Welcome to the UpdateSport team review of the Canadian Grand Prix. The race was one of much drama, aided by four safety car periods, two black flags and a debut win from Lewis Hamilton, plus a terrifying crash involving Robert Kubica in the BMW from which the Pole emerged with nothing more than concussion and a sprained ankle. Contributions this week come from Dylan, Braden, Lita and me, Steve:
Steve: Too much to talk about in many ways this week – lets start with Hamilton, a victory we had surely all been expecting sooner or later.
Dylan: It was great to see Hamilton step on the top step of the podium, though he did kind of do that unchallenged. He lucked out with the first pit stop and it was a calculated race from then on.
Steve: I thought the luck came in qualifying when Alonso made a mistake – but luck was always going to play a part in a race such as this.
Lita: I'm still not his biggest fan but I will give credit where it's due and hit out at Alonso's comments for making up excuses as to why Hamilton won. He won because he didn't lose his cool and throw it all away - he drove a picture perfect race in a less than perfect one.
Braden: Absolutely fantastic to see Lewis win on his sixth GP meeting! I was up all night waiting and hoping I would see this, because it’s great to see a new face come through the ranks and upstage the more fancied opposition. I hope he can continue on and get another 6 wins this season and take out the title.
Steve: I think you may be on the mark there, Braden. What about Kubica’s crash? The black box reckoned he suffered a 28g impact at 90 degrees – and only concussion?
Braden: Kubica’s crash was scary; to just see it happen out of nowhere while the Camera was on that spot was immense. I’ve seen crashes similar and people survive but I was worried that his hands had stopped moving once the car had come to a rest, but the trackside paramedics did not look in too much of a rush, which to me was good news.
Lita: It was terrifying. I was scared for him and glad the paramedics got to him immediately. Memories of Indy '04 surface here.
It was hard to believe that Speed's retired Toro Rosso was what helped further the crash. I really just couldn't believe it. I'm thinking they would want to look into removing all cars from the side
of the track once they've retired as this situation proves they can still be a danger.
Steve: I have read that the Toro Rosso was practically behind the wall, and that the BMW took off the nose.
Dylan: Kubica’s crash was sickening to see, but as soon as he flexed his fingers I knew he was OK, then he appeared to drop out of consciousness and we saw his arm drop back into the cockpit. To see a car disintegrate like that, even leaving his feet exposed, and for him to ‘walk away’ with only a sprained ankle is remarkable. It’s a credit to the safety team and the constant updates they are making to the car and cockpit/driver cell/monocoque designs to improve safety, not to mention the role of the HANS device to stop his head excessively jolting around in those kinds of impacts.
Steve: I truly expected a career to be ended there and then – absolutely remarkable. Safety cars – there were four of them in this race, and they directly affected both Alonso and Rosberg’s afternoons work.
Dylan: What were there 4 or 5 Safety cars? Officially the number is 4 but I call it 5 because, just as the safety car was going to come in, Trulli decided to bin his car on his out lap
from the pits. So I call it 5.
Lita: How can you just exit a pit lane and glide into a wall? It was almost comical!
Braden: The number of safety cars is not really anything different than a regular street style grand prix. The only problem was the rule that meant you couldn’t pit when it came out straight away. This rule is stupid as it penalises a driver for no fault of their own especially if they are on a different strategy and basically makes everyone try to conform to the same strategy.
Dylan: It certainly gave the race some spice and unpredictability though. I think the rules may need some readjusting, particularly the time it takes to reopen the pits after the SC is called on track, and the teams never really seemed to be on top of that. For a first run of the new rules though, I think it went well and you could see exactly what each rule was trying to achieve in terms of safety. I feel the SC was needed for each of the incidents as well as each time the car was left in a precarious position, even the final one of Liuzzi, if another car had hit that wall, as there was every chance of it happening with worsening tyres and 15 laps to run, they would have gone straight into the back of his stricken car as there is no way to easily move it from that position.
Steve: A number of drivers benefited from the safety cars, as well as some who did less well.
Lita: Wurz, Kovalainen and Schumacher, - they got lucky, they did take advantage of the situation and they got rewarded. Many drivers have done this before; they have not been the first and certainly will not be the last. They would have not finished where they did without all the situations, but they made no mistakes in the race, so they deserve their rewards.
Steve: The safety aspect brings us onto the black flags. Both Massa and Fisichella were disqualified for leaving the pits when the red light was on, and notably at a time when Kubica was stopped at the light!
Lita: Idiots of the race goes to Massa and Fisichella by doing something so stupid as to ignore a red light. Honestly, need I say more?
