Robert Kubica has become the first Polish driver to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix after taking victory in today’s Canadian Grand Prix.
Kubica was followed home by team mate Nick Heidfeld giving BMW both their first victory and first one-two as a full Formula 1 constructor.
It puts Kubica into the lead of the drivers’ championship. And it all happened at the track where he suffered an enormous accident last year.
Earlier in the race it appeared as though Heidfeld let his team mate pass at turn one. Heidfeld was fuelled to the end of the race at the time but Kubica needed to stop once more.
When Kubica came out of the pits after his final stop he stayed ahead of Heidfeld for the win.
TommyBellingham
8th June 2008, 20:10
So Happy for Kubica. Gutted for Heidfeld and I think he knew he may not get another chance to win where as Kubica is sure to still win plenty
Dorian
8th June 2008, 20:15
Fantastic win for Kubica and I dare say won’t be his last. I knew he had it in him, obviously the circumstances were favourable but that doesn’t take away the fact that his drive was stunning.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I think we have a future champion in our midst. Might not be this season, but sometime….
Shahriar
8th June 2008, 20:21
Yes… i was a jam-packed race indeed…
Awesome thirller till the 2nd last lap to be precise… :D
But Hamilton proved a real loser man! Sheez…
What a waste… He sud get some bashing after this… i mean he could have taken the other car… Was it intentional? I dont know…
Ahh… well…
Simon Robertson
8th June 2008, 20:28
What a race! I have followed Sauber/BMW Sauber since its inception in 1993 so its been a long 15 year wait! Great drive from Kubica and Heidfeld and not forgetting Coulthard.
A future WC indeed but i hope its in a BMW Sauber and not a Ferrari or Macca!
Shahriar
8th June 2008, 20:31
Obvious a future champ Dorian… he has got potential and the paitence… and also the pin point accuracy… Kubica is one of my favorites… didnt open the facebook fan page for nothing man… lol.. :)
Missouri MIke
8th June 2008, 20:32
Great job by BMW today. It would be unfair to dismiss the win as a fluke because of the Hamilton/Raikonnen crash. The fact is that BMW finished 1-2 with a significant margin in front of the remaining Ferrari and McLaren entries, and Kubica’s position on the starting grid proves that BMW have the sheer speed to keep pace with the top tier teams.
McLaren and Ferrari now know that if they falter just slightly, they don’t just have to worry about each other. BMW will take advantage and snatch points away from them. Well done Kubica, well done Heidfeld!
sajonaraman
8th June 2008, 20:46
Beautiful. My wishes came true today.
Dorian
8th June 2008, 20:53
Have to agree with you Simon. A WC in a BMW would be great. The more WC winning cars in the field the better!!…..as far as I’m concerned.
p.s. glad you also agree Shahriar
Santiago
8th June 2008, 20:59
Great race, it had everything till the end.
I was really uncertain about the final result. Alonso was just about to ruin Kubica´s race with his crash, but the first was luky enough Alonso did not block the way and a SC was not needed.
If I was Heidfeld I would vave blocked Kubica at least 5 laps more, so he could have taken victory. But my doubt is if Kubica has been declared driver nº1 already. The pit wall was prety happy when Kubica returned first to the race after the second pitstop.
Dr H&S
8th June 2008, 21:04
Heiki very disappointing, in the fastest car, coming in at the back of a very close group of three. Maybe Kubica for McLaren? :)
Nik
8th June 2008, 21:12
There is no doubt that Lewis was very dominant, but BMW thoroughly deserved the win and second place. Kubica is awesome and the team have made the championship all the more interesting!
It was a bit sad to see that Heidfeld was upset (and showing it) at what seems to have been team orders to let Kubica pass – even though he would have went past him one way or the other!
Gman
8th June 2008, 21:22
Phenominal job by the BMW boys today- a great milestone for the team and for F1 overall. As some of my great-grandparents came to the U.S. from Poland in the early 1900s, I’m very happy to see a Polish driver do so well. A great result for Heidfeld as well- he needed the solid showing after some subpar races recently. Here’s hoping to many more wins for Robert, and hopefully Quick Nick can bag a win or two along the way as well.
verasaki
8th June 2008, 21:26
more where this one came from. when is the last time there were actually this many drivers capable of taking each other on in a single season? the next couple of years could be very interesting.
over the moon to see not just kubica take a win-sooner than i thought he would but, a bmw 1/2 -certainly sooner than they thought they would. montreal can be a quirky old race but, this is more than just luck.
and good one massa! that was my fav moment of the race.
Simon Robertson
8th June 2008, 21:26
i dont think Kubica would want to step down to McLaren!!:)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
8th June 2008, 21:36
Comments from David Watkins & Verasaki moved to here
Steve
8th June 2008, 21:47
Good race, good to see Kubica get his first win, deserves it fully.
David Watkins
8th June 2008, 21:52
Fantastic for Robert. So cool and so fast. But it will need more mistakes from Ferrari/McClaren for him to be champion.
