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/
 
And what is this FIA favouring Alonso incrimination based upon?

The Ferrari does not appear to like hard tyres at all, Spain saw Alonso lapped on the hard tyres, at Monaco where the primes were the soft compound tyre, Alonso was up there chasing Seb

Speeds are much higher at Montreal, and although there might be mitigating circumstances to explain this choice of supersofts/softs, like Axel says, it's smells of last chance saloon for Alonso
 
Yes, in fact not only do McLaren need to win, but they need Hamilton to lead a 1-2 ahead of, preferably, both Ferraris so that Hamilton cuts into Vettel's points lead big time.

As long as Hamilton's winning in Canada, he'll be be cheering for the Ferraris to beat Vettel. If all of them finish, Hamilton's realistic dream result from a WDC perspective would be Massa 2nd, Button 3rd, Alonso 4th, Webber 5th.

An even better result (from Mclaren's point of view) would be a 1-2 and a DNF for Vettel, with Alonso not scoring too heavily either. I'm sure that they wouldn't want Fernando to start gaining too many points and making the prospect of a three horse race.
 
I was wondering, have the problems that they had with the track surface breaking up, especially at the hairpin, been fully sorted out now?
 
The wall of champions is so named after the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix, when it recieved visits from Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher from the lead and Riccardo Zonta and always seems to claim someone. Kobayashi was in there last year!

I hope they're tougher on chicane crossing this year. Schumacher made a habit of cheating across there and I don't think we want to see that again!
 
I hope they're tougher on chicane crossing this year. Schumacher made a habit of cheating across there and I don't think we want to see that again!

If tyre temperature is an issue next weekend and I think it might well be on opening laps, then I think chicane cutting will really hurt the tyres construction.
 
Well the rules are there for a reason, And I am very sure they are aptly applied to all racers alike. that said I would not say that Hamilton is the man the FIA decide to unanimously pick on, it is more his fault for giving the FIA reasons to punish him.
It's alright Sarinaide, my comment was made with tongue firmly planted in cheek. ;)
Having said that, I really hope they do start giving more punishments for leaving the confines of the circuit; there's been far too much of it going on (especially at Montreal last year but also this season, particularly at Melbourne for example).
 
It's alright Sarinaide, my comment was made with tongue firmly planted in cheek. ;)
Having said that, I really hope they do start giving more punishments for leaving the confines of the circuit; there's been far too much of it going on (especially at Montreal last year but also this season, particularly at Melbourne for example).

Thats what I say, racing should remain in the confines of the white lines.
 
Fixed You can go over them one way without damage.But try coming back.
 

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The Ferrari does not appear to like hard tyres at all, Spain saw Alonso lapped on the hard tyres, at Monaco where the primes were the soft compound tyre, Alonso was up there chasing Seb...there might be mitigating circumstances to explain this choice of supersofts/softs... it's smells of last chance...for Alonso

Just so everyone here knows, Pirelli nominated Softs/Super-Super for Monaco, Montreal and Valencia BEFORE the Spanish Grand Prix! Pirelli took the new Hards to Spain because of the expected very high degredation rate for the Montmelo circuit. When Pirelli nominated the tyres for Monaco, Montreal and Valencia, no one knew how poorly Ferraris would perform on Hards in Spain...so this conspiracy theory is pure rubbish (in this case). Pirelli are taking Soft/Super-Softs to Canada because Montreal lacks the type of grip you get at Spain/Turkey/Malaysia...and the decision on their nomination was made days/weeks before anyone realized Ferrari's weakness on the new Hards. Pirelli are making decisions and nominating tyres well ahead of events. We know what tyres are being taken to Silverstone, for instance. Cheers all! :)
 
I miss the old days of Montreal and US in successive weeks, great GP's.

Me too, hopefully they'll do it next season when the USA is back on the calendar.

Anyways i reckon they'll be around 150 plus overtakes in this GP. Hoping the next week goes quick for the next race to come around. As this season is providing us with some good action. :)
 
"Vettel has turned out to be the most complete driver on the grid"

I twitch when I see these words (the most complete driver on the grid) it reminds me of a certain person on 606.

For the good of this season's championship, it's my hope that McLaren or Mercedes does well in Canada.
 
"Vettel has turned out to be the most complete driver on the grid"

I twitch when I see these words (the most complete driver on the grid) it reminds me of a certain person on 606.

"Most complete" does not mean "best". "Most complete" means a driver who is 8/10 in every attribute; good at everything! That is not necessarily the best driver.

Well, thats the point I made in my troll feeding to young José. I fear I did not make an impression!
 
To be honest, I don't think there is a "complete" driver on the grid, Alonso made so many mistakes last year, Hamilton well you could say he is but I think his mentality is poor, Raikkonen had great speed and drove to the max, if I was pushed to give someone that title, it would be Kubica, doesn't let frustration get the better of him like Alonso and Hamilton, has the qualifying speed, he is consistent, he's a fighter.

There's not a "best" either I would say.

Anyone got any idea how long these DRS zones will be? I fear that they will ruin the race...it was refreshing to see DRS not have an effect on the race that much in Spain and Monaco....hope it's the same here
 
We won't know about the DRS zones until the FIA publish the information unfortunately; probably early next week.
 
I think the problem is one of getting tyres into their operating temperature range. Track temperatures are usually low, and there isn't much lateral energy going through the tyres - it's more about braking and acceleration than long fast curves. The softer tyres are easier to heat up, and keep warm.

These are exactly the reasons Pirelli have given for taking the soft/supersoft tyres - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91914 .

They seem to be quite cautious about predicting the number of stops though. Although they seem to be suggesting the tyre wear won't be as bad as people are expecting I suspect they are slightly wary. The devil inside me would quite like to see what would happen in the mayhem of a 5/6 stop race.....

P.S. Oooo I've been update to a Learner :D
 
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