Lewis Hamilton’s dream of winning back-to-back Canadian Grands Prix turned sour at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve yesterday when the British driver crashed his car in the pitlane. The mistake by Hamilton, who smashed into the rear of the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, his World Championship rival, cost him more than a possible race win in Canada, with the stewards imposing a ten-place grid penalty on him for the French Grand Prix in two weeks’ time.

The pitlane calamity led to a rare fit of temper from the “Iceman”, who branded an apologetic Hamilton as “stupid”. “If I go at 300kph and lose control and hit somebody, it is natural,” the Finn said in reference to his own high-speed smash into the back of the car of Adrian Sutil, the Force India driver, at Monte Carlo two weeks ago. “But if there is a pitlane speed limit and two cars are stopped and you hit them, it is stupid. I saw the red light and chose to stop. Unfortunately, someone saw a red light and chose not to.”

Thus after 70 laps, it was not Hamilton, the pole-sitter, who took the chequered flag but his friend and long-time rival, Robert Kubica, of BMW Sauber, who celebrated, in almost matter-of-fact fashion, his maiden grand-prix win and the first for the German team.

The result catapulted Kubica, who survived an horrendous crash in this race last year, into the lead in the drivers’ championship. “It’s fantastic for me, the team, my country and my fans,” the Pole said. “We have reached our goal of winning a grand prix this season. We have done it and I’m leading the championship, so I hope the team will give me 100 per cent support to defend it until the last race.”

Completing the podium were Kubica’s German teammate, Nick Heidfeld, and David Coulthard, the veteran Scotsman in the Red Bull, who took advantage of the mishaps experienced by others and a one-stop fuel strategy to secure third.

Hamilton looked to have everything in place for a second win in Montreal to follow his debut victory at this level 12 months ago. The 23-year-old Briton had driven imperiously on Saturday to put his McLaren Mercedes on pole for the second year in a row and he got away cleanly at the start of the race, with Kubica in second place blocking the way through for Raikkonen, who started third.

It all went according to plan as Hamilton built a six-second cushion over Kubica in the early laps. But then came the almost inevitable safety car interruption on a track where the proximity of the walls on either side of the racing line makes almost every incident potentially dangerous.

On this occasion, it was Sutil whose car gave up the ghost, forcing the race director, Charlie Whiting, to intervene. The safety car emerged on lap 17, just the wrong time for Hamilton and the leading six drivers, who were running low on fuel towards the end of their first stint.

After two laps behind the Mercedes saloon, Hamilton led all six of the leaders into the pits and then the drama began. The first to get away from his box was Kubica, with Raikkonen emerging inside him as the cars ran side by side towards the pitlane exit.

The Pole in the BMW and the Finn in the Ferrari noticed that the pitlane exit light was still flashing red, but Hamilton did not see it in time. The Briton tried to brake, but it was too late and Hamilton’s car careered into the back of the Ferrari with enough speed to disable Raikkonen’s car and write off the front of Hamilton’s machine in a shower of carbon-fibre. Hamilton was then hit from behind by Nico Rosberg, in the Williams, who was also penalised ten places for France.

Raikkonen wagged an admonishing finger at Hamilton as the drivers trudged back to their respective garages. “The team was on the radio warning me, but it was too late,” Hamilton said. “I saw the red light and stopped, but, by the time I stopped, it was too late. I saw the two guys in front of me duelling together and wanted to keep out of that. It wasn’t a racing incident as such, just unfortunate. It’s a lot different to putting the car into the wall and being angry with yourself. It’s a shame I ruined Kimi’s race, but that sort of thing happens. Until then I was so quick I was just breezing it.”

Kubica, meanwhile, joked that he was lucky Hamilton hit Raikkonen and not him. “I have to thank him [Hamilton] that he chose Kimi and not me,” he said.

The Pole has managed to take the lead in the title race while driving the fifth-best car behind the McLarens and the Ferraris, an excellent testament to the raw ability of a driver whom Hamilton has always said is among the very best in Formula One.

Fernando Alonso drove a terrific race for Renault from fourth on the grid. The Spaniard managed to wring every ounce of speed out of an uncompetitive car and he was harrying Heidfeld to try to take an unlikely second place when he spun the car and his race ended.

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