not sure how Button went from “behind Bottas” to P4 in just a few laps.

    1. Yeah, I’ll have to watch that again, I just don’t understand it :-P

    2. Michael Brown (@)
      8th June 2014, 21:32

      The Massa-Pérez accident, and then passing Hülkenberg on the last lap

      1. And Alonso.

    3. Alonso was fighting with Hulk, and Jenson passed them both. Hulk ended behind Alonso but passed him later.

  23. Deserved win for Ricciardo. A good nursing job from Rosberg to solidify his WDC lead. Vettel also showing great skills to get 3rd.

    Sorry for Perez. Should have scored a 4th or 5th at the least. Massa won me over with that overtake of Hulk. Not sure if he is at fault for the accident but could have exercised a little caution.

    Ferrari will hope for a reversal of fortunes in the next round. They need to get their act together soon or else this season will be in shambles.

  24. That Massa’s mistake was expected. It happens all the time in a group of racers when no one of them is able to overtake. Some of them will crack.
    Perez is really good at saving his tyres. Hulk told that he had also some troubles with gearbox.
    Kimi was funny today.
    Congrats to Ricciardo, he made a good move.
    It feels that Hamilton simply broke his brakes.
    Great race, Ferrari was nowhere, a bunch of chatterboxes.

  25. How in the world did Button finish 4th?

  26. I have no clue how Nico did not get a penalty for exceeding track limits and gaining an advantage!?
    This is not a good message to the drivers…what if that had been the very last lap, or second to last lap…hmm. The stewards were really harsh on penalties in Australia and Malaysia, now it has dwindled again..

    1. I can’t help but remember the penalty Grosjean was given in Hungary last year for « exceeding track limits »

  27. There are so many if’s and maybe’s on this article right now, that I’m going to throw in another one: Would it have been wiser for Williams not to pit Massa and try to make the tyres last as long as possible? Rosberg could not have overtaken Massa under any circumstances.

    1. +1

      I thought it would’ve been better to go for victory even if it looked unlikely to turn out that well, but now we know what did happen, maybe it would’ve given him at least a podium. It would’ve been very tricky in the end of the race though.

    2. It will be interesting to see if Massa wanted to come in.

  28. Glad for Top Dan! The train of cars he was in were struggling to pass each other and it took a “big kahunas” move from him to pass Perez around the outside of turn 1 and then grab that victory from Rosberg. He showed he really wanted that thing! Excellent stuff!

  29. Hi Fanatics,

    A big FI fan very sad and disappointed with yesterdays result :-( but a very competitive race. I just started watching F1 again this year after missing 3 boring seasons and with all the fuss about new changes i think this is the best F1 season yet. Competition for driver championship, tough competition thereafter between 5 teams I don’t think it was this better ever (atleast 10 yrs).

    I had a few questions and would appreciate someone provide more insights

    1) Perez and RBR’s changed to softs almost around same laps +/- 2 laps. So why wasn’t Perez able to overtake Rosberg with the high straight speeds while Daniel did it in 1 lap? I heard he had tyre wear but it should have been same for RBR’s (atleast should have been better since FI has the best tyre maintenance)? He encountered brake issues in the end which explains loss of speed at the end.

    2) FI was very quick in bahrain (circuit similar to canada) then they brought some updates for other circuits (china/spain) which may or may not have worked not sure. So in Canada would they have done better with Bahrain like car (without the added updates) aren’t the updates on cars flexible enough?

    3) Where can i find details of updates on cars, their advantages and reviews on the updates after the race.

  30. I say tough luck to Vettel, he has had it easy for many years. We are now seeing a much better driver in Daniel Riccardo. Vettel is only good when he has a car that suits him. Any one that thinks Ricciardo was gifted that win has rocks in there head. He drove a great race and capitalised on the oppertunity available just like any other driver would.

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