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**Karl** · June 11, 2007, 09:58 PM

Lewis Hamilton, Superstar: Rookie Becomes First Black Winner

Lewis Hamilton, Superstar: Rookie Becomes First Black Winner of a Grand Prix Race

MONTREAL — Rookie Lewis Hamilton drove like a veteran en route to victory in the Canadian Grand Prix, a race in which veterans turned in flawed performances — among them his McLaren-Mercedes teammate, two-time reigning Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton, 22, dominated the race after starting from the pole position for the first time in his brief but already stellar career. After finishing 3rd in his debut Grand Prix at Australia, the British driver was 2nd in the next four races, and in his sixth race, he delivered the victory and assumed sole possession of 1st place in driver points standings.

Nick Heidfeld took 2nd for BMW Sauber and Alex Wurz was a surprising 3rd for Williams.

Alonso, who won the 2005 and 2006 F1 titles while driving for Renault, has won twice this year, and he and Hamilton were deadlocked in points at the beginning of the day. But Alonso's race went wrong at the first turn; he veered off-course when a move to overtake his teammate turned into a defense of his runner-up spot. He slipped to 4th in the scramble.

It was the first of three off-course excursions for the Spaniard, who was also penalized for pitting too soon during a full-course caution period. Alonso was running 6th as the finish loomed but was passed by Takuma Sato and had to settle for 7th place. Going into next week's United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis, Alonso trails Hamilton 48-40 in points.

Problems also plagued Ferrari. Felipe Massa, winner of two races this year, was black-flagged for failing to obey a red light at pit exit. Teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who won the season opener in his first race as replacement for the legendary Michael Schumacher, struggled to a 5th-place finish.

Several incidents marred the race, including a frightening crash involving the BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica. The 22-year-old second-year driver suffered only a light concussion and a sprained ankle and is expected to be released from the hospital today.

What it means to you: F1's first black driver needed only a half-dozen races to score his first Grand Prix victory. Hamilton comes to his first U.S. GP this weekend as the standout driver in a compelling Formula 1 season.

**Karl** · June 11, 2007, 10:04 PM

Rookie reaches top of the podium driving with serenity and oblivious to the chaos

Lewis Hamilton, with mayhem in his mirrors, continued his remarkable odyssey here yesterday, leading the Canadian grand prix from start to finish to take the lead in the world championship.

In a race peppered with dramatic moments with black flags, safety cars and a spectacular crash involving Robert Kubica's BMW, Hamilton drove serenely on, almost as if he was oblivious to the chaos behind him.
There were whoops of joy at the end of the race and he did a little jig on his car before rushing into the arms of his jubilant McLaren team. But it was not just McLaren who were celebrating his victory. Other teams lined up to applaud the modern wonder of formula one.

The team principal, Ron Dennis, was fighting back tears when he said: "He's done a great job. I'm so happy for him. I'm disappointed that the safety car was deployed when our other driver needed fuel but nothing can take away from Lewis's first and fantastic victory."

And when Hamilton the rookie had won what was only his sixth race it seemed that he had been teasing us all along. That third in Australia, followed by the seconds in Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain and Monaco, were nothing compared with this.

It was never going to happen for him here, the hoary heads had been saying all week. They had explained that in the sanitised world of modern formula one, the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve represents something of a rodeo ride. Cars get up to approaching 200mph here and the tough kerbs can fling anyone who lacks precision into the walls. There are 28 gear changes every lap and the combination of high speed and heavy braking have given it the reputation of a car-breaker.

This was meant to be the race when the Ferraris would reassert themselves after being outclassed at Monaco. On Saturday, though, Hamilton had won the first pole position of his F1 career, putting in a thrilling lap to beat his team-mate and double world champion Fernando Alonso by almost half a second.

Winning pole has been less crucial at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, for only three times since 1997 had the pole-winner won the race - in contrast with the tight streets of Monaco the long straights here provide plenty of overtaking manoeuvres.

But Hamilton's performance in qualifying had been another vivid statement. He had also set the fastest time in the final, disrupted practice hour on Saturday morning, lapping two tenths of a second faster than Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari and four tenths quicker than Alonso.

While Hamilton was error-free yesterday, Alonso made a series of mistakes and finished in seventh place. With Felipe Massa black-flagged for coming out of the pits against a red light, it means Hamilton's position in the table, where he has an eight-point lead, looks immensely strong.

He made a fine start from the front of the grid but Alonso went into the first bend too fast and was overtaken by Nick Heidfeld's BMW and the two Ferraris. Hamilton's perfect start was in stark contrast to that of Jason Button, whose miseries with Honda continued. He never got started: "I just couldn't find the gear, even though I went back into neutral." And David Coulthard pulled out halfway through because of gearbox trouble

After five laps Hamilton had eased into a lead of 3.2secs and when Heidfeld positioned himself to attack for the lead the British driver turned up his pace by half a second a lap. The most remarkable thing about Hamilton was the consistency of his lapping, always around 1min 16secs, and the rest of the field gradually fell back.

Yet another mistake by Alonso let in Massa to take third place. With the USA grand prix coming up - not one of the Alonso's favourites - these are troubling times for the Spaniard.

Raikkonen was not the most relaxed driver here either. He was again being outdriven by Massa while Michael Schumacher, attending his third race in succession, looked on. There are rumours circulating that the German is bored and is contemplating a return to driving - which would not be at Massa's expense.

After 17 laps Hamilton had opened up a lead of 11.2secs. His speed dropped into the 1min 17secs mark before he picked it up again. After 22 laps he came in for his first pit stop just before the safety car came out following Adrian Sutil's collision with a wall.

But that incident was trifling alongside what happened to Kubica, who barrel-rolled his BMW after he caught Jarno Trulli's rear wheel and crashed into the wall. It was one of the most spectacular crashes seen in years and he had to be taken out of his car. He suffered a broken leg.

When the green flag restarted the race Hamilton picked up from where he had left off and, with 22 laps remaining, he came in for his second stop to go on to soft tyres. The safety car made four appearances but nothing could stop Hamilton, who as a 10-year-old went up to Dennis and said: "My name is Lewis Hamilton and one day I want to drive your cars."

The 22-year-old, now top of the drivers' standings, is the first black driver in formula one, and is tagged as "the Tiger Woods of motorsport".
But his grounded nature is maintained by the support of his family - primarily dad Anthony and brother Nick who has cerebral palsy and who he describes as his "inspiration".

Famous firsts
Juan Manuel Fangio 2nd race (Monaco, 1950)
Drives his Alfa Romeo through the chaos as a wave from the harbour floods the track.

Ayrton Senna 18th (Portuguese, 1985)
Wins from pole in downpour that sends Alain Prost, who becomes his main rival, spinning off.

Michael Schumacher 18th (Belgian, 1992)
Shows what would become a key strength by outdriving his opponents on a rain-sodden track.

Fernando Alonso 30th (Hungarian, 2003) Becomes youngest-ever grand prix winner. Finishes the world championship sixth.

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