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Canadian Grand Prix report
Monday 09 June 2008
After 42 Grands Prix, the BMW Sauber F1 team are leaving Montreal with two precious commodities – their first ever Grand Prix victory, and leadership in the Drivers’ Championship.
On a warm, windy day in Canada, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld brought their cars home in the top two positions, vaulting Kubica into the top spot in the Drivers' Championship and seeing the team move to within three points of Ferrari in the Constructors' race.
It was a stunning result for the German-Swiss team in what is rapidly becoming one of the most competitive seasons in recent memory. Four drivers are separated by just seven points at the top of the standings.
Two of those drivers, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen, were knocked out the race in a bizarre and controversial pit-lane collision that will see Hamilton penalised 10 places on the starting grid in France in two weeks' time.
"I'm very happy at having won the first race for the BMW Sauber F1 Team," said Kubica following the race. "I'm also happy for Poland and all my fans. It was a very difficult race for me. I started on the dirty side of the track and Kimi Räikkönen was nearly able to pass me, but I just managed to keep him behind.
"The timing of the Safety Car was unlucky for me, because I wanted to pit, but then the yellow light went on just about three seconds too early, so I had to continue. When the pit lane was open, almost everybody pitted together. I stopped at the exit because the light was still red. Kimi stopped beside me, and then I heard the noise when Hamilton crashed into his car.
"I have to be grateful to Lewis as he chose Kimi and not myself. After this pit stop I was stuck behind the one-stoppers and lost a lot of time. Timo Glock was the last one of them to stop, and only then could I push.
"I had just eight laps to increase the gap to 21 seconds, which was a huge challenge. I finally managed to get a 24 second lead, which meant I was able to stay ahead of Nick. From this moment on I took it a bit easier, but even then it's very easy to make a mistake, particularly because of the tarmac that was destroyed in some places. But it all worked out and I'm just happy!"
Technical Director Willy Rampf saw the one-two finish as just reward for the work the team has put in this season.
"I just can't put my feelings into words after that race," he said. "Both drivers and the entire crew did a perfect job today. Robert had lost time when he was stuck behind slower cars after the Safety Car period, but in a fantastic sprint he made up for it and secured himself the race win.
"For Nick today was ideal. We shouldn't forget he started eighth. At certain times in the race he was the fastest man on track. When we switched him to a one-stop strategy we took pretty much of a risk, especially with regards to the tyres because Nick had to drive with the softer option for a very long time.
"Today everything paid off - decisions on the day as well as all the work done over the last two and half years."
(Photo © BMW AG)
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