Results from the Canadian 2008 Grand Prix
Events that unfolded at the Gilles Villenueve Stadium could not have produced a more unusual result, as rising star Robert Kubica was gifted victory by a Lewis Hamilton blunder, which catapulted the Polish driver to the top of the drivers Championship log. He is now the fourth driver to top the log after sixth races.
Hamilton rear-ended title holder and season leader Kimi Raikkonen in the pits, effectively ending both their races. There had been a mass pitting of cars after the deployment of the safety car on lap 19, and he failed to see the Finn stationary at a red light at the the pit exit.
Even more bizarrely, Kubica was right next to them and emerged unscathed to lead home a first ever one-two finish for BMW Sauber. It was a stunning result for the consistently performing Swiss team which now also sees them within three points of Constructor title leaders Ferrari, who managed to pick up only four points from the race. McLaren came away with nothing and now trail in third, a full 20 points behind.
David Coulthard was third driver on the podium, for his best finish in two years, ahead of Toyota’s Timo Glock, also the highest finish for this Japanese team in two seasons. Massa was fifth with an uneventful race that begun from sixth on the grid. Rubens Barrichello picked up points for a change for Honda while Sebastian Vettel again did well in his maiden season to scrounge a point for Torro Rosso, fighting off Heikki Kovalainen in the dying laps.
Barrichello might be rueing his poor luck after a lapse of concentration with 10 laps remaining when he slid off the track and gave away a potential fourth, while Fernando Alonso was running well just behind him – having started fourth – before spinning out on lap 44.
Hamilton looked set to have victory in the bag at this circuit that gave him his maiden victory a year ago, building a nine second lead on Kubica, having pipped him to pole position. Massa’s chances were also ruined when a pit stop mix up meant he had to exit the pitlane without refuelling while his team attended to Raikkonen.
It was a sweet victory for Kubica who suffered a serious crash at this circuit the previous year, scuppering his season. Now he leads the championship by four points on 42, while Hamilton and Massa share second, and Raikkonen is not far behind on 35. Even Nick Heidfeld is now in contention on 28.
McLaren, meanwhile, come away from the debacle with the solace that their car is once again competitive against the Ferraris, but they will have to hope their great rivals slip up a few times more to erode their generous lead in the Constructor’s title. And now that have the consistently reliable BMW team to worry about.
Results from the Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal
- Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:36:24.447
- Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 16.495 secs behind
- David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 23.352 secs
- Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota +42.627
- Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari +43.934
- Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota +47.775
- Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda +53.597
- Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari +54.120
- Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes +54.433
- Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams +57.749
- Jenson Button (GB) Honda +1:07.540
- Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault +1:11.229
- Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 lap behind
R Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 51 laps completed
R Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 46 laps
R Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 44 laps
R Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault 39 laps
R Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 19 laps
R Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 19 laps
R Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 13 laps