Canadian GP Thread containing Practice, Qualifying and Race spoilers

[Fernando]

Spoiler:

Round seven of the 2012 Formula One World Championship may be taking place in one the sport’s most familiar and popular venues, Montreal, which hosts its 33rd Canadian Grand Prix, but this year’s visit to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve sees the sport entering uncharted territory.

With Mark Webber winning last time out in Monaco, we head to Quebec seeking either an historic seventh different victor from season’s first seven races or the campaign’s first repeat winner.

If form around the Île Notre Dame track is anything to go by then Lewis Hamilton has perhaps the best chance of being that lucky seventh winner. The McLaren driver has two wins (2007 and 2010) and three pole positions (2007-’08 and 2010) from just four starts here, making him something of a Montreal specialist. However, there are plenty more who’ll be gunning for the top step, including Monaco pole winner Michael Schumacher, who has won this race a staggering seven times, and defending champion Sebastian Vettel, who’ll be seeking to make up for last year’s final-lap error which saw him hand victory to Jenson Button at the end of a marathon four-hour race.

But the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is not easy to master. Long, high-speed straights end abruptly in slow corners, and the cars often have to decelerate from near 300kph to less than 100kph in the blink of an eye. That puts heavy stress on brakes and teams will be bringing their most extreme brake ducts in order to cool their cars’ brakes efficiently.

Engines too are worked quite hard, with 60 per cent of the lap at full throttle. Add to that the close proximity of the barriers, particularly the notorious ‘Wall of Champions’, and it’s clear that Formula One’s search for some kind of consistency this season is unlikely to end in Montreal –

it really is a race where anything can happen.

CIRCUIT DATA

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Length of lap:
4.361km
Lap record
1:13.622 (Rubens Barrichello Ferrari, 2004)

Start line/finish line offset
0.000km
Total number of race laps
70
Total race distance
305.270km
Pitlane speed limits
60km/h during practice

100 km/h during qualifying and race


CHANGES TO THE CIRCUIT SINCE 2011


All kerbs and lines painted around and on the track will be painted with a genuine FIA-approved non-slip paint.


The guardrail on the driver’s left before and after turn 10 has been replaced by walls, as in other locations. New debris fences have been fitted on top of these new walls.


A number of guardrail posts have been renewed.


A gate will be provided in the pit wall to allow the teams to remove all their equipment from the grid more quickly and without having to take everything to the pit exit.

Canadian GP
Fast Facts
► The race in Canada has been part of the Formula One calendar since 1967, when the first race was run at the Mosport Park circuit in Ontario. This will be the 43rd running of the race and Montreal’s 33rd time hosting the event.
► As at the Monaco GP a fortnight ago, Pirelli will offer teams their red-banded Super Soft and yellow Soft tyres here in Montreal.
► The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve circuit firmly belongs to Michael Schumacher, the German having notched up seven wins from 17 attempts. Pretty impressive. Only Nelson Piquet can come close to that stat with three wins – 1982, ’84 and 1991 – from 13 starts.
► In recent seasons, no one has dominated at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with the top step on the podium being occupied by five drivers in the past six years: Jenson Button (2011), Lewis Hamilton (2010, ’07), Robert Kubica (’08), Fernando Alonso (’06) and Kimi Raikkonen (’05).
► Schumacher has also notched six pole positions here. Again, no other driver comes close. Nelson Piquet and Aytron Senna started from the front three times and, of the current drivers, only Lewis Hamilton can match that, the McLaren driver grabbing a hat-trick of poles in 2007, 2008 and 2010. Starting from pole is no guarantee of a win. In the past decade, the pole sitter has won just three times – Fernando Alonso in 2006 and Hamilton in 2007 and 2010.
► Jean Alesi took his one and only Formula One victory here in 1995. Driving for Ferrari, he inherited the lead after Michael Schumacher suffered a gearbox problem that dropped him to fourth. Alesi famously ran out of fuel on his victory lap but was given a lift back to the pits by the defeated Schumacher.
► Nigel Mansell probably doesn’t have fond memories of his 1991 race here. The Briton was leading comfortably when on the last lap he ground to a halt. It is commonly believed that he let his engine revs drop too low while waving to the crowd in celebration, thereby stalling the engine, However, the official Williams line was that Mansell suffered a late gearbox failure. Whatever the reason Nelson Piquet swept through to score perhaps his most fortunate F1 victory.
► The extraordinary 2011 Canadian Grand Prix is officially F1’s longest race. The total race time (including a long suspension when the wet track was too treacherous to race upon) was a whopping 4 hours, four minutes and 39.537 seconds, over an hour and a quarter longer than the similarly disrupted Korean Grand Prix of 2010. Up until last year’s race in Montreal the longest Formula One event was the 1954 German Grand Prix, which lasted 3hr 45 minutes and 45.80 seconds. There was no rain interruption there though. That race was run in dry and mild conditions and featured 22 laps of the 22.81km Nurburgring, giving a huge total distance of 501.82km.

