Canadian Grand Prix: Red Means Stop

The dead-last finish of thoroughbred Big Brown in the 2008 Belmont Stakes illustrated that nothing is a sure thing in sport.

While the odds may favor one participant over another, in Formula One racing, any number of things can occur throughout the race that could catapult a driver from no points to podium. The race in Montreal underlined how anything can happen and that there are no sure-thing slam dunks.

There has been talk that perhaps Formula One has outgrown the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The speed of the cars contribute to the unstable track conditions that are a distraction at the very least, and track's close confines can cause spectacular accidents.

Last year, BMW's Robert Kubica went off-track, hit a bump in the grass, caught air, and slammed into the inside concrete wall of the hairpin turn. He rolled across to the other side of the track, and came to rest with his feet sticking out of the monocoque of the demolished BMW. Miraculously, he escaped injury save for a sprained ankle.

At this year's Canadian Grand Prix, the real shake-up happened in the pit lane, when several drivers ducked into the pits as the safety car was deployed.

After his stop, Lewis Hamilton failed to see the red light at the end of the pitlane, and ran up into the back of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari, which had dutifully stopped at the light alongside Robert Kubica.

Thanks to the high definition broadcast of this race on FOX, we were able to really see the disappointment on daddy Hamilton's face as he paced to the McLaren garage immediately after the accident.

Raikkonen was rather good-natured about the shunt, probably feeling like the accident was a bit of a payback for taking Adrian Sutil out of the race at Monte Carlo and making him cry, although during a Finnish TV interview, Raikkonen referred to Hamilton as "a man with a wooden eye."

Nico Rosberg was also involved in the incident, which will cost both drivers a 10-place grid penalty at the next race (6/22) at Magny-Cours.

It was nice to see Renault newbie Nelsinho Piquet's sudden gust of confidence in his passing skills against Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli, but it was even better to see Robert Kubica hold onto his lead on the track that just one year ago could have claimed his life.

By the way, just how the heck is Kubica's name pronounced? I've heard  KOO-bee-ka, Koo-BEE-ka, CUE-bee-ka, KOO-beet-za, Koo-BEE-cha and Koo-BEECH-ka. Go to www.namethatdriver.com and decide for yourself.

At Montreal, it was pronounced WIN-ner, as he and BMW teammate Nick Heidfeld avoided on-track attrition to secure a wonderfully executed one-two finish.