After last years race, the F1 2012 Canadian Grand Prix has alot to live up to.
Teams put the work in despite mixed conditions to gain as much information as possible due to the tracks nature as harvesting the cars real potential, something which is very valuable for the teams this season.
Could we see 7 winners in 7 races? Read more to find out..
Canada is one of my, and many of the drivers, favourite circuits with its mixture of medium speed chicanes and long straights. Its a tough one for set up, do you focus on the straight line speed or cornering?
FP1
Free practice 1 began under cloudy skies and the odd spot of rain was not uncommon throughout the 1 hour 30 minute session.
Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets with a 1m15.564 for the troubled Mclaren team. Mclaren have always gone well round the water lined track but it was contrasting fortunes for Hamiltons team mate. Button had a very frustrating session as he was stuck in the garage for the majority of the session due to an oil leak.
Vettel set the 2nd fastest time on the supersofts ahead of Rosberg, Alonso and Webber. A late flurry of super soft runs due to the predicted rain in FP2 mean Hulkenberg vaulted up to 6th, with Kobayashi, Perez and Schumacher well into the top 10.
There were problems for many drivers on the green track. We saw a few spins and the grass received some frequent mowing but the red flag came out with 40 minutes remaining. This was because Kovalainen crashed at the exit of the 3rd chicane, scattering debris across the track. Cars also had close run in's with squirrels and foxes.
FP2
Hamilton set the pace in the second 1 hour 30 minute session of Practice for the Canadian Grand Prix. His best time of 1m15.259 was just 0.050 seconds faster than Fernando Alonso.
Alonso was closely followed by Felipe Massa as it seems Ferrari found the pace. Red Bull and Force India looked strong too, comfortably within the top 10. Jenson Button had to stay in the pits as the Mclaren team fixed his oil leak, but the Brit did emerge with 20 minutes left for some short runs on both tyre compounds.
The threat of rain, which eventually fizzled away, meant it was a busy session. The Montreal circuit is notorious for its slippery surface and many drivers struggled. Alonso went for a spin at the 3rd of 4 chicanes on the circuit as many went off track.
Bruno Senna crashed into the wall of champions, ruining his brand new rear wing. It seemed with 40 minutes of the session left he ran too much speed into the final chicane,the rear stepped out and he hit the barrier. It red flagged the session for 15 minutes.
However despite Buttons miserable day he can be reassured by Hamilton's strong pace.
FP3
Sebastian Vettel topped the time sheets in the final 1 hour session of practice for the Canadian Grand Prix. His best time of 1m14.442, one of 22 timed laps, was just 0.006 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber finished 3rd and 4th, both just below 3 tenths off. Impressively enough the top 16 were within 1 second of Vettel's time. Maldonado, Massa, Schumacher, Grosjean followed close behind. Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10.
Drivers still struggled on a green track after Fridays rubber was washed away due to heavy rain. The drivers mixed long runs with qualifying simulations.
Jenson Button got some much needed running in on both tyre compounds but his off-sync schedule left him 15th. At least he got some laps in, Nico Rosberg's Mercedes ground to a halt on his first installation lap, just 5 minutes in to FP3.
The session shows that qualifying will be close, but who will get pole? Read on to find out.
Qualifying
Sebastian Vettel put the controversial Red Bull RB8 on pole position and claimed the 32nd of his whole career.
The young German, who dominated Q1 and Q2 as well, set a time of 1m13.784 on the super soft tyres in the last 10 minute session. Despite last gasp efforts from Hamilton, who went 2nd 3 tenths off, and Alonso close behind in 3rd the double world champion was streaks ahead of the rest.
Mark Webber trailed his team mate by 5 tenths in 4th, with Rosberg and Massa both within 7 tenths of pole position. Grosjean, Di Resta and Schumacher followed and Jenson Button set a time of 1m15.182 to go 10th. It was a difficult session and he just scraped through to Q3, but his time was set on the soft tyres.
Button only just went through to Q3 due to a mistake by Pastor Maldonado on his and the final lap of the Qualifying 2 session. He hit the wall of champions when he was 1 tenth up on getting into Q3 but broke something at the rear of the Williams FW34. Lining up 11th and with choice of tyres was Kobayashi, closely followed by Raikkonen and Hulkenberg. Ricciardo out qualified his team mate in 14th ahead of Sergio Perez and Senna.
Maldonado's mistake meant he will line up 17th as he did not finish his final, faster, run.
The first qualifying saw the usual suspects in the drop zone. Heikki Kovalainen qualified 18th and edged closer to the Q2 spot, with his team mate Petrov a few tenths behind.
Jean-Eric Vergne yet again found himself below 17th position and out after just 20 minutes of driving. He was out qualified by the Caterham cars and just did not find the pace. Pedro De La Rosa stepped up and bettered both Marussia's, Glock will start 22nd and Pic 23rd. Karthikeyan backs the field up.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m13.784s
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m14.087s + 0.303
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m14.151s + 0.367
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m14.346s + 0.562
5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m14.411s + 0.627
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m14.465s + 0.681
7. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m14.645s + 0.861
8. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m14.705s + 0.921
9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m14.812s + 1.028
10. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.182s + 1.398
Q2 cut-off time: 1m14.680s Gap **
11. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m14.688s + 0.501
12. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m14.734s + 0.547
13. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m14.748s + 0.561
14. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m15.078s + 0.891
15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m15.156s + 0.969
16. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m15.170s + 0.983
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m15.231s + 1.044
Q1 cut-off time: 1m15.552s Gap *
18. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m16.263s + 1.602
19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m16.482s + 1.821
20. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m16.602s + 1.941
21. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m17.492s + 2.831
22. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m17.901s + 3.240
23. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m18.255s + 3.594
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m18.330s + 3.669
The Race
Lewis Hamilton took his debut 2012 victory and made F1 history, becoming the 7th person to win in 7 races. The Mclaren driver praised his team on the strategy, a 2 stop strategy which differed to those around him. His team then returned the compliment, explaining that despite the added stop he soon made up the difference.
Hamilton had qualified behind Vettel on the front row. He had a decent start to maintain position and began to close in on the German. He managed to leapfrog Sebastian at the first stop but then fell behind Alonso when the Spanish racer took his first pit stop. With cold tyres Fernando was a sitting duck and, with the help of DRS, Hamilton soon swept past on the back straight. Hamilton swiftly pulled away and carried on extending the gap to the Ferrari driver. He took his 2nd stop, expecting the cars behind to follow him in. However that was not the case as Vettel and Alonso attempted a 1 stop strategy. Unfortunately Hamilton's blinding speed after his stop meant that, with 11 laps remaining, he soon closed in. When Alonso and Vettel found the "cliff" on the Pirelli rubber Hamilton was there to pounce and leaped into the lead. He crossed the line to take his first 2012 win and made history.
Romain Grosjean kept under the radar in the opening stint of the race, conserving his tyres. He managed the 1 stop strategy well and found impressive grip and life in his tyres towards the end of the race. He came into play when Hamilton pitted and Vettel's failed attempt at a 1 stop strategy meant Grosjean moved forward. He then easily disposed of Alonso to take his 2nd podium of the year. This feat was also mimicked by Sergio Perez who ran a similar strategy to take 3rd, overtaking Alonso perilously close to the end of the race. Vettel ended up ditching his 1 stopper and pitted for a quick burst of speed. Thanks to the fresh rubber the double world champion progressed past the struggling Alonso for 4th. Alonso came across the line in 5th place with rapidly deteriorating tyres. Rosberg was close behind, as was Webber. Those two had made the choice of a 2 stop strategy but it did not pay off.
Raikkonen also attempted a 1 stop strategy but fell back towards the end. Kobayashi took 9th place behind Raikkonen and Felipe Massa took the last point. After a promising qualifying session and a good first few laps, Felipe threw it all away by spinning at turn 1. He dropped back but recovered well to claim the last point. He finished ahead of Paul Di Resta, who had ran as high as 5th early on. An early stop left him out of sync and he struggled to make up the lost time. He finished just ahead of his team mate Nico Hulkenberg. Maldonado progressed to 13th by the chequered flag despite starting in 20th. Ricciardo was the last man not to be lapped in 14th.
15th place was claimed by Jean-Eric Vergne. His race contrasted heavily with fellow Frenchman Grosjean. He received a drive through for speeding in the pit lane and was off the pace. However languishing in 16th and extremely disappointed was Jenson Button. He had a massive set back on Friday when he lost nearly all of practice due to an oil leak. That put him on the back foot and left him with a bad set up for the race. He could not get the tyres to work and found the degradation higher than usual. It was a shame for the Brit after such a spirited driver 12 months earlier.
Senna ended a poor weekend for Williams in 17th, a lap down. The two Caterham's had good starts but soon fell back, with Kovalainen and Petrov finishing close together in 18th and 19th. Pic was the last of the finishers in 20th.
Unable to finish were Glock in the Marussia, Schumacher in the Mercedes and both HRT cars. Karthikeyan was the first to retire as he stopped on track at turn 4. Schumacher had a bizarre DRS failure where it failed to close. The team chose to retire the car before the black and orange flag was shown.
It was mixed fortunes for Mclaren but the smile was back on Hamilton's face after a difficult 2011 and a win less 6 races in 2012, but Lewis was back on top at a circuit which holds so many great memories for the British racer.
