Canadian GP race day

[Tension_36th]

Mclaren had the pace and the right calls on strategy even after loosing the lead. Redbull threw away their good call on the strategy in qualifying by not getting their men in for stops when thy built the gap. They got complacent and then started to loose the gap they built. They were easily quicker than everyone even Mclaren at times.

Alonso gave two positions in the same way with backmarkers involved, racecraft was poor, but straight line speed was what saved him from loosing pace. In the corners the Mclaren were simply faster.

This is the end of these sort of tracks. Redbull will be back on top in the next race onwards. Monza is the next track that will favor Mclarens strongly.

[icegirljenni]

Congratulation to Fernando

for RBR, never ending problem and whats with Webber pit stop? what a strategy..

Mclaren doing great, but in term of pace, RBR still excel today, when will they gonna get rid all this stupid bad luck?

but over all not so boring race, quite impress in way... we have many incidents and so on, so well at least am not fall asleep now 30mins to wait for Germany vs Australia

[WiTcH]

Canada is most of the times a very interesting race. Massa was at his own planet for the whole race. But reallly, what was Ferrari thinking? Two more years contract? Really?????
Well done to Fernando! He was really good and steady. Showed good performance.
If there were some more laps, the McLarens' tyres wouldn't be able to make it.
How many more problems will Vettel's car have until the end of the year? That is a good question for the next race. haha! It's a shame, cause he is a driver with potential...

---

And a quote from Fernando about the race:
''Fernando Alonso admitted he was happy with a welcome return to form after finishing third in the Canadian Grand Prix although he said he could have won the race.

Alonso, who finished behind Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, had been ahead of both Mclarens at different points in the race but let Hamilton through when caught trying to pass the slower Sebastien Buemi before Button pounced when he was behind Karun Chandhok's HRT.

"I think it was a good day for us, the car was very competitive here in Canada," said Alonso. "I had a good opportunity to win today, fighting with Lewis, we overtook him with a fantastic job in the pitlane.

"We were really close, we had some good fights and it was a good feeling for me to come back in a position to win the race, and being on the podium. We lost position with traffic and then lost another position - we lost 10 points with those from 25 to 15.

Following on from Ferrari's poor performance in Turkey, Alonso says the team is heading in the right direction for the races to come.

"It was a great recovery for the championship, we were 50 seconds behind McLaren in Turkey and fighting for the win here. We are moving in right direction here and I think we are back in the fight." ''

[Chrissie]

Yay for Fernando - agree with him that he could have won but for the backmarkers but he was right up there with Macca the whole race which gives me some small hope for the future (and thank goodness there were no major errors this weekend )

Yay for Canada - please don't take it away from us again Bernie A great race I thought, anyone could have won that - what in the world got into Red Bull though?? Very disappointing race for the team who seemingly had the best strategy at the start of the race Just a shame we're going to balance out that fantastic race with the absolutely snoresome affair that is Valencia

[TheProdigalSon]

Chrissie dare I say it, Alonso victory in Valencia? Well it doesn't seem as impossible anymore, especially with the *big update* coming. I read it's going to copy the exhaust system on the redbull which is worth half a second apperently. Fingers crossed it actually makes the car faster watever it is.

But great race from Fernando he could literaly taste victory but the backmarkers had to ruin everything. Alonso would have jumped Hamilton on the second pitstops if the lotus didn't hold him back and would have held on to second if the hispania hadn't taken such an unusual line. But no point looking back and thinking what if, the important thing is Alonso and Ferrari are back in business. Things should start falling Alonso's way soon

[alonso 4ever]

i enjoyed the race till the end.. (i was hoping to see another pit for ham!)

great race with a great result for fernando..

another 1-2 for the mclaren which i think some outside factors helped in a way (bad rbr strategy + the slow backmarkers)

finally seeing fernando back on the poduim was sooooooooooooo great

can't wait for the next race with all the improvements we were waiting for..

...............................

AND:

Michael Schumacher was not penalised for his part in a collision with Felipe Massa while racing for position towards the end of the Canadian Grand Prix.

Massa had a run on Schumacher into the final chicane, and attempted to go around the outside only for the Mercedes driver to cut back across him and retake the racing line. The pair made contact under braking, forcing Felipe Massa to skip the chicane and then pit for a new front wing on the next lap.

