The Gilles Villeneuve Circuit is one of those which drivers love or loathe – not unlike Spa in Belgium. Tight and twisting like Monaco, but with the speed turned up a notch. Not being an F1 driver myself, I imagine the circuit takes a lot of talent to navigate at speeds in excess of 300 kph. Indeed, almost half of the 22 drivers who started the race (except for Jenson Button, who stalled on the grid, so we can’t really count him, can we?) were eliminated in one form or another – disqualification, crashes, and in one case, the almost total destruction of Robert Kubica’s car. On lap 30, His BMW crashed into the wall at turn two leading up to the hairpin before ricocheting back across the track and hitting the other side. Very, very hard. Save the driver’s capsule and the left rear tire, every inch of bodywork was stripped off in one of the most horrific crashes F1 has seen since the tragic death of Aryton Senna in 1994. The fact that the turn on which the accident occurred is called the ‘Senna S’ left me with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as news on his condition filtered through. Thankfully, Kubica was alright – a sprained ankle appears to be the extent of the damage. And if you think I’m overreacting, have a look.

The race itself was all about one man and how he managed to stay out of trouble. Lewis Hamilton, driving in only his sixth Grand Prix, led from start to finish, ignoring the carnage around him. Nick Heidfeld of BMW came in second, while Alex Wurz of Williams finished third.

The winner has looked threatening all season – finishing on the podium in all of the previous five races. His second place in Monaco was controversial, with rumours floating around afterwards about team orders and Fernando Alonso’s ego taking a knock (it didn’t, but that may have been down to the afore-mentioned team orders). Don’t get me wrong - Alonso is a fantastic driver - but even the best get it wrong from time to time. Or just unlucky. Right from the start, in fact.

Hamilton, starting in pole, tried to pull away, but Alonso caught him on the outside of turn one – only to run out of track to drive on, skidding onto the gravel. Heidfeld nipped into second, a position that he didn’t relinquish. The reigning world champion had a pretty rotten race, even if he did finish fifth – the number of times he outbraked himself up near the final chicane was almost unbelievable. The 10 second stop-go penalty for an irregular pit stop didn’t help either. New regulations in Formula One dictate that when the safety car is on track, no racecars are allowed to pit until they have all lined up behind it. The unfortunate timing of Alonso’s pit stop resulted in the penalty, which pretty much scuppered his chances of a podium place.

I read somewhere that drivers are specifically trained to block out all distractions (including what might appear to be near-fatal accidents) during the race, as well they might, and this is what Hamilton had to do. The safety car was out on track 4 times, thanks to a variety of collisions, crashes and scrapes along the wall. Carbon fiber littered the tarmac at several places, creating a potentially lethal cocktail with an already slippery, fast, narrow, debris-strewn track. In addition to all this, Anthony Davidson had to deal with the local wildlife getting in his way – a beaver wandered onto the track at an inopportune moment. Davidson was shaken, as was the beaver, I imagine. No, I don’t know what happened to it.

Back to the winner – an almost faultless race from Hamilton; his timing in pulling away from the pack every time the safety car went off was spot on. Having watched him all season (six races isn’t much to go on), it is hard to spot a weakness in this man’s game. One for the future, definitely, but also one for the present. He now leads the World Championship by 8 points – incredible when you consider how old he is (22) and the fact that he’s making his debut in the sport. Michael Schumacher retired at the end of last season, but the thought of coming out of retirement to show this upstart who the real master is might have crossed his mind. Remember, you read it here first. (Maybe not, but it’s a shot in the dark)

Classic F1 moments: Mika Hakkinen taking Michael Schumacher at Spa-Francochamps or Nelson Piquet and Aryton Senna having a go at each other.What do you reckon?