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/
 
You say "conservative" - I say, like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, the greatest drivers are just waiting for the "opportune moment."

Hard to argue with Captain Jack Sparrow! :blink:

..........

You've obviously misconstrued a number of my statements.

Am I wrong in saying that there is not a "memorable" overtake from Jenson's race. His main competition either fell off the road or retired from contact. This is not a slight, this is what happened.

Don't worry though, my posts will not change the fact this drive will be remembered as Button's best, surviving two coming together's and charging from the back in changeable conditions. It's just one of those races that will look a whole lot better in the history books than on the video screen.

This started in the Statistics Forum, and has now been moved to the Race Discussion thread, so I think I'll have a go at the Schumacher move one more time.

Of course Hamilton was carrying more speed, he was trying to pass someone. He then had to abandon all thoughts of an overtake and worry about keeping it on the road when Schumi swerved across. This was an extremely unorthodox line to take in the braking zone, and one that I would say was rarely repeated throughout the entire race.

I stand by my original comment about this "defense". If this is considered acceptable, then we have entered into a completely new era of racing, where the trailing driver is basically without any rights at all on the circuit. Sadly, the FIA seem to be confirming this line of thought every weekend.
 
Regarding the Schumacher move, from what I've read since the race, pretty much all pundits agree that Schumacher was lucky to escape without sanction for what was an illegal move.
 
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