BMW managed to take the top two spots at this weekend’s Montreal GP following a major bungle caused by the hands of Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren driver, who started on pole and gained a sizeable lead, failed to see a red light at the exit of pitlane and drove into the rear of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari, ending both their chances of finishing the race. The race was finally won by Robert Kubica, with team-mate Nick Heidfeld coming in second.
BMW-Sauber
A historic day for the Hinwil based marque, which took advantage of the Hamilton-Raikkonen pitlane carnage to secure its first win with a dominant one-two. “I have to be grateful to Lewis as he chose Kimi and not myself,” debut winner Robert Kubica, who now leads the drivers’ championship by four points, joked. Nick Heidfeld was less delighted, probably because - with a very heavy fuel load - he let Kubica pass him at one stage, despite possessing very good pace during the race. ‘It is done!’ the post-race statement proclaimed, referring to the team’s pre-season goal of securing a victory in 2008.
Red Bull-Renault
David Coulthard shook off his disastrous start to the season by standing on the podium at the end of the eventful Canadian grand prix, but then admitted in the post-race press conference that he is in a “reflective” mood about his future. Mark Webber has been the point-man for RBR all year so far, but he had an off-color run to a lowly 12th, worsened by his two-stop strategy that was hindered in traffic and the timing of the safety car.
Toyota
Timo Glock’s unspectacular start to his Toyota career got a boost in Canada, where he has looked the measure of his teammate Jarno Trulli; he even led at one point after the safety car muddled up the order, and ultimately held off Felipe Massa’s Ferrari for fourth at the flag. Trulli was also in the mix, but a slight error by Glock allowed Massa to slip past him and snatch fifth place as they raced in formation.
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, whose fastest lap remained unchallenged at the chequered flag, was angry with Lewis Hamilton after their pitlane smash, which means he has dropped 7 points off the championship lead. Felipe Massa queued behind Raikkonen for service in the safety car period but no fuel went in, requiring another pitlane visit and limiting his run through the field to just fifth place.
Honda
In the wake of the safety car shakeup, Rubens Barrichello was running fourth, but he was then passed on track by both Toyotas and Massa’s Ferrari — perhaps due in part to his struggle with a cold. “Yesterday I didn’t know if I was going to be well enough to race,” the veteran revealed. Jenson Button started the race from the pitlane following a gearbox change, and at the flag was in front of only Webber and Sebastien Bourdais.
Toro Rosso-Ferrari
‘From pitlane to a point’, read STR’s post-race press statement, documenting Sebastian Vettel’s fortunes in the eventful Montreal race, notwithstanding a disrupted pitstop. Bourdais capped off his difficult weekend by finishing dead last. “This was the worst race ever for me, the worst weekend of my entire career. I have never experienced anything like it,” said the Frenchman, who really struggled to deal with the crumbling track.
McLaren-Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton’s fall from grace in Canada was spectacular; after dominating the weekend, he failed to see a red light in pitlane and smashed into Raikkonen’s Ferrari, wiping away his championship lead and incurring a ten-place penalty for Magny Cours in two weeks. Heikki Kovalainen’s difficult weekend culminated in a lowly ninth-place finish. “A race to quickly forget,” said Mercedes’ Norbert Haug.
Williams-Toyota
Nico Rosberg’s pace was a feature of the Montreal weekend, but - like Hamilton - he incurred the stewards’ wrath on Sunday by ignoring the pitlane red light and crashing. He finished tenth, following a separate puncture. Kazuki Nakajima was high on the leaderboard after the safety car shakeup, but he damaged his front wing in a tag with Jenson Button and then crashed in the pitlane when it folded underneath his car.
Force India-Ferrari
Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella both failed to finish; Sutil with a gearbox problem on lap 13, which ultimately triggered the problematic safety car period, and Fisichella on lap 51 with a spin and stall.
Renault
The French team’s two drivers were ostensibly in a strong position following the safety car, but Nelson Piquet went out with brake failure. Fernando Alonso was extremely scathing of the “terrible” decision to pit him during the safety car, which he thinks robbed him of contention for the podium. He retired from the race with a crash.
[source]
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