Kubica scores his first Formula 1 win in exciting Canadian Grand Prix

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 when early overzealous leader Lewis Hamilton crashed his McLaren into Ferrari?´s Kimi Raikkonen in a pit-lane collision on lap 20 during the first round of refuelling stops.


Once the race started, Lewis Hamilton sprinted away from pole position, leaving Kubica to fend off Raikkonen. However the huge gap was neutralised when the safety car was deployed to recover Adrian Sutil?´s Force India from a dangerous position on the 17th lap.

All of the leaders pitted simultaneously on Lap 19, and as Hamilton, having dropped behind Raikkonen and Kubica -due to a longer stop and the position of the McLaren pits in the pitlane - he ran into the back of the Finn when he was trying to catch up. The latter stopped side by side of Kubica due to the red pit-lane exit light. Both the Ferrari and the McLaren were too damaged to continue. Surprised Kimi Raikonnen left his wreckage and pointed at the pit lane exit light showing Lewis Hamilton the reason of his sudden stop. Nico Rosberg also damaged his Williams by running into the rear of Hamilton in the incident. Both Rosberg and Hamilton were penalized with a 10 place grid penalty at the next Grand Prix held in France due to this pit lane collision. An additional pit visit for a new nose thus dropped the German out of points after running fourth early on.
Heidfeld now led as, at stages before their own pit calls, did fellow one-stoppers Honda?´s Rubens Barrichello, Red Bull?´s David Coulthard and Toyota?´s Timo Glock. Heidfeld was able to pit and rejoin ahead of Kubica, but on his two-stop strategy the Pole was clearly faster and Heidfeld was forced to let him go on Lap 31.

In the second part of the race the greatest threat to the Swiss-German cars came from Fernando Alonso, who was pushing his Renault very hard. On Lap 44 he sneaked by Heidfeld at the hairpin, only to slide wide. A lap later he got on the power a fraction too early exiting the second corner, and suddenly the R28 was sliding out of the race.

Kubica and Heidfeld were thus able to cruise home to a great success, as Coulthard made the most of his opportunities with a solid third place for Red Bull. A strong drive saw Glock hang on for fourth place fending off Massa, who had to stop twice early on after a refueling problem, caused by a defective fueling ring; however ,he recovered brilliantly with a drive that at one time saw him overtake both Barrichello and McLaren?´s Heikki Kovalainen at the hairpin.

Toyota?´s Jarno Trulli got ahead of Barrichello when the Brazilian made a mistake late in the race, and Toro Rosso?´s Sebastian Vettel hung on to take the final point after a gutsy performance, having started from the pit lane. Being present on the racing line all the time, he was able to keep Kovalainen on ninth position ahead of the recovering Rosberg, Honda?´s Jenson Button (who also started from the pit lane after making some suspension set-up changes), Red Bull?´s Mark Webber who ran strongly until his pit stop dropped him back and he later spun, and Sebastien Bourdais who also spun his Toro Rosso.

Giancarlo Fisichella crashed his Force India, Williams?´ Kazuki Nakajima was a points contender before damaging his front wing after a skirmish with Button and then sliding into the pit wall when the front wing folded back beneath his wheel; and Renault?´s Nelson Piquet spun and retired with an unspecified mechanical problem.

BMW Sauber?´s great day jumped them back to second in the constructors?´ championship with 70 points to Ferrari?´s 73 and McLaren?´s 53.
As a result of his first win, Kubica now leads the world championship with 42 points to Hamilton and Massa?´s 38 and Raikkonen?´s 35.