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Formula One
F1: Maiden Win for Kubica, BMW in Canada
Pole now leads the championship; Heidfeld and Coulthard complete podium in trouble-filled race.
Kevin Krefting  |  Posted June 08, 2008   Montreal, Canada
Now the championship leader, Kubica became the first Polish winner in F1 history. (LAT Photo)

Robert Kubica’s consistent 2008 performances paid off in a big way in the Canadian Grand Prix, with the Pole taking his and BMW Sauber’s maiden Formula 1 victory in a historical day for the Swiss-German team, which also posted its first-ever 1-2 finish as Nick Heidfeld took the second spot.

Red Bull’s David Coulthard finished third, securing his first podium since Monaco ’06, while Toyota’s Timo Glock grabbed a career-best fourth, ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Jarno Trulli in the second Toyota. Honda’s Rubens Barrichello scored for the second consecutive race in seventh, ditto for Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel in the eighth spot.

The race was marked by a near-comical mistake by polesitter Lewis Hamilton, who ran into the back of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen on the 20th lap when the Finn stopped at the end of the pit lane behind Kubica due to a red light. Both men retired on the spot.

"I saw the two guys in front battling in the pitlane and all of a sudden they stopped," Hamilton explained. "I saw the red light but by the time I stopped it was too late. I apologize to Kimi if I cost him the race, but these sorts of things happen."
Hamilton kept the lead at the start, but all changed on the first safety car period... (LAT Photo)

Before the mistake, Hamilton had been the dominant force of the race. He kept his lead at the start and began to pull away from Kubica, who had started second, with relative ease.

Things started to change on lap 17, when the safety car was deployed followed by the retirement of Adrian Sutil, who parked his Force India in a delicate spot on Turn 3. The leaders all headed for refueling pit stops, and the safety car meant that Hamilton’s seven-second lead was nullified by the time all cars reached the pits. Kubica was able to emerge ahead and Raikkonen jumped to second, only to be run over by Hamilton at the red light. Williams’ Nico Rosberg also touched Hamilton but was able to continue.

The order shuffled dramatically as several cars on one-stop strategies didn’t stop. Heidfeld jumped to first, ahead of Barrichello, Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima, the Red Bull of Coulthard and Mark Webber and the two Toyotas. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa dropped down the order as a refueling rig problem forced him to stop twice.

Down in 10th place, Kubica was the de facto leader among the two-stoppers, and began to gain positions as the cars ahead of him made their stops. Leader Heidfeld came in on lap 27 and had been able to clear enough of an advantage to emerge ahead of Kubica. The Pole’s lighter car, however, enabled him to overtake his teammate one lap later.
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Kevin Krefting

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