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 |
2008 F1 Monaco GP (Race) - Hamilton triumphs in wet-dry Monaco thriller
When Ferrari wrapped up the front row of the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton’s only real hope of victory seemed to lie in the hands of the weather gods. It duly rained before the start, but after six laps the Englishman walloped the wall hard on the exit to the Swimming Pool, while trailing poleman Felipe Massa’s Ferrari. Into the pits he came, and at that stage the race seemed to belong to the Brazilian.
McLaren, however, brimmed the MP4-23 with fuel, and Hamilton caught his first break when the safety car was deployed on the eighth lap after Red Bull’s David Coulthard and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais went off at Massenet.
The racing resumed on the 11th lap, and two laps later Kimi Raikkonen dropped out of second place when he had to serve a drive-through penalty for having his tyres fitted too late in the grid. Now BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica moved up to push Massa, and was able to snatch the lead when the latter slid momentarily up the escape road at Ste Devote on the 16th lap. Hamilton was chasing hard after them, with Raikkonen now trailing in fourth place.
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 76 | 2:00:42.742 | 3 | 10 |
| 2 | 4 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 76 | +3.0 secs | 5 | 8 |
| 3 | 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 76 | +4.8 secs | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | 10 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 76 | +19.2 secs | 9 | 5 |
| 5 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | STR-Ferrari | 76 | +24.6 secs | 19 | 4 |
| 6 | 17 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 76 | +28.4 secs | 14 | 3 |
| 7 | 8 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 76 | +30.1 secs | 13 | 2 |
| 8 | 23 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 76 | +33.1 secs | 4 | 1 |
| 9 | 1 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 76 | +33.7 secs | 2 | |
| 10 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 75 | +1 Lap | 7 | |
| 11 | 16 | Jenson Button | Honda | 75 | +1 Lap | 11 | |
| 12 | 12 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 75 | +1 Lap | 10 | |
| 13 | 11 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 75 | +1 Lap | 8 | |
| 14 | 3 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 72 | +4 Laps | 12 | |
| Ret | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Ferrari | 67 | Accident damage | 18 | |
| Ret | 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 59 | Accident | 6 | |
| Ret | 6 | Nelsinho Piquet | Renault | 47 | Accident | 17 | |
| Ret | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Ferrari | 36 | Gearbox | 20 | |
| Ret | 9 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 7 | Accident | 15 | |
| Ret | 14 | Sebastien Bourdais | STR-Ferrari | 7 | Accident | 16 |
2008 F1 Monaco GP (Qualifying) - Ferrari lock out the front row
Ferrari came to Monte Carlo hoping for a much better showing than they managed in 2007, when the McLarens ran rings round them, and with Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen sitting on the front row, they got off to a great start in qualifying on Saturday.
Massa lapped in 1m 15.787s to snatch pole from Raikkonen (1m 15.815s) in the dying seconds, and if he wins on Sunday he will be the first Ferrari driver to do so from pole here since Jody Scheckter in 1979. The South African, it should perhaps be noted, also went on to win that year’s title.
Lewis Hamilton looked set for second place on the grid with 1m 15.839s for McLaren, until Massa’s late run. He shares the second row with team mate Heikki Kovalainen, who lapped in 1m 16.165s and is likely to be running a little bit more fuel.
Robert Kubica was his customary fifth with 1m 16.171s for BMW Sauber, while Nico Rosberg carried his excellent practice form into qualifying with sixth on the grid for Williams in 1m 16.548s.
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:15.190 | 1:15.110 | 1:15.787 | 20 |
| 2 | 1 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:15.717 | 1:15.404 | 1:15.815 | 19 |
| 3 | 22 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:15.582 | 1:15.322 | 1:15.839 | 20 |
| 4 | 23 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:15.295 | 1:15.389 | 1:16.165 | 25 |
| 5 | 4 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:15.977 | 1:15.483 | 1:16.171 | 18 |
| 6 | 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:15.935 | 1:15.287 | 1:16.548 | 24 |
| 7 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:16.646 | 1:15.827 | 1:16.852 | 20 |
| 8 | 11 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:16.306 | 1:15.598 | 1:17.203 | 21 |
| 9 | 10 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1:16.074 | 1:15.745 | 1:17.343 | 19 |
| 10 | 9 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 1:16.086 | 1:15.839 | no time | 18 |
| 11 | 12 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1:16.285 | 1:15.907 | 16 | |
| 12 | 16 | Jenson Button | Honda | 1:16.259 | 1:16.101 | 13 | |
| 13 | 3 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:16.650 | 1:16.455 | 14 | |
| 14 | 8 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 1:16.756 | 1:16.479 | 16 | |
| 15 | 17 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1:16.208 | 1:16.537 | 12 | |
| 16 | 14 | Sebastien Bourdais | STR-Ferrari | 1:16.806 | 9 | ||
| 17 | 6 | Nelsinho Piquet | Renault | 1:16.933 | 8 | ||
| 18 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | STR-Ferrari | 1:16.955 | 11 | ||
| 19 | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Ferrari | 1:17.225 | 12 | ||
| 20 | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Ferrari | 1:17.823 | 8 |