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h32:29.586
2. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 2.513
3. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 5.260
4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 7.295
5. Alonso Ferrari + 13.411
6. Rosberg Mercedes + 13.842
7. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 15.085
8. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 15.567
9. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 24.432
10. Massa Ferrari + 25.272
11. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 37.693
12. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 46.236
13. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 47.052
14. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:04.475
15. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
16. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 1 lap
17. Senna Williams-Renault + 1 lap
18. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
19. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
20. Pic Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps
Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:15.752
Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap
Glock Marussia-Cosworth 57
Schumacher Mercedes 34
De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 25
Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 23
 |
| (c) Octane Photographic |
Could we see 7 winners in 7 races? Read more to find out..
Canada is one of my, and many of the drivers, favourite circuits with its mixture of medium speed chicanes and long straights. Its a tough one for set up, do you focus on the straight line speed or cornering?
FP1
Free practice 1 began under cloudy skies and the odd spot of rain was not uncommon throughout the 1 hour 30 minute session.
Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets with a 1m15.564 for the troubled Mclaren team. Mclaren have always gone well round the water lined track but it was contrasting fortunes for Hamiltons team mate. Button had a very frustrating session as he was stuck in the garage for the majority of the session due to an oil leak.
Vettel set the 2nd fastest time on the supersofts ahead of Rosberg, Alonso and Webber. A late flurry of super soft runs due to the predicted rain in FP2 mean Hulkenberg vaulted up to 6th, with Kobayashi, Perez and Schumacher well into the top 10.
There were problems for many drivers on the green track. We saw a few spins and the grass received some frequent mowing but the red flag came out with 40 minutes remaining. This was because Kovalainen crashed at the exit of the 3rd chicane, scattering debris across the track. Cars also had close run in's with squirrels and foxes.
FP2
Hamilton set the pace in the second 1 hour 30 minute session of Practice for the Canadian Grand Prix. His best time of 1m15.259 was just 0.050 seconds faster than Fernando Alonso.
Alonso was closely followed by Felipe Massa as it seems Ferrari found the pace. Red Bull and Force India looked strong too, comfortably within the top 10. Jenson Button had to stay in the pits as the Mclaren team fixed his oil leak, but the Brit did emerge with 20 minutes left for some short runs on both tyre compounds.
The threat of rain, which eventually fizzled away, meant it was a busy session. The Montreal circuit is notorious for its slippery surface and many drivers struggled. Alonso went for a spin at the 3rd of 4 chicanes on the circuit as many went off track.
However despite Buttons miserable day he can be reassured by Hamilton's strong pace.
FP3
Sebastian Vettel topped the time sheets in the final 1 hour session of practice for the Canadian Grand Prix. His best time of 1m14.442, one of 22 timed laps, was just 0.006 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber finished 3rd and 4th, both just below 3 tenths off. Impressively enough the top 16 were within 1 second of Vettel's time. Maldonado, Massa, Schumacher, Grosjean followed close behind. Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10.
Drivers still struggled on a green track after Fridays rubber was washed away due to heavy rain. The drivers mixed long runs with qualifying simulations.
Jenson Button got some much needed running in on both tyre compounds but his off-sync schedule left him 15th. At least he got some laps in, Nico Rosberg's Mercedes ground to a halt on his first installation lap, just 5 minutes in to FP3.
The session shows that qualifying will be close, but who will get pole? Read on to find out.
Qualifying
Sebastian Vettel put the controversial Red Bull RB8 on pole position and claimed the 32nd of his whole career.
The young German, who dominated Q1 and Q2 as well, set a time of 1m13.784 on the super soft tyres in the last 10 minute session. Despite last gasp efforts from Hamilton, who went 2nd 3 tenths off, and Alonso close behind in 3rd the double world champion was streaks ahead of the rest.
Mark Webber trailed his team mate by 5 tenths in 4th, with Rosberg and Massa both within 7 tenths of pole position. Grosjean, Di Resta and Schumacher followed and Jenson Button set a time of 1m15.182 to go 10th. It was a difficult session and he just scraped through to Q3, but his time was set on the soft tyres.
Maldonado's mistake meant he will line up 17th as he did not finish his final, faster, run.
The first qualifying saw the usual suspects in the drop zone. Heikki Kovalainen qualified 18th and edged closer to the Q2 spot, with his team mate Petrov a few tenths behind.
