Montreal, 8 June 2008. Robert Kubica has just won the Canadian Grand Prix, taking his and BMW Sauber's first Formula 1 win. Since the German manufacturer took a punt on signing the Pole as a test driver for the 2006 season without him having so much as sat in one of its cars, things had seemingly gone perfectly to plan.

Kubica forced his way into a race seat for the final six races of 2006, stood on the podium at Monza before the year was out and, following a wobble in 2007, had established himself as one of the best drivers in the sport. After leading Nick Heidfeld home for a BMW one-two in Canada, Kubica topped the world championship by four points.