Grand Prix 2012 Canadian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Going into the 7th race of the season we are now hitting new territory as far as different race winners are concerned as for the first time in history 6 different drivers have won the first 6 races with 5 different constructors as Red Bull are the only team to have had more than one driver win a race with victories in Bahrain and Monaco, the way things are going there could easily be 10 winners from 10 races with people like Hamilton, Raikkonen, Grosjean and Schumacher yet to win this season, and with Canada pretty much being Hamilton's best track, it could easily be 7 winners from 7 even though McLaren have been floundering in recent weeks.

Despite this downturn in form, Lewis Hamilton lies just 13 points off Fernando Alonso who no-one would have predicted to have been leading the championship after 6 races going into the opening race where Ferrari had a car which struggled to even get near the top 10 let alone fight for wins and podiums, but improvements with the car allied with supreme driving and consistency from Alonso has seen him top the table from Vettel who's clever strategy in Monaco nearly get him onto the podium despite starting from 10th on the grid.

While Ferrari have made the biggest improvements (even Massa has been better, even though one race a season does not make) it seems McLaren have surprisingly made the biggest backwards step. In Melbourne they had the quickest car and they romped to a comfortable 1-2 and many wondered if they were going to have a Red Bull type domination season, but Button hasn't won since that race and Hamilton hasn't won at all even though he has 3 pole positions so far (2 if you discount the one in Spain) but while Hamilton has made the best of a bad job on the Sunday it has gone even worse for Button who is struggling to even make the points and his performances are a shadow of his 2011 form. Hamilton has improved considerably but surely the pit stop problems and other issues will be getting to him if it costs him a shot at the title, it'll be 5 years since he won the title if the 2012 title slips away and with contracts soon to be under negotiation it could play a part in what he decides to do.

If the 2012 Canadian Grand Prix is even half as good as the 2011 race we are in for a treat, I dont think there will be a race like the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix ever again and ranks up there as one of the best I have ever watched and the 4 hour marathon was certainly worth the 2 hour rain delay in the middle. But even in the dry Canada serves up great racing with recent years being a testament to that and with the unpredictable nature of 2012 so far this seasons race will not be an exception and while overtakes in Monaco were only just in the teens, there could be nearly 10 times that in Montreal. Some say that this seasons unpredictability can be a bad thing, but really, it's so much better than the Schumacher years of the early 2000s and even better than 2011 as while there was very exciting racing in 2011, for a lot of races so far this year that action has been extended to the very front as well which is where the casual viewer could determine the entertainment value of a certain race.

For Galahad 's superb circuit write up - http://cliptheapex.com/pages/circuit-gilles-villeneuve/
 
The McLaren strategy looked very peculiar. Why did they both go out on supersoft tyres in Q1? They were both clearly safe. Then Button used his other two sets of options in Q2 leaving him none for Q3.
 
I get the feeling that Jenson was just looking to get into Q3, to buck the trend, as it is he only just managed thanks to Pastor's error. as for the Q3 strategy, who knows. I have only got the info from the Autosport live feed so far, so any of the other bits and pieces have so far remained hidden.
 
In that case he should have just stayed in the pits and not set a time, I just don't get it...
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Great laps by Vettel and Hamilton, I don't think the McLaren really had the pace to be on the front row today but Lewis wrestled it to the top. I suspect Alonso will be in the lead by the end of the first lap though, Ferrari have had great starts and McLaren's starts and initial race pace seems to be lacking in comparison.
 
I have to agree with Alonso being first on lap 1. Alonso and Massa have been making great starts this season, especially Alonso who could probably race dragsters if he wanted. Vettel could be tough to get by though, hes had a lot of practice at this. I think Raikkonen could make a charge the track is overtaking friendly and its supposed to be pretty warm tomorrow, which suits Lotus. And I just love Raikkonen. They did an interview with him during Q3 and I could make out about five words he mumbled so much.
 
I think it's great to see Massa back in the top 10 once again!!

Also does anyone know why Schumi was upset?
 
Disappointed by Mercedes and Lotus.

I had a lot of hope pinned on Mercedes doing well.

Raikkonen had a differential problem but has no new tyres left so that will hamper him, actually does anyone have any new tyres left?

Vergne getting out-qualified again by a second to his team mate and behind both Caterham's. De La Rosa out qualified both Marussia's which was a good effort.

I think only rain will spice up this race as I think it will be between Alonso and Vettel, same with the championship.
 
I reckon Red Bull are going to fall back in the race. They have seemed less kind on their tyres and without the benefit of DRS I reckon they are going to struggle for pace. It's Alonso or Hamilton for me. I reckon the McLaren will be the car to beat over the distance and, with Lewis in great form, I think Alonso will be the only one to do it. There's my 50:50 prediction.
 
From what I've seen this season the McLaren's just don't have the race pace to win.. In Spain they were more than two and a half seconds off the pace in the race despite Lewis being so quick in qualifying.

For me it is Alonso's race all the way, I can't see a McLaren finishing any higher than 4th or 5th In fact I can see this being Alonso's championship.
 
I think a lot of that is down to luck. All season we have seen teams set the cars up and be quick in practice and quali and then the slightest change in temperature or conditions and it all counts for nothing. The operating window of these tyres is so narrow that it's almost impossible to set up a car a day in advance of when you need it to work.
 
Why did Jenson even go out. I didnt see him pit until about 3 minutes to go so im guessing he has 4-5 laps on the tyres he has to start with now. Bizarre strategy there. Lewis did a good job and lucky Alonso's mistake promoted him to second, but I feel Lewis won't have the race pace. I expect Alonso v Vettel with Hamilton battling Webber for 3rd.
 
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