It should have been Lewis Hamilton's day. The young McLaren-Mercedes driver, who claimed his very first Formula 1 victory at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2007, looked poised for a repeat. Indeed, the last-second panache of the young Brit enabled him to dramatically snatch the pole position away from the BMW-Sauber of Robert Kubica.
As the sun rose over Montreal on Sunday, it was beginning to look as though Lewis might be returning to his season-opening form, of which he'd been struggling to chase since.
The Goddess of Speed can be a cruel mistress with an awful sense of irony. She giveth and she taketh away.
Last year at this very circuit it was Robert Kubica who was under her destructive heel, taking his BMW-Sauber airborne after hopping the curb just before the turn 10 hairpin and violently slamming into the wall at more than 200 kph.
Despite the complete destruction of the BMW and the almost sickening scene of Kubica's head lolling around in the cockpit like that of a rag doll, the Polish driver was able to figuratively walk away with only a sprained ankle. It was a testament to Formula 1's commitment to driver and spectator safety, but a result Kubica was reluctant to repeat this time around.
Each stop of the F1 circus is challenging, some more renowned than others. Monaco certainly has a reputation for some of the slowest corners on the calendar and track widths barely adequate for the cars themselves to pass through. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve could be considered the near polar opposite of the famed circuit at Monte Carlo.
The highest speeds of the year are achieved here, and the aerodynamic down force enhancements are kept at a minimum. The flip side is that the hardest braking areas of the year reside here. By race's end, there are nearly 20 sets of destroyed brake systems.
Indeed, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve presents a veritable cornucopia of potential issues, which includes a quickly degrading section of track at the bottom of the hairpin at turn 10.
Just how badly degraded is it? It had corroded so much during qualifying on Saturday that crews had to spend that evening resurfacing the entire corner. With so much margin for error, it's surprising that the results weren't dictated by high-speed physics or a crumbling track, but rather the simplest of driver's errors.
As the race started, Hamilton, Kubica, and Raikkonen were absolutely adamant about not losing any ground in that all-important dash for the first corner. Once there, however, it quickly became all about Lewis Hamilton. The Brit immediately set about crafting himself a beautiful lead, picking up seconds per lap over the blue and red BMW of Robert Kubica.
Kubica, in his own right, found it rather easy to hold off the charging Ferrari of reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen, but couldn't overcome tire pressure woes to properly take the fight up front to the McLaren-Mercedes.
By lap 15 it appeared that Lewis had returned to the form exhibited at Australia at the season opener, when Adrian Sutil's transmission woes caused the Force India to stall out, smoking, after turn 10. With the top drivers still on qualifying fuel, it was an ominous sign to see the safety car make its appearance while Sutil's VJM01 was removed from the track.
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