Braden: The black flags were appropriate. Although no one could see any cars on the track keeping the light on, drivers still have to obey the laws. It’s the same as if no one is coming on a suburban street; you don’t just run a red light because you think it’s clear.
Dylan: The Black Flags for Fisi and Massa were completely called for as with Montoya previously as well. Red light at pit exit means it’s unsafe to enter the track, end of story, Black flag, no more race for you. However, to drive around a stationary Robert Kubica as well as the red light is just sheer stupidity. From what I saw the light was still red as cars were still yet to pass the blend line under control of the SC, and so unsafe for the pitting car to rejoin just yet. You saw Massa rejoin right as the last car rounded and as soon as that happened, the light, quite correctly, then went green.
Steve: What about Alonso’s performance? He was off the track as many times as the safety car was on it!
Braden: Alonso was a mess on Sunday, I have no idea what was going on with him but he just seemed unable to take the first and second corner without going wide and into the grass.
Dylan: What was going on with Alonso? He definitely seemed to like the grass on the infield of the first hairpin!
Steve: I think Lewis has got him rattled. Who gets drive of the race – Lita has already mentioned Hamilton and I tend to agree.
Dylan: Drive of the day I with share between Sato and Kovalainen. They both found themselves on the right tyres at the right stage of the race, and were both able to capitalize on that. Sato’s moves on both Ralf and Alonso were fantastic and the one on Alonso especially, that pass took Sato’s unique combination of bravery and stupidity to both attempt and make it stick.
Lita: I have two dishonourable mentions: Trulli, whom I’ve already mentioned, and Raikkonen. Raikkonen for performing so poorly that it would make you want to take Michael Schumacher and say, 'Here, get back in and do what you do best.' The man has one of the best cars on the grid yet really has failed to do anything impressive with it since Australia. I feel he's just along for the ride at the moment and that the passion has gone from Ferrari.
Steve: I don’t know what’s got into Raikkonen – breaking his wing on Massa’s rear end certainly didn’t help. He just seems to be struggling everywhere. Sato seems to have been reborn though!
Lita: Overtaking move of the race definitely goes to Sato on Alonso in the final few laps. That was just brilliant; I defy anyone to say otherwise. I know he was helped by the fact he was on the better tyre, but still, it's a Super Aguri on a McLaren! How is that not the best thing ever?
Dylan: Team of the day was the Williams team who managed to keep Wurz out there on a one stopper and got him to the line following the final 40 of the 70 laps all run on the so called inferior super soft tyres. I think the safety car periods may have helped him to maintain those tyres in good condition and cycle them in properly to avoid the graining issues that the other drivers who had those tyres briefly at the end suffered from.
Steve: What about Webber – started sixth, spun, climbed back up, was running second thanks to the safety cars, and then – no points?
Lita: Anyone can make a mistake, but few I suppose can do it like Webber. He started 6th and finished 9th behind those that started at the back. I was actually feeling sympathetic towards him because he was having so many DNFs after qualifying so well. But for this race where he should have been realistically the next driver on the podium after Heidfeld, yet to have been replaced by Wurz, the very driver who started 20th, really just says it all.
Dylan: Worst drive… well it doesn’t get much worse then being stranded on the start line, so for completing 0km of the race distance, that award goes to Jenson.
Steve: Ok, well I thought it was a great race all round, thanks to the unpredictable nature of the outcome. Kudos to Hamilton and Heidfeld, both of whom drove perfect races in difficult circumstances.
Lita: Fantastic race, no doubt about that. It was full of everything – it was exciting, thrilling and completely engrossing. I could not tear my eyes away from the screen, and yet there at the start of the race I just thought it was going to be another one of those borefests we have all come to know and 'love'.
Steve: I think that’s a good place to close. Thanks to Lita, Dylan and Braden, and here’s looking forward to the upcoming US Grand Prix.
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Now, here’s the feature that causes more fights than a dropped dollar in an Aussie bar, more arguments than the words ‘Michael Schumacher is not the greatest of all time’, and more upsets than a mere ‘hello’ from Aerodynamico – yes, it’s the Canada version of the legendary Brades Grades…..
Brades Grades – Canada
Drivers :
Lewis Hamilton – A++
What a fantastic drive from the young rookie. In just his sixth race he grabbed pole and then stormed the race home well ahead of his team mate. Lewis made no mistakes at all and looked like a seasoned veteran.
Nick Heidfeld – A+
Finally BMW put one of their drivers on an aggressive strategy and it paid off big time. They were able to get Nick into a podium position through a low fuel strategy and Nick’s fantastic driving. He put the car onto the second row and made a great start and took second from Alonso, then produced a great drive to come second.
