A double dream for BMW

In Munich last January, BMW Sauber technical director Mario Theissen had a wish: "This year we need to win our first Grand Prix."

He probably never dreamt that the team would acquire not just a win but a double with both drivers taking first and second place at the Canadian Grand Prix.

It was also a morale boost for Robert Kubica: this was the circuit where a horrific accident could have ended tragically last year. Kubica had an exceptional race - he knew exactly when to push to win the necessary advantage to keep in front of his team mate when he was scheduled for his pit stop.

The same cannot be said for Lewis Hamilton. After winning the incident-packed Monaco Grand Prix, Hamilton said he was over the moon. In Canada he had just landed on the moon: how did he not realise that the cars in front of him were stationary at the pit lane exit? Result? Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen were out of the race. Hamilton will now also have to deal with a ten-place grid penalty at the French Grand Prix. The incident also meant that the Finn at Ferrari had a no score for two consecutive races.

At the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, the exit pit lane lights always seem to create problems. Think back to June 16, 1989. The pit lane was occupied by Nigel Mansell in the Ferrari and Alessandro Nannini in the Benetton. Both were waiting to start the race. Normally they are allowed to race after all the cars on the grid have surpassed the pit lane exit. On the day, these two drivers left the pit lane before the cars on the grid had started to race. Consequently both Mansell and Nannini found themselves at the front of the grid. Not for long, as they were disqualified. It was not their fault as the lights in the pit lane exit turned to green. Rightly so, both drivers raced on to the track.

In Monaco, Hamilton seemed to find the right momentum to achieve yet another dream win, after having kissed the barriers and ending up in the pits for a tyre change, the safety car joined the racing pack and Hamilton found that he had instantly regained lost time. From then onwards, he drove an incredibly good race. The weather did not help most competitors with both Ferrari drivers struggling as the track began to dry. The worst part of the race was when Raikkonen's Ferrari lost touch with the track on exit of the tunnel with poor Adrian Sutil in the Force India F1, at the moment occupying fourth place within reach for some points, was rammed by the Ferrari, resulting in instant retirement in the pit lane, half a lap further on.

Another dream in Montreal was the double for the Toyota team with Timo Klock and Jarno Trulli grabbing points. Finally, David Coulthard in the Red Bull managed to obtain a podium finish. It was the Monaco GP of 2006.

Now the show returns to Europe for the French Grand Prix with Kubica leading the drivers' chart. His next objective after winning his first GP is to remain at the top of the list.

Monaco Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), first:
"I am absolutely over the moon. To win here in Monaco is the highlight of my career, and an occasion I will always remember. I want to thank everybody in the team for their fantastic job, and also my family for their continuous support. It was a very eventful race. I started well and immediately overtook Kimi, and also saw a chance to attack Felipe (Massa), but then the rain got heavier and visibility worsened.

At the Tabac corner, there was a lot of water on the track, and suddenly I had oversteer and hit the barrier. It was just a slight touch, but the tyre was damaged and I had to pit. Fortunately, the first safety car period helped me to close the gap to the front. We changed our strategy, and I had to make only one more stop. When I was about 40 seconds ahead, the team told me over the radio to take it easy. The second safety car period brought more excitement, but I was able to control the race also after the second re-start."

Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), second:
" I didn't expect us to have the pace to finish second. It was a great race with very difficult driving conditions, and we did not expect such heavy rain. I had visibility and tyre problems throughout the whole race. I was trying to make as few mistakes as possible, as it is very dangerous if you make a mistake here."

Felipe Massa (Ferrari), third:
"A shame to have ended up third because of a series of events that did not go in our favour, which can easily happen in these conditions and on this track. At the start, I was very quick and the car was perfect, but then I made a mistake at the first corner, braking on the yellow line, and I lost a place to Robert. But after just a few laps I was right behind him and I knew I could push harder. We decided to switch strategies thinking the rain was going to return, but this turned out to be the wrong choice. On full tanks and on a drying track, the standard rain tyres did not have the same grip as the ones my nearest rivals were using. On top of that, there was a radio blackout between the car and the pits for part of the race. Given everything that happened, these six points are still important in light of the championship: we have only got through the first third of the season and there is still a long way to go."

Mark Webber (Red Bull), fourth:
"That was good, a great result which gives us a lot of points. It wasn't the most exciting race in the world in terms of racing, but it was very difficult early on in the wet conditions and we were aqua-planning at Casino. It was definitely over the edge for the intermediate tyres for a few laps when it was raining hard, but then it started to dry and we had to think about changing tyres. It would have been good to have had a little bit more fuel as we had to change to dry tyres, maybe five laps earlier than we would have liked. It wasn't ideal, but the team did such a good job, both at the track and at the factory in Milton Keynes, it's great to get a strong result."

Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso), fifth:
"The race today was extremely difficult, especially at the start when with all the water on the track surface there was a lot of aqua-planing. But we were very strong as the track began to dry and that's what made the difference. It's great to score my first points of the season at Monaco and with the new car as well. A big thank you to the team, who worked so hard to understand the car and improve it over the weekend. And a special thanks for the pit stop which was fantastic and gained me two places. These points are a nice present for one of our mechanics, Gaggio, who has been with the team for ever and we will have a nice party for him tonight with something to celebrate as this is his last race with the team."

Rubens Barrichello (Honda), sixth:
"It feels great to be back in the points today and I'm really happy for myself and for the team. We had a good race, however it was unfortunate that I was held up by Trulli for so long early on, otherwise it could have been even better. I'm glad to get the monkey off my back in terms of scoring points, as it has been quite a wait, but I never lost the faith. We are capable of good point results and I hope this is the start of a stronger period for us. We just need to keep our heads down and keep pushing forward."

Canada Grand Prix

Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), first:
"I'm very happy at having won the first race for BMW Sauber. I'm also happy for Poland and all my fans. It was a very difficult race for me. I started on the dirty side of the track and Kimi Raikkonen was nearly able to pass me, but I just managed to keep him behind. The timing of the safety car was unlucky for me, because I wanted to pit, but then the yellow light went on just about three seconds too early, so I had to continue. When the pit lane was open, almost everybody pitted together. I stopped at the exit because the light was still red. Kimi stopped beside me, and then I heard the noise when Hamilton crashed into his car. I am grateful to Lewis (Hamilton) as he chose Kimi and not myself. After this pit stop, I was stuck behind the one-stoppers and lost a lot of time. Timo Glock was the last one of them to stop, and only then could I push. I had just eight laps to increase the gap to 21 seconds, which was a huge challenge. I finally managed to get a 24-second lead, which meant I was able to stay ahead of Nick (Heidfeld). From this moment on, I took it a bit easier, but even then it's very easy to make a mistake, particularly because of the tarmac that was destroyed in some places."

Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), second:
"Congratulations to Robert for winning this race, which he really deserved. I made a poor start and lost a position to Rubens Barrichello. Fortunately, I was able to pass him, and from this moment on, I was one of the fastest cars on the track. I stayed out when most of the other cars pitted because I was on a long stint. I was pushing very hard at that stage. We then decided to switch to a one-stop strategy, with a very high fuel load and with the soft option tyres which was a challenge. However, I was able to keep Fernando Alonso behind me. After his second pit stop, Robert stayed ahead so I secured second place. Finishing second after starting from eighth is a great result, especially considering the difficult time I have had recently. Thanks a lot to the guys in Hinwil, who built me a new chassis after the accident I had with Alonso in Monaco."

David Coulthard (Red Bull), third:
"I'm delighted to get a podium for the team, they've had a lot of work on at the previous races and back at base. You can expect some unusual results here, so we fuelled it long, but we expected the incidents would occur on track, not in the pit lane. But, nonetheless, the strategy worked well and all credit to the engineers, mechanics and everyone back at Red Bull for all their hard work. The start was pretty hairy with all the cars bunched up round Turn One and Turn Two, but my goal was to get to the finish and get points, so to get my 62nd podium is a great result. This adds to the points Mark (Webber) has already scored this season and helps us build our total in the championship."

Timo Glock (Toyota), fourth:
"This is a fantastic day, and I'm delighted to take my first points of the year. I lost three places at the start, leaving me behind Jarno (Trulli). I was quicker but when I got close enough I destroyed my rear tyres. So I did my best to preserve them because I knew I was on a longer first stint and I was able to get by at the pit stop. After that, it was really tricky to keep the car on the track in these conditions. I made one mistake and caused Jarno to lose a place, which is a pity. But then I tried to stay in front of Massa and not make any mistakes. The result is great for the team, great for my crew, the mechanics and the engineers who have done a perfect job in the last few weeks. I dedicate the points to them."

Felipe Massa (Ferrari), fifth:
"It's hard to express my feelings after a race like this. On the one hand, I am disappointed because, without my refuelling problem, I could have been fighting for a place on the podium. On the other, I am happy to have brought home four points at the end of a very difficult race run on a track surface that was in really poor condition. Once I found myself at the back, I tried to climb back up again, but in the end, when I was behind Glock, I could not get past him and also I didn't want to run the risk of ending up off the track after all the trouble I'd been to to get that far. I would like to congratulate Kubica and BMW: they worked really well and deserved this success. They are very strong, but I think we are working in the right direction, as could be seen from our performance level every day here."

Jarno Trulli (Toyota), sixth:
"This was a very good result for the whole team, so I am very happy. We knew this would be a hard race and I just wanted to bring the car home because I wasn't feeling confident. The biggest mistake I made was before qualifying when I changed the set-up, and suddenly I found myself qualifying with completely different track conditions. That cost me because I was unable to push as hard as I wanted. Towards the end of the race, I had some trouble with the brakes. Then I was unfortunate that Timo made a small mistake late on. When he came back on the track I had to lift off and Massa got past."