A.Wayne

Montreal Shows Off New F1 Paddock
2 06 2008

The Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal has reason to be proud of itself this weekend, as it has unveiled its new flagship paddock.

At a cost of £3 million the new paddock is bigger, larger garages and a completly revamped media centre. This idea was to make it easier for teams and drivers to work, as before the garages were very small and items were stacked out the back of the garages leaving mechanics swarming around huge parts bins!

The trackl is on the Ilse-Notre Dame and thus is challenged for space.

“We have had to live with a site that presented a lot of challenges with the space available to handle everything involved around a Formula One race.” said Normand Legault, president and CEO of the Canadian Grand Prix,

“And that’s why today I am very proud of what we have achieved for our great event next weekend.

“So, I would like to thank our team for the superb work they have accomplished inside the very limited area. They succeeded brilliantly, and in a short period of time, to maximize the limited spaces still available on this section of Ile Notre-Dame.”

ltc

Sir A. Wayne is back.

f8vr993

A. Wayne, you're the BEST!!!!
"Go! Alonso...."

ltc

Hmmn, prac/qual coverage on SpeedTV.

Race coverage on FOX? Hopefully just the SpeedTV crew doing the commentary with FOX providing the HD equipment........hopefully

ltc

Oh, don't worry, Alonso will be going somewhere......not to the podium of course, but definitely to another team, after Renault fails to live up to his expectations.

He is the F1 version of Danica

A.Wayne

Yeah right !

It will be interesting to see how Kubica handle's his return to canada. Hopefully no incidents this year ........................................

Canadian Grand Prix preview quotes

With the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit’s challenging layout and Montreal’s welcoming atmosphere, the Canadian Grand Prix is a firm favourite with many of the Formula One drivers and their teams. Here they explain why - and reveal how they think they'll fare over the race weekend...


Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
2007 Qualifying - 1st, 2007 Race - 1st

“The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is one of my favourite tracks and following my debut win there last year it is a very special place for me and I hope that we will be quick there again this year. It is renowned for its difficult track surfaces, particularly with tyre graining, and the walls. Despite being very fast, it can feel like a street circuit with the barriers very close, but it is good fun to drive at and I am looking forward to getting back there.

“There is always a lot of graining at this track and because it is only used one a year, it is very dirty when we first start running. That soon clears up on the racing line, but this dirt and the marbles from the graining make it very slippery off-line. Mechanical grip is key. You also need a well balanced car that doesn’t oversteer - but that is not as easy as it might sound! You have to really make a compromise on corner entry, particularly those after the long straights. This means your time through the corner will be faster.

"Last year in Canada was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life, to take my maiden pole and victory in Formula One was incredible. It would be great to go back there and do the same, and that is what we are working hard to achieve. Since then I think I’ve matured a lot, I think I have grown stronger as a driver and have become closer to the team."

Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber
2007 Qualifying - 8th, 2007 Race - DNF

“I am looking forward to the next race in Montreal. It is a special one, as it is a very nice city and the fans there are really enthusiastic. The entire city lives Formula One over the GP weekend. Montreal has a completely different track characteristic than the last race in Monaco. Montreal is a relatively low-downforce track. I like the track because there is a lot of heavy braking and stop-and-go. It is very important in Montreal to have good traction to exit the slow corners perfectly. We have to take care especially in the beginning of the weekend: the track then has very low grip as it is no permanent race track. Although I had a very big accident there in 2007, Montreal is one of my favourite tracks.”


Fernando Alonso, Renault
2007 Qualifying - 2nd, 2007 Race - 7th
“There is always a good atmosphere in Montreal. The whole city gets involved in the Grand Prix and it's clear that Canadians like motor sport and particularly F1, which makes it a very enjoyable race. I won the Grand Prix in 2006, so I have some happy memories, and I'm sure that this year we will have another interesting race. We must pay special attention to brake cooling and managing them in the race will be very important. But it's not something I'm worried about, and we will work on this in free practice on Friday. Overall I think that the R28 should work well.”