Alexander Wurz – B+
At the start of the race, Wurz looked as if he was in for a hard day at the office after Qualifying, but at the end of the race he was sitting on the lowest step of the podium. Not long into the race Wurz was involved in an accident when Speed tried to dive down the inside, he ended up having part of his rear wing removed. This made his podium drive a great effort, although he was helped being on a one stop strategy and safety cars intervening.
Heikki Kovalainen – A
Heikki suffered a brake problem in the early part of qualifying segment one, which put hurt his qualifying. He did not make the top 16, but he was going to the back of the grid after an engine change. His drive in the race was terrific, he was fast and managed to get past lots of cars early in the race. Safety Cars helped him, but the drive was done by him and a fourth place was great for him.
Kimi Raikkonen – B
Kimi’s race was almost over at the first turn after he hit the back of his team mate and bent part of his front wing; however he soldiered on through the race. He never looked a threat during the race, but managed to keep his car on track and not disobey a red light in the pits to get some valuable points for Ferrari.
Takuma Sato – A
The Montreal weekend will be remembered for a long time by Super Aguri as not only was it the teams’ best ever result, but Taku managed to pass and beat home a McLaren at the end. We must remember that Fernando was on the option tyres, which were dead after a few laps, but this feat was impressive enough to earn Taku an A.
Fernando Alonso – C
This race weekend must have been terrible for Alonso. His rookie team mate matched him for pace in qualifying and took it comfortably in the end after Alonso struggled on his final lap. Then at the first and second corners Alonso went into the grass losing second spot to Heidfeld. He then continued to make more mistakes at the first turn. He then came into the pits at the wrong time because he was on fumes, this cost him a 10 second stop go. He did do well to get the car back into the points, but his early errors cost him big time.
Ralf Schumacher – C
Finally an improvement in grade for Ralf, but it doesn’t mean much. He still struggled in practices and qualifying but was miles behind in the race and only made the top 8 due to a safety car late on that cost Rubens and Webber. In comparison to those around him, Kovalainen came 4th and Wurz came 3rd.
Mark Webber – C+
After another great qualifying performance, good things were expected of Webber in Montreal. The car had good pace to match the Ferrari’s ahead of him, but he was unable to do this once he spun off passing Kubica. He made positions back up and was at one time running in second, but the second to last safety car stuffed him up as he was unable to get back into the points.
Nico Rosberg – B+
After an improvement in qualifying at Monaco, Rosberg settled into some consistency by locking in another top ten qualifying performance. His race was good and going well up until his first stop when he suffered the same fate as Alonso. Unlike Alonso he was not able to pass cars that had a similar pace to him, this cost him any chance of points.
Anthony Davidson – C
Davidson was one of the many unlucky drivers on the weekend, but he suffered bad luck in both main sessions. In qualifying he missed out on the top 16 by barely any time at all. Going into the race he started low but managed to climb his way up, before he hit a beaver on the track and locked his wheels. He came into the pits unscheduled and then sat and waited for his team to change his tyres, which took an eternity.
Rubens Barrichello – B
A good race from Rubens saw him at one stage look on for a podium position, before a final safety car ruined his run as he had to stop almost under safety car conditions. He was easily beating Button through the weekend and was the lone Honda in the race.
Jarno Trulli – B
Jarno was once again the only shining light for Toyota as he managed to put his car into the top ten. He was also having a good race, but would have lost confidence knowing that he put Kubica wide and into the wall. Jarno then had to retire after his suspension failed for the third time on the weekend.
Vitantonio Liuzzi – C+
Liuzzi had a good qualifying performance in comparison to his team mate Speed, but his race lacked pace and was easily passed by Mark Webber in the sister Red Bull team. He then proceeded to join the list of runners who have ended their race in the Wall of Champions.
Felipe Massa – D
Massa was ok this weekend, but he was out qualified by his team mate for the first time in a while and by the BMW of Nick Heidfeld. This lack of pace was evident when he did not seem his aggressive self in the first few laps while chasing Alonso. Felipe then decided to ignore a red light at the end of the pit lane and stupidly cost himself a decent bag of points.
Giancarlo Fisichella – D
Fisi once again put his Renault into the top ten of qualifying, but was down on his usual performances, only qualifying ninth. He had a good start and made up a position or two, but ended his race when he followed Massa out the pit lane at the wrong time.
Christijan Albers – C-
After being out qualified by his team mate in recent races, Albers hit back and at least drew his team mate this time. His start was good and his race pace was solid, but he was again behind his team mate. He then had an accident to round off what was a slightly disappointing weekend.
David Coulthard – C+
DC will be very disappointed about how this weekend turned out. In qualifying he struggled early and had a problem, before just scraping into the top sixteen, but then missed out on the top ten, compared to Webber who made it. His race was over fairly early too after a promising start, when another gearbox malfunction occurred.