(http://en.espnf1.com/canada/motorsport/s...0339.html)

[WiTcH]

I don't know...I still think that Ferrari is not that much better than we think they are. This race had so many issues: wrong strategies, tyres being worn out reallly fast... And Fernando could have won, yes. But in Ferrari there is also Massa. And he seems far behind... Maybe it is just the driver, but they have the same car. They shouldn't have so much difference I think. And yes, it was great to see Fernando back on podium with his tiny, little cup he received for the third place. haha! Did you notice how he stayed away from the two McLaren drivers? He left them play with the champagne , while he went back to the podium and waited for them to come.

[Chrissie]

Yeah, Witch I think staying away from the Macca drivers was more to do with the fact that he wasn't in the mood for celebrating coz he thought he should've won (I also noticed that he took a big mouthful of champagne and then spat it right back out again while he was waiting for them to join him on the podium - disgusting Fernando )

I agree maybe we shouldn't get our hopes up too high about Ferrari's apparent return to form but I'm fed up of being depressed about the situation the whole time so I'm going to stick with optimism for now and join Mike in saying "Victory for Fernando in Valencia".....mmmm has a nice ring to it

After having watched the highlights of the race again yesterday, I'm really annoyed about that failed attempt to overtake Buemi that allowed Hamilton past - I think this is where he really lost the race. If he'd have just have been patient and waited for Buemi to pit 20 seconds later....

[icegirljenni]

(06-14-2010 07:54 PM)Chrissie Wrote:  (I also noticed that he took a big mouthful of champagne and then spat it right back out again while he was waiting for them to join him on the podium - disgusting Fernando )

He did another disgusting before during his career at Renault time i dont recall where but tension does told me in this podium celebrate where he use something to wipe something from nose , i really dun recall maybe tension can refresh my memory but yes thats Fernando

[Chrissie]

(06-13-2010 07:51 PM)Tension_36th Wrote:  Monza is the next track that will favor Mclarens strongly.

Noooooooo, say it ain't so, please, say it ain't so

I didn't buy tickets near the podium to watch the McLaren's standing on it


Maybe I should bring a sharp object with me and throw it at them while their national anthem is playing

[icegirljenni]

No you should bring a voodoo toy. To curse the pig and button, so they both will sped their time inside mclaren motorhome toilet

[maranellored]

A great race, actually in all of the 18 years I've been watching F1 it goes down as one of the best.

Alonso had his best drive in a while, but he let the McLarens through far too easily and that's probably down to him not wanting to make anymore mistakes.

As for Valencia......we'll see. The BBC are hyping the updates but I'm a cynic....nay...a REALIST so I don't quite believe everything I read!

Quote:By Mark Hughes
BBC F1 commentary box producer


Fernando Alonso's third place in Canada might have been a victory were it not for Jarno Trulli's Lotus being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But any disappointment at Ferrari might be very short-lived - because they have something up their sleeve for the next race that might just catapult them to the front.

The car with which Alonso was fighting for victory in Montreal was virtually identical to that which had qualified eighth and 12th, 0.7 seconds off the pace, in Turkey two weeks ago.

The very different characteristics of the two tracks is the only explanation for the car's wildly differing form.

At Istanbul, the Ferrari was losing almost 0.5secs to the Red Bulls through the fast Turn Eight, whereas
at Montreal there are no fast corners, only long straights connected by slow turns.

The Ferrari has very good "mechanical" grip - ie grip derived not from aerodynamic downforce but the mechanical qualities associated with its suspension geometry and kinematics, braking, traction and general dynamics that dominate at low speeds.

This was pretty much all that was required for Alonso to have the tool at his disposal to dissect the tricky track's demands.

Could he have won without the untimely baulking by the Lotus just as he was set to leapfrog past Lewis Hamilton?

That's open to debate but he would almost certainly have passed the McLaren at that point. Whether he could have remained in front for the duration of the race is less certain.

With Alonso hot on Hamilton's tail, McLaren had brought their man in on lap 26. Usually, whichever guy comes in first is at a strategic advantage, in that he will be on his fresh tyres while his opponent is still on the worn ones.


Alonso happy with third after difficult race
At Montreal that was not the case because the medium compound tyres were taking about three laps before they came up to full working temperature.

So as Hamilton rejoined he was unable to lap particularly quickly. Alonso, by contrast, had kept his tyres in great shape and, with the McLaren out of the way, was now flying.

With Hamilton lapping in the one minute, 21 seconds as his tyres came up to temperature, Alonso reeled off a 1min 19secs, already enough to have cleared the McLaren, and it was as he was maintaining that hot pace on his in-lap that Trulli got in the way through turns six-seven, costing Alonso about two seconds. The near-certainty of passing the McLaren had gone.