More: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/5/7860.html

A.Wayne

Here let me help you !

A.Wayne

F1-live.com

Nelson Piquet, David Coulthard and Sebastian Vettel could be at the centre of an elaborate and imminent musical-chairs scenario.

The Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell on Monday published speculation that the trio might be subject to the reshuffle following Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix.

Stage one of the rearrangement, according to the rumour, would be the replacement of rookie Piquet - who has struggled in the high profile Renault seat so far this season - by F1 veteran Coulthard, who currently drives for Renault-powered Red Bull.

22-year-old Piquet, meanwhile, would be slotted into Vettel's Toro Rosso seat, with the burgeoning German to fill Coulthard's vacant spot at parent outfit RBR.


The publication explained that Piquet's move to Toro Rosso would enable the Brazilian to develop as a Grand Prix driver in a lower-pressure environment.

The rumour assumes that Vettel and Piquet will then stay in their respective new seats in 2009, while Coulthard steps into retirement.

multi21

It looks like he's the mechanic in that photo. He's probably working undercover to extract some more information from F.

ltc

Perhaps Fernando Alonso paid for Max's hookers.......nah, blackmail is WAY beneath someone with such high ethical standards as Fernando Alosnso.

I can see Kimi waking up one morning and saying "I'm done" and retiring.....at that point I could see Fernando ending up at Ferrari, followed by the demise of the Ferrari team and them regressing to what they were before Schumacher arrived.

A.Wayne

autosport.com

By Jonathan Noble Wednesday, June 4th 2008, 09:32 GMT

Canadian Grand Prix officials have made modifications to the wall where Robert Kubica crashed spectacularly in last year's race in a bid to prevent a similar accident this time around.

Kubica smashed into the concrete wall on the run down to the hairpin after losing his front wing in a collision with Jarno Trulli in the 2007 event, and the FIA and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve officials have since evaluated what could be done to improve safety for this year's race.

In the end, it was decided that the best thing would be to move the wall closer to the track - to ensure that any angle of impact is much less should another car go off in a similar accident.

Furthermore, improved debris fencing has been added in a bid to ensure that should a car get launched into the air like Kubica's last year , then it will not endanger cars heading out of the hairpin on the other side of the wall.

Kubica himself has said that he feels no special feelings about returning to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after last year's accident.

When asked by autosport.com if there will be any emotions when he hit the track again in Canada, Kubica said: "I don't think so. Like always at every grand prix I will try to do my best. And after the accident of last year there will be no effect – there was no effect until now."

A.Wayne

Monaco video and Changes being carried into the Montreal GP http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/


Kimi clam heading to Montreal http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...04112512.shtml

mdrums

Gawd, I should have never given you at picture of Big Head Fred.

A.Wayne

Looks like another wet one , even Qualy might be wet .

MONTREAL FORECAST
Today Hi 24°C / 75°F
Partly Cloudy Lo 11°C / 51°F

Tomorrow Hi 28°C / 83°F
Heavy T-storms Lo 17°C / 62°F

Saturday Hi 30°C / 86°F
T-storms Lo 17°C / 62°F

Sunday Hi 30°C / 86°F
T-storms Lo 17°C / 63°F




The Canadian Grand Prix Preview - hunting the hat trick

Back in the lead of the world championship after his victory in Monaco, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is determined to become 2008’s first three-time winner on the circuit at which he took his maiden Grand Prix triumph last season, as the Formula One circus moves to Canada.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa are similarly searching for their third victory of the season and after the Italian team’s disappointing Monte Carlo result, both will be out to make amends at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

“Winning at Monaco is the highlight of my career, it was a very emotional victory for me as it is something I have dreamed of since I was a kid,” says Hamilton. “I will never forget the moment, but now my only focus is Canada. We have good momentum right now and we are pushing to keep that going and to keep developing.

