Montreal, Canada (Sports Network) - Rookie Lewis Hamilton captured Sunday's
Canadian Grand Prix and in the process won his first-career Formula One race.
The No.2 McLaren Mercedes driver crossed the finish line 4.343 seconds ahead
of Nick Heidfeld.
"It has been a fantastic day," said Hamilton. "It has been a fantastic season
already with six podiums. I've been ready for some time for this win...The
team gave me the best car."
After winning his first F1 pole on Saturday, Hamilton led the 22-car field
around the 2.709-mile course to the green flag. Starting on the front row with
Hamilton was his McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso.
The drama started immediately in turn one. Alonso tried to make a pass of his
teammate but in the process he completely missed the first corner. The two-
time F1 World Champion Alonso cut through the corner, slid in front of
Hamilton and rejoined the field in third behind Nick Heidfeld.
The super rookie quickly pulled away from the field. His margin was 3.2
seconds after just five laps of racing.
On lap eight Scott Speed slowed down considerably in his Toro Rosso due to
left-front suspension problems, his day over.
Hamilton continued to show the way as the battle started to heat up behind
him. On lap 19 Alonso made another mistake in turn one allowing Felipe Massa
to take over the third spot.
The first round of pit stops for the leaders started on lap 21 when Heidfeld,
who was in second, came down pit lane. He came out of the pits in the seventh
position.
On lap 22 Hamilton gave up his 19-second lead to make his first stop of the
afternoon. The rookie came out of the pits in second ahead of Kim Raikkonen.
Massa inherited the lead.
On lap 23 Adrian Sutil crashed into the wall in turn four to bring out the
safety car. During the next lap Alonso and Nico Rosberg made their first stops
of the day, despite the pit lane still being closed. They came out of the pits
in seventh and eight, respectively.
The pits reopened on lap 25 allowing for Massa and Raikkonen to make their
first stops.
The race went back to green conditions on lap 27 with Hamilton leading the
field once again. As the drivers made their way around the hairpin disaster
struck for Robert Kubica. His car went airborne and made heavy contact with
the wall in a bad crash. Fortunately Kubica was reported to be in stable
condition with just a broken leg.
On lap 29 Formula One officials gave Alonso and Rosberg a 10-second stop/go
penalty for pitting under the safety car. According to F1 rules the penalty
had to be served under racing conditions.
After a lengthy caution period the race got back underway on lap 33 with the
rookie still leading. On lap 36 Alonso and Rosberg finally served their
penalty. Alonso found himself in 13th place when he rejoined the field.
The No.2 McLaren Mercedes driver pulled away from the field once again.
Heidfeld, Mark Webber, Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella followed behind the
leader.
On lap 48 the last pit stops for the leaders begun when Hamilton and Heidfeld
came down pit road for service. Hamilton maintained his top-spot after a
lightning quick six-second stop. Heidfeld lost one position and settled into
the third.
The safety car entered the track again on lap 50 for debris from a Christijan
Albers crash. On lap 52 more drama unfolded when Formula One officials black-
flagged Fisichella and Massa for exiting the pits under a red light. They were
sent to the pits and forced to retire.
On lap 54 the race went back to green conditions. Hamilton had a great restart
and continued to increase his margin. But for the fourth time the safety car
was deployed on lap 56 for Vitantonio Liuzzi.
The race finally got back underway with only 10 laps remaining. Hamilton led
Heidfeld, Rubens Barrichello, Alexander Wurz and Heikki Kovalainen.
Barrichello would drop back because he still had to make a final pit stop.
With seven laps left the rookie had a 3.5 second lead and showed no signs of
looking back.
After 70 laps of racing and drama, Hamilton crossed the finish line to become
the first rookie to win a Formula One race since 2001 when Juan Montoya won in
Italy.
"I have to dedicate this win to my dad," said Hamilton. "Because without him,
this wouldn't be possible."
With the win, Hamilton (48 points) took an eight-point lead in the
championship. Alonso (40) is second and the Ferrari drivers of Massa (33) and
Raikkonen (27) are third and fourth, respectively.
The next race in the series is set for Sunday, June 17th at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway.