Story ProgressBack to home
Lewis Hamilton wins Canadian GP
22-year-old Lewis Hamilton won the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on Sunday.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: June 12, 2007 10:08 AM IST
Read Time: 4 min
Montreal:
"He deserves it," the father said. "He's worked hard for it."
Nearby, enjoying the aftermath of his historic achievement, 22-year-old Lewis Hamilton said, "If it wasn't for my dad, this wouldn't be happening. He's the one that sacrificed and got me here."
The father and son from Stevenage, England, had much to celebrate on Sunday after Lewis, the first black man to race in F1, dominated on the way to victory in only his sixth start. That makes it six consecutive top-three finishes, a feat never before accomplished at the start of an F1 career.
"I'm on another planet after this," the younger Hamilton said. "It was only a few laps from the end I realised that victory was within my grasp and I started noticing things like the fans cheering. And, when I crossed the finishing line, it was amazing."
Even in the midst of his heady success, though, the youngster was thinking ahead.
"Now I have to stay focused and keep up the good work," he said. "It's been an incredible start to my Formula One career so far, but I know there is a tough season ahead of us."
But on Sunday, in a crash-filled race, there was nothing to worry about. Hamilton was untouchable.
He started from the pole, also for the first time. Apart from losing the lead for three laps when he made his first of two pit stops, he led all the way and was never challenged. He is now atop the standings, eight points ahead of Fernando Alonso, his teammate and the two-time and reigning F1 champion.
"This is history," Hamilton said, grinning.
Heidfeld competes
The only driver to give the leader any competition during the 70-lap race on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve's 4.61-kilometer road course was BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, who chased Hamilton all day without catching him.
The only thing that kept the race close at all was accidents - four full-course caution flags that wiped out the leads Hamilton built with seeming ease. He kept winning the restarts though and beat Heidfeld to the finish by 4.3 seconds.
"It was a was a fairly simple race, apart from the restarts," Hamilton said. "On those, I was just trying to keep the tires warm and not make a mistake. The last few laps I was just counting down.
"I'm the type of guy that will usually push right to the end, but it's a tricky circuit, and if you make one mistake you go into the marbles and into the wall. So I quieted down towards the end and just enjoyed it."
Once he had the race in hand, the youngster scrambled out of his cockpit. He thrust his arms in the air and jumped up and down. He then bounced to the ground, trotted to a barrier and jumped across to dive into the midst of his crew, hugging everyone in sight.
"It's been a fantastic season already," he said. "We've had six podiums and I've been ready for quite some time for the win - it's just been a matter of when and where. The team gave me the best car and I had no problems during the race at all."
Heidfeld was almost as happy with his runner-up finish, matching his career best.
"I think I had a very good chance to finish second even in normal race conditions, without so many safety cars (on the track) and without Fernando (Alonso) being penalized," Heidfeld said.
Alonso started alongside his McLaren teammate on the front row. He made a mistake on the start when he drove off the course in the first turn and allowed Heidfeld to dive past into second.
That was just the beginning of a very bad day for Alonso, who was hit with a penalty for pitting too soon during one of the full-course cautions. That set the Spaniard back to 14th, but he got back as high as sixth before two more off-course excursions slowed him. Alonso was passed two laps from the finish by Super Aguri'a Takuma Sato and finished seventh.
Dream to win
Hamilton, who came into the race tied with Alonso at the top of the standings, knows he will have to work to stay there, beginning next Sunday at the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis.
"The next dream is to win the Formula One championship," he said. "But, bear in mind, I'm still a rookie and there's bound to be some bad times, too."
Robert Kubica, a 22-year-old driver from Poland and Heidfeld's teammate, was involved in a frightening crash just before the halfway point. He was flown by helicopter to a Montreal hospital, but team officials later reported he was sore but not injured.
A rising star in F1, Kubica was racing with the Toyota of Jarno Trulli and the Ferrari of Felipe Massa when he suddenly veered off course into the grass as they drove toward the hairpin turn.
Kubica's car slammed into the inside concrete wall, somersaulted across the track in a shower of debris, hit the outside wall and came to rest with what was left of the car on its side.
The Ferraris of Massa and Kimi Raikkonen were expected to pose a threat for the McLarens, but both had problems.
Massa was running fourth when he was disqualified, along with Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella, who was eighth at the time. Officials said they both ran a red light at the end of pit road during a caution.
Raikkonen ran through the grass several times and struggled to a fifth-place finish, coming in behind the Williams of Alexander Wurz and the Renault of Heikki Kovalainen. Ralf Schumacher, driving a Toyota, took the eighth and final points position.
