A pole, four safety car periods and a win in his first full season that made Hamilton the first black driver to win a Formula One race.
The 2007 Canadian Grand Prix was held on 10 June 2007 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, and was the sixth race of the season. Lewis Hamilton won from pole position, Nick Heidfeld was second and Alexander Wurz third. It was Hamilton's first Grand Prix victory, achieved in his first season.
Lewis Hamilton won the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix from pole position, his first Grand Prix victory in only his first season at this level. It was a race of constant interruption, with the safety car out four times and two drivers disqualified for leaving the pit lane under a red light. Nick Heidfeld finished second, and Alexander Wurz was third.
What did the tests show before Montreal?
A two-day test was held at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France on 17 and 18 May. The track was configured in the style of Monaco for the first two days, then changed to replicate Montreal. Ferrari was better on the Canadian set-up, which was the main reason it had the edge.
Raikkonen was fastest on the first day with 1:28.833, and he was also quickest on the second with 1:28.624. Fisichella was second fastest on the second day, and Fisichella said after the tests that the car had more grip and better braking.
McLaren had dominated on the Monaco set-up, and Alonso believed the team had momentum from its win there. Martin Whitmarsh said that McLaren were realistic about dominating the race, even if the Ferraris had the better Canadian set-up.
Hamilton became the first black driver to win a Formula One race, on a day with four safety car periods.
How did practice and qualifying unfold?
Alonso led both Friday practice sessions. Heidfeld was fifth in the morning session and seventh in the second, despite describing the car as very difficult to drive. Kubica's car suffered a fuel leak that stopped him setting a timed lap in the morning.
Toyota stopped both its drivers for 45 minutes after suspension problems. Kovalainen hit the wall at turn seven and damaged the suspension. On Saturday morning the session was 17 minutes shorter than scheduled, after an engine failure in Kovalainen's Renault left oil on the track, and a red flag ran from 10:33 to 10:50 local time.
Hamilton was fastest in Saturday practice, with Raikkonen, Alonso and Massa second to fourth. Sato was fifth in the Super Aguri, ahead of the Honda works team, and Toyota continued to struggle.
In qualifying Hamilton claimed his first pole in a McLaren one-two. Heidfeld found more pace than in practice and qualified third, ahead of the Ferraris. Coulthard managed a single lap attempt in the second session because of a braking problem.
The Hondas of Barrichello and Button qualified 13th and 15th, and Sato narrowly missed the top ten, ahead of Liuzzi. Scott Speed was the slowest car in the second session and placed 16th. Davidson missed the second session and started 17th, three places behind Sato.
Kovalainen crashed at turn five in qualifying, damaging his rear suspension and losing his rear wing. He managed one impressive lap that put him 13th, but an engine change then sent him to the rear. Wurz, Sutil and Albers qualified 19th, 20th and 21st.
How did the race start?
Hamilton led from the start and kept Alonso behind him at the first corner. Alonso ran wide, which allowed Heidfeld past him into second. Alonso damaged his car in the process and ran off at turn one three more times during the race.
Button's gearbox would not select first at the start, so he stalled on the grid. Christijan Albers started from the pit lane. Scott Speed was in the first accident, clipping Wurz's rear wing and continuing into the hairpin with a broken front-right suspension.
On lap 15 Alonso again strayed onto the grass at turn one. That dropped him further behind Hamilton, and three laps later he made a similar mistake at the same corner. That allowed Massa round the inside into third. Massa moved into second when Heidfeld pitted on lap 20, and Hamilton pitted on lap 22 and rejoined in third.
Why were Massa and Fisichella disqualified?
Sutil crashed at turn four on lap 22, and the safety car had to be deployed. Hamilton had made his pit stop just before the incident. The pit lane was closed, but Alonso and Rosberg had no choice but to stop, and each took a ten-second penalty.
When the pit lane reopened and the rest of the field made stops, Massa and Fisichella pulled out with the red light showing. Both were black-flagged and disqualified from the race on lap 51. It was the last black flag shown until Nico Hulkenberg was shown one at the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
How did Kubica's crash change the race?
The race restarted on lap 26, and on the approach to the hairpin Robert Kubica hit the back of Jarno Trulli's Toyota. Kubica went onto the grass, and a bump lifted his BMW into the concrete wall. After losing three wheels and suffering major damage to the nose and sidepods, the car spun back across the circuit and stopped against the far barrier.
