GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => General F1 Discussion => Topic started by: J.Clark on June 04, 2015, 04:29:05 PM
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Since it appears nobody is taking this one, I will make an attempt. It is a race I have attended a few times. My favorite grandstand is the exit side of the hairpin.
It is 70 laps around the high speed, 14 turn, 4.361km (2.7miles) circuit. The first Grand Prix run on this circuit was in 1978. The lap record was set by Rubens Barricello in 2002 (Ferrari), at 1:13.622. The biggest winner here was Michael Schumacher with seven wins. No other track has a "Wall of Champions" that has claimed many victims over the years. Current field drivers who have won it is very short. I think Lewis is the only one on the list with three wins.
The race has had a very good history of exciting races. A few of the eventful things that come to mind:
The circuit, named after Gilles Villeneuve, who was killed in 1982 on his final qualifying lap for the Belgian Grand Prix. He is also the only Canadian to have won this race.
Ferrari's Jean Alesi won the 1995 edition, which occurred on his 31st birthday and which would be the only win of his career. Alesi had inherited the lead when Michael Schumacher pitted with electrical problems and Damon Hill's hydraulics failed. The victory was a popular one for Alesi, particularly after several unrewarded drives the year before, namely in Italy. Alesi's win at Montreal was voted the most popular race victory of the season by many, as it was the number 27 Ferrari—once belonging to the famous Gilles Villeneuve at his much loved home Grand Prix. Schumacher gave Alesi a lift back to the pits after Alesi's car ran out of fuel just before the Pits Hairpin.
The 2007 race was the site of rookie Lewis Hamilton's first win. On lap 67, Takuma Sato overtook McLaren-Mercedes's Fernando Alonso, to cheers around the circuit, just after overtaking Ralf Schumacher and having overtaken Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen earlier in the race. The race saw Sato move from the middle of the grid to the back of the pack and to a high of fifth before a pit-stop error caused him to move back to eleventh. Sato fought up 5 places in the field in the last 15 laps to finish sixth. Sato was voted "Driver of the Day." I am not positive, but I think that was the year Kubica crash approaching the hairpin. I was sitting in the stands - happened right in front of us - very scary.
The 2011 Canadian Grand Prix became the longest ever Formula One race to date; rainstorms delayed the race for hours; but when it got going again Button stormed through the field from last place after the restart on lap 41 and caught Sebastian Vettel; whom he forced into making a mistake, passed the Red Bull driver and the Briton took victory.
I can't recall the year, but well remember Hamilton rear-ending Kimi at the pit out. It may have been the same year, but I don't think so, that Massa had a fair shot at a podium, but due to something I can't recall exactly about a pit stop and safety car (I think) lost almost all he had worked for.
Last year is on the list too for the battling Mercedes running out of brakes - Hamilton unable to slow for the final chicane and handing all of the marbles to Nico. Massa was running them down with good tires until Perez braked early and perhaps a bit off-line attempting a futile block on the Williams that resulted in both he and Massa having a DNF instead of some points. This is a very good analysis of that crash based on telemetry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmLRywX4Cjc
I always look forward to this race - ALWAYS :good:
In another topic, the question of fuel flow regs - will they help or hinder, and which teams would benefit from this?
Williams is likely to look better here because it is more high speed, which is something they are very good at, but will it be enough to catch Ferrari and put the Red Bulls in the back seat?
Ferrari has shown great improvement since the season opener so one must be curious as to whether or not they will continue to close the gap to the Mercs on a circuit which truly suits the Mercedes power unit?
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Great, fantastic read. I saw Gilles Villeneuve crash, it was quite horrific.
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Woke to rain this morning. The day is supposed to be rain free until afternoon thunderstorms. The rest of the weekend is forecast to be sunny and warm about 22 degrees Celsius
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Woke to rain this morning. The day is supposed to be rain free until afternoon thunderstorms. The rest of the weekend is forecast to be sunny and warm about 22 degrees Celsius
Jeri, are you going to the race this year?
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Yes a surprise birthday gift!
General admission but we staked out a nice sot by turn 6
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Nice one Jeri, the Australian and Canadian GP's are two that I'd love to go to. :good:
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Enjoy it. I like that race as an event to attend.
