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/
 
By the way, am I the only one that spotted the soda can getting sucked onto the track, going under the tire of the second car and being shot up in front of the third?

(cropped shots, i put white circle around the can, this was in lap 3)
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ZakspeedYakspeed

Well I can't think of anything that Alonso has done which has made him stand out against Hamilton. There's nothing between them. Remember that, more often than not, Lewis has faltered through bad strategy whilst Fernando has benefited from good strategy. Take strategy out of the mix and the pair of them have both driven absolutely flawlessly. I find it difficult to fathom how anyone can laud the performance of one over the other this season when they have both been nothing short of impeccable.
 
ExtremeNinja

I agree with what you have said... both have been flawless... but the guy with the better (in some cases much better) machinery is only a few points ahead in the WC... FA (based on the calibre of that Ferrari in the first four races) had no right to be within 40 points of the WC lead...

I do think that LH has shown a remarkable maturity this season... and it a testament to him maturing as a driver (and maybe a person...who knows... sometimes we forget how young these guys are...esp. after the early success they enjoy) that has him in the WC lead... and to be honest, the LH of all years past in a Ferrari like FA had at the start of this season, he would be 40+ points off the WC lead... this year... I am not so sure...

The main reason why I favour Alonso over Hamilton is that he has a greater capacity for strategic thinking... I think the LH is getting that together, but is not at the FA level yet... all this is predicated on the machinery being relatively equal from here on out... if Ferrari get another jump... of McLaren re-establish some of their early season pace, then all bets are off...

The margin is slim... McLaren are still struggling to execute as a cohesive unit on Sundays... butterfingers McGee is about to be demoted to Formula Ford in Moldova if botches another right rear tyre change...
 
The disparity in machinery, which has been extremely marginal in race conditions from the very beginning of the season, is easily offset by McLaren's blunders. I can't fault Lewis Hamilton for McLaren's mistakes but we can all give him praise for consolidating his losses when they have thrown him into adversity. He has done this from the cockpit with a cool head.

The tyre guy you talk of made his first mistake this weekend. The other guy was on the left rear and was replaced in this role a couple of races ago.
 
I don't think the machinery disparity in race trim has been marginal, I think FA makes it look like that... but I also think the "LH Revision 2012" would be doing a pretty similar job...
 
It's difficult to say that. I mean Massa is a lot closer to Alonso than Button is to Lewis. Perhaps the McLaren is a dog. I don't believe either car are anything less than front-runners - but maybe only in the hands of the two best drivers. I think the Lotus is potentially better than both the McLaren and the Ferrari.
 
On the quote-unquote "easy" DRS passing...
The reason it looked simple was that there was a massive discrepancy in traction coming out of the hairpin. The moves were basically done before they even hit the DRS zone.
Also, it wasn't quite so 'easy' if you didn't have the correct top gear ratio. I seem to recall that Vettel was not able to get past Alonso even with the DRS (that is until after he had been in for his late second set of fresh tyres).
 
I think the main issue with DRS on this track was that people weren't even trying to pass anywhere else.
The hairpin at Montreal used to be one of the highlights of the season in terms of entertaining overtakes. Instead of that what we get these days on this hairpin is something like the slightly farcical-looking game of "after-you-old-bean" played by Hamilton and Alonsoimmediately before Lewis took the lead.
Montreal is a textbook copy of the kind of track where DRS is more detrimental to the entertainment than beneficial. They certainly didn't need it in 2010, that season's best race.
 
I wouldn't say that. Alonso's defensive driving on the hairpin was extremely good. Lewis tried to pressure him into a mistake but Alonso wouldn't be bullied.
 
Also, much of the overtaking on the hairpin in the past is generated by backmarkers or three cars fighting and the one behind taking advantage.
 
Aww Awesome race had everything from Strategy and Speed. My thoughts on the top 10 + Di Resta and Buttons races.