Biographies
MARTIN DONNELLY
FORMULA ONE DRIVER 1989-90
Ulsterman Martin Donnelly, 47, was a star of junior racing categories in the 1980s before making his grand prix debut with the Arrows team at the 1989 French GP at Paul Ricard, substituting for Derek Warwick. He qualified 14th and raced to a creditable 12th. He was offered a race drive at Lotus alongside Warwick for 1990 and started 12 races, recording a best finish of seventh at the Hungarian GP. However, his time in Formula One was cut short when, later in the season, a suspension failure caused a huge accident in practice for the Spanish GP at Jerez. Despite the serious injuries he suffered, Donnelly recovered sufficiently to race competitively in national events. He now runs Donnelly Track Academy in Norfolk, England and has held a number of racing team management positions.

JOSÉ ABED
FIA VICE PRESIDENT
José Abed, an FIA Vice President since 2006, began competing in motor sport in 1961. In 1985, as a motor sport official, Abed founded the Mexican Organisation of International Motor Sport (OMDAI) which represents Mexico in the FIA. He sat as its Vice- President from 1985 to 1999, becoming President in 2003.
In 1986, Abed began promoting truck racing events in Mexico and from 1986 to 1992, he was President of Mexican Grand Prix organising committee. In 1990 and 1991, he was President of the organising committee for the International Championship of Prototype Cars and from 1990 to 1995, Abed was designated Steward for various international Grand Prix events.
Since 1990, Abed has been involved in manufacturing prototype chassis, electric cars, rally cars and kart chassis.


GERD ENNSER
MEMBER OF THE DMSB’s EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FOR AUTOMOBILE SPORT, FORMULA ONE AND DTM STEWARD
Dr Gerd Ennser has successfully combined his formal education in law with his passion for motor racing. While still active as a racing driver he began helping out with the management of his local motor sport club and since 2006 has been a permanent steward at every round of Germany’s DTM championship. Since 2010 he has also worked as a Formula One steward. Dr Ennser, who has worked as a judge, a prosecutor and in the legal department of an automotive-industry company, has also been a member of the steering committee of German motor sport body, the DMSB, since spring 2010, where he is responsible for automobile sport. In addition, Dr Ennser is a board member of the South Bavaria Section of ADAC, Germany’s biggest auto club.


Weather Forecast: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/6077243

Source:BBC/FIA Official Site

[Alessandro Ciambella]

I am calling it right now, Lewis Hamilton leading Jenson Button home for a Mclaren 1-2. This is arguably Hamiltons strongest track of the year for various reasons and he will become the 7th driver in 7 races to win.

[Guest]

Surely this is Hamilton's weekend! (I've been saying that for way too many weekends now). I'm just hoping for a solid competitive and mistake free weekend from McLaren, anything other will surely send the media into overdrive regarding Lewis' future. Power circuit which should suit the Mercedes powered cars and with effective DRS zones I can only see a pole shootout between McLaren & Mercedes.

[Fernando]

Well with the forecast set for a wet qualifying it'll be interesting to see if go for a set up for mixed conditions to get a decent qualifying spot or run dry and hope it doesn't rain in the race.

