10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview - Canada.

[Super Tourer]

In the latest of our previews we look ahead to the Canadian Grand Prix.


10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview – Canadian Grand Prix – 13th June 2004.

The Gilles Villeneuve Circuit – Montreal.



2003 RACE RESULT – 70 Laps


1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 70 1:31:13.59

2 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 70 +0.7 secs

3 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 70 +1.3 secs

4 Fernando Alonso Renault 70 +4.4 secs

5 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 70 +64.2 secs

6 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 70 +70.5 secs

7 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 69 +1 Lap

8 Olivier Panis Toyota 69 +1 Lap

9 Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 68 +2 Laps

10 Antonio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 64 +4 Laps

11 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 64 +6 Laps


Ret Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth Lap 60 Gearbox

Ret Jenson Button BAR-Honda Lap 51 Gearbox

Ret David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes Lap 47 Gearbox

Ret Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas Lap 47 Engine

Ret Jarno Trulli Renault Lap 22 Accident

Ret Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford Lap 20 Gearbox

Ret Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford Lap 20 Engine

Ret Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda Lap 14 Brakes

Ret Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas Lap 6 Electrical

Fastest Lap: Fernando Alonso 1'16.040

Official Result


2003 GRID

1 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:15.529

2 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:15.923

3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:16.047

4 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:16.048

5 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:16.143

6 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:16.182

7 Olivier Panis Toyota 1:16.598

8 Jarno Trulli Renault 1:16.718

9 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:16.826

10 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 1:16.939

11 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.024

12 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:17.086

13 Antonio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 1:17.337

14 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:17.347

15 Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 1:18.014

16 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 1:18.036

17 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:18.205

18 Justin Wilson Minardi-Cosworth 1:18.560

19 Ralph Firman Jordan-Ford 1:18.692

20 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes No Time.

[Super Tourer]

2003 RACE REVIEW

Michael Schumacher won, despite fading brakes and tyres, although it was a race that Willams should have won.

Ralf led off the line followed by JPM; however Montoya spun on the 2nd lap and spent the rest of the race making up for it. Ralf led Michael until the pitstops, but ended behind him after the as Ferrari did the usual trick of keeping MS out longer to put in his fast pit window laps, the positions then remained static. Ralf received the usual comments of not even trying a pass on Michael, even though the Ferrari’s paced had slowed by over a second a lap as MS battled with brakes and tyres that had cried enough.
So Williams settled for 2nd and 3rd, although as Patrick Head said "You are never happy to be second and third when there was the potential to be first and second," Without that spin I do not think that Michael would ever have got past Juan and it would have been a tussle for victory between Ralf and Juan."
“At the first corner Barrichello tangled with Alonso, breaking the Ferrari’s front wing in the process, requiring a pitstop for a replacement. Ditto for Pizzonia, who tangled with Trulli at the hairpin. Trulli had a race to forget altogether, finally retiring on lap 22 as a broken wheel and faulty traction control combined to pitch him off the road.

Apart from that it was a pretty dull affair really. DC retired for McLaren, Kimi salvaged 6th from last on the grid and Panis scored a point for Toyota.

The key element of the race was that despite suffering from tyre and brake problems Ferrari and Michael Schumacher still won, despite slowing at the end. Ferrari was suitably pleased - Ferrari's Jean Todt called it "an incredible race" and Ross Brawn said it was "one of the best races I have ever seen". From a Ferrari it probably was, as Schumacher overtook Kimi in the driver’s standings, to lead by 3 points, having been 4 points adrift after the previous round at Monaco. Its races like this where championships are won and lost….







CANADIAN GRAND PRIX - FLASHBACK

2002 – Michael Schumacher wins from DC with Rubens third. Montoya led off the start but Rubens passed to take the lead on the 2nd lap. A safety car period ensued on the 14th lap, Montoya pitted but Ferrari kept Rubens out for some reason resulting in him losing a lot of time. As the race panned out it was Michael Schumacher versus JPM in what had become a fuel level dominated race.

Williams thought MS was marginal on fuel giving JPM an advantage, sadly we never found out as Montoya suffered an engine failure, but whatever, Schumacher back off heavily in the closing laps. Fisichella scored two points for Jordan. Post Canada, MS led JPM and Ralf by 70 points to their 27points a piece.


2001 – Ralf Schumacher won from brother Michael. This time Ralf got the better of his sibling with a superior car and tyres on the day. Michael headed him in the race and they circulated closely, but Ralf had the faster car. Williams ‘did a Ferrari’ as Michael pitted, Ralf dropped his lap times by a second a lap, keeping him ahead of the Ferrari when he finally made his stop. JPM had a race to forget crashing out after riding the kerbs too hard, Rubens crashing in avoidance – both cars out on the spot. McLaren had the mystery of the nut and bolt on DC’s car, a stray nut was found in DC’s cockpit, it turned out to be part of the suspension –“We would soon discover that the nut in question was important — but not that important. The effect was that a suspension link was not joined up and that meant that the cross-weighting of the car was all wrong and it was difficult to drive”. However, engine failure finished DC’s race in the end.

Zonta replaced HHF in the Jordan, Frentzen still suffering dizzy spells after his crash at Monaco – Ricardo came in 7th. Jean Alesi scored some rare points for Prost-Acer in 5th place and Kimi Raikkonen scored his 3rd haul of points for 4th place.


2000 – Quite an eventfull race for some. The McLaren mechanics were still working on DC’s car after the 15 second timeout before the parade lap – he would later be awarded a 10 sec stop and go penalty during the race. Jacques Villeneuve had an eventful race, converting 6th on the grid to 3rd on the track on the first lap. This was a mixed blessing as the BAR didn’t have the ultimate race pace of the following cars, so a train developed behind.

Then, mid-race rain caused havoc, a big loser was Rubens who had made his stop 2 laps earlier only to have to pit again for wets, he arrived in the pit box as Michael Schumacher was leaving – the result a fumble around for tyres, the net result was 46 seconds in the pits for Rubens, 29 for Michael. Other winners from the rain – Fisichella was on a heavy fuel load and was due to pit as the rain started, so was able to go onto wets, saving a stop on his rivals – resulting in 3rd at the flag. Jos Verstappen scored points for 5th in the Arrows, a combination of a light fuel load at the start, and the rain arriving at the right time. JV’s race ended in Ralf Schumacher’s side pod, having driven into the side of Ralf at the hairpin.

At the flag Michael Schumacher won from Barrichello who held station at Ferrari’s request, Rubens remarked, "I have no problem with backing off to protect Michael when I was asked to do so by the team. I trust the team and I am sure that if I am in front of Michael I will be allowed to win."……How that quote would pan out in the following seasons!

1995 – Jean Alesi scored an emotional 1st victory (and only) in his Ferrari. His win made even more poignant as it was scored in the no 27 Ferrari made famous by Gilles Villeneuve.

1982 – The Circuit is renamed in Gilles Villeneuve’s honour following his tragic death during qualifying at Zolder.

1978 – Gilles Villeneuve scored his 1st ever race victory.

[Super Tourer]

RECENT WINNERS

2003 – Michael Schumacher
2002 – Michael Schumacher
2001 – Ralf Schumacher
2000 – Michael Schumacher
1999 – Mika Hakkinen
1998 – Michael Schumacher
1997 – Michael Schumacher
1996 – Damon Hill
1995 – Jean Alesi
1994 – Michael Schumacher – Benetton
1993 – Alain Prost – Williams


CIRCUIT MAP: http://www.formula1.com/race/circuitmap/721.html


LOOKING AHEAD TO THE 2004 RACE.

Montreal is inextricably linked with the names