Lewis Hamilton:
Aww, where do I start. Fanatastic on the attack racing made some awesome overtakes on Alonso and Vettel. Was nevrous when he made that second stop and the others didn't but his speed in that final stint, even though on fresh rubber was just breathe taking. Am well impressed with how he kept his cool and finally won what could turn out to be a privitol turning point in the championship. Fanatastic bloody brilliant Lewis Hamilton :).

Romain Grosjean:
Man I totally didn't see him getting a podium at all in this race. He suddenly came from no-where to finish on the podium. Awesome to make those soft tyres work for 50+ laps and still have the pace. My driver of the day, has to be Hamilton was awesome but Grosjean was simply superb.

Sergio Perez:
Right starting 15th! and finishing on the podium is blooming awesome. He was so good with his tyres and really did put in some brilliant super fast laps too. Fighting for just major points was best he could hope for but like Grosjean Perez getting on the podium was totally not expecting it.

Sebastain Vettel:
Think gambling on just a one stopper scuppered his chances of finishing on the podium, it was so obverse that he needed to 2 stop and had he come in around the same time as Lewis he could well have ended up finishing second. Late pit stop was just too late, but still decent points for the current world champion, but could have been better.

Fernando Alonso:
Awesome effort to try and make that one stopper work, had the race finished 6 laps before it should have he would have made it work perfectly. Still I really do think he did a super job under the circuimstances and really do can't blame Ferrari for trying something different. Just Unlike Grosjean he wasn't gonna make his tyres last.

Nico Rosberg:
Decent race for Nico and but wasn't really in contention for a podium finish, however you can't fault him hes a consitant points scorer this year.

Mark Webber:
Had a weird race really. It all started on Saturday when he qualified on those prime tyres. Even though he tried his hardest to keep up with the front 3 in the first stint but it wasn't enough and settling for 7th is all he could have wished for.

Kimi Raikkonen:
Was so brave in trying to make a one stopper work. Could have finished higher though but still points finishing position for someone who has been away for 2 years and back in just his 7th race. I think 8th is just about right.

Kamui Kobayashi:
Solid day for Sauber all round. Kamui keeps up his scoring strike and helps his team to a double points finish, decent race for him.

Felipe Massa:
Could have been so much more, but mistakes and tyres falling off the cliff really hampered his race. Although saying that this is another points finish for the Brazilian if he keeps his head up the results will eventually turn into podiums.


Now for Paul Di Resta:
Strategy cost him a points scoring position, think he could well have scored points had that not happened. I really hope he can do well next race.

Jenson Button:
At the end of the day little running on the Friday killed his weekend. But I really hope the real Jenson Button shows up again and soon as Lewis can't win the WCC all by himself.


Fascinating race and throughly enjoyed it. Am so proud i didn't find the result out until i watch the race this evening. Awesome result all round this race was :). Apologise for the essay had alot to say :).
 
riskitall
I have to agree with you Button's problems at the moment are magnified by the tight grid and if he does not get the car right to his liking he could be up to 10 places instead of 3 or 4

Canada has always been Hamilton's circuit...and he proved it again yesterday

This is where Button looks ordinary if he can;t fight the right balance in the car whereas in the same situation Hamilton would probably have crashed out.

It is no coincident that since Mclaren changed the nose of the car that Button's form has dipped along with it ...he's been in worse places before Button and his interview afterwards was not an attitude of someone who looked beaten which will help

Remember he did not really get his consistent run until he won Hungary last year
 
I think if they ban the DRS use in quali and practice the team that will lose out the most is definitely Red Bull because their kers is weak and they've got poor straightline speed. Webber could not even pass Massa who was on old tyres. it is because they set up the DRS in quali with the gear ratio on the limiter that allows to be aerodynamically fast in medium to high speed corners

Now it worked last year because they simply used the EBD much better and in clear air they just demolish the opposition
 
Quick question, as I watched on BBC and it wasn't live I didn't see where Hamilton got the Union flag, or what it in his car to begin with?
 
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