Initial reports suggested he had broken a leg, but Kubica suffered only a sprained ankle and concussion. The safety car was deployed again, and cement was placed at the hairpin around the accident.
Lap 50 brought another safety car after debris from Christijan Albers's crash, and Vitantonio Liuzzi's crash on lap 55 brought one more. On lap 58 Trulli crashed when a front track rod gave way while he was trying to pass Wurz.
Key moments in the race
| Lap | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hamilton leads from pole; Heidfeld passes Alonso; Speed clips Wurz's rear wing |
| 20 | Heidfeld pits; Massa moves into second |
| 22 | Hamilton pits; Sutil crashes and the safety car comes out |
| 26 | Restart; Kubica hits Trulli and crashes heavily into the wall |
| 37 | Trulli and Rosberg spin off in near-synchronised fashion |
| 51 | Massa and Fisichella disqualified for leaving the pit lane under the red light |
| 58 | Trulli crashes after a front track rod gives way |
| 68 | Sato overtakes Alonso at the final corner for sixth |
Who finished, and what did the result mean?
Hamilton pulled clear of Heidfeld in the closing stages to win his first Grand Prix. Heidfeld finished second, and Wurz drove from 19th on the grid to third with one pit stop on super soft tyres, completing 40 laps on that tyre. Kovalainen moved up to fourth after starting from the back, and Sato finished sixth.
Wurz's third place was his final podium, and it remains the last scored by an Austrian driver. It was also the first Williams podium since the 2005 European Grand Prix, and the first podium of 2007 for a driver from a team other than Ferrari or McLaren.
Sato overtook Alonso around the outside at the final corner on lap 68. Sato's sixth place was Super Aguri's last Formula One points finish and its biggest single haul. The team's only other point had come at the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix.
Why did Hamilton's win matter so much?
Reaction to the race focused on Hamilton. It was his first Grand Prix victory, and he became the first black driver to win a Formula One race. It was also thought impressive that he had taken only six races to win, and that he had taken the lead of the Drivers' Championship at the age of 22.
Niki Lauda said he was stunned by the victory, and Damon Hill said people should not underestimate what Hamilton had achieved in such a short time. Hamilton's performance was felt to have been faultless, especially given the four separate safety car deployments.
Alonso finished seventh and was eight points behind Hamilton. He believed Hamilton had been very lucky, and he did not congratulate his teammate after the race. Ferrari gained just four points from the race in total.
What did the race reveal about strategy?
Heidfeld pitted on lap 20, which moved Massa into second. Hamilton made his stop on lap 22, just before Sutil crashed and closed the pit lane. Alonso and Rosberg had not stopped, and they were forced to pit to avoid running out of fuel, which earned both of them ten-second stop-and-go penalties.
Wurz ran a different plan. He completed 40 laps on super soft tyres on a single stop, and that strategy carried him from 19th on the grid to a podium. Sato, meanwhile, made a late pass on Alonso at the final corner on lap 68 to take sixth.
Who had a difficult weekend?
Kovalainen had the biggest setback. After an engine failure in Saturday practice he made an unscheduled engine change, which earned him a ten-place grid penalty and dropped him to the back of the grid. The safety car periods then let him move up to fourth at the finish.
Trulli also had a hard day. He and Rosberg had spun together on lap 37 without touching, and on lap 58 a front track rod gave way as he tried to pass Wurz, and he crashed. Scott Speed's race had already been ended by a broken front-right suspension after his clip of Wurz's wing.
Alonso's race was marred by repeated errors at turn one, where he ran off the track three more times. He finished seventh, eight points behind Hamilton, and he believed Hamilton had been very lucky.
How did the safety car shape the race?
The safety car was deployed four times. The first period followed Sutil's crash on lap 22, and the next came after Kubica hit the wall at the restart on lap 26. Another was called on lap 50 after the Albers incident on the previous lap, and one more on lap 55 when Liuzzi crashed into the wall.
The last restart came on lap 60, with the remaining twelve cars all on the same lap. That created close racing and plenty of overtaking, and Hamilton, who had kept a steady pace through every interruption, stayed out in front.
What happened to Kubica after Montreal?
The FIA decided that Kubica should not race at the next Grand Prix in the United States, as it believed he was not yet safe to race after a crash so soon after this one. Kubica said he was ready to race, but he was replaced by Sebastian Vettel for that race.
Kovalainen was given a ten-place grid penalty for the unscheduled engine change he made after the engine failure in Saturday practice.