Friday's time sheet:
1. Hamilton Mercedes 1m 15.988
2. Vettel Ferrari 1m 16.304
3. Raikkonen Ferrari 1m 16.310
4. Rosberg Mercedes 1m 16.440
5. Maldonado Lotus 1m 16.600
6. Bottas Williams 1m 16.849
7. Grosjean Lotus 1m 16.864
8. Massa Williams 1m 17.041
9. Kvyat Red Bull 1m 17.092
10. Ricciardo Red Bull 1m 17.111
11. Hulkenberg Force India 1m 17.120
12. Ericsson Sauber 1m 17.261
13. Sainz Toro Rosso 1m 17.318
14. Perez Force India 1m 17.367
15. Alonso McLaren 1m 17.627
16. Verstappen Toro Rosso 1m 17.657
17. Nasr Sauber 1m 17.751
18. Button McLaren 1m 18.135
19. Merhi Manor 1m 19.531
20. Stevens Manor 1m 19.734
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This is one of my favourite races and venues of the season. I'm really looking forward to it too, especially since there tend to be some exciting races here. We really could do with a classic Canadian Grand Prix to make up for previous three events.
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Who is going to hit the champions wall, could Hamilton slide into it and level the championship. I to hope for a classic.
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Well done, Jeri! :good:
Have a good time. :yahoo:
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Absolutely! Have a wonderful time Jeri. :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:
We'll give you a miss on the shirtless grease paint GPW logo this time... :D
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It was a very rough Saturday morning in Monteal for Hamilton (and Alonso). He was quite obviously suffering with handling issues.
The time sheet:
1. Rosberg Mercedes 1m 15.660
2. Raikkonen Ferrari 1m 16.233
3. Grosjean Lotus 1m 16.772
4. Bottas Williams 1m 16.914
5. Perez Force India 1m 16.993
6. Kvyat Red Bull 1m 17.021
7. Massa Williams 1m 17.122
8. Vettel Ferrari 1m 17.197
9. Sainz Toro Rosso 1m 17.396
10. Maldonado Lotus 1m 17.573
11. Ericsson Sauber 1m 17.578
12. Hulkenberg Force India 1m 17.876
13. Ricciardo Red Bull 1m 17.892
14. Nasr Sauber 1m 18.446
15. Button McLaren 1m 18.473
16. Verstappen Toro Rosso 1m 18.492
17. Stevens Manor 1m 19.822
18. Alonso McLaren 1m 19.874
19. Merhi Manor 1m 20.231
20. Hamilton Mercedes 1m 21.492
Not without incident - the session was red-flagged twice.
Ferrari, Williams, Lotus and Force India all seem to be stronger this morning and back to their respective form before Monaco.
Qualifying should be interesting to say the very least.
:good:
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Qualifying had some surprises.
1. Hamilton Mercedes 1:14.393
2. Rosberg Mercedes 1:14.702
3. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:15.014
4. Bottas Williams 1:15.102
5. Grosjean Lotus 1:15.194
6. Maldonado Lotus 1:15.329
7. Hulkenberg Force India 1:15.614
8. Kvyat Red Bull 1:16.079
9. Ricciardo Red Bull 1:16.114
10. Perez Force India 1:16.338
11. Sainz Toro Rosso 1:16.042
12. Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:16.245*
13. Ericsson Sauber 1:16.262
14. Alonso McLaren 1:16.276
15. Nasr Sauber 1:16.620
16. Vettel Ferrarii 1:17.344
17. Massa Williams 1:17.886
18. Merhi Manor 1:19.133
19. Stevens Manor 1:19.157
20. Button McLaren no time
* 15 place grid penatly so will start from the back, moving everyone from behind him up one.
Button, Vettel & Massa all having power plant issues.
I can't say Button would have been up there in the top 10, but Vettel and Massa should both have been so when the lights go out tomorrow, I hope they have their cars running well again. It should be fun watching both these top five drivers work their way up through traffic on a circuit that allows for a few overtaking spots.
I think Grojean is the real surprise of surprises this weekend. He has put his Lotus right up in the mix at the front.
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I think that Lotus has had enough bad luck to make us forget they're a winning team with a great engine and proven (if erratic) drivers. I'm not surprised by their showing this weekend. I've been disappointed by their lack of showing earlier.
The crowd was very shocked to see Vettel and Massa lose out in Q1
I just missed Button going out in P3. I was chatting with a South African and he noticed that Button didn't accelerate out of turn 7. Sure enough the session was red flagged while they retrieved his car just out of our view.
Lewis Hamilton is the favoured driver here in Canada but I suspect that Kimi got plenty of cheers as well. At least based on the area i was sitting
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Lots of cheers for many drivers at turns 1 and 2 plus a few handling errors including a Lotus running wide entering turn 2 and nearly hitting the other Lotus coming out of the pits. Massa has looked in poor form all weekend and tried to throw it off the track coming out of the pit lane. The view from my seat is stunning, when watching on TV the view from the high camera looking down on T 1 & 2 plus the pit straight is the view I have, from leaving home it was 28 hours to get to Montreal so I did not want a bad on but this is exceptional.