Later Alonso lost even his second place to more traffic - Hispania's Karun Chandhok checking the Ferrari's momentum and allowing Jenson Button by.

But Button had already been putting a lot of pressure on and the fact that at this stage of the race Button was clearly quicker than Alonso poses the question of whether Alonso would have had the pace to have remained in front of Hamilton even if he had managed to get ahead at the stops.

Maybe he could have hung on but it would have been a case of controlling the combative Hamilton in a faster car at a track where passing is possible. Possible but not easy.


Hamilton delighted after 'sensational' win
Valencia's demands are similar to those of Montreal, although it does demand a little more downforce. So the Ferrari should be set to be competitive again anyway.

But it is likely to be even more so, given that it receives a major aerodynamic upgrade that the team is very excited about based on what they have seen in the wind tunnel. Central to this is a new Red Bull-like exhaust-blown rear end.
It is widely believed that an intrinsic part of the Red Bull's stunning performance to date has been this feature, wherein the exhaust gas scavenges the airflow around the diffuser and rear beam wing much faster and more efficiently.

Rumours are that it is worth as much as 0.7secs per lap - coincidentally about the average qualifying deficit Ferrari has had to Red Bull to date.

Ferrari are said to have been staggered when they saw in the tunnel just how much this feature improved things.

Alonso is 15 points behind Hamilton, with Sebastian Vettel a further four adrift. If that sounds a lot, it is worth remembering that 15 points is what you get for a third place

Other teams are also working on their own versions - with McLaren, Renault and Williams expected to introduce their versions at Silverstone but that gives Ferrari a one race head start.

If it all works as well as the tunnels suggests and Red Bull cannot find a similarly sized chunk from a car that already has this feature, we could well be looking at a very serious title challenge from Ferrari into the second half of the season

Mark Hughes@BBCF1

[Chrissie]

Ah, I'll join you on the cynical, I mean, realist bench there maranellored...I mean an improvement by 7 tenths with one update - I'll believe it when I see it

[Jam_Van_Dam]

Alonso was unlucky with backmarkers twice, however with Buemi he was just plain stupid. All he had to do was stay on the racing line and he would have overtook buemi on the long straight but instead he goes round the outside which results in him being force wide and Hamilton getting through. I really dont understand i saw this coming why couldnt Alonso.

Schumacher should have got a penatly, he will never change.

[Tension_36th]

Marks huges is a wannabe F1-tech idiot. All of it rubbish. This moron should stick to reporting, not make pseudo-science mumbo jumbo The Exhausts dont help in gaining even 0.4secs per lap. It only helps on straights to get more downforce so you can run less wing, But you loose more in the corners because of this.

I have explained what to expect of this system in the technical section of the forums ->here<- and ->here<-. Redbull's secret has nothing to do with this at all.

These fools started off with nonsense about active ride height which proved to be utter bullshit. They started this off as "it is believed to be the reason...." Now it is the exhausts, again "it is believed to be the reason..."

Ferrari were so happy about their 2005 car and they turn out to be laughing turkeys. Then same happened in 2009, big rule changes and gloating that they have the best group of people working on it. Teams will all sing nice tunes when they are developing. Look at Mercedes, they claim they can catch Redbull in 2010. Thats som nice stuff you are smoking there Ross Brawn, how was it made? From burnt F1 tyres?

The real threat Redbull have to fear and they do is Mclaren, no one else will matter the rest are garbage at this stage.

[Chrissie]

Quote:Chandhok wants to apologise to Fernando Alonso
Karun Chandhok has said that he feels responsible for ruining Fernando Alonso's race at the Grand Prix of Canada and wants to ask for forgiveness from the Spaniard. The Indian believes that if he had not gotten in the way of Alonso, Alonso would have gone on to beat both McLarens and win the race.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Chandhok said that he was happy with his performance on the track but regretted what happened with the double world champion. "Near the end of the race, Alonso lost some time behind me and that allowed Jenson Button to pass him. It was a shame for him but I didn't know that Jenson was behind him", he said.

Despite recent criticism from the Ferrari president, Luca di Montezemelo, that the new teams couldn't compete with the bigger teams, the Indian praised Alonso's attitude towards the new teams.

"Fernando is one of the drivers who is more sympathetic to the difference in pace to the newer teams. I tried to talk with him after the race but I couldn't. In Valencia, I will talk to him", he added.

A bit of a non-story really, I just thought that it was decent of Karun to say, if not a little bit unnecessary