Lewis Hamilton will start the day from pole position in today s Canadian Grand Prix. The Brit, starting from the number one spot for the second year in a row, will have to hold off Kubica in second into the tricky first corner the scene of a terrific accident ten years ago where Alex Wurz s car rolled after a multi-car pile up.
With the track surface already breaking up in Qualifying, the driver who better negotiates the loose tarmac, tyre marbles and infamous concrete walls which have claimed a number of Champions in recent years will likely take victory. Drivers will lap the 2.7 mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, located on the ÃŽle Notre-Dame (Island) in Montreal some seventy times in good conditions.
The vast majority of the field start on the harder tyre. Hamilton and Rosberg are the most notable exceptions who will be starting the race on the softer tyre. Vettel and Button are starting from the pits.
Lap 1 Everyone gets through the first corner cleanly. Hamilton leads, Kubica second, Raikkonen third. Barrichello moves up two places to seventh place. Nakajima is also up two places to tenth. Glock is the biggest loser moving from 11th down to 14th.
Lap 2 Hamilton is starting to eke out a lead at the front. He is just over 1.5 seconds ahead of second placed an, Robert Kubica.
Lap 4 Heidfeld is all over the back of Barrichello and nearly runs into him at the hairpin.
Lap 5 Heidfeld takes a place from Barrichello at the hairpin and is now in eighth. Barrichello is now under pressure from the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima.
Lap 6 Vettel overtakes team-mate Bourdais for 18th place.
Lap 8 Hamilton has extended his lead over Kubica to over 3.5 seconds. Raikkonen is a further 3 seconds behind.
Lap 9 Felipe Massa is closing in on fifth placed Fernando Alonso. Piquet gets a better entry into the first corner and overtakes Glock for 14th place. Piquet starts to close in on the second Toyota of Jarno Trulli.
Lap 12 Piquet dives down the inside of Trulli at Turn One and takes 13th place. The two cars tap wheels during the manoeuvre.
Lap 13 – The hairpin is starting to show signs of the tarmac breaking up and several drivers are finding the area a bit of a handful.
Lap 14 Kimi Raikkonen puts in the quickest time of the race so far with a 1:17.387 and is starting to close in on Robert Kubica. Sutil stops on track between corners 3 and 4 it appears that something may have broken on his car.
Lap 15 No sign of the Safety Car for Sutil s car, however the Force India s front brakes do catch fire. Fire marshals are quickly on scene to put out the flames and luckily, the smoke is blowing away from the track.
Lap 18 The Safety Car is deployed. Button pits there are questions over whether he may be penalised. Bad news for Hamilton as his lead, which was over 6 seconds, has now been closed. The top 6 are Hamilton, Kubica, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Alonso and Massa. Both McLarens and both Ferraris pit along with Alonso, Piquet and Bourdais.
The pit-lane red light is on. Raikkonen and Kubica stop and Hamilton piles into the back of the Ferrari both cars retire. Rosberg then hits the back of Hamilton but appears to be able to carry on before pitting again on the next lap for a new nose cone.
Lap 19 After the shenanigans in the pit-lane, Heidfeld leads from Barrichello, Nakajima, Webber, Coulthard and Trulli. We are still under Safety Car conditions.
Lap 20 The Ferrari mechanics look set for a pit-stop, even though Massa has already pitted and Raikkonen is out.
Lap 21 The Safety Car is in. Massa pits from P12. The Ferrari mechanics fill the car with fuel and he stays on the harder tyres.
Lap 22 Webber is all over the back of Nakajima, looking for a way past and third place.
Lap 24 Heidfeld is nearly 7 seconds ahead of second placed man, Rubens Barrichello. He is lapping at nearly 2 seconds a lap quicker than the Honda driver. None of the top nine drivers have made a pit-stop yet.
Lap 27 Heidfeld is now over 12 seconds ahead of Barrichello, who looks to be holding up the rest of the field. Piquet drops his car on the way in to Turn 3, just avoiding tapping the wall. He eventually rejoins the race after a risky reverse across the track, just missing the remaining Ferrari of Felipe Massa.
Lap 28 Race Control confirm they will be investigating the incident between cars 1, 7 and 22 (Raikkonen, Rosberg and Hamilton) after the race. Heidfeld pits from the lead, as does Mark Webber. Heidfeld puts a lot of fuel in, and switches to the softer tyres, and rejoins just ahead of Kubica.
Lap 30 The most experienced man currently in F1, Rubens Barrichello, is currently leading the Canadian Grand Prix. Fisichella pits. Kubica overtakes his team-mate for seventh place. Replays suggest that Heidfeld did not defend Kubica s pass. Alonso is now all over the back of Heidfeld s BMW.
Lap 33 Massa goes straight on at the chicane losing a few seconds. Nakajima pits and goes back out on the harder tyre.
