 Four points was a meagre reward for
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro in the Canadian Grand Prix, thanks to a great
drive to fifth place for Felipe Massa. For the second time in two races,
the Scuderia's race was compromised by Lewis Hamilton and the Safety
Car, as Kimi Raikkonen was eliminated, when the McLaren driver ran into
the back of the Finn, who was waiting for the pit lane traffic light to
go green, when the field pitted during the race's only Safety Car
period. Scoring his and his BMW-Sauber's maiden F1 victory was Robert
Kubica, who was followed home by team-mate Nick Heidfeld. The last place
on the podium went to Red Bull's David Coulthard. Scuderia Ferrari
Marlboro still lead the Constructors' classification, three points clear
of BMW-Sauber. Kubica now heads the Drivers' table on 42 points with
Hamilton and Massa now tied on 38, three more than Raikkonen.
The weather did not look like being a problem before the start, however
there was a question mark over the broken track surface, particularly at
the hairpin. One of the reasons given for what happened on Saturday is
that, without traction control, the cars were putting a lot more force
onto the track surface. Whatever the reason, the organisers had tried to
sort the problem by putting down a layer of concrete over the offending
parts of the track. But prior to the start, drivers were told to avoid
the apex of several corners on the formation laps as the repairs were
still going on. Starting from pit lane were Jenson Button in the Honda
and Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso-Ferrari.
As the lights went out, all drivers seemed to be aware that the first
corner here is very tricky and the only change to grid order was Rosberg
moving his Williams up from fifth to fourth. On lap 2, Barrichello
overtook Heidfeld to go eighth, but the German got by again on lap 5.
On lap 8, Hamilton led Kubica by 3.6 seconds, with Raikkonen a further
3.2 behind. Fourth was Rosberg, ahead of Alonso, who had Massa closing
on his Renault, just 0.4 behind. Then came Kovalainen, with Heidfeld in
the last points scoring position, eighth. One lap later, Piquet got his
Renault past Glock's Toyota to go fourteenth. A couple of laps later,
the Brazilian barged past Trulli in the other Toyota to go thirteenth.
There was also a good battle for seventh, as Kovalainen in the McLaren
was having to fight off Heidfeld in the BMW-Sauber. On lap 15, Sutil
parked his Force India at the side of the track and everyone held their
breath to see if a Safety Car would be required. It was at this point
that Kimi set a fastest race lap, as he began to close (0.7) on Kubica.
Out in front, Hamilton was almost seven seconds clear of the Polish BMW
driver.
 But then all gaps were closed right up, as the Safety Car did come out
to recover the Force India car after one of its brakes caught fire. But
there was a disaster in the pit lane for Raikkonen. He went to the end
of pit lane, alongside Kubica. The light was red as the SC and other
cars were coming past the end of pit lane, but Hamilton did not stop and
ran straight into the back of Raikkonen. The Englishman's mistake ended
both their races. Rosberg was also caught up in this incident and had to
re-pit for a new nose in the Williams.
The order as the SC came in on lap 21 was now Heidfeld, Barrichello,
Nakajima, Webber, Coulthard, Trulli, Glock, Fisichella, Vettel. None of
these had refuelled. Then came Kubica, Alonso, Massa in the sole
Ferrari, Piquet, Kovalainen, Button and Bourdais, followed by Rosberg.
Massa then came in again on lap 21 as, because of a misunderstanding, he
had not taken on any fuel the previous lap. The Brazilian was down to
seventeenth. Race leader Heidfeld pitted on lap 22 for 12.4 seconds, as
Webber also came in on this lap. Heidfeld rejoined in front of Kubica.
This left Barrichello in the Honda leading while Heidfeld let team mate
Kubica get past next time through Turn 1. The top six, Barrichello,
Nakajima, Coulthard, Trulli, Glock and Vettel were the only cars yet to
refuel. Second placed Nakajima in the Williams came in on lap 33,
promoting Coulthard to second in the Red Bull, while Felipe had a bit of
moment, running wide but continuing, now in fourteenth place.
Race leader Barrichello pitted at half distance (lap 35) promoting
Coulthard to the lead, from the Toyota duo of Trulli and Glock. Vettel
was now fourth with Kubica fifth. Massa was up to twelfth, but when
those who had yet to pit came in to refuel, he would move further up.
New leader Coulthard came in on lap 37, leaving the Toyotas at the
front, the only cars not to have refuelled. Vettel also pitted at this
point. Piquet retired the Renault with brake failure on lap 41. A battle
between Nakajima and Button promoted Massa to eighth. So with everyone
pitted at least once, the order was headed by the BMW duo of Kubica and
Heidfeld, the important difference being that the Pole still had to make
one more visit to the pits for fuel. Third was Alonso who was also
expected to make another stop, followed by Coulthard, Barrichello,
Kovalainen, with Massa seventh. On lap 46 Alonso's race was over as he
spun out at Turn 7. Then Nakajima retired at the end of the pit lane
after colliding with Button.