Jeri I'll have a grey Rugby World Cup polo on today with shorts and I'll look for you at turn 6.
Lewis looks to be at one with the car and can put in the times when he needs to, FP3 he never got a clear run and made a couple of mistakes finding the limits so do not read anything into that. It seems to be his year with 6 out of 7 poles and the series of wins he realistically should be further ahead in the championship.
Kimi seems to be having a good weekend and when the car is right Vettel too but even with there upgrades the one lap pace to the Mercedes is still not there. I would not be surprised to see Kimi pass Nico today but doubt he'll catch Lewis.
The Lotuses have performed better but I have concerns at the start with both of them near the front.
Bottas has to be a contender for a third place if he can keep stay clear of trouble at the start.
Time to leave for the circuit.
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Massa now getting a bit more help because Vettel passed a Manor on the way back to the pits while on a Red Flag.
Watching those two work through the field is going to be fun. I just hope we see more of that stuff than we do of the two Mercs chasing each other.
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Canada without a safety car - no collisions - no offs into barriers :crazy:
Nico just didn't have enough to get to Hamilton at the end.
Kimi blew an almost certain podium, handing it to Bottas on a platter.
Vettel and Massa had absolutely awesome races up through the field to not only get points, but good points. I have to favor Vettel (from the two) for the drive of the race, as he did it with 3 stops, and one of them was 6.6 on the jacks.
It would have been boring to watch had the focused on the front, but than goodness they did not and much of the tv coverage was on Vettel and Massa, Grojean and Maldonado.
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Yeah, that was a sleeper. Got to the TV a bit late and the grid positions were still the same after 15 laps. Vettel and Massa did a great job, Kimi was caught out by one of the energy systems apparently (ERS?), Alonso finally showing signs of frustration. Stevens and Grossjean was the only broken carbon fibre on race day. Rosberg's turn to sulk on the podium. Sorry for Andy and Jeri that there wasn't more action on the track, but without a doubt, their impressions of the the race were far different than ours. Montreal's a great town, and I'm sure Canada's version of an F1 experience is certainly a good one. :good: :good:
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Yeah, that was a sleeper. Got to the TV a bit late and the grid positions were still the same after 15 laps. Vettel and Massa did a great job, Kimi was caught out by one of the energy systems apparently (ERS?), Alonso finally showing signs of frustration. Stevens and Grossjean was the only broken carbon fibre on race day. Rosberg's turn to sulk on the podium. Sorry for Andy and Jeri that there wasn't more action on the track, but without a doubt, their impressions of the the race were far different than ours. Montreal's a great town, and I'm sure Canada's version of an F1 experience is certainly a good one. :good: :good:
Indeed, not much action on track, but fun to watch in a crowd none the less.
Jacques Villeneuve (Gilles' brother) won the Formula 1600 race, which was a pretty exciting race, including some passing through the 6/7 chicane.
What I found most fascinating was seeing the different lines that the different series took through the 6/7 chicane.
- The Nissan Micras were holding a tight line to the curbs
- The Ferrari Challenge was taking wide turns, using as much curb as they could.
- Formula 1600 kept it tight like the Micras and avoided the curbs
- And of course F1 treated the chicane like there was an extra turn between 6 and 7 as they lined up for the apexes.
Over all the crowd was happy with Hamilton winning, and delighted with Vettel's advance through the field (yet not Massa's).
Hamilton got the most cheers, followed by Kimi. Though I suspect if Kimi had won, he'd have gotten more cheers than Lewis received. I was quite surprised how much support Vettel had. I don't know if a season out of #1 has made him more likeable... or just driving for Ferrari automatically makes him more likeable.
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Well it certainly wasn't a classic Canadian Grand Prix. At the front nothing happened, thankfully Vettel and Massa had to charge through the field and what a great job they did. Alonso's 'amateur' remark was funny, but a terrible weekend for Maclaren, or should be Honda
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That was such a disappointing race :(. I found myself feeling very sleepy for most of it. This wasn't like any Canadian Grand Prix that I can remember. Nothing of much note happened at all.
Mercedes were dominant, Ferrari faltered slightly, Bottas picked up the pieces, and McLaren performed even more poorly than their practice pace had suggested. There was very little excitement in any of that.
About the only points of interest were Grosjean's careless collision with Stevens, which was entirely the Frenchman's responsibility, Raikkonen's spin and radio comments, and Alonso's team radio and post race interview.