Hamilton takes first grand prix
Lewis Hamilton now tops the drivers' championship
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Sunday, 10, Jun 2007 08:43
Lewis Hamilton has claimed his first grand prix after leading from the front in an incident-packed race in Montreal.
The 22-year-old Briton started in pole at the Canadian grand prix and was in control of the race from start to finish.
Hamilton avoided the pitfalls many of his fellow drivers fell victim to and he showed composure while defending world champion and McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso made crucial mistakes.
The Spaniard ended in seventh place to see his joint lead with Hamilton in the drivers' championship disappear.
Alonso will rue an early mistake which let Germany's Nick Heidfeld through at the start and it was the BMW driver who held on for second place, 4.3 seconds behind Hamilton.
And the defending champion will also rue his misfortune after the safety car was introduced just as he needed to pit for fuel. A necessary breach of safety car rules followed and Alonso was handed a ten-second stop-go penalty which proved crucial.
Alexander Wurz took his Williams round the 70 laps for a creditable third, a second further behind the winner, while Renault's Heikki Kovalainen finished fourth.
Kimi Räikkönen was 13 seconds off the pace in fifth and Japan's Takuma Sato finished a superb sixth in the Super Aguri. Germany's Ralf Schumacher picked up the final championship point in eighth place.
But the story of the day was Hamilton's, who supremely held his nerve in a race made even more difficult by the introduction of the safety car on four separate occasions.
The most serious safety-car stoppage was the result of a 180mph crash by Polish driver Robert Kubica, whose BMW seemed to clip the Toyota of Jarno Trulli before it hurtled into the air and rolled into the wall.
Early suggestions appear to indicate that Kubica was conscious and talking in hospital with only a suspected broken leg to show for the horrific accident.
Hamilton is now eight points ahead of his team-mate in the championship after this debut win, while Brazil's Felipe Massa remains in third place despite not finishing in the points here.