2008 Canadian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hamilton leads on 38 points, Räikkönen second on 35, Massa third on 34. Kubica is fourth on 24 and Heidfeld fifth on 20. Ferrari lead the Constructors’ on 69 points, McLaren second on 53, BMW Sauber third on 52.

Previous race

Hamilton won in Monaco despite a mid-race puncture that dropped him to fifth, from which he recovered to lead as his rivals made their pit stops. Kubica finished second. Ferrari had locked out the front row — Massa on pole — but Räikkönen dropped from fifth to ninth after colliding with Adrian Sutil’s Force India late in the race. Sutil had been running fourth before the incident; Webber inherited the position.

Background

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has been modified ahead of this race. The wall where Kubica crashed heavily in last year’s Canadian Grand Prix has been moved closer to the track to reduce the angle of impact, with debris fencing added to protect cars on the other side. A new paddock and media centre have also been unveiled.

Practice

The first session ran in wet conditions, with most drivers only venturing out in the second half of the session; Massa was fastest, Kubica second. Hamilton led FP2 with Kubica second. Rosberg surprised with fastest in the Saturday session, ahead of Räikkönen and Hamilton. The session was red-flagged 45 minutes in when Vettel hit the wall at turn nine after losing control; several drivers were unable to complete their flying laps. Bourdais also crashed at turn five in the same session.