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/
 
I hope I am wrong as well. but for some reason their cars just don't seem to work on heavy fuel or race trim or whatever, also I think the Mercs will be good in the race and the way they start they should be right up at the front and once DRS is enabled I can see them flying through the field..
 
I don't think it's quite as straightforward as seeing this race develop into a contest between the top-3 in quali. There's quite a big unknown quantity here, such as the fact no-one knows how the tyres will work when subjected to a high track temperatures, which is what Montreal's forecast promises for tomorrow. Ambient temperatures have shot up 5C since yesterday and if the forecast is correct they will notch up another 5C higher race-time. and we haven't seen that kind of temperature yet this week-end.. We saw plenty of brake-dust emanating from cars even when the temperatures were cool. How will the brakes behave after 50 laps in hot conditions, on the most brake-destroying track of the season? Add that to the fact this track's tarmac has had in the past a tendency to disintegrate when it's hot and we could yet be in for one or two surprises.
 
Just watched Qualy on the Beeb.

Great stuff from Vettel; big gap to the others and to his teammate. Slightly confused how the RBRs were plumb last in the speed trap @ 316kph, yet Vettel was fastest in the final sector. Must have been mega through the chicane.
 
Incubus.......Your spot on. Brakes and tyres will play a major role in this race. Regarding brakes, will Red Bull's front brakes survive the race distance now they've had to block off the holes which were playing a part in their cooling. It's tough to pick a winner for this one and although Lewis has a good chance I'm picking the seasons first two time winner which brings it down to Vettel or Alonso. I can't see anyone stopping Alonso. :thumbsup:
 
f1fansp I don't understand it either since the last sector is mainly straights, but like you said maybe he was a lot better through that final chicane than the rest. I'm still confused as to how he dominated the Monza qualifying last year despite having the lowest top speed there as well, perhaps the Red Bull has great acceleration in addition to his talent.
 
Yes. Brundle said that they had gone aggressive with gearing. The Red Bull was on the limiter on the straights so perhaps by sacrificing the top speed for acceleration they actually end up with the highest average speed along the length of the straight.
 
Yeah but if someone gets DRS on him then he's royally buggered...

What is going on with Button? He really needs to raise his game, he's been very poor this season. I hope we get a 7th winner tomorrow, hopefully Hamilton but I wouldn't begrudge someone else.

Props to de la Rosa, I don't think he's been mentioned much but he and the the guys at HRT have done an excellent job to develop the car and get ahead of Marussia, now if only Karthikeyan wasn't total crap...
 
How the hell can anyone blame Button for the predicament he has found himself in this weekend. His problems started with mechanical failure on Friday and as is often the case it snowballed from there. Ok, it was a bad call to put laps on primes he will need for the race, but that would be the only mistake he and the team have made, and it was a call made trying to give him the best chance during the race. Sometimes bad luck (mechanical failure) goes from bad to worse regardless of how hard you try to turn things around, it's bloody unfair to blame Button.
 
I disagree. Although the lack of running has hurt Button this weekend it's not the cause of his total lack of pace is comparison to his team-mate, the last two GPs demonstrate this excellently. Even Button said he had idea why he was so slow, surely he of all people would have cited a lack of running in practice.
 
Kewee

Who do you think Button is blaming? I think this started snowballing a few races ago. The mechanical failure on Friday was a recoverable blip. Jenson just doesn't have confidence at the moment. It is very obvious that this is the case when we hear him in interviews and it is something that he clearly acknowledges himself.

We don't need to knock him, but he can only look to himself to sort his issues out.
 
I've said it before I just don't think Jenson gets on with these tyres just like Webber couldn't handle last years tyres, but he will have to make the most of it because they ain't gonna change it is in his hands to do something about it.

Jenson is a great driver he just needs to relax and let it happen for him....

I will keep the faith no matter what because I ain't just a fair weather fan. Just like the Lewis fans kept the faith last year the difference is I don't come up with silly reasons as to why it is happening....
 
Hope you are not talking about ALL Lewis fans, because that's a pretty sweeping statement and a lot sillier than the silly reasons you refer to, whoever they were purveyed by.

I agree with you on Button, though. Sometimes when things don't play out for you, you start to question yourself even when you are right. When that happens it's hard to stay right.

Where is the half-like feature?
 
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