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

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/
 
There was no time to react to the way the Sauber seemed to stop. I'm not saying he was break testing, it was just unfortunate.

Weren't they on different tyres at this point too? It did look really odd, but the Renault always seems to have good traction, and on the correct tyres this would be magnified.
 
I am now going to completely contradict myself, feel free to throw rotten tomatoes at me

Hamilton initially believed the car was undamaged, but it turned out the driveshaft had been damaged and the team had been correct to tell him to stop.
From the BBC report
Yeah, but the BBC report was presumably only based on information supplied to them by the team...:whistle:
 
I think its fair to say we are never going to know what condition Hamiltons car was in after the accident......
 
Hasn't Hamilton still got some investigations pending? One with Button - which will presumably be no punishment. But what about the speeding under SC, for which JB got a drive-through - how does this get rolled over? As a grid drop?
 
Hasn't Hamilton still got some investigations pending? One with Button - which will presumably be no punishment. But what about the speeding under SC, for which JB got a drive-through - how does this get rolled over? As a grid drop?

I don't know, but what I don't understand is that he was getting investigated with the Webber incident which in my opinion he should have been penalised for, but because he went out of the race he didn't get one, now usually you get a grid drop for the next race or so, as Button got a penalty for doing the same thing, shouldn't the same apply to Hamilton?

These stewards really do confuse me :s
 
Hasn't Hamilton still got some investigations pending? One with Button - which will presumably be no punishment. But what about the speeding under SC, for which JB got a drive-through - how does this get rolled over? As a grid drop?
The incident with Button has resulted in no action. I don't get your next question? Button was penalised during the race and Hamilton was out at that point.
 
When did Hamilton speed under the safety car??

Same time Button did, Hamilton was getting investigated first, then the incident happened, then Button was getting investigated for the same things I believe.

However, I have known to have been wrong :twisted:
 
Same time Button did, Hamilton was getting investigated first, then the incident happened, then Button was getting investigated for the same things I believe.

However, I have known to have been wrong :twisted:
I remember it that way too.

The incident that got written off was the Webber one.
 
The Stewards have reviewed the Incident involving Car 3 (L. Hamilton) and Car 4 (J. Button) on their 7th
lap of the race. The Stewards reviewed the lines of several cars, including the two cars involved, using
multiple angles of video evidence over several laps, the speed traces of both drivers, the GPS tracking
data from the cars and have heard the drivers and team representatives.

The Stewards concluded that:

1) Exiting Turn 13 there was a legitimate overtaking opportunity for Lewis Hamilton as his speed was
greater than Jensen Button's.

2) Both drivers took lines substantially similar to many of the other drivers, and did not move as far to
the left as the preceding driver, Michael Schumacher. At the moment after Hamilton moved to the left to
pass, Button looked into his mirror. It appears from the position of Hamilton at that moment [and is
confirmed by the drivers] that Button was unlikely to have seen Hamilton.

3) At the point of contact Button had not yet moved as far to the left of the track as he had on the
previous lap, or that Schumacher had on that lap.

The Stewards have concluded that it was reasonable for Hamilton to believe that Button would have
seen him and that he could have made the passing manoeuvre. Further, the Stewards have concluded
that it is reasonable to believe that Button was not aware of Hamilton’s position to his left.
Therefore, the Stewards decide that this was a “racing incident” and have taken no further action.
http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1_media/Documents/can-document-46.pdf

The Stewards have reviewed video evidence and heard from the drivers and team representatives
regarding the incident on Lap 38 at Turn 3 between Car 5 (F. Alonso) and Car 4 (J. Button.)

Car 5 was on an out lap having pitted. Car 4 appeared to be firmly established on the inside line prior to
the entry of the corner and drove onto the kerb to avoid Car 5 on the outside.

In view of the conditions and the statements by both drivers and their team representatives, the
Stewards decide that this was a “racing incident” and have taken no further action.
http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/f1_media/Documents/can-document-47.pdf
 
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