Kubica Takes Maiden Win at Montreal!!

So, the ones that predicted an eventful Grand Prix were proven very right this weekend, after Robert Kubica led a BMW one-two finish at the Giles Villneuve circuit in Canada, as only 13 cars finished the Grand Prix.

For those that predicted a Kubica win - congratulations, and I must say I would have been quite happy if it hadnt come after that childish error by Lewis Hamilton, taking both himself and Raikonnen out of the race.

After the lights went out at Montreal, the top three - Hamilton, Kubica and Raikonnen - all started quite well, with the most eventful pass of the start being Rosberg's neat overtake of Alonso to take 4th.

It was all quite uneventful until lap 15 when Adrian Sutil's car came at a stop between turns 3 and 4. It took the stewards 3 laps, and finally, on lap 18, the safety car was deployed. One lap after that, on lap 19, the pit lane opened and all hell broke loose. Hamilton, Kubica, Raikonnen, Rosberg all pit from the first 4 positions. BMW had the fastest stop, with Kubica coming out first, Raikonnen cheekily using the red lights to stop alongside the Pole for a potential attempt at a pass once the lights turned green. And then out of nowhere it happened.

Whether by some mistake in team communication, pressure from having to guide the car throught a very treacherous track, or pure nervousness from seeing both Kubica and Raikonnen come out in front of him, Hamilton did not see the red light until he was just a few yards away from Raikonnen's backside, and for all the glory of the efficient F1 brakes, he could not stop and rammed his car into the back of the Ferrari. Kubica was very lucky to emerge unharmed from the accident, which turned into a pile-up when Rosberg lost his front-wing hitting Hamilton.

This error took both Hamilton and Raikonnen out of the Grand Prix and ruined at otherwise promising weekend for Nico Rosberg, who had to come into the pits again to change his front wing.

Apart from that, the first round of pit stops was also eventful in that the Ferrari mechanics, in a rare error, tried to fuel Felipe Massa's car with Raikonnen's (now empty) pump. This meant the Brazilian had to come back into the pits yet again to receive his fuel.

All this played very nicely into the hands of the BMW's and especially Robert Kubica, who saw his two main Championship rivals take each other out right by his side.

Amazingly, the safety car did not come out again for the remaining 50 laps of the race, and this was due to the fact that cars were being extremely careful round the apex of turn 10 (the part of the track with the biggest surface problem), lapping a good 1s slower than yesterday's quialifying time. This however, took its toll on the brakes of the cars with Nelson Piquet the first victim, and on lap 42 the Brazilian drove his Renault into the pits and retired. David Coulthard and Jarno Trulli also complained of brake problems, however they did manage to finish the race.

Other notable retirees were Fernando Alonso, who spun out on lap 46, Nakajima, who hit the back of Barrichello, ruined his front-wing and couldnt quite make it into the pits, hitting the pit wall at the entrance to the pit-lane on lap 48.

On lap 49, Kubica came in for his last pit stop, and came out just in front of Heidfeld, who was fueled till the end. From then on it was easy cruising for the BMWs.

A late retirement from Fisichella gave them a light scare, when for a second it looked like the safety car might come out, but the stewards handled the situation, and from then on the BMWs were uninterrupted in their amazing achievement of a one-two victory.

This puts BMW well into the manufacturer's Championship race, having overtaken McLaren (53 points) and being just three points behid Ferrari (70 points). Over to the Driver's Championship, Robert Kubica, amazingly takes the lead with 42 points, to Lewis Hamilton's and Felipe Massa's 38 and Kimi Raikonnen's 35.

This makes the next few Grand Prix very very difficult for McLaren and Lewis Hamilton, even if we assume they win their home Grand Prix in Britain on the 7th July, which looks very unlikely given the speed of the Ferrari's even at tracks like Monaco and Canada (Raikonnen posted a fastest lap on lap 14, which remained unbeaten for the rest of the race).

I'd have to give my "Driver of the Day" to Robert Kubica for driving an error-free 70 lap race at this very difficult circuit and achieving his maiden win. Close second comes Felipe Massa who pulled off two unbelievably ballsy overtakes on Kovalainen and Trulli.