 |
| Canadian GP 7th-10th June 2007 - Race Report |
Length: 4.361 km |
| Lewis Hamilton took his first Grand Prix victory in only his sixth Formula One race, controlling a highly dramatic race at Montreal from the start.
Nick Heidfeld and Alex Wurz completed the podium, with Fernando Alonso only seventh after a series of errors, while Felipe Massa was disqualified for a pitlane infringement. Hamilton's win has moved him clearly ahead in the championship standings, eight points in front of teammate Alonso ahead of next week's United States Grand Prix. Massa is already 15 points behind in third. But the race will be remembered mainly for the terrifying accident that befell Robert Kubica. The Pole is believed to have escaped only with a broken leg after a high-speed impact with the wall approaching the hairpin. Hamilton held the lead from the start as Alonso's bid to oust his teammate on the outside line at Turn 1 ended with a locked wheel and a trip across the grass, dropping the world champion to third as Heidfeld nipped between the McLarens. Two further minor errors saw Alonso lose more time and eventually third place to Massa, while Hamilton stormed away into a 12-second lead over Heidfeld. Hamilton then made his first pitstop just before Adrian Sutil crashed at Turn 4 and caused the first safety car period. Alonso and fifth-placed Nico Rosberg both dived straight into the pits, but were adjudged to have done so while the pitlane was closed, and were subsequently awarded 10 second stop and go penalties. The race resumed only briefly before Kubica clipped the back of Jarno Trulli's Toyota while running flat out on the approaching to the hairpin. The BMW ran wide onto the infield grass, got airborne over an access road and slammed into the inside wall, before rolling back across the track and coming to rest on its side in the hairpin run-off. Kubica was carefully removed from the car and taken to the medical centre, where he was awake and alert. He was airlifted to hospital in Montreal for further checks, and subsequently diagnosed with a broken leg. Hamilton led from Heidfeld - who had also pitted before the first yellow - Alonso and Rosberg when the restart eventually came, but when the latter pair pitted to take their penalties, Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson appeared in third, having not yet made his first pit stop. His moment of glory was only fleeting, as he locked up at the final chicane a lap later and had to take to the pitlane, to the surprise of his crew. Alonso fell to 15th after his penalty, with Rosberg losing even more ground after spinning in tandem with Jarno Trulli shortly after he rejoined the race. Meanwhile Hamilton pulled away from Heidfeld, Mark Webber, who spun while battling with Kubica early on but benefited from pitting before the first safety car, Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella. But the latter pair would be disqualified for exiting the pitlane while the red light was on during a safety car period, ending Massa's hopes of making up ground on Alonso in the championship. Webber also dropped out of contention after making his second pitstop just after the third safety car period, which was called on lap 50 when Christijan Albers deposited much of his front wing in the middle of the track after a trip over the grass. Once again the restart was brief, as Vitantonio Liuzzi crashed out of fifth place at the final chicane on the first lap under green. That proved to be the final interruption, with Hamilton confidently pulling away from Heidfeld after the restart. Rubens Barrichello had moved up to third by not pitting under the cautions, but could not make his fuel load last any longer and stopped three laps later, elevating Wurz to the podium on the tenth anniversary of his F1 debut, despite only qualifying 20th. Heikki Kovalainen used a similarly successful one-stop strategy to take fourth from the back of the grid, ahead of the muted Kimi Raikkonen. Alonso had made up several places during the middle of the race, but lost more ground after his fourth trip across the grass of the afternoon. He then came under pressure from the remarkable Takuma Sato in the final laps, with the Super Aguri - on the more favourable harder tyres - driving around the outside of the McLaren to take sixth with three laps remaining. Ralf Schumacher completed the points scorers, ahead of Webber and Rosberg. |
This site is not an official Ferrari site. Ferrari™ is a trademark and copyright material of Ferrari S.p.A. Any type of publication, copying, broadcasting or retransmission of the information or pictures without prior permission of the copyright holder is prohibited. Copyright © 1997-2006 The Prancing Horse.