Robert Kubica – B+
Apart from the major accident that luckily did minor damage, Robert was having a great weekend. He was fast most of the weekend and was on the conservative BMW strategy when compared to his team mate in qualifying. His pace in the race was good and was holding down a good position. After his first pit stop he was stuck behind Trulli and that’s when everything turned nasty. Thank god these cars are now designed to take those impacts.
Adrian Sutil – C
Not the best of races from the rookie at Spyker, but it was his first major experience of Montreal. His qualifying pace was great, being just two seconds off of the pole time was exceptional, but unlike previous races he was matched by his team mate. He went out pretty early on in the race when he span off into a wall, a rookie mistake.
Scott Speed – D
Speed struggled in qualifying, just making the top 16, but was well behind his team mate in the other STR. His race ended extremely early when he was too eager to get up the inside of Wurz and broke his front suspension and took out part of Wurz’s rear wing in what was a pretty stupid move really.
Jenson Button – C-
It is clear to see that Jenson is having a bad season in comparison to years gone by. He is now starting to get beaten by his new team mate after cleaning the slate with him last year. His season got worse when his car would not move off the grid, the computer malfunctioning on him.
Teams
McLaren – A
An ok weekend for McLaren in the end as Ron Dennis’ new protégé got a win under his belt after his sixth race, but the performance of Alonso will be a worrying one, plus the decision to bring him in. If he really was on fumes, well then that’s unlucky, but usually drivers have at least 2 laps extra fuel in the car in case they need to avoid the pits for some reason.
BMW – A+
There are two main reasons for BMW getting a higher result than McLaren. The first being that they went for an aggressive strategy which paid off with a second in the race, with the second being the safety of their car when Kubica slammed the wall. He was on for a good race too, but unfortunately these things happen in race.
Ferrari – C
The pace of the Ferrari has just jumped out the door and said good bye to them for now and one wonders if it is forever. Having two drivers who obviously struggled in the conditions, as well as an opposition team with aggressive development does not help, but they should be able to at least keep pace with McLaren, instead they are a long way behind and are starting to lose second to BMW. This is very disappointing from a team with such proud motor sport heritage.
Renault – B
Not much of an improvement from the last race for Renault, but they did at least keep pace with McLaren and the others for now. They will also be happy that for once Heikki managed to keep the car clean and finish a race in a good position, which is what they expected from the start. They won’t be happy that their most experienced driver ignores a red light though.
Williams – B+
This was an improvement from Williams on the last GP, even if it is due to the Safety Cars. Nico was able to maintain a top ten qualifying position and Alex was able to bring the car onto the podium for the first time this year. They did however screw up as they brought Nico in at the wrong time, costing him the third place.
Super Aguri – A+
How proud will this team be in England and in Japan? The answer is, immensely proud! They not only got themselves another point, but another three points which gives them a lot more than the factory Honda team. From a minnow team, they have become better than some of the bigger hitters in F1 and that is something for every F1 fan to tip a hat too, especially finishing in front of a McLaren on the lead lap.
Red Bull – C
The only thing that has kept Red Bull from become a presence in the top eight is the mechanical problems. They again affected DC not only with the gearbox issue, but with his brakes playing up in Qualifying. They were salvaging something from the weekend till they mucked up the call to bring Webber in and that cost them any chance of a decent result.
Toyota – D
Toyota had a tough weekend because not only did they have one driver with more than half a brain, they also had component failures over the kerbs in turn 8. This was destroying the running time that both Toyotas had. Trulli managed to get a decent qualifying position but a suspension failure brought an end to his race. They did get a point though, but that was through luck more than anything.
Toro Rosso – C-
They did not improve on their performance in Monaco and they seemed to slip further behind the eight ball. Both drivers did not finish the race with both having needless accidents so this did not help them, but their qualifying pace was down on what it was at Monaco so they were not much chance of a point once that happened.
Honda – D
Just like Toyota this Japanese outfit also had a tough weekend. The main cause of the poor weekend was the DNF of Button on the start line when his car would not get into gear and move. This was not Buttons fault but the fault of the software engineers at Honda. They also stuffed up by leaving Button out too long to make his final stop and only made a splash and dash, putting him from third to last.
Spyker – A-
A great improvement from Spyker this weekend as both cars managed to qualify within two seconds of the pole time, the first time this has ever happened for them. This hopefully means with the new car coming soon, that they will not only get closer to McLaren, but hopefully move them up the grid into the back of the midfield and make grid spots 21 and 22 be filled by other drivers.
Written by Ste3ve, Lita, Dylan, Braden - Edited by Steve Turn on Thu, 14 Jun 2007 11:17:48
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