Autoblog

Collisions are a common occurrence on Montreal streets. If you don't run into another erratically-driving motorist running a red light, you're likely to experience a near-crash thanks to the crater-sized potholes blemishing the city's tarmac. Although motor racing events carry some of the charm and character of the venue in which they're held, we wouldn't have expected Montreal's treacherous street driving to translate onto the race track. But then the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a road course of sorts. So the hundred-thousand-plus racing fans who turned up at the track for the 30th running of the Canadian Grand Prix, the driving was a familiar site.

As we reported previously, the race officials didn't deem our readership worthy of in-depth, up-close coverage of the race, but we think otherwise and have a breakdown of the race results after the jump, so click on to read on. (If you've TiVo'd the race and don't want to spoil the results, go no further.) Click on the image or on the thumbnails below to view our images from Friday's practice session in our high-resolution image gallery.

Photos Copyright ©2008 Noah Joseph / Weblogs, Inc.

UPDATE: All video of the Kubica crash on YouTube has been removed at the request of F1. Click here to watch the crash recreated in 3D using CGI.


By all accounts, yesterday's Canadian Grand Prix was one of the most entertaining races in recent memory. Unfortunately for Lewis Hamilton, who took his first Formula One victory, his achievements driving for McLaren were overshadowed by the considerable amount of contact that took place between drivers and solid objects.

The most horrific crash could have easily taken the life of BMW driver Robert Kubica, who was coming into the hairpin at upwards of 180 MPH when he lost steering control and slammed, head-on, into one of the barriers. From there, he was punted across the track, missing a few of his competitors, hitting the adjacent wall and finally coming to rest on his side. Reports say that he came away with only a broken leg, although BMW had't confirmed that as of this writing, which judging by the video footage after the jump, speaks volumes about how far safety equipment has come in motorsport.

You can check out a video of the crash after the break, and click here for a brief rundown of yesterday's event.