Less than an hour after his son earned his first Formula One victory, setting all kinds of milestones, Anthony Hamilton stood virtually alone in the McLaren Mercedes garage quietly admiring the crystal trophy that goes with the win."He deserves it," the father said. "He's worked hard for it."
Nearby, enjoying the aftermath of his historic achievement, 22-year-old Lewis Hamilton said, "If it wasn't for my dad, this wouldn't be happening. He's the one that sacrificed and got me here."
The father and son from Stevenage, England, had much to celebrate on Sunday after Lewis, the first black man to race in F1, dominated on the way to victory in only his sixth start. That makes it six consecutive top-three finishes, a feat never before accomplished at the start of an F1 career.
"I'm on another planet after this," the younger Hamilton said. "It was only a few laps from the end I realised that victory was within my grasp and I started noticing things like the fans cheering. And, when I crossed the finishing line, it was amazing."
Even in the midst of his heady success, though, the youngster was thinking ahead.
"Now I have to stay focused and keep up the good work," he said. "It's been an incredible start to my Formula One career so far, but I know there is a tough season ahead of us."
But on Sunday, in a crash-filled race, there was nothing to worry about. Hamilton was untouchable.
He started from the pole, also for the first time. Apart from losing the lead for three laps when he made his first of two pit stops, he led all the way and was never challenged. He is now atop the standings, eight points ahead of Fernando Alonso, his teammate and the two-time and reigning F1 champion.
"This is history," Hamilton said, grinning.
Heidfeld competes
The only driver to give the leader any competition during the 70-lap race on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve's 4.61-kilometer road course was BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, who chased Hamilton all day without catching him.
The only thing that kept the race close at all was accidents - four full-course caution flags that wiped out the leads Hamilton built with seeming ease. He kept winning the restarts though and beat Heidfeld to the finish by 4.3 seconds.
"It was a was a fairly simple race, apart from the restarts," Hamilton said. "On those, I was just trying to keep the tires warm and not make a mistake. The last few laps I was just counting down.
"I'm the type of guy that will usually push right to the end, but it's a tricky circuit, and if you make one mistake you go into the marbles and into the wall. So I quieted down towards the end and just enjoyed it."
Once he had the race in hand, the youngster scrambled out of his cockpit. He thrust his arms in the air and jumped up and down. He then bounced to the ground, trotted to a barrier and jumped across to dive into the midst of his crew, hugging everyone in sight.
"It's been a fantastic season already," he said. "We've had six podiums and I've been ready for quite some time for the win - it's just been a matter of when and where. The team gave me the best car and I had no problems during the race at all."
Heidfeld was almost as happy with his runner-up finish, matching his career best.
"I think I had a very good chance to finish second even in normal race conditions, without so many safety cars (on the track) and without Fernando (Alonso) being penalized," Heidfeld said.
Alonso started alongside his McLaren teammate on the front row. He made a mistake on the start when he drove off the course in the first turn and allowed Heidfeld to dive past into second.
That was just the beginning of a very bad day for Alonso, who was hit with a penalty for pitting too soon during one of the full-course cautions. That set the Spaniard back to 14th, but he got back as high as sixth before two more off-course excursions slowed him. Alonso was passed two laps from the finish by Super Aguri'a Takuma Sato and finished seventh.
Dream to win
Hamilton, who came into the race tied with Alonso at the top of the standings, knows he will have to work to stay there, beginning next Sunday at the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis.
"The next dream is to win the Formula One championship," he said. "But, bear in mind, I'm still a rookie and there's bound to be some bad times, too."
Robert Kubica, a 22-year-old driver from Poland and Heidfeld's teammate, was involved in a frightening crash just before the halfway point. He was flown by helicopter to a Montreal hospital, but team officials later reported he was sore but not injured.
A rising star in F1, Kubica was racing with the Toyota of Jarno Trulli and the Ferrari of Felipe Massa when he suddenly veered off course into the grass as they drove toward the hairpin turn.
Kubica's car slammed into the inside concrete wall, somersaulted across the track in a shower of debris, hit the outside wall and came to rest with what was left of the car on its side.
The Ferraris of Massa and Kimi Raikkonen were expected to pose a threat for the McLarens, but both had problems.
Massa was running fourth when he was disqualified, along with Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella, who was eighth at the time. Officials said they both ran a red light at the end of pit road during a caution.
Raikkonen ran through the grass several times and struggled to a fifth-place finish, coming in behind the Williams of Alexander Wurz and the Renault of Heikki Kovalainen. Ralf Schumacher, driving a Toyota, took the eighth and final points position.
Topics mentioned in this article
Formula 1
Get the Latest IPL 2024 Updates, check out IPL 2024 schedules and IPL points table at NDTV Sports.Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more sports updates. You can also download the NDTV Cricket app for Android or iOS.