ROBERT Kubica claimed his maiden victory and took control of the world drivers' championship as Lewis Hamilton's Canadian Grand Prix ended in disaster in Montreal.

Pole Kubica survived a horrendous crash at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 12 months ago and the BMW Sauber driver took full advantage of a pit-lane accident that took out McLaren's world championship leader Hamilton and world champion Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari.

It was a BMW Sauber one-two as Nick Heidfeld claimed the runners-up spot for the second year in a row with Scotland's David Coulthard third for Red Bull Racing.

Hamilton crashed into the back of Raikkonen as they emerged from a pit stop on lap 18 with the Englishman failing to spot the red light at the end of the lane as the Ferrari was waiting on the line.

Hamilton, who had claimed his maiden win in Canada last year, had been in control until his disastrous exit, setting a really quick pace to build a 4.3 second lead over Kubica after the first ten laps following a series of fastest laps for the Englishman.

A spin-out by Force India's Adrian Sutil set in motion the chain of events which led to Hamilton and Raikkonen's pit-lane shunt.

Sutil ground to a halt which caused the yellow flags to come out as his car's brakes looked to have overheated and smoke began to plume from Force India.

The safety car soon followed to undo Hamilton's six-second lead and when the pit lane opened, all the leading contenders came in for their first fuel stops at the end of lap 18.

It was a bad pit stop for Hamilton as both Raikkonen and Kubica came out first and vied for the lead only to be stopped by a red light at the end of the pit lane.

They came to a halt side by side but Hamilton careered into the back of the Ferrari, forcing them both out of the race. Nico Rosberg went into the back of Hamilton but managed to continue racing.