Hamilton grabs win, dedicates it to father

Hamilton samples the taste of victory in only his sixth Formula One race. (Action Images / J.P. Moczulski)





Hamilton grabs win, dedicates it to father


by Andrew Fagan

MONTREAL, June 10, 2007 (AFP) - Lewis Hamilton dedicated his maiden Formula One race victory to his father Anthony on Sunday after cruising to an assured, cool and measured triumph in the Canadian Grand Prix. The 22-year-old British rookie, the most successful newcomer in the sport's history, said he felt "fantastic" and "on a different planet" after emerging clear of his rivals following a crash-hit and incident-filled 70-lap contest at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit.

He even said that driving around and keeping his concentration during the four periods in which he was leading while following a Safety Car was "boring."

Hamilton said: "It has been a fantastic day for me and my family -- this is history. To come here for my first visit to Canada and to win -it has been just a fantastic feeling and this season already we have had six podiums.

"I felt that I have been ready for this win now for quite some time and for me it was just a matter of when and where. The team gave me the best car and it was great. I had no problems at all during the race.

"A few Safety Cars were there, but that's all - they made it a little bit boring at some points. But as soon as we got going again, it was exciting again. Yesterday I was over the moon, yes, to get pole. But today, this is definitely on a different planet for me."

Hamilton's father Anthony has looked after his career for the last 15 years and at one time held down three jobs in order to help fund his son's burgeoning career.

He could hardly have expected this sort of return from his first six races in Formula One as the young rookie wrote another amazing chapter in his heroic, if brief, and unprecedented motor racing history when he won the Canadian Grand Prix.

The first man of Afro-Caribbean descent to race a Formula One car claimed his maiden victory with a superb, assured drive through the carnage of a dramatic, wild and incident-filled Canadian Grand Prix.

Hamilton, 22, in his McLaren Mercedes-Benz, took full advantage of the first pole position of his career to grab his first win in only his sixth race at the highest level in typically composed and perfectly-focussed fashion.

No wonder sports writers all over the world are predicting a phenomenal career for the youngster from Stevenage in Hertfordshire, England, and also dubbing him as F1's answer to golf's black superstar Tiger Woods.

Hamilton's superb win lifted him eight points clear of Alonso and 15 ahead of Brazilian Felipe Massa of Ferrari. In the constructors' championship, McLaren lead now with 88 points to Ferrari's 60.

"He deserved it and I am proud and very happy for him, for Lewis," said the McLaren team chief Ron Dennis afterwards, brushing aside all controversy following last month's Monaco Grand Prix where Hamilton was ordered to finish second behind team-mate Fernando Alonso.

"He won it fair and square and drove superbly. We came to win, but we like to see both cars do well and today it was not Fernando's day. Once there had been the first Safety Car intervention, it was not going to be possible for him."

But the race was overshadowed by a series of massive accidents and unexpected incidents as the Safety Car was deployed four times.

Poland's Robert Kubica survived a massive high-speed accident with just a broken leg in his BMW Sauber car and two top drivers were disqualified and two others penalised for infringements.

The two men black-flagged and disqualified were Ferrari's Brazilian world title challenger Felipe Massa and Renault's Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, both for exiting the pit-lane under red flags.

The two penalised for pitting were defending double drivers world champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso, Hamilton's team-mate at McLaren, and German-born Nico Rosberg of Williams, both for pitting when the pit-lane was closed during the first Safety Car period.

All of this drama left experts praising the integrity of the Formula One cars, following Kubica's 300 kph crash, and predicting that Hamilton is a future Formula One champion in the making.

Hamilton has reeled off a series of astonishing results in his first six races - third in Australia followed by four seconds in Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain and Monaco and then this stunning victory.

His win here on Sunday was overwhelming evidence of his class in a race that saw German Nick Heidfeld finish second for Sauber BMW ahead of Austrian Alex Wurz in a Williams. Finland's Heikki Kovalainen was fourth for Renault, compatriot Kimi Raikkonen fifth for Ferrari and Japan's Takuma Sato sixth for Super Aguri.

This left Alonso, after a desperate race riddled with problems and off-track excursions, to finish seventh ahead of under-pressure German Ralf Schumacher in a Toyota.

Kubica was reported to be stable and conscious, despite breaking his leg in a horrifying accident that saw his car smash into a wall, barrel-roll across the circuit and then rebound off a steel barrier.

He was lifted out of the car and taken to the circuit medical centre from where he was later air-lifted to hospital.