“The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is one of my favourite tracks and following last year it is a very special place for me. I hope that we will be quick there again this year. It is renowned for its difficult track surfaces, particularly with tyre graining, and the walls. Despite being very fast, it can feel like a street circuit with the barriers very close, but it is good fun to drive.”

Twelve months on from his first pole position and victory, Hamilton reflected recently on how his career has developed.

“Last year in Canada was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life, to take my maiden pole and victory in Formula One was incredible. Since then I think I’ve matured a lot. I have grown stronger as a driver and have become closer to the team.”

Similar things might be said of Massa, who is beginning to emerge as a real force at Ferrari. “I think we have gone very well in the recent test at Paul Ricard, with the car set-up for Canada,” the Brazilian says. “I think we will be a lot better there than we were last year, and I think we can fight for the win.”

Team mate Kimi Raikkonen, who won in Montreal for McLaren in 2005, needs a strong result after Monaco. He is convinced the F2008 will work better than last year around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, when Ferrari had a relatively poor Canadian Grand Prix, with the Finn taking fifth place and Massa being disqualified for a pit lane infringement.

“Traditionally Canada is a good race for Ferrari,” says Raikkonen, “so let's hope that we can continue this tradition. It's possible to have strange races there, too, because it's very possible that the safety car will be employed, but we're ready for every kind of situation.”

Meanwhile, the BMW Sauber pairing of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld (a podium finisher here in 2007), are also hungry, the German-Swiss team currently just a point shy of second-placed McLaren in the constructor standings.

"Last year's race was very special for me,” Heidfeld says. “We put in a very strong showing in 2007. I came third in qualifying and finished second in the race on my own merit. Initially that result was obviously overshadowed by Robert's accident. Only when we knew he was okay were we able to celebrate.”

The Pole says that he has no qualms about the place despite the massive accident that befell him here in 2007.

“I don't think there will be any emotions for me,” he says. “Like always at every Grand Prix I will try to do my best. And after the accident of last year there was no effect - there was no effect until now so I don’t expect anything.”

The teams always run low downforce here because of the long straights, so mechanical grip becomes even more important. Brake performance and durability is also critical, as this is the toughest circuit of the season in that respect.

"It is very heavy on the brakes and we have to pay special attention to make sure they last the race,” says Heikki Kovalainen, who will be looking for his first victory with McLaren. “It is also definitely key to a good lap at this track to be able to ride the kerbs well; basically you are trying to straight-line them so you can go faster through the corner. The most important thing is being able to take those bumps and the hits well and for it not to disrupt the car too much. So in general the car needs to be quite soft."

The track has been modified at the point on the back straight where Kubica crashed. The wall that he hit on the outside has been moved closer to the track to reduce the angle of impact if a car goes off there in a similar accident. Improved debris fencing has also been added to reduce the possibility of debris being thrown across the wall into the path of cars exiting the hairpin.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve gets little use during the year so the surface tends to be very slippery until it cleans up with use and ‘rubbers in’. Thereafter, the grip level increases significantly.

Bridgestone will have their soft and super-soft tyres again, as in Monaco, but the indications from the weather forecasts are that they may well need their wet-weather rubber instead. A chance of thunderstorms is predicted for all three racing days.

Canadian GP Past Winners

2008 Montreal
2007 Montreal L. Hamilton
2006 Montreal F. Alonso
2005 Montreal K. Raikkonen


07 qualy:


1 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.576 1:15.486 1:15.707 18
2 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.562 1:15.522 1:16.163 18
3 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:17.006 1:15.960 1:16.266 23
4 6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:16.468 1:16.592 1:16.411 21
5 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:16.756 1:16.138 1:16.570 19
6 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:17.315 1:16.257 1:16.913 23
7 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:17.016 1:16.190 1:16.919 24
8 10 Robert Kubica BMW 1:17.267 1:16.368 1:16.993 26
9 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:16.805 1:16.288 1:17.229 24
10 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota

MTosi

Is that a tire wall I see on the champions wall !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not cool