Nigel Roebuck: Fifth Column

Whenever people ask me which grand prix I would recommend they visit, invariably my immediate response is "Monza", and it's a fact that if I were able to go to but one race a year, the Italian Grand Prix it would be.

The track, these days bestrewn with chicanes, is a pale version of what it was, but so many aspects of Monza comfortably stay, and if you have any feel for the heritage of this sport, I defy you to be untouched by a place in which the spirit of Nuvolari abides.

At the weekend it struck me that I have never once suggested that Montreal should be on their list, and it was the work of a moment to come up with not a few reasons: the rip-off hotels, the appalling access to the circuit, the lamentable facilities, etc. A few minutes there really does make one wonder why Bernie and Max go on about the shortcomings of Silverstone. Interlagos, of course, is a whole other story.

That said, for all its failings, Interlagos remains a wonderful race track, and I think the same is true of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Both places are primitive in many respects, but the actual circuits shake you out of your complacency. By the standards of today, they are strong meat.

It's odd now to think that 30 years ago we were appalled by this new venue for the Canadian Grand Prix. Compared with the race's previous homes, Mosport and St Jovite, it seemed flat and bland: these days it feels like a track from another time - a classic.

Although it has an extremely long straight, much of the layout is reminiscent of Monaco, in the sense that, unlike most of today's circuits, it is hemmed in by barriers, left and right, and run-off area is in short supply.

A mistake here, in other words, means not a few seconds lost, and press the 'reset' button: it means smart contact with a barrier. The thought always occurs that if the track were offered up now as a potential grand prix venue, it would be rejected out of hand by the Grand Prix Drivers Association.

The fact, though, that mistakes are punished here as at very few other circuits inevitably gives it 'edge', as Heikki Kovalainen discovered the hard way in qualifying, when he spun backwards not into an acre of space, but into a wall.

Out came the red flag, and the Renault, sans rear wing, proceeded slowly back to its pit, where Flavio Briatore, his patience with the hapless Kovalainen wearing thin now, made little attempt to find a brave face.

Lewis Hamilton never hit anything during the practice days, but by his own admission he came close, on occasion firing the McLaren out of corners in the sort of lurid power slides that make engineers wince and spectators smile.

Hamilton hadn't been to Montreal before, so the track was something he knew only from a few laps on McLaren's extraordinary simulator.

"It gives you an idea of where the corners are, and what gears you should be taking, but... I arrived here, thinking it was quite a simple circuit, whereas it's actually quite technical, and pretty demanding, both physically and mentally." In no time at all he was running competitive times.

Until the very end of qualifying, though, his team-mate, smooth and unflurried as Alain Prost, held sway. Fernando Alonso looked superb in the practice days, apparently able to beat any time thrown up by a rival - which was invariably Hamilton.

In the last minute of the session, Lewis went quickest, but Fernando - fastest in sector one, fastest in sector two - had no worries, until he got to the hairpin. "I got a bit off-line, got on the marbles, lost grip and... well, that was three-tenths lost, so pole was gone. It's okay - I'm on the front row and that's all that matters." They always say that.

In point of fact, Alonso's slip was to cost him very dear. Had he clinched pole position, chances are he would have led from the start - and had that been the case, he would not have suffered as he did in the first of four safety car periods.

On lap 20 second man Nick Heidfeld came in for his first stop, which prompted McLaren to play safe, to bring in their race leader a lap or two early, simply to 'cover' Heidfeld - and that leader was Hamilton, not Alonso. This was lap 22. A lap later Sutil's Spyker hit the wall, and out came the safety car.

Under a new rule concerning safety car periods, introduced this year, the pits are initially declared closed (this to preclude a lot of drivers immediately diving into the pitlane at the same time). Come in during this time, and you face an automatic penalty, but Alonso and his team had no choice: it was either that or run out of fuel behind the safety car.

In came the number one McLaren, followed by the third-placed Williams-Toyota of the ever more impressive Nico Rosberg. In went the fuel, on went the new tyres, and out they went - at the cost of 10-second stop/go penalties, which effectively removed them from the reckoning.

Ron Dennis was mighty aggrieved - and rightly so - at what he perceived to be an absurdly unfair rule. "It's hurt us today," he said, "but it could hurt anybody. It just ruined Fernando's race." It was his plan, Ron said, to try to get all the team principals to agree to a request of the FIA that a change be made, and soon. One hopes it succeeds.

On a wild afternoon, the worst incident by far occurred on lap 27, when Robert Kubica went to pass Jarno Trulli at the fast sweeper before the hairpin. Jinking left, then right, the BMW hit the back of the Toyota and was instantly launched.

It hit a barrier almost head on with shocking violence - Mario Theissen said the car left the road at almost 190mph - then somersaulted back across the track before finally coming to rest, on its side, after a final impact with another barrier.

For some time there was no sign of movement in the cockpit, but finally Kubica was released from the car and taken to the medical centre, where he was stabilised before being flown by helicopter to hospital in Montreal, where further investigations were carried out. Later it was announced that Kubica had sustained a sprained ankle and light concussion. In the circumstances, that may be seen as a miraculous deliverance.

If it were a reminder that, while the thin veneer of safety has gathered many coats over the last 10 or 20 years, grand prix racing can never be other than perilous, so also Kubica's accident offered proof positive of the strength and integrity of the contemporary F1 car. Despite the colossal first impact it encountered, the monocoque of Kubica's BMW was completely intact; not so very long ago that accident would not have been survivable.

Hamilton, who has known Kubica since karting days, tried to keep his mind on the job as they trailed round behind the safety car. Heidfeld, too: "I saw Robert's car, and then on the big TV screens I saw people in the BMW pit putting their hands on their heads - it was a long time before there was any firm information..."

Montreal has a habit of serving up unusually dramatic grands prix, and this one was no exception. After the race Hamilton struggled to find new superlatives to describe how he felt. "I am just so happy," he said. "I'm the type of guy who normally pushes to the end, but I must admit that today I quietened down towards the end. This is a very unforgiving track..."