Lap 34 The top 6 are: Barrichello, Coulthard, Trulli, Glock, Vettel and Kubica. Heikki Kovalainen is believed to be fuelled to the end of the race.
Lap 35 Rosberg pits from P11. Barrichello pits from the lead and takes on the softer compound tyre. David Coulthard is now leading the race, 11 seconds ahead of Jarno Trulli who is just over a second ahead of team-mate Trulli.
Lap 36 Coulthard pits from the lead. Vettel also pits from fourth. Only the two Toyotas have yet to pit. DC goes back out into fifth place, just behind Heidfeld. Trulli leads, Glock is second.
Lap 38 Kubica is less than a second behind Glock.
Lap 39 Trulli pits from the lead leaving team-mate Glock to lead the race.
Lap 40 Nakajima tries to pass Button for P9. He runs over Turn One s kerbs and Massa overtakes him. Piquet pits from P15. Alonso nearly collects Heidfeld at the hairpin.
Lap 41 Piquet retires. It looks like the Renault has had problems with the brakes the tyres are covered in brake dust and when the tyres are taken off his car, the brakes look shot.
Lap 42 Glock pits from the lead. Kubica now leads from Heidfeld, Alonso, Coulthard, Barrichello and Kovalainen. Bourdais also pits. Kubica is now doing laps in the 1:17s, 2 seconds faster than when he was behind Glock.
Lap 43 Alonso tries to overtake Heidfeld but runs wide at the hairpin. Heidfeld s engineer tells him if he is losing time trying to defend, just to let the Spanish driver by.
Lap 44 Fisichella pits from the back of the field. Kubica is flying in the lead, putting in lap times two seconds quicker than his team-mate in second place. He has extended his lead to over 17 seconds.
Lap 46 At Turn 7, Alonso sticks his left rear tyre onto the marbles. His car spins and he smacks into the wall, his race over, almost exactly the same accident that Webber had in qualifying.
Lap 47 – Nakajima hits the back of a Honda. He tries to pits but gets on top of his own front wing and goes nose-first into the wall at the start of the pit-lane, blocking the pit-lane and retiring from the race.
Lap 48 Kubica pits from the lead. It s a 7.5 second stop, swapping to softer tyres, and he easily makes it back out into the lead ahead of his team-mate.
Lap 51 Kovalainen got a run on Barrichello into the hairpin. Kovalainen passes Barrichello but Massa gets a run on them both and takes fourth place.
Lap 52 Fisichella loses it on the first chicane and goes backwards into the barrier. Massa pits, as does Kovalainen, Button and Webber. Massa takes on the softer tyres. There is no sign of the Safety Car as the Force India car is craned away.
Lap 54 Kubica has a gap of 7.7 seconds over Nick Heidfeld, who is around 4.5 seconds ahead of Coulthard. Barrichello is a further 17 seconds behind with Glock hot on his heels. Trulli rounds out the top 6.
Lap 58 DC s engineers have asked him to go easy on the brakes which are running very hot. Will this compromise his race? The Scot is currently running in third place.
Lap 59 Barrichello runs across the grass allowing both Toyotas past.
Lap 60 Kubica s lead is now over 12.5 seconds. Rosberg attempts a move on Vettel. He goes off line and takes the corner slowly allowing Kovalainen to breeze past him to take ninth place.
Lap 61 Massa overtakes Barrichello for sixth place. Trulli informs his team over the radio that he is struggling with his brakes.
Lap 63 DC has been told to short-shift to help preserve his engine and brakes. He is nearly 16 seconds in front of fourth placed man, Glock. Barrichello is under fierce pressure from Vettel as Kovalainen attempts another pass on Vettel.
Lap 66 Massa is now just 1.6 seconds behind fifth placed man Trulli, and is lapping a second quicker.
Lap 67 Vettel straight lines the final chicane but holds his place, just ahead of Kovalainen. Glock goes wide in Turn Two. Trulli has to lift which allows Massa to pass. Massa is now all over the back of Glock. DC is taking it steady with lap times in the 1:20s, however he is 20 seconds ahead of the battle for fourth behind him.
Lap 69 Mark Webber has a spin in Turn 7 but keeps it out of the barrier and carries on.
Final Lap Robert Kubica wins and now takes the lead in the drivers championship. Nick Heidfeld makes it a BMW 1-2. A great drive for Coulthard who finishes in third place. Glock has held off Massa to take fourth, who finishes just ahead of the second Toyota of Trulli. Barrichello and Vettel take the final points of the day, ahead of the sole remaining McLaren of Kovalainen.
The drivers championship has now taken an interesting turn Robert Kubica leads the drivers championship, four points ahead of Hamilton and Massa. Raikkonen is a further three points behind.
Ferrari now lead BMW in the constructors championship 73 to 70. McLaren are in third with 53 points.
