Lewis was looking good. Coming off a truly brilliant drive in Monaco and going to a McLaren friendly Canadian GP. Hamilton stamped his superiority on the field through Practice and Qualifying, then he rocketed away in what looked to be a patented wire-to-wire F1 parade on race day. In his dust, Kubica and Kimi trying desperately to keep pace. Then came the safety car period that as usual, created a mess of the field. As standard during safety car periods, the pit lanes are a controlled area, it’s of note that even I know this. As the Ferrari and BMW crews got Kimi and Kubica out P1 and P2, ole’ Hammy came ripping out his stall in P3. Like a superficial blond in Benz CLK550 Cabriolet blabbing away on a cellphone, Lewis decided to plow into the back of Raikkonen’s helpless Ferrari, oblivious to the big red light at the end of pitlane (it was real big). Kimi’s reaction post-accident was classic, as he calmly pointed out the red light to Lewis as if he was asking if he knew what that meant. But hey it’s happened before, Rubens ran a red light plain as day in Australia just this year. Though, if two cars were parked at the end of the pit lane, would Rubens have tried to plow through them too?
Ok, the real winners of the Canadian GP…
BMW fans couldn’t have been more excited, as the carnage left Heidfeld and Kubica in control of the race. On differing fuel strategies, Heidfeld on a one stopper and Kubica on a traditional two stopper, the BMW boys were racing themselves. Heidfeld on his alternate one stopper was obviously heavy laden with fuel for most of the race, relegating him to a slower steady pace. On the other hand, Kubica ran like hell having to make one additional stop, he put in a awesome string of laps at the end of his second stint. Kubica was rewarded for his hard work, as he sufficiently gapped Heidfeld for his last stop and emerged just in front of his teammate. From there, they held station as they drove to the checkers 1-2. A monumental moment for the BMW program. I once said BMW might get a sneaky win if they get lucky, well Hamilton’s boneheaded play was just enough for those stars to align perfectly. Congrats BMW-Sauber.
Behind the BMW party were a few things worthy of mention. David Coulthard drove the RBR to a surprising podium with a steady veteran drive, finishing ahead of faster cars. Timo Glock also took advantage of the attrition to bring his TF108 in P4, his best finish on record. Honorable mention also goes to Rubens Barichello and Sebatian Vettel bringing their moving chicanes home in points in P7 and P8.
What is now a short trip to North America, thanks to Bernie and Co, the F1 circus heads back to the other side of the pond landing in Magny-Cour France. To rub salt in Lewis’ wounds, Magny-Cour was dominated by the Ferrari Red Army in 2007, and he’s likely given some extra motivation to the Iceman. We’ll see how the kid reacts, as McLaren is now looking way up to catch Ferrari and BMW in the manufacturer points race. Meanwhile, I think France might be exactly what Kimi needs to get back on track. I’m also curious as to how BMW-Sauber reacts, I’d love to see them take the fight to Ferrari and McLaren again.