Excellent move too by Heidfeld to give Robert room and keep Alonso behind.
the limit
8th June 2008, 22:16
I am very pleased for Kubica, the romantic in me wanted him to win after last year’s accident, and he did not disappoint.
He did great from the lights going out, keeping Raikkonen at bay despite Kimi being on the clean side of the grid.
A great, great overtaking move on Heidfeld into turn one, just a really smooth, professional job. Some, although they will be in the minority,will say that Kubica prevailed due to the loss of Raikkonen and Hamilton.
I am of the belief that had the two ‘big guns’ still been on track, Kubica would still have fought for that win. The car was set up well, fast, and in a good pair of hands.
The overtaking move of the race for me was Felipe Massa nailing Kovalainen and another unfortunate soul down at the Casino Hairpin at the same time!
Wow. With drivers like that, the Monday morning commute in Sao Paulo must be bloody interesting.
A great race, some nice juicy topics to chew over, and a fourth race winning driver in seven grands prix.
Just what Formula One needed!!!
Role on Magny Cours.
David Watkins
8th June 2008, 22:21
If Lewis had stayed on the track he would have been out behind Kimi and Robert so it would have been a great battle if they had all got out safely.
Kimi and Robert were parked side by side so it would have been an interesting situation once the light went green. Would they have been able to race each other out of the pits or would the second to arrive at the line have had to give way to the first? I’m not sure of the rule
I think it would have been very tough for Robert to win without the accident. Kimi was really on it before the first safety car and would probably have overtaken Robert in the pits.
Kubica is a beast
9th June 2008, 1:08
Stop trying to make Kubica’s win sound like an accident, he raced spectacularly and he absolutely deserves the win. He was on the line at the pit stop line first anyways and all three of them were on the same strategy (with the exceptions of Hamilton’s tire choice). With the way Kubica has been driving lately I’m confident in saying he would have won anyways, even if Kimi and Hamilton would have made it out of the pits.
One thing I have to say though is: ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR PIT WORK BY THE BMW SAUBER TEAM, they were spotless and got Kubica out right on time to get to the line first, they deserve a congratulations.
Gman
9th June 2008, 2:59
Kubica is a beast….there is indeed no secret about who your favorite driver is!!
You are exactly right in terms of Kubica’s driving skills and the pit work of the BMW crew- little things like that are what win races. Indeed, Kimi and Lewis would have made things tougher. But BMW and their drivers beat the other teams fair and square- Kimi certainly can be upset about being taken out of the race by no fault of his own, but all the other drivers and teams got flat-out beaten by the boys in white and blue. Indeed, some of the other teams may say BMW got lucky…in which case the response should be “go back to your garage and do something about it next week!!”
Indeed, none of the teams would probably say something like that. I root for Mclaren, but was thrilled at today’s finish- a thrid contender arrived in the F1 ranks today, and the sport is all the better because of it.
Pink Peril
9th June 2008, 6:50
Wow – one of my pre-race predictions on your blog Keith actually cane true !
And a very popular win it was too – everyone seems to be happy for BMW-Sauber and Kubica. Although I could hazard a guess that Heidfeld could be a smidge happier about the result. Understandable of course, and I sincerely hope that we see Nick on the top step of the podium at some point as well.
What a great race. I do think that Kubica would have still been in with a great shot at winning even if Lewis hadn’t removed himself and Kimi from the race.
Kubica was simply on the ball today. We’ve seen it coming for some time now.
steve thompson
9th June 2008, 8:24
Great win for BMW – ITV viewers in the UK were treated to some pretty facile commentary from James Alan again with regard to swift Nick. First he made some feeble comment about how he should concentrate less on his art collection and more on F1 – this was in consequence of some report itv had one in the lead up to the race – poor ick had mentioned that he liked to buy art. Not content with tat weak comment he claimed that Nick was soundly beaten today – he wasn’t. (i) Nick was second from further back on the grid and (ii) he let Kubica past acting for the team. If he had held Kubica behind him for two more laps he would have come out into the lead and would probably have won. So a great 1-2 for BMW who look both highly professional and human. Toyota must be wondering how its done.
David Watkins
9th June 2008, 11:14
James Allen is an all-round embarrassment. When he kept wibbling on about Hamilton’s Monaco performance being “Sennaesque” I wanted to put my boot through the telly to make it all end.
Wesley
9th June 2008, 23:36
YES..YES..YESS..YESSS..YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!
I told you the Kube had something to prove!
A BMW one,two…!!!!
I can’t get this smile off my face!!
Kubica is a beast
12th June 2008, 4:19
David Watkins – I completely agree. Normally I download the iTV coverage because I live in U.S. and dont have SPEED but this year I watched it because it was on FOX which a local channel and it was incredible. I was soooooo relieved to not have to listen to every comment being centered around Hamilton, the SPEED anouncers actually talked about all the other racers and concentrated on Hamilton very little, it was a complete relief. Pls fire James Allen BBC!!!!