Jean-Eric Vergne yet again found himself below 17th position and out after just 20 minutes of driving. He was out qualified by the Caterham cars and just did not find the pace. Pedro De La Rosa stepped up and bettered both Marussia's, Glock will start 22nd and Pic 23rd. Karthikeyan backs the field up.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m13.784s
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m14.087s + 0.303
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m14.151s + 0.367
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m14.346s + 0.562
5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m14.411s + 0.627
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m14.465s + 0.681
7. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m14.645s + 0.861
8. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m14.705s + 0.921
9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m14.812s + 1.028
10. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.182s + 1.398
Q2 cut-off time: 1m14.680s Gap **
11. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m14.688s + 0.501
12. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m14.734s + 0.547
13. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m14.748s + 0.561
14. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m15.078s + 0.891
15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m15.156s + 0.969
16. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m15.170s + 0.983
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m15.231s + 1.044
Q1 cut-off time: 1m15.552s Gap *
18. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m16.263s + 1.602
19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m16.482s + 1.821
20. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m16.602s + 1.941
21. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m17.492s + 2.831
22. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m17.901s + 3.240
23. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m18.255s + 3.594
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m18.330s + 3.669
The Race
Lewis Hamilton becomes the 7th winner in 7 races
Hamilton had qualified behind Vettel on the front row. He had a decent start to maintain position and began to close in on the German. He managed to leapfrog Sebastian at the first stop but then fell behind Alonso when the Spanish racer took his first pit stop. With cold tyres Fernando was a sitting duck and, with the help of DRS, Hamilton soon swept past on the back straight. Hamilton swiftly pulled away and carried on extending the gap to the Ferrari driver. He took his 2nd stop, expecting the cars behind to follow him in. However that was not the case as Vettel and Alonso attempted a 1 stop strategy. Unfortunately Hamilton's blinding speed after his stop meant that, with 11 laps remaining, he soon closed in. When Alonso and Vettel found the "cliff" on the Pirelli rubber Hamilton was there to pounce and leaped into the lead. He crossed the line to take his first 2012 win and made history.
Romain Grosjean kept under the radar in the opening stint of the race, conserving his tyres. He managed the 1 stop strategy well and found impressive grip and life in his tyres towards the end of the race. He came into play when Hamilton pitted and Vettel's failed attempt at a 1 stop strategy meant Grosjean moved forward. He then easily disposed of Alonso to take his 2nd podium of the year. This feat was also mimicked by Sergio Perez who ran a similar strategy to take 3rd, overtaking Alonso perilously close to the end of the race. Vettel ended up ditching his 1 stopper and pitted for a quick burst of speed. Thanks to the fresh rubber the double world champion progressed past the struggling Alonso for 4th. Alonso came across the line in 5th place with rapidly deteriorating tyres. Rosberg was close behind, as was Webber. Those two had made the choice of a 2 stop strategy but it did not pay off.
Raikkonen also attempted a 1 stop strategy but fell back towards the end. Kobayashi took 9th place behind Raikkonen and Felipe Massa took the last point. After a promising qualifying session and a good first few laps, Felipe threw it all away by spinning at turn 1. He dropped back but recovered well to claim the last point. He finished ahead of Paul Di Resta, who had ran as high as 5th early on. An early stop left him out of sync and he struggled to make up the lost time. He finished just ahead of his team mate Nico Hulkenberg. Maldonado progressed to 13th by the chequered flag despite starting in 20th. Ricciardo was the last man not to be lapped in 14th.
15th place was claimed by Jean-Eric Vergne. His race contrasted heavily with fellow Frenchman Grosjean. He received a drive through for speeding in the pit lane and was off the pace. However languishing in 16th and extremely disappointed was Jenson Button. He had a massive set back on Friday when he lost nearly all of practice due to an oil leak. That put him on the back foot and left him with a bad set up for the race. He could not get the tyres to work and found the degradation higher than usual. It was a shame for the Brit after such a spirited driver 12 months earlier.
Senna ended a poor weekend for Williams in 17th, a lap down. The two Caterham's had good starts but soon fell back, with Kovalainen and Petrov finishing close together in 18th and 19th. Pic was the last of the finishers in 20th.
Unable to finish were Glock in the Marussia, Schumacher in the Mercedes and both HRT cars. Karthikeyan was the first to retire as he stopped on track at turn 4. Schumacher had a bizarre DRS failure where it failed to close. The team chose to retire the car before the black and orange flag was shown.
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h32:29.586
2. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 2.513
3. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 5.260
4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 7.295
5. Alonso Ferrari + 13.411
6. Rosberg Mercedes + 13.842
7. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 15.085
8. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 15.567
9. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 24.432
10. Massa Ferrari + 25.272
11. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 37.693
12. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 46.236
13. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 47.052
14. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:04.475
15. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
16. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 1 lap
17. Senna Williams-Renault + 1 lap
18. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
19. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
20. Pic Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps
Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:15.752
Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap
Glock Marussia-Cosworth 57
Schumacher Mercedes 34
De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 25
Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 23
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