Entries for June, 2008
2008 F1 Canadian GP (Race) - Kubica takes maiden win, Hamilton crashes Kimi’s in the pit lane
BMW Sauber finally took their long overdue maiden victory in Montreal on Sunday, as Robert Kubica led Nick Heidfeld home in a fabulous one-two on a day when early leader Lewis Hamilton inadvertently crashed his McLaren into Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in a pit-lane collision during the first round of refuelling stops.
As a result of his first win, Kubica now leads the world championship fight with 42 points to Hamilton and Massa’s 38 and Raikkonen’s 35.
At the start Hamilton sprinted away from pole position, leaving Kubica to fend off Raikkonen. But the safety car neutralised that when it was deployed to recover Adrian Sutil’s Force India from a dangerous position on the 17th lap.
All of the leaders pitted on Lap 19, and as Hamilton rejoined, having dropped behind Raikkonen and Kubica after a longer stop, he ran into the back of the Finn, whom he suddenly realised was stopped by the red pit-lane exit light. Both the Ferrari and the McLaren were too damaged to continue. Nico Rosberg also damaged his Williams by running into the rear of Hamilton in the incident. An additional pit visit for a new nose thus dropped the German out of contention after running fourth early on.
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 70 | 1:36:24.447 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | 3 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 70 | +16.4 secs | 8 | 8 |
| 3 | 9 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 70 | +23.3 secs | 13 | 6 |
| 4 | 12 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 70 | +42.6 secs | 11 | 5 |
| 5 | 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 70 | +43.9 secs | 6 | 4 |
| 6 | 11 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 70 | +47.7 secs | 14 | 3 |
| 7 | 17 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 70 | +53.5 secs | 9 | 2 |
| 8 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | STR-Ferrari | 70 | +54.1 secs | 19 | 1 |
| 9 | 23 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 70 | +54.4 secs | 7 | |
| 10 | 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 70 | +57.7 secs | 5 | |
| 11 | 16 | Jenson Button | Honda | 70 | +67.5 secs | 20 | |
| 12 | 10 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 70 | +71.2 secs | 10 | |
| 13 | 14 | Sebastien Bourdais | STR-Ferrari | 69 | +1 Lap | 18 | |
| Ret | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Ferrari | 51 | Accident | 17 | |
| Ret | 8 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 46 | Accident | 12 | |
| Ret | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 44 | Accident | 4 | |
| Ret | 6 | Nelsinho Piquet | Renault | 39 | Brakes | 15 | |
| Ret | 1 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 19 | Accident | 3 | |
| Ret | 22 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 19 | Accident | 1 | |
| Ret | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Ferrari | 13 | Gearbox | 16 |
2008 F1 Canadian GP (Qualifying) - Hamilton planted on pole
Not even a flying Robert Kubica and a track that was breaking up in places could stop Lewis Hamilton in Montreal on Saturday afternoon, as he planted his McLaren on pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix.
BMW Sauber’s Kubica had actually taken provisional pole away from him with a lap of 1m 18.498s compared to 1m 18.886s when Hamilton began his final run, but even though there were marbles in Turns Two, Seven and 10, the Briton somehow found another six-tenths of a second to put pole beyond reach with 1m 17.886s. He described himself as extremely comfortable with the car.
Neither of the Ferraris really got going in qualifying, as Hamilton dominated every session. In the end, Kimi Raikkonen placed his third with 1m 18.735s, but an unhappy Felipe Massa was only sixth on 1m 19.048s. In between them came Fernando Alonso with 1m 18.746s, but the Spaniard may again be using the light first-run strategy that Renault employed in Spain. Behind him, Nico Rosberg placed his Williams fifth, with a strong 1m 18.844s best.
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:16.909 | 1:17.034 | 1:17.886 | 19 |
| 2 | 4 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:17.471 | 1:17.679 | 1:18.498 | 14 |
| 3 | 1 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:17.301 | 1:17.364 | 1:18.735 | 23 |
| 4 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:17.415 | 1:17.488 | 1:18.746 | 22 |
| 5 | 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:17.991 | 1:17.891 | 1:18.844 | 26 |
| 6 | 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:17.231 | 1:17.353 | 1:19.048 | 23 |
| 7 | 23 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:17.287 | 1:17.684 | 1:19.089 | 25 |
| 8 | 3 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:18.082 | 1:17.781 | 1:19.633 | 21 |
| 9 | 17 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1:18.256 | 1:18.020 | 1:20.848 | 25 |
| 10 | 10 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1:17.582 | 1:17.523 | no time | 15 |
| 11 | 12 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1:18.321 | 1:18.031 | 19 | |
| 12 | 8 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 1:17.638 | 1:18.062 | 19 | |
| 13 | 9 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 1:18.168 | 1:18.238 | 19 | |
| 14 | 11 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:18.039 | 1:18.327 | 16 | |
| 15 | 6 | Nelsinho Piquet | Renault | 1:18.505 | 1:18.393 | 18 | |
| 16 | 14 | Sebastien Bourdais | STR-Ferrari | 1:18.916 | 10 | ||
| 17 | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Ferrari | 1:19.108 | 12 | ||
| 18 | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Ferrari | 1:19.165 | 12 | ||
| 19 | 16 | Jenson Button | Honda | 1:23.565 | 3 | ||
| 20 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | STR-Ferrari | no time | 0 |
