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Kubica crashes, Heidfeld finishes runner-up.
On lap 27 of the Canadian GP, an accident involving Robert Kubica overshadowed the race action. Thankfully, the Pole survived the
massive impact without suffering serious injuries. Therefore, the BMW Sauber F1 Team had the opportunity to celebrate with Nick Heidfeld, who crossed the line in second place.
The race at Montreal's "Circuit Gilles
Villeneuve" was a truly tumultuous one, with just twelve of the twenty-two drivers making it to the finish line. BMW Sauber F1 Team driver Robert Kubica was the man who suffered the worst accident. The first of four safety
car periods had just ended, and the 22-year-old had completed his first pit stop, when he went off at high speed while approaching the hairpin. His BMW Sauber F1.07 hit the concrete wall and rolled over. Trackside doctors
extricated Robert from the car's undamaged safety cell and took him to the circuit's medical centre. Following an initial check-up, Robert was flown out by helicopter to hospital for extensive examinations.
At the
start, Robert successfully defended his eighth position. When pitting on lap 25, he had moved up to a highly promising sixth place. Two laps later the crash meant an early end to his race. Nevertheless, Nick continued in
great style providing the BMW Sauber F1 Team with its biggest success so far. The 30-year-old laid the foundation for this result right at the start. He got away well and used a mistake by Fernando Alonso (McLaren) to move up
to second place. Afterwards, Nick demonstrated the F1.07's competitiveness by keeping the two-time World Champion at bay and being the second fastest driver - behind the subsequent winner Lewis Hamilton - at this stage of the
race.
On lap 23, the chaos truly began with Adrian Sutil (Spyker) hitting the wall at turn eight, resulting in the first safety car period. A short time later, the safety car had to come out for the second time, due to
Robert's crash. Further collisions and off-track excursions made for two further safety car periods, from laps 51 to 54 and 56 to 60.
Thanks to two flawless pit stops, on laps 21 and 48 respectively, Nick was never in
danger of losing his runner-up position. At the end of the day he crossed the finish line just 4.3 seconds behind Hamilton - thus securing the best result in the BMW Sauber F1 Team's history and equalising the best finishes in
his own career. Back in 2005, the German finished runner-up in the Monaco and European GPs.
Thanks to this success, Nick now has a total of 26 World Championship points to his tally and is fifth position in the Drivers'
Championship, while helping the BMW Sauber F1 Team (38 points) to consolidate its third place in the Constructors' Championship at the same time.
Ferrari earns precious points during eventful race in Canada
McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton took victory on Sunday after an eventful race at the Montreal circuit. Nick
Heidfeld (BMW) finished second with Alexander Wurz (Williams) in third place. Scuderia Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen crossed the line in fifth, collecting precious points in the face of team mate Felipe Massa's disqualification for
running a red light during a pitlane exit.
Saturday's qualifying session saw a disappointing result for the Scuderia. Despite having achieved the fastest time in session one, Kimi Räikkönen qualified in only fourth
position at the end, with team mate Felipe Massa alongside him in fifth. Nick Heidfield and Fernando Alonso took P2 and P3 behind Lewis Hamilton on pole.
Sunday's race proved chaotic, with the safety car deployed on four occasions.
Massa had a quick start and quickly gained a position from his team mate, moving into P4 behind Fernando Alonso (McLaren-Mercedes). Lap 18
saw Massa take advantage of an error by Alonso to take third position, before the action started.
The race saw the first safety car on the track on lap 22. Both Massa and Räikkönen took advantage of the opportunity and
dove into the pit lane once it opened. A quick stop and refuelling of Shell V-Power saw the Ferrari drivers rejoin the pack.
After two laps, the safety car came in and they were back under race conditions. Only four
laps later, a massive accident involving BMW's Robert Kubica saw debris scattered all over the track and the safety car came out again, holding the field for seven laps. Massa and Räikkönen were in eighth and tenth place
respectively. A stop-go penalty for pitting under the safety car took Alonso out of contention.
Both the Brazilian and the Finn were driving well and had raced up the pack into point positions, fourth and seventh
respectively. Lap 52 saw the return of the safety car and the end of Massa's race as a black flag was called to disqualify him for his red light infringement at the first pit stop. Räikkönen was still in a points position and
took advantage of the safety car, ducking into the pit lane for one quick final pit stop.
Lap 54 saw the safety car on track the fourth and final time. Räikkönen held his position well and crossed the finish line in
fifth, grabbing some precious points.
Lisa Lilley, Shell Formula One Technology Manager commented, "To have the engines running for a second time in the tough conditions of Montreal is always challenging and the
safety cars throughout the race added extra pressure. The Shell Helix lubricants have played a crucial role in protecting the Ferrari engines from overheating in Canada as well optimising the performance."
The teams
will now move south to the Indianapolis circuit for the USA Grand Prix next Sunday, 17th June. McLaren-Mercedes heads up the Constructors' World Championship on 88, 28 points ahead of the Scuderia on 60 points. Lewis Hamilton
leads the Driver's World Championship on 48, from Fernando Alonso on 40. Ferrari drivers, Massa and Räikkönen are still in the running in third and fourth on 33 and 27 points respectively.
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