Grand Prix 2011 Canadian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

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O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Thought this might be useful if you wanted to sing along to the Canadian National Anthem before the start of the race.

Anyway, on to the Grand Prix, after all that’s what we’re here for. Last year Bridgestone provided tyres, which didn’t like the surface at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve too much, and the powers that be in F1 thought “ah, ha here’s an idea to spice up the racing. Why don’t we ask those blokes at Pirelli if they can make sets of boots for F1 cars that fall apart on the warm up lap”, and they did.

In 2010 Hamilton put his car on pole (you may recall him pushing his car back to the pits, so light was it on fuel) and then went on to win an exciting race with teammate Jenson Button standing on the 2nd step.

So what for Canada 2011? Red Bull, at least car No.1, has been a tad difficult to beat but McLaren and Ferrari are getting closer during the race. With 5 wins out of 6 races Vettel has a healthy lead in the Championship and some bookmakers are already paying out on the title being his. Vettel was 3rd on the grid last year, behind teammate Webber, and finished 4th with unspecified gearbox problems, still ahead of Webber who had led for many laps but got caught out by the high tyre wear rate.

Fernando Alonso was 3rd last time out in Canada after getting mugged by a hard charging Jenson Button. Mercedes had a mixed race, Rosberg was “best of the rest” behind the McLaren’s, Alonso’s Ferrari and the Red Bull’s whilst Michael Schumacher treated the race like a destruction derby, straight lining chicanes and bouncing off other cars with gay abandon. What of Felipe Massa I hear you ask; well, he was one of Schumacher’s victims and lost time pitting for a new nose cone.

This is very nearly the last Hurrah for the exhaust blown diffuser and we have two, yes 2, DRS zones. So expect cars breezing past another before and after the pits, when they’re not in their getting new tyres of course.

Will it be another Red Bull walk over or can the McLaren’s and Ferrari’s tame the charging Bull? How will the Pirelli tyres hold up dusty and bumpy Ille Notre-Dame Circuit? Will it rain? Who will win? Can one of the minor teams struggle up into the points? I don’t know but I get the feeling there will be lots of speculation.

And we have our own track side reporter this year - take a bow Ray in Toronto and make sure you post some good photos

For Galahad’s excellent circuit write up, track history and all the stats a boy or girl could want click here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/circuit-gilles-villeneuve/
 
i heard a saying not long ago

'If you get it right your an hero, If you get it wrong your an idiot' If Mlcren havegone for a wet setup, then this is very applicable here.
 
sometimes i think mclaren are so focused on a good strategy for button lewis suffers.
mclarens straight line speed is too slow.if it doesnt rain tomorrow,it could be a bad race for both drivers.
it will be interesting to hear what lewis has to say later.he will be very frustrated again.
 
sometimes i think mclaren are so focused on a good strategy for button lewis suffers.
mclarens straight line speed is too slow.if it doesnt rain tomorrow,it could be a bad race for both drivers.
it will be interesting to hear what lewis has to say later.he will be very frustrated again.

That doesn't makes sense, espically considering Lewis seems the fastest driver. If it is the case then perhaps lewis should lead a bit more
 
Apologies if I have missed something, but where was it shown that the strategy was for buttons benefit?

We will find out tomorrow if it was right or not, however I would point to Korea last year, where the Mercedes team gambled on a wet race and were doing rather well for a bit.

Besides, both drivers are surely allowed to choose their own set up, no?
 
sometimes i think mclaren are so focused on a good strategy for button lewis suffers.
mclarens straight line speed is too slow.if it doesnt rain tomorrow,it could be a bad race for both drivers.
it will be interesting to hear what lewis has to say later.he will be very frustrated again.

How is McLaren's wet strategy only suited for Button? If it rains both cars will benefit from the choice of a higher downforce package.
 
Please, let's not go with the silly conspiracy theory about McLaren compromising Hamilton to favour Button.

It's just ridiculous nonsense.

Quite right Bro.

But...........Try this one on for size.

McLaren sends de la Rosa to Sauber in exchange for data on how they preserve their tires so well. (Sound familiar so far) Here's where it gets good.

Peter Sauber has now turned Pedro de la Rosa against McLaren, convincing him he'll never drive for Macca again. Through Pedro, Peter is feeding McLaren bad information ranging from tire tactics to meteorological surveys. Having employed this faulty info, they find themselves P5 and P7 on a circuit they expected to challenge for pole on.

......cue Twilight Zone music.....

and I'm done for the day. :thankyou:
 
I don't think it was a conspiracy theory. I think what some people were pointing to was maybe Mclaren do what is best for both drivers rather than focusing on just the faster driver, like Ferrari and Red Bull. Lewis has proven 3 times that this is a circuit he is master of and maybe the reason some people think this was the wrong strategy for Lewis more than Jenson is because he could challenge for pole. My guess is that this sacrifice was not the main reason they didn't compete for pole, but instead maybe Mclaren decided they just weren't quick enough to worry the top 3 and decided to gamble on a better setup for what they considered the most likely conditions for tomorrow.

The main flaw in Martin's argument that, a 60% chance of rain on race day is higher than 50% so they should run a wet setup, is it doesn't take into consideration the loss of track position from Quali. I reckon this may prove to be a mistake on Mclaren's part but we shall have to wait and see. What do we reckon will happen if it is wet? Will Mclaren be that much better off with a wet setup to get the win? It will definitely be very exciting tomorrow if the heavens open.

Despite everything said above, Lewis was only .5 of a second off pole and there was 3 drivers between him and pole. Things are definitely getting tighter. :D
 
BBC FACT: Lewis Hamilton set 17 poles from 2007 to 2009 - but has only managed one since.

Wowzer. That is a hell of a fact. Shows what a difference the car makes to qualifying performance. I'm sure Alonso's recent record is equally surprising.
 
Also, well done to Felipe today. He got out qualified by Alonso again, but he looked like he was challenging for pole for a little bit today. Might even challenge for the win tomorrow if Vettel gets caught up trying to beat Fernando.
 
Yeah great result for Ferrari.....hopefully shades of Germany and both can take Vettel on the start......needless to say the first real proper showing by Ferrari in qualie this season.
 
Mclaren are finito, absolutely down and out! All that Whitmarsh has given Mclaren in his tenure as Team principal has been strategy blunders, bungled up pitstops (for Hamilton), plenty of hot air, delayed upgrades, gambles that don't usually pay off and has given undue support to the slower driver, how long is Ron Dennis going to tolerate this nonsense, glad to see he is at the race!
 
This could be a heck of a race! My dreams are:
Poor Vettel start Massa takes out Alonso it rains McLaren 1-2 and Schumi 3rd!

Theres ny Badger GP predictions but I doubt it:disappointed::(
 
If qualy pace reflects into race pace (which it hasn't so far) it seems we have the Turkey quota, with Ferrari ahead of Mclaren
 
I don't think it was a conspiracy theory.
The main flaw in Martin's argument that, a 60% chance of rain on race day is higher than 50% so they should run a wet setup, is it doesn't take into consideration the loss of track position from Quali. I reckon this may prove to be a mistake on Mclaren's part but we shall have to wait and see. :D

Mr Noble please! you are coming accross as a bit vain, how many times have we said 'Mclaren have made a mistake' just this season alone! Don't you get tired of saying the same thing over and over again, if you do not desist from this unhealthy practice, you might suffer from Repetitive Thought Injury, I promise you, you are going to be singing this song all season long, so long as Whitmarsh is team principal.
 
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