So after a break last year while certain "Contract" issues were resolved Canada returns to the calendar, bringing with it everyone's favourite wall. How many drivers will fall foul of it this year we wonder.
The good news for the circuit organisers is that the GP is a sell out which justifies the amount of effort that they put into ensuring that the track would remain a highlight of the season.
As for the teams, it's widely acknowledged that this track should play into the hands of McLaren who, with their F-Duct, should have the advantage when it comes to straight line speed. Red Bull's drivers have agreed to disagree about whose fault it was and its all smiles for the cameras but you can almost guarantee that on the track they will be even more determined. We've seen this situation several times before, Piquet/Mansell and Hamiltion/Alonso for example, where team mates at war have thrown away a clear car advantage and let a third driver in to pinch the championship.
Ferrari will be desperate to recover from a poor Turkish GP while Mercedes will look to continue their recent improvement and finish ahead of the scarlet cars. Schumacher is one of the champions who left a little too much paint on the "wall" and with a Merc' that still doesn't seem to be handling the way he'd like it, will he do it again. Renault will once again be pushing both of them all the way.
In the mid field, Sauber are finally starting to claw there way back towards the front end and now look to be able to compete with Force India while Toro Rosso have shown signs that they can find some speed from their car. Jaime Unspellable recently taking the fastest lap of the race may have been a huge boost and he has shown signs, now that he has had a chance to get more experience behind the wheel that he may be capable of doing a job.
Williams. Oh dear. With Sauber pulling themselves up to the back of Force India it would seem that Williams are now stuck fighting it out with STR for the crumbs from the top table. With that last win for the team looking further and further away and no sign of another any time soon, these are troubled times. That it's been over a decade since JV's title and watching yet another excellent Adrian Newey designed car further down the pit lane must just rub more salt into the wound.
Finally the newbies, Lotus continue their development of the T127 however the recent gains made over the last couple of races are likely to slow again as Mike Gascgoyne insists his team will be concentrating on the development of next years car. The real story among the newbies is the continued improvement of HRT having out-qualified one of the Virgin cars in Turkey. Is this a sign of the chaos surrounding the Virgin team or is this a sign that HRT have made a leap in technical performance since their chaotic début. They must be confident that they have what it takes to improve since they recently severed their links to Dallara and are going it alone when it comes to chassis development. Finally at Virgin, the signs that they are heading the way of Nick Wirth's previous foray into F1 cannot be ignored. With the Virgin brand on the cars it's well known that for Sir Richard, failure is not an option. They need to sort out their woes quickly otherwise it could be back to "Manor" racing next year or something worse.
So that's the state of play, let's hope Canada continues the recent run of great races.
The good news for the circuit organisers is that the GP is a sell out which justifies the amount of effort that they put into ensuring that the track would remain a highlight of the season.
As for the teams, it's widely acknowledged that this track should play into the hands of McLaren who, with their F-Duct, should have the advantage when it comes to straight line speed. Red Bull's drivers have agreed to disagree about whose fault it was and its all smiles for the cameras but you can almost guarantee that on the track they will be even more determined. We've seen this situation several times before, Piquet/Mansell and Hamiltion/Alonso for example, where team mates at war have thrown away a clear car advantage and let a third driver in to pinch the championship.
Ferrari will be desperate to recover from a poor Turkish GP while Mercedes will look to continue their recent improvement and finish ahead of the scarlet cars. Schumacher is one of the champions who left a little too much paint on the "wall" and with a Merc' that still doesn't seem to be handling the way he'd like it, will he do it again. Renault will once again be pushing both of them all the way.
In the mid field, Sauber are finally starting to claw there way back towards the front end and now look to be able to compete with Force India while Toro Rosso have shown signs that they can find some speed from their car. Jaime Unspellable recently taking the fastest lap of the race may have been a huge boost and he has shown signs, now that he has had a chance to get more experience behind the wheel that he may be capable of doing a job.
Williams. Oh dear. With Sauber pulling themselves up to the back of Force India it would seem that Williams are now stuck fighting it out with STR for the crumbs from the top table. With that last win for the team looking further and further away and no sign of another any time soon, these are troubled times. That it's been over a decade since JV's title and watching yet another excellent Adrian Newey designed car further down the pit lane must just rub more salt into the wound.
Finally the newbies, Lotus continue their development of the T127 however the recent gains made over the last couple of races are likely to slow again as Mike Gascgoyne insists his team will be concentrating on the development of next years car. The real story among the newbies is the continued improvement of HRT having out-qualified one of the Virgin cars in Turkey. Is this a sign of the chaos surrounding the Virgin team or is this a sign that HRT have made a leap in technical performance since their chaotic début. They must be confident that they have what it takes to improve since they recently severed their links to Dallara and are going it alone when it comes to chassis development. Finally at Virgin, the signs that they are heading the way of Nick Wirth's previous foray into F1 cannot be ignored. With the Virgin brand on the cars it's well known that for Sir Richard, failure is not an option. They need to sort out their woes quickly otherwise it could be back to "Manor" racing next year or something worse.
So that's the state of play, let's hope Canada continues the recent run of great races.
