The 2007 Canadian Grand Prix was the sixth race of the 2007 calendar. It was won by polesitter Lewis Hamilton, but was noted by the amount of incidents in the race including Robert Kubica's heart-stopping full-speed crash, resulting in four safety cars over the 70 laps. It also extended Hamilton's championship lead over Fernando Alonso, who had a ragged race.
Practice Overview
P1
McLaren-Mercedes predictably topped the timesheets for P1, ahead of the two Ferraris. The only replacement driver for the morning was Kazuki Nakajima, sitting in for Nico Rosberg in the Williams-Toyota. Robert Kubica failed to set a time with technical problems.
P2
P2 was surprisingly eventful, with several cars crashing and having close calls. Alonso again topped the sheets, ahead of Massa, Hamilton then a hard-pushing Räikkönen. Scott Speed was involved in a crash with Mark Webber, after the Australian unexpectedly slowed causing Speed to run into the back of him. Jarno Trulli twice caused damage to his Toyota, while Adrian Sutil narrowly missed damage when flying over a kerb. Heikki Kovalainen had to sat out much of the session, following an early crash.
P3
P3 saw red flags waved early on, after Kovalainen's Renault spewed oil over the track. This meant some drivers struggled to set representative times, so Hamilton topped the leaderboard in this session. McLaren and Ferrari hogged the top four yet again.
Practice Results
Driver | Team | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Time | Pos | Time | Pos | Time | Pos | ||
Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:17.759 | 1 | 1:16.550 | 1 | 1:16.465 | 3 |
Lewis Hamilton | 1:17.967 | 2 | 1:17.307 | 3 | 1:16.071 | 1 | |
Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 1:18.620 | 6 | 1:18.130 | 8 | 1:17.454 | 11 |
Heikki Kovalainen | 1:18.997 | 14 | 1:20.519 | 22 | 1:18.758 | 21 | |
Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:18.167 | 4 | 1:17.090 | 2 | 1:16.666 | 4 |
Kimi Räikkönen | 1:18.136 | 3 | 1:17.515 | 4 | 1:16.465 | 2 | |
Jenson Button | Honda | 1:18.932 | 13 | 1:18.474 | 13 | 1:17.468 | 12 |
Rubens Barrichello | 1:19.937 | 18 | 1:18.108 | 7 | 1:17.329 | 8 | |
Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:18.634 | 7 | 1:17.827 | 5 | 1:18.428 | 19 |
Robert Kubica | no time | 22 | 1:18.399 | 12 | 1:17.601 | 13 | |
Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 1:18.652 | 8 | 1:19.331 | 19 | 1:17.748 | 16 |
Jarno Trulli | 1:18.925 | 12 | 1:18.895 | 18 | 1:17.624 | 14 | |
David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 1:18.717 | 9 | 1:18.316 | 11 | 1:17.391 | 9 |
Mark Webber | 1:18.301 | 5 | 1:18.181 | 9 | 1:17.071 | 7 | |
Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | DNP | 1:17.992 | 6 | 1:16.975 | 6 | |
Kazuki Nakajima | 1:19.273 | 17 | DNP | DNP | |||
Alexander Wurz | 1.19.189 | 15 | 1:18.871 | 17 | 1:18.489 | 20 | |
Vitantonio Liuzzi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:20.331 | 19 | 1:18.493 | 14 | 1:17.799 | 17 |
Scott Speed | 1:19.234 | 16 | 1:18.602 | 16 | 1:17.742 | 15 | |
Adrian Sutil | Spyker-Ferrari | 1.21.630 | 21 | 1:19.662 | 21 | 1:18.270 | 18 |
Christijan Albers | 1:21.251 | 20 | 1:19.453 | 20 | 1:18.933 | 22 | |
Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 1:18.898 | 11 | 1:18.309 | 10 | 1:16.864 | 5 |
Anthony Davidson | 1:18.896 | 10 | 1:18.545 | 15 | 1:17.391 | 10 |
Qualifying
Q1
Q1 saw both the Spykers round out the bottom, to be joined by Wurz, Kovalainen, Ralf Schumacher and Anthony Davidson. Kovalainen had earlier in the session hit the wall, and rapid repairs meant he could rejoin, however his torrid weekend continued when he was knocked down the order from a peak of thirteenth. An engine change pushed him further down the grid, and he would start the race from the back of the grid.
Q2
Although he missed out on Q3, Takuma Sato put in an impressive performance to put the Super Aguri eleventh on the grid. With a brakes issue, David Coulthard could only manage fourteenth.
