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/
 
It gets tight at the hairpin so we could find a case of the car trailing and the car leading both utilising DRS because of another person in front.
 
That's a very good point. Strange to put it in a place where the the Concertina effect is so obvious.
 
DRS has created the possibility of 3 cars abreast going into the next corner after the DRS, I have a feeling it won't be the same here.
 
Yes, but then you can say it's a downside for the driver behind to use it in the first place.

Idiotic tool in my opinion
 
I don't think there is something wrong with the idea of reducing drag for following cars, i just think they are getting a bit carried away with their new toy.
 
I know I have said that Renault may be a dark horse this weekend, but I think Ferrari may surprise a few here to...nothing wrong with the Ferrari on high speed straights and slow corners.
 
Don't forget, FP1 and FP2 later today:

Practice 1 - 10:00 (local) / 15:00 (UK)
Practice 2 - 14:00 (local) / 19:00 (UK)
 
A few pre-event stats:

  • Lewis Hamilton has taken pole position at Montreal three times in his three attempts
  • His average points per start (11.7) is also the highest of any circuit on the current calendar
  • Montreal is one of the circuits at which Michael Schumacher has won a record seven times.
  • Though Nick Heidfeld has yet to win a Grand Prix, he has come closest in Canada, finishing second twice.
  • The Ile Notre-Dame was the venue for the Sauber team's only Grand Prix win, back in 2008. They are not, however, one of the five teams to have sat on pole here in the past 10 years (Ferrari 2001, Williams 2002-4, BAR 2005, Renault 2006, McLaren 2007-08 and 2010)

  • Nico Rosberg has yet to finish in the top 5 in Canada
  • Fernando Alonso has retired from 4 of his 8 races at Montreal
  • Jarno Trulli has an even worse finishing record, only seeing the chequered flag 5 times from 13 starts
  • Mark Webber's best qualifying position at Montreal is 6th, achieved in 2003 and 2007. Last year he qualified 7th
  • Red Bull have never taken a pole position in North America
 
Especially if your successful in using the the DRS, in the first DRS zone.

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Yes but don't forget it's quite early at the beginning of a very long straight.
The activation area might be quite short but you still carry the extra speed throughout the length of the straight.
 
In fact I'll go further than that: the DRS activation zone might be quite short, but on that long straight before the pits we might even get a repeat of what we saw in Turkey, with overtaking there being way too easy, but for different reasons. Not because the activaation area is in the wrong place, but because in my opinion there shouldn't be one at all in there.
Remember Hamilton's overtake on Alonso there last year, when FA was hampered by Buemi in front? LH had so much more speed coming out of the hairpin he was in front well before the braking area. And that was before DRS.
Now imagine there are two cars fighting for the lead in the last lap. Being in front coming out of the hairpin would leave you a complete sitting duck before the last chicane into the finishing post.

DRS was conceived to compensate for the handicap of a car being subjected to dirty air from the car in front, but in Montreal the corner opening opening onto the long straight is a slow hairpin, so dirty air isn't much of an issue there.
# There should be no DRS at all on that long straight in my opinion.
 
Now imagine there are two cars fighting for the lead in the last lap. Being in front coming out of the hairpin would leave you a complete sitting duck before the last chicane into the finishing post.

Can't see this happening; this seemed to be a fear pre-season of being 'mugged' on the line.
There has been no evidence of this so far this season, so why should it be so here?
I'm sure DRS will make some potential overtakes (due to differing stages of tyre wear) very easy, but I suspect most of this will be played out in the 69 laps of strategic racing.

As so far this season, tyres and tyre strategy will be the main determinant, and DRS will likely allow teams to optimise this with less concern of being stuck in traffic.
 
Why here?
Because for the first time this season the longest straight, including a DRS zone is immediately before the last corner/chicane, and because it's a very long one.
 
If it rains, will DRS be used?

The FIA will disable the system in the event of a wet session. I'm not sure whether they are able to physically block the system from being operated or (more likely) they will just penalise anyone who does use it.
 
Well, given all the forecasts seem to predict rain on Sunday, it rather looks like the DRS will be a moot point in the race anyway. If it's dry for Quali, then having 2 activation zones matters not one bit.

I'm actually hoping it doesn't rain, as I can see any advantage McLaren have in race pace over the Red Bulls being wiped out by rain, and we'll all have to look at that infuriating Finger again come Sunday evening.

Honestly, an F1 season hasn't made my teeth itch this badly since 2002...
 
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