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 seem to recall Jacques Laffite winning a wet Canadian Grand Prix way back in the early 80's (81 or 82) but can't remember any other wet races. The Canadian GP used to be towards the end of the season (with Watkins Glen shortly after with the cars driving through autumnal leaves on the track) and was often very cold. In 1980 Michelin resorted to cutting grooves into their slick tyres in an attempt to get some heat into them. Probably just as well they moved it to a warmer time of the year.
 
Williams won a wet Canadian GP in the Boutsen/Patrese wilderness years, but I can't remember which driver it was what won it.

The 1973 GP was famously wet and, uniquely in F1 history, opinion is divided as to who actually won it, but that wasn't at Montreal so is entirely irrelevant.
 
I seem to recall Jacques Laffite winning a wet Canadian Grand Prix way back in the early 80's (81 or 82)...The Canadian GP used to be towards the end of the season (with Watkins Glen shortly after with the cars driving through autumnal leaves on the track) and was often very cold. ...

I remember it well...as if it were yesterday! I watched it live on tv as a kid. Gilles Villeneuve, my hero at the time, finished on the podium after driving two or three laps with the front wing askew following some contre' temps and he had to stick his head out further one way or the other to see beyond the wing.

Here it is on You Tube:


You can see the big wing obscuring his vision and the car's aero being affected and Gilles having to correct over and over and over again!

It was a cold day too in 1981...and they moved the event from end-of-season when Watkins Glen gave way to a June event starting in 1982. Sadly it was Gilles' final Canadian GP. The You Tube in the link is, I think, O Globo Portugese language for Brazil but In that 1981 Grand Prix the Canadian commentator (English side) was joined by Jackie Stewart in the booth and Barry Gill in the pits/grid walk...and they were joking that Villeneuve would never be Black Flagged in Canada, Montreal especially! :) Luckily for us Canadians, the front wing tore off, hitting the wet road in a shower of sparks...and Gilles took a podium.

Laffite won that 1981 race...but no one remembers it...People only remember Gilles' bringing his Ferrari home in 3rd!

Gilles was an awsome talent. One of the All Time Greats in my humble opinion. Laffite worshiped him.
 
Do you think it's actually going to rain or not? Either way, this season is one of the first seasons that I haven't been praying for rain to spice up the racing
 
Do you think it's actually going to rain or not? Either way, this season is one of the first seasons that I haven't been praying for rain to spice up the racing

Well if the BBC says its going to rain, it usually means it will be beutiful warm and sunny. But like said before the BBc always says its going to rain.

Im really not excited this weekend, then again thats happened for the las few Grand Prix, I turn up on a sunday and throughly enjoy the race, apart from the odd one or two things admittedly. Canada is one of mt favorite GP's too oddly. I dunno i must still be in the mode thats says that if a GP is going to be hyped up, it usally ends up being a letdown.

Im hoping Williams will continue the little mini resurgence that wasa happening until Hamilton made a half arsed move. I think Vettel will win again though, Im not convinced that Redbull are really lacking the Race pace, I suspect still they may just be pacing themsleves in the race, with one or two stratergy errors.
 
I give you 4 weather forecasts (?!):
  • BBC: Friday: Dry, Saturday: Light Rain, Sunday: Heavy Rain Shower
  • weather.com: Friday: Dry, Saturday: Few Showers, Sunday: Showers
  • msn: Friday: Dry, Saturday: Showers, Sunday: Showers
  • The Weather Network: Friday: Dry, Saturday: Isolated Showers, Sunday: Showers
Each one is predicting some rain on Saturday and Sunday. Whether that will be during a session or over the circuit at all is another matter...
 
Maybe they will forget to put the wheels on in a pit stop? I have believed in miracles but I think I may need magic beans to.........the way RBR are going.
 
I keep saying - that wall of champions is hungry - its gonna eat Mr Vettel and his bloomin finger

If the race is wet then its really going to be a lottery and although that will be amazing to watch Canada is pretty amazing anyways so I'd rather wait until Silverstone!
 
Seems McLaren's Paddy Lowe shares the sceptical view of the double DRS aired on here (I think it was here anyway, may have been 606) a while back.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/06/08/drs-zones-may-overtaking-lowe/
Sounds more like he doesn't know how it will work out...
They've done some rough modelling back at Woking and they think it will just make the car / lap faster when used on the second straight and be as useful for overtaking, in much the same way it has been on other circuits, down the main straight.

So my reading of the comments are that it makes the cars faster (good) and will probably contribute to overtaking (good)...
What's sceptical about that?
 
My take was/is that, if the overtake is going to be done, its likely to be done out of Turn 10 hairpin into Turn 12/13 chicane. If the overtake is done here, the DRS simply allows the now leading car to escape on the pit straight. This to me, and from Lowe's comments, seems to confer a double (?unfair) advantage.

On the other hand, if DRS doesn't work out of the slow hairpin, is it really going to make a difference out of a faster chicane onto a shorter straight?

Sceptical was perhaps incorrect wording on my part.
 
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