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/
 
There's no doubt that following within a few seconds of another driver will harm your tyres due to the reduced downforce, increased sliding around, etc. caused by the turbulent air.
 
MCLS......So true. This result will make them pull together even more and far less likely to make an error like that in the coming races. I won't be criticizing them, if their tyres had lasted they would have been heroes. I still believe at the time the decision was made covering Vettel made sense. He would have jumped Alonso in the championship by a much larger margin than Lewis has. As things stand Alonso is still leading Vettel and only 3 points behind Lewis. Something I think Ferrari overlooked was how strong Grosjean and Perez were going to be on newer rubber. I think at worst they probably thought they may finish 2nd. Being swallowed up by Grosjean and Perez would have hurt, we all know how much Alonso hates losing.
 
If Alonso and Vettel had pitted 10-15 laps earlier they would more than likely have managed a few places higher each.

Great drives from Hamilton, Grosjean and Pérez.

I have no idea what Ferrari was doing. Why would the championship leading driver go with the riskiest strategy? Everyone knows that the 2012 DC will be won by consistency. They had 2nd place wrapped up easy, MAYBE they could have won if they pitted.
 
Remember how Ferrari lost Alonso the 2010 WDC by targeting 5th position, it's a very negative approach to tactics and Red Bull gave the approach all the attention they should have.

Ferrari's best option would have been to pit the lap before Hamilton caught Vettel, but they simply became fixated on their strategy.

To be fair, exactly the type of problem that has led to extensive berating of McLaren's strategy this year.
 
chris1981.......I don't think so Chris. They needed to run longer on their first stint to make a one stopper work. Grosjean and Perez made the podium by doing exactly that. As I said in another posting, Ferrari felt the need to cover Vettel after Hamilton pitted, not covering Vettel's late pit stop was a gamble that didn't pay off.
 
I don't know I was just commenting on the interview with Ron Dennis on Sky F1 Ron also said that Jenson's poor showing was not Jenson's fault, something to do with a different rear suspension to Lewis's car after the gearbox change, he actually sounded quite upset about something...
 
I know it might sound obvious to some but I sense McLaren hasn't been a particularly happy camp for a while, and maybe Lewis feels like he's on the outside of the team. I certainly won't be surprised to see him switch teams at the end of the season.
 
McLaren put softs on Lewis' car at the final stop, is that because he was more comfortable with them or because the supersofts wouldnt last?
 
i think he had one set left over
now im thinking that they thought it was too much of a risk to have Hamilton push for 18 laps on supersofts
 
I don't know I was just commenting on the interview with Ron Dennis on Sky F1 Ron also said that Jenson's poor showing was not Jenson's fault, something to do with a different rear suspension to Lewis's car after the gearbox change, he actually sounded quite upset about something...

You or anyone got a link to that Mephistopheles? I usually avoid Ron interviews but that one sounds quite interesting because it doesn't seem to fit in the Ron mould we're presented with.
 
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