Kubica wins race, leads standings

Montreal, June 9:

Robert Kubica grabbed his first Formula One win and the overall points lead on Sunday after Lewis Hamilton made a huge mistake that took him and world champion Kimi Raikkonen out of the Canadian GP.

Hamilton slammed his McLaren into the rear of Raikkonen’s Ferrari in the pits early in the race, taking out both leaders and giving the 23-year-old BMW Sauber driver a clear road to victory in his 29th F1 start. It was a great day for the BMW Sauber team, winning for the first time in its 42 races as an F1 team and sweeping the top two spots with Nick Heidfeld finishing second, well ahead of Red Bull Racing’s David Coulthard in third.

Hamilton started on the pole for the second straight year here and led until the safety car came out and the leaders pitted on lap 19 of the 70-lap race. That followed Adrian Sutil parking his Force India entry on the grass alongside the track.

Raikkonen, who came into the race trailing Hamilton by three points in the world championship standings, came out ahead of the McLaren driver, along with Kubica, who had been in between Hamilton and Raikkonen. Raikkonen and Kubica stopped side-by-side at a red light at the end of pit road and Hamilton, picking up speed, rammed into Raikkonen’s car, knocking off the rear wing. Nico Rosberg then hit the rear of Hamilton’s car.