 Kubica was flying and had to build up a lead of at least 25 seconds if
he was to manage his second refuelling and still come out ahead of
team-mate Heidfeld. On lap 48 he was 25.1 in the lead. Coulthard was
third at this stage, followed by Barrichello, Kovalainen and Massa up to
sixth. Kubica duly came in on lap 48 for 7.5 seconds and that was enough
for him to maintain the lead. Barrichello, Kovalainen and Massa were
having a great fight, all very close in fourth, fifth and sixth places.
Then in a fantastic move at the hairpin, as Kovalainen tried to pass
Barrichello, Felipe charged through going past both of them on the
inside line to move up instantly from sixth to fourth. With eighteen
laps to go, the Force India of Fisichella went off the track at Turn 4.
Massa made his second stop for a brief 6.2 seconds on lap 53, dropping
to seventh. With nine laps to go, Felipe got past fellow countryman
Barrichello, at the final corner, to move up to sixth. Then he began
closing on fifth placed Trulli and on lap 67, he made it to go fifth.
Now the Ferrari man had his sights set on the fourth placed Toyota of
Glock. Could he do it with just two laps remaining? Unfortunately not.
So at the flag, BMW-Sauber confirmed its first ever Grand Prix victory
by making it a one-two with Kubica taking his maiden win ahead of
Heidfeld, followed by Coulthard taking his first points this year with a
third placed podium. Fourth was Glock in the Toyota, ahead of Felipe in
fifth. Jarno Trulli was sixth for Toyota, ahead of Rubens Barrichello in
the Honda, with Sebastian Vettel picking up the final point for Toro
Rosso in eighth place.
Stefano Domenicali: "There is much for us to
regret about the outcome of this race. We saw one of our drivers retire
because he was hit when stopped at the exit of the pit lane in front of
the red light. It was a serious mistake from Hamilton and I think the
penalty imposed by the FIA is in line with it, even if it does not
restore what was a lost opportunity for us. In fact, Kimi was in an
excellent position to fight for the win, partly thanks to a car which
showed it was running at a great pace. Felipe drove an exceptional race.
Unfortunately, we had a problem with the refueling rig when he made a
pit stop during the safety car period - a joint in the fuel line broke
and no fuel went in - and we had to call him in next time round for a
further stop that dropped him to the back of the field. Felipe did not
lose heart and produced a great climb up the order which ended up with
him finishing fifth. These are very important points which today allow
us to maintain our lead in the Constructors' Championship. I spoke
earlier of regret, but I would add that it is today's disappointment
that actually strengthens our desire to fight back. We know there is
still a long season ahead of us up against very strong opponents and so
we say congratulations to BMW and Kubica for their first victory, but we
are also aware of our own strengths that are a match for anyone."
Felipe Massa: "It's hard to express my feelings after a race like
this. On the one hand, I am disappointed because, without my refueling
problem, I could have been fighting for a place on the podium. On the
other hand, I am happy to have brought home four points at the end of a
very difficult race run on a track surface that was in really poor
condition. Once I found myself at the back, I tried to climb back up
again, but in the end, when I was behind Glock, I could not get past him
and also I didn't want to run the risk of ending up off the track after
all the trouble I'd been to to get that far. I would like to
congratulate Kubica and BMW: they worked really well and deserved this
success. They are very strong, but I think we are working in the right
direction, as could be seen from our performance level every day here."
Kimi Raikkonen: "There's not much I can say. My race was ruined
by Hamilton's mistake. Obviously, anyone can make mistakes, as I did two
weeks ago in Monaco, but it's one thing to make a mistake at two hundred
per hour but another to hit a car stopped at a red light. I am not angry
because that doesn't achieve anything and does not change my result! I
am unhappy, because I had a great chance of winning. Once the graining
had gone from the tyres, the car was going very well. I have failed to
score in these last two races and now it's time to start winning again.
There is still a long way to go in the championship and it is still very
close and we have everything we need to regain the ground we have lost."
Luca Baldisserri: "I don't want to comment on the collision that
involved Kimi: I would just say that, through no fault of our own, we
lost a great chance of winning. I would prefer to pay a great compliment
to Felipe, who drove a fantastic race after the problem we had at his
first refueling stop. Dropped to the back of the pack, he managed to
climb his way up the order to finish fifth, pulling off some very nice
passing moves and showing what he is made of and what the F2008 can do.
Kimi also, after an early waiting phase brought on by a bit of graining
on his tyres, had begun to lap at a great pace, which saw him set the
fastest race lap. Compared to how these last two races went last year,
we have definitely made a real step forward in performance terms, but
for various reasons, we have not picked up the results that were within
our grasp. Now we must immediately turn this bad sequence around and get
back to our usual standards."
Source - Ferrari Media |
