Maiden F1 win for Hamilton amid Canadian Grand Prix chaos

Jun 10, 2007, 19:53 GMT

British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes celebrates with the trophy after winning the Grand Prix of Canada, 10 June 2007 in Montreal, Canada. EPA/GERO BRELOER

Montreal, Canada - A faultless performance by Lewis Hamilton gave the 22-year-old Briton his maiden Formula One victory Sunday in a chaotic Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

A horrific crash by Robert Kubica overshadowed the race, but there was relief among the teams when first reports indicated the BMW-Sauber escaped serious injury.

'He is a good friend of mine. I hope he is OK and best wishes to his family,' said Hamilton who dedicated the victory to his father Anthony. 'Without him I wouldn't be here,' he said.

Kubica's crash about a third of the way into the race threatened to overshadow Hamilton's dominating performance for McLaren in which he overcame four safety car phases to emerge ahead of BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld of Germany and Williams driver Alexander Wurz of Austria.

The victory for 22-year-old Hamilton comes after five podium places in his debut season including four straight seconds and puts him clear of the drivers' championship on 48 points.

'This has been a fantastic day. This is history, to come here and win at my first time in Canada,' he said.

'I have been waiting for quite some time for this victory. It was a matter of when and where.'

McLaren team boss Ron Dennis was full of praise for 'a phenomenally well judged race' from Hamilton.

'He drove superbly, got the restarts right, didn't make any mistakes, avoided the debris - no one gave him this victory,' he said.

World champion and team-mate Fernando Alonso meanwhile had a race to forget, sliding off the track four times and suffering a 10-point penalty for a pitstop infringement.

The Spaniard's woes began from the start when he slid off in the first chicane after risking too much to get past his team-mate, and further mistakes littered his race to leave him a disappointing seventh.

It leaves Alonso on 40 points in the championship, with Brazil's Ferrari driver Felipe Massa stuck on 33 after being disqualified, team-mate Kimi Raikkonen on 27 and Heidfeld on 26.

Dennis said Alonso suffered particularly from the safety car phases.

'I am disappointed that the safety car was deployed when we needed fuel. It really destroyed Fernando's race,' he said.

Heikki Kovalainen of Finland in a Renault was fourth, ahead of Raikkonen and Japan's Takuma Sato in a Super Aguri. Ralf Schumacher of Germany in a Toyota took the final point in eighth place.

Taking a clear lead from his maiden pole position, Hamilton was only checked by the series of safety car phases, beginning when Spyker driver Adrian Sutil slid into a wall, allowing Alonso briefly to take the lead.

The race had barely been restarted when Kubica's car flew off the track on lap 26, prompting a much longer second safety car phase.

Medics rushed to Kubica's car which smashed into a barrier at full speed on a hairpin bend after touching Jarno Trulli's Toyota.

The car left the ground and hit barriers before somersaulting back onto the track and coming to a halt with only one wheel left attached to the cockpit of the car.

It was one of the worst-looking crashes in recent Formula One history. Kubica was initially motionless inside the wreckage of his car, but was later stretchered onto a helicopter from the track's medical centre and flown to Montreal general hospital.

Initial reports indicated the Pole suffered a suspected fractured leg but escaped more serious injury.

Both Alonso and Williams driver Nico Rosberg were to be given 10-second stop-go penalties for entering the pits when they were closed during the first safety car phase.

And in an increasingly chaotic race, there were later black flags to disqualify Massa and Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella for leaving the pits during a safety car phase while the exit was closed.

Hamilton was comfortably in charge despite all the hold-ups and, after a fourth safety car phase when Trulli hit a wall, he was still out in front with 10 laps remaining and was able to open up another comfortable gap on Heidfeld.

'The last few laps I was just counting down. It was really just about enjoying the moment, said Hamilton.