Round seven of the 2012 Formula One World Championship may be taking place in one the sport’s most familiar and popular venues, Montreal, which hosts its 33rd Canadian Grand Prix, but this year’s visit to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve sees the sport entering uncharted territory.
With Mark Webber winning last time out in Monaco, we head to Quebec seeking either an historic seventh different victor from season’s first seven races or the campaign’s first repeat winner.
If form around the Île Notre Dame track is anything to go by then Lewis Hamilton has perhaps the best chance of being that lucky seventh winner. The McLaren driver has two wins (2007 and 2010) and three pole positions (2007-’08 and 2010) from just four starts here, making him something of a Montreal specialist. However, there are plenty more who’ll be gunning for the top step, including Monaco pole winner Michael Schumacher, who has won this race a staggering seven times, and defending champion Sebastian Vettel, who’ll be seeking to make up for last year’s final-lap error which saw him hand victory to Jenson Button at the end of a marathon four-hour race.
But the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is not easy to master. Long, high-speed straights end abruptly in slow corners, and the cars often have to decelerate from near 300kph to less than 100kph in the blink of an eye. That puts heavy stress on brakes and teams will be bringing their most extreme brake ducts in order to cool their cars’ brakes efficiently.
Engines too are worked quite hard, with 60 per cent of the lap at full throttle. Add to that the close proximity of the barriers, particularly the notorious ‘Wall of Champions’, and it’s clear that Formula One’s search for some kind of consistency this season is unlikely to end in Montreal
It really is a race where anything can happen.
CIRCUIT DATA
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Length of lap: 4.361km
Lap record 1:13.622 (Rubens Barrichello Ferrari, 2004)
Total number of race laps
70
Total race distance
305.270km
Pitlane speed limits
60km/h during practice
100 km/h during qualifying and race
Canadian GP
Fast Facts
► The race in Canada has been part of the Formula One calendar since 1967, when the first race was run at the Mosport Park circuit in Ontario. This will be the 43rd running of the race and Montreal’s 33rd time hosting the event.
► As at the Monaco GP a fortnight ago, Pirelli will offer teams their red-banded Super Soft and yellow Soft tyres here in Montreal.
► The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve circuit firmly belongs to Michael Schumacher, the German having notched up seven wins from 17 attempts. Pretty impressive. Only Nelson Piquet can come close to that stat with three wins – 1982, ’84 and 1991 – from 13 starts.
► In recent seasons, no one has dominated at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with the top step on the podium being occupied by five drivers in the past six years: Jenson Button (2011), Lewis Hamilton (2010, ’07), Robert Kubica (’08), Fernando Alonso (’06) and Kimi Raikkonen (’05).
► Schumacher has also notched six pole positions here. Again, no other driver comes close. Nelson Piquet and Aytron Senna started from the front three times and, of the current drivers, only Lewis Hamilton can match that, the McLaren driver grabbing a hat-trick of poles in 2007, 2008 and 2010. Starting from pole is no guarantee of a win. In the past decade, the pole sitter has won just three times – Fernando Alonso in 2006 and Hamilton in 2007 and 2010.
► Jean Alesi took his one and only Formula One victory here in 1995. Driving for Ferrari, he inherited the lead after Michael Schumacher suffered a gearbox problem that dropped him to fourth. Alesi famously ran out of fuel on his victory lap but was given a lift back to the pits by the defeated Schumacher.
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► The extraordinary 2011 Canadian Grand Prix is officially F1’s longest race. The total race time (including a long suspension when the wet track was too treacherous to race upon) was a whopping 4 hours, four minutes and 39.537 seconds, over an hour and a quarter longer than the similarly disrupted Korean Grand Prix of 2010. Up until last year’s race in Montreal the longest Formula One event was the 1954 German Grand Prix, which lasted 3hr 45 minutes and 45.80 seconds. There was no rain interruption there though. That race was run in dry and mild conditions and featured 22 laps of the 22.81km Nurburgring, giving a huge total distance of 501.82km.
Stewards
Martin Donnelly
Jose Abed
Gerd Ennser
Shamelessly plagiarised off F1.com
Canadian GP
posted on 10/6/12
What I found funny is that in a race that Vettel and Alonso lost their chance of winning due to having a wrong pit stop strategy, Hamilton fans are still suggesting that their man was handicapped in the race by his team's performance.
Clearly in today's race Mclaren performed better for hamilton than red bull and ferrari did for vettell and alonso respectively.
Do you get vettel and alonso fans on hear though saying that their man lost the race because of the team's performance ? No, you get hamilton fans suggesting that mclaren's performance was a relative handicap to hamilton visa ve his competitiors, yet he still won the race due to his being "a far superior driver".
It's just total nonsense.
posted on 10/6/12
We've just witnessed a great race and instead of talking about the race, we have the usual hamilton lovers vs hamilton haters debate.
Please stop this, appreciate the drivers and the race and quit the childish bickering
posted on 10/6/12
fair enough OP.
im not a hamilton hater though.
if i am going to labelled as a hamilton hater (which im not), it request that the people you refer to as hamtilton lovers are given a different title because hamilton hater is implicitly a more negative term than hamilton lover, which actually might be construed as something as a compliment.
at risk of your wrath, i would suggest as an alternative, hamilton realists v hamilton dellusionals.
perhaps as a compromise and future reference could be made to hamilton fanatics and hamilton realists ?
posted on 10/6/12
JPB
You seem to think that anyone that says anything positive about Lewis Hamilton is part of a highly disciplined and organised gang.
A member makes a comment regarding Ron Dennis, a valid comment that you did not seem to understand, and you criticise me and others by default.
Why don't you address your issues to the member that makes the comment that you disagree with, rather than making some general obscure reply.
posted on 10/6/12
You seem to think that anyone that says anything positive about Lewis Hamilton is part of a highly disciplined and organised gang.
==========================
btw , did you just hear the bbc commentary on lewis's pit stop? "they changed the wheels so fast it caught him out" . sorry, but i couldnt resist mentioning that one.
posted on 10/6/12
JPB
So you are pointing out the incompetence of the McLaren Pit crew and at the same time criticising anyone else that does the same?
posted on 10/6/12
WTCBU
I think you have made my point for me there.
The pit crew made a lightning quick wheel change.
The commentator's first reaction though was to make up an excuse for why his get away was slow. The reason he gave was that the pit stop was too quick and therefore took the driver by surprise.
In my opinion that is not something that the pit crew should be criticsed, but the driver. I am surprised that you seem to think that that is not the case.
I agree by the way that there have been a number of errors in the mcclaren pit lane this seasno - for both drivers. I also agree that their perofrmance has not been good enough.
This is not my point though which is that hamiltong fans have become obssessed with making excuses for the driver and obsessed with the idea that if there was a level playing field that he would wipe the floor with everyone. Most of all though what i take issue with is the substantial number of posts and articles on these baords which suggest that there is a deliberate policy within mclaren to hamper hamilton and prevent him from winning races.
I like hamilton, im just realistic about things.
posted on 10/6/12
maybe i am starting to sound a bit one eyed myself here.
that is not my intention. neitehr is it my intention to wind people up.
my views are set out in the last paragraph in my previous post
posted on 10/6/12
OK - all views are valid but some times mis interpreted due to the limits of the forum means of communiction.
posted on 11/6/12
Just watching the BBC highlights programme.
I think their coverage and analysis is excellent. Shame they havent got all the races live.