Q3
For the pole position shoot-out, it was a McLaren predictably on top, with Lewis Hamilton taking the honours ahead of teammate Fernando Alonso. Nick Heidfeld surprised the Ferraris by placing his BMW Sauber third.
Qualifying Results
Pos. | Driver | Constructor | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Grid |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:16.576 | 1:15.486 | 1:15.707 | 1 |
2 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:16.562 | 1:15.522 | 1:16.163 | 2 |
3 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:17.006 | 1:15.960 | 1:16.266 | 3 |
4 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:16.468 | 1:16.592 | 1:16.411 | 4 |
5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:16.756 | 1:16.138 | 1:16.570 | 5 |
6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1:17.315 | 1:16.257 | 1:16.913 | 6 |
7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:17.016 | 1:16.190 | 1:16.919 | 7 |
8 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:17.267 | 1:16.368 | 1:16.993 | 8 |
9 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 1:16.805 | 1:16.288 | 1:17.229 | 9 |
10 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:17.324 | 1:16.600 | 1:17.747 | 10 |
11 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 1:17.490 | 1:16.743 | 11 | |
12 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:17.541 | 1:16.760 | 12 | |
13 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1:17.011 | 1:17.116 | 13 | |
14 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 1:17.436 | 1:17.304 | 14 | |
15 | Jenson Button | Honda | 1:17.522 | 1:17.541 | 15 | |
16 | Scott Speed | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:17.433 | 1:17.571 | 16 | |
17 | Anthony Davidson | Super Aguri-Honda | 1:17.542 | 17 | ||
18 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 1:17.634 | 18 | ||
EX | Heikki Kovalainen | Renault | 1:17.806 | no time | PL | |
19 | Alexander Wurz | Williams-Toyota | 1:18.089 | 19 | ||
20 | Adrian Sutil | Spyker-Ferrari | 1:18.536 | 20 | ||
21 | Christijan Albers | Spyker-Ferrari | 1:19.196 | 21 |
Race
Although Hamilton got off well, he had to defend from Alonso on the right and Heidfeld on the left. He was able to keep Nick behind going into turn 1, but Alonso kept going and ran wide. He cut across the grass and was almost t-boned by his teammate at the exit of turn 2, dropping to third as a consequence. Jenson Button did not make it off the grid, with a gearbox problem, the only casualty of the first few corners.
After a relatively quite first few laps, Scott Speed became the second retirement of the afternoon, breaking his suspension with an audacious move on Alexander Wurz into turn 8. He tapped the back of the Williams, damaging Wurz's rear wing in the process.
Fernando Alonso, unable to catch Heidfeld and Hamilton ran wide again at turn 1 on lap 14. Alonso, frustrated by his lack of pace did so again 5 laps later. This second mistake meant Felipe Massa was able to sweep past into 3rd. On the same lap, David Coulthard was clearly not impressed with his Red Bull's performance, responding to a radio message with the classic "Not good. Doesn't turn, doesn't stop, no traction. Apart from that it's great, having lots of fun".
Lewis Hamilton pitted from the lead on lap 21 and slotted in fourth. However this early pit-stop seemingly proved erroneous, as Adrian Sutil's crash on the same lap meant he lost his free pit-stop. Coming into turn four, the Spyker tailboned out and slapped the wall, breaking his suspension. Under the safety car, Vitantonio Liuzzi hit the wall on the start of the pit straight, however he was fortunate enough to carry on with no damage. Alonso opted to pit after the safety car was deployed, which meant he - and Nico Rosberg had to take a 10 second stop-go penalty later in the race. Further confusion reigned under this safety car, as both Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella left the pitlane while it was closed. This was investigated throughout the race, until the decision was made to disqualify both drivers on lap 51.
Hamilton made a quick restart, pulling away from Heidfeld and Alonso in second and third. Shortly after though, Robert Kubica pulled out of the slipstream of Jarno Trulli, but caught the rear wing at full speed. The BMW Sauber took off over the grass, and his right-front tyre was ripped off when tapping a marshal's post. Fortunately, his car hit the wall horizontally, as opposed to impacting with a slight elevation, yet his car still barrel-rolled across the track, just avoiding several cars driving into turn 10. His final impact with the barriers was limited with him bumping off one of his stricken tyres just before, leaving him in his Sauber on its side, with three wheels and the wings ripped off. Original reports suggested Kubica had a serious leg injury, but post-race it was confirmed there were no serious injuries, with the Pole eager to start the next race. Sebastian Vettel however replaced him in America for his first start, following concerns for Kubica's wellbeing by the FIA. The only other driver affected by this was Vitantonio Liuzzi, who had debris stuck to his right-front tyre.