[Guest]

That decision could be the major talking point of the weekend and the decisive factor leading into the race. We've seen it time and time again, gamble on getting pole with a wet setup and then get picked off in the DRS zones in a dry race with wrong rear wing setup and reduced straight line speed.

Seriously any 50/50 decision that McLaren need to make they always tend to get it wrong or panic and split the drivers setups and hope for the best.

[Fernando]

Fernando's Top 3 drivers to watch over the weekend. (shall become a weekly occurrence provided i can remember)

1) Michael Schumacher - A lot to prove after Monaco and with Canada a decent hunting ground for the Mercedes should be in good stead for a top 4 finish. If it rains im expecting him to win.

2) Jean Eric Vergne - If it rains this man seems to shine through maybe it's from his F3 experience where it rains everywhere but i expect him to finish top 8 if it does rain otherwise could be in for a long race.

3) Kamui Kobayashi - Seemingly not as good as he has been in recent races and with Sauber's excellent race pace i can see him pulling out a decent result for the team.

[Critical_mass]

Yup im feeling a Lewis win this weekend. Jenson, as he has stated, really does need a good finish this weekend - to stay in the fight.

But im aware that, even if Lewis and Jenson are running in good position, it'll be ANOTHER pit stop fluff up that will ruin their chances. Fingers crossed it they dont fluff it though.

[Fernando]

1 great britain Lewis Hamilton 4 McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.564
2 germany Sebastian Vettel 1 Red Bull-Renault 1:15.682
3 germany Nico Rosberg 8 Mercedes GP 1:15.782
4 spain Fernando Alonso 5 Ferrari 1:15.842
5 australia Mark Webber 2 Red Bull-Renault 1:15.897
6 germany Nico Hulkenberg 12 Force India-Mercedes 1:15.986
7 japan Kamui Kobayashi 14 Sauber 1:16.000
8 mexico Sergio Perez 15 Sauber 1:16.249
9 germany Michael Schumacher 7 Mercedes GP 1:16.264
10 great britain Jenson Button 3 McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.347
11 great britain Paul Di Resta 11 Force India-Mercedes 1:16.460
12 brazil Felipe Massa 6 Ferrari 1:16.619
13 venezuela Pastor Maldonado 18 Williams-Renault 1:16.859
14 switzerland Romain Grosjean 10 Lotus-Renault 1:16.890
15 finland Kimi Raikkonen 9 Lotus-Renault 1:17.014
16 france Jean-Eric Vergne 17 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.352
17 australia Daniel Ricciardo 16 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.580
18 russian federation Vitaly Petrov 21 Caterham-Renault 1:17.935
19 finland Heikki Kovalainen 20 Caterham-Renault 1:18.177
20 spain Pedro de la Rosa 22 HRT-Cosworth 1:18.182
21 brazil Bruno Senna 19 Williams-Renault 1:18.762
22 india Narain Karthikeyan 23 HRT-Cosworth 1:19.354
23 germany Timo Glock 24 Marussia-Cosworth 1:20.004
24 france Charles Pic 25 Marussia-Cosworth 1:20.067

[Fernando]