On the restart following this safety car period, Nick Heidfeld was caught napping enabling Lewis Hamilton to build up a 2 second lead coming into the first chicane. Turn one saw another of many incidents in this race, with the Toyota and Williams-Toyota of Trulli and Rosberg facing the opposite direction from a spin. With their close proximity, it was assumed they had collided but replays shown that contact was non-existent. Trulli attempted an overtake on the inside of Rosberg, but spun after jumping over the kerb, whereas Rosberg humorously spun exiting the same corner, irrespective of Trulli. Both were able to continue, Rosberg albeit after a few seconds of stagnation. David Coutlhard's poor afternoon concluded early on the same lap, with a gearbox failure. Fellow Brit Anthony Davidson also had his race ruined, after it was reported that he had run over a groundhog, forcing him to pit.
Fernando Alonso, who had lost lots of time with his penalty, was relieved to see safety car flags being waved on lap 50, following Christijan Albers off-track excursion at the second chicane left debris over the track. Also to Fernando's joy were the disqualification of Fisichella and Massa, pushing him up further in the closed pack. Hamilton led again from Heidfeld on the restart, slowed this time by Webber ahead of him diving into the pits. Only a lap later, the safety car was called out again to recover Liuzzi's Toro Rosso, who had smashed into the Wall of Champions. Just before the safety car was called, Alonso attempted an overtake on Trulli into turn 1, but ran wide again onto the grass, allowing Räikkönen and Ralf Schumacher to pass him.
Under the safety car, Jarno Trulli crashed out leaving the pitlane, going too fast to catch up under the safety car. Hamilton again made another quick restart with 10 laps to go, followed by Heidfeld and Rubens Barrichello. The Brazilian though pitted soon after, allowing Wurz to move into the final podium position. The top five had no worries in finishing off the race, but Alonso was under threat from the quick Super Aguri of Takuma Sato, and dropped down to 7th on lap 68.
Lewis Hamilton took home the flag for his first win, and also took plaudits from global press for his impressive drive at such a young age. Heidfeld and Wurz completed the podium, with Heikki Kovalainen taking an impressive fourth after a dismal Friday and Saturday. Alonso finished seventh, holding off Scuhmacher, Webber, Rosberg and Davidson who were close behind.
Race Results
Pos | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 70 | 1:44:11.292 | 1 | 10 |
2 | 9 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 70 | +4.343 | 3 | 8 |
3 | 17 | Alexander Wurz | Williams-Toyota | 70 | +5.325 | 19 | 6 |
4 | 4 | Heikki Kovalainen | Renault | 70 | +6.729 | PL | 5 |
5 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 70 | +13.007 | 4 | 4 |
6 | 22 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 70 | +16.698 | 11 | 3 |
7 | 1 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Mercedes | 70 | +21.936 | 2 | 2 |
8 | 11 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 70 | +22.888 | 18 | 1 |
9 | 15 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 70 | +22.960 | 6 | |
10 | 16 | Nico Rosberg | Toyota | 70 | +23.984 | 7 | |
11 | 23 | Anthony Davidson | Super Aguri-Honda | 70 | +24.318 | 17 | |
12 | 8 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 70 | +30.439 | 13 | |
13 | 12 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 58 | Collision | 10 | |
Ret | 18 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 54 | Accident/Electrical | 12 | |
Ret | 21 | Christijan Albers | Spyker-Ferrari | 47 | Accident/Electrical | 21 | |
Ret | 14 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 36 | Suspension | 14 | |
Ret | 10 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 26 | Accident/Electrical | 8 | |
Ret | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Spyker-Ferrari | 21 | Accident/Electrical | 20 | |
Ret | 19 | Scott Speed | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 8 | Accident | 16 | |
Ret | 7 | Jenson Button | Honda | 0 | Throttle | 15 | |
DSQ | 5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 51 | Disqualified | 5 | |
DSQ | 3 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 51 | Disqualified | 9 |
Milestones
- Lewis Hamilton's first victory.
- Alexander Wurz's last podium.
- Last points for Takuma Sato and Super Aguri.
Standings after race
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V T E | Canadian Grand Prix | |
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