1 great britain Lewis Hamilton 4 McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.259
2 spain Fernando Alonso 5 Ferrari 1:15.313
3 brazil Felipe Massa 6 Ferrari 1:15.410
4 germany Sebastian Vettel 1 Red Bull-Renault 1:15.531
5 great britain Paul Di Resta 11 Force India-Mercedes 1:15.544
6 japan Kamui Kobayashi 14 Sauber 1:15.651
7 germany Michael Schumacher 7 Mercedes GP 1:15.697
8 germany Nico Hulkenberg 12 Force India-Mercedes 1:15.799
9 great britain Jenson Button 3 McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.812
10 germany Nico Rosberg 8 Mercedes GP 1:15.878
11 mexico Sergio Perez 15 Sauber 1:15.898
12 australia Mark Webber 2 Red Bull-Renault 1:15.907
13 venezuela Pastor Maldonado 18 Williams-Renault 1:15.987
14 switzerland Romain Grosjean 10 Lotus-Renault 1:16.360
15 finland Kimi Raikkonen 9 Lotus-Renault 1:16.562
16 finland Heikki Kovalainen 20 Caterham-Renault 1:16.981
17 brazil Bruno Senna 19 Williams-Renault 1:17.022
18 russian federation Vitaly Petrov 21 Caterham-Renault 1:17.075
19 france Jean-Eric Vergne 17 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.124
20 australia Daniel Ricciardo 16 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.716
21 spain Pedro de la Rosa 22 HRT-Cosworth 1:18.908
22 germany Timo Glock 24 Marussia-Cosworth 1:19.084
23 india Narain Karthikeyan 23 HRT-Cosworth 1:19.378
24 france Charles Pic 25 Marussia-Cosworth 1:19.902

[harryspiv]

Well after Red Bulls wheel hubs have now been deemed illegal, I can't see them winning this weekend. Due to them having no replacements they have to race the car as it is so wherever they finish I can see the result being disputed and red bull being thrown out.

[Fernando]

On their front axle, which is titanium, they have holes that run though it that line up with holes in the wheels. That high-energy air helps cool the brakes and helps improve the performance of the underfloor. But apparently it's been seen as illegal because it's a moving aerodynamic device, so they've had to close them off."

From BBC Sport site

[Critical_mass]

I like the fact RB try to push the regs as far as possible. But i think they try all too often. There's always something in dispute and it grows tiring.

Im going to say Lewis Vettel Alonso in the top 3 for quali today. Not sure in what order.

[Critical_mass]

;-)

[harryspiv]

so Red Bull are told to modify their wheel hubs and Vettel is still pole by 3 tenths from hamilton. I'm getting a fishy scent.

[SteveG]

Mclaren seemed to have lost a bit of pace from Friday as track temperatures increased on Saturday. With temp set to increase further tomorrow I hope (or make that pray) that Lewis doesn't start going backwards almost immediately as he did in Bahrain with Vettel (and possibly Alonso) disappearing over the horizon.

[Guest]

I fear for Hamilton & McLaren. I can't see Lewis winning at all today. The front end of the McLaren under braking on the bumps is appaling and Brundle said on race pace with high fuel Red Bull & Alonso were superior. Button is showing how inferior this car is at multiple races now and it's basically Hamilton carrying the team. Hamilton stated 'they were able to do 40 laps on the option tyre (refeering to RB), we cannot do that'.

Prediction
Vettel 1st, Alonso 2nd, Hamilton 3rd

[SteveG]

Mclaren have always struggled with tyres in higher temperatures and if this proves to be the case this evening then I can't even see Hami finishing third. Remember how a DRS assisted Grosjean easily breezed past him in Bahrain (another example of DRS/tyres rendering the racing skills of even the very best drivers totally useless). The only hope is unexpected rain.

Mclaren have had poor race pace from practically day one and they look no closer to solving it. Six different winners is the only thing thats kept them in the game so far. However there are now signs that the season is starting to settle with Red Bull and Ferrari threatning to break away. You can see it coming (and so can Hamilton) and it's so damned annoying

[mystiroakey]

great race so far....

go hamilton

[AlciG]

great race so far....

go hamilton

Yep... great race sofar by him... I can just see a bad stop in McLaren's future

[mystiroakey]

lets hope not!!

[AlciG]

lets hope not!!

Me also, but there it was

[mystiroakey]

borderline lets hope

[AlciG]

Alonso/Vettel going for a 1 stopper?

[mystiroakey]

feick- will see

[mystiroakey]

he will be gaining by at least a sec a lap tho- so its a bad mistake from alonso in my view

[AlciG]

he will be gaining by at least a sec a lap tho- so its a bad mistake from alonso in my view

maybe, but was the only way for them to try and win the race... Lewis will still need to get passed them

[mystiroakey]

well you say that but if alonso pitted next lap (ham lost 2 secs) he might have had an outside chancve.

either way lh should win or have won. but what there doing is potentially crashing- them tyres are gonna be dead

[AlciG]

Lewis deserves a victory... lets hope he gets it

[AlciG]

Wow... stop by Vettel... should drop him behind Grosjean

[mystiroakey]

that should be it then// great race so far!

[AlciG]

Could grosjean still pass Alonso? Nice race

[mystiroakey]

Wow... stop by Vettel... should drop him behind Grosjean

even better for hamilton in the scheme of things- vettel has thrown points away in truth

[AlciG]

Perez won't be allowed to pass Alonso I don't think

[AlciG]

wow... Vettel to pass Alonso????

[mystiroakey]

wowza vettel made a great belated decsion.. and got passed alonso. realised his mistake and limited it!

[AlciG]

Dang... that was a great race

[mystiroakey]

Brilliant race- well done hamilton..

[Jahu]

Well done to Hamilton. Top race, keep it up

[SteveG]

YESSSSS Hamilton !! Oh me of little faith. Temperatures dropped which helped. But who cares no-body deserves it more than Hami who drove the PERFECT race. YESSSSS !!

[AlciG]

Button needs to get his act together though

[Critical_mass]

well for f*ck sake. Excellent race absolutely ruined for me by the bad weather and SKY fcking dead.

Had to watch the rest of the race on skygo with a sh!t connection. Im so annoyed!! F(&^&*ING SKY

Anyway, what i did see (mostly to lap 45) it was a great race, nail biting. Didnt expect Alonso and Vettel to drop further down and WELL DONE to Grosjean and Perez

[Fernando]

lets hope not!!

Me also, but there it was

It was his own fault this time not the pit crew

[Mad for Chelsea]

just about the perfect race from Lewis, and McLaren for once got their strategy spot on. Twice in that race (after each of his stops) Lewis really put the hammer down, setting qualifying lap after qualifying lap basically, and for me he's the only one on the grid who can do that. The one after his second stop particularly impressive, as at that stage it wasn't totally clear he would catch the top 2, but once the call came to push he basically went flat out for ten laps, so impressive.

[mystiroakey]

alonso mugged himself by not stopping and accepting defeat earlier..

kinda sweet really because it puts LH in as championship leader as well as grand prix winner.

That gronsjean is decent!!

and great to see hamilton back. been the best driver by a long way this year, inspite of his team

[Gregers]

Great race, one of the best I've seen! Well done especially to my boys Romain and Sergio!

[Fernando]

a few more laps and id have feared for Hamilton the gap to Grosjean went from 4 seconds to 2.5 very quickly.

All in all a result long deserved for Hamilton i think most people seemed to have expected it though.

Well after all this fun it's time for the mind dulling tedious race that is Valencia.......

[mystiroakey]

fernando- thats totally immaterial, that only happened last lap, ham chilled out, grojsoan was on a one stop- his tyres would have melted within a couple of laps anyway- ham still had quite abit on his

[Fernando]

fernando- thats totally immaterial, that only happened last lap, ham chilled out, grojsoan was on a one stop- his tyres would have melted within a couple of laps anyway- ham still had quite abit on his

I said If not that it would of happened. I presumed he had backed off but never know with the way he seemingly treats tyres

[mystiroakey]

all the same grosjeans would have gone sooner or at a very similar time. I think its abit of myth how hamilton treats tyres to be honest- he is just fast..

save tyres and go slower or go fast and risk smashing tyres up abit quicker. there is no magic- its just the way it is.Everytime one driver is lauded for his tyre management he looks like a mug the next week and vice versa

[Critical_mass]

I was saying last week Lewis would win in Montreal. Well deserved too and about time if im honest.

Lewis showed how much faster he can be when degredation isn't high. shame all the other tracks aren't the same/similar.

as fern said its valencia next - yawn. Bet you all can't wait fir the next 11 days to pass lol

waiting for ac to come on and give us some excuses as to the reason button did badly. Australia must seem so long ago. He needs to get act together so he's able to be Lewis rear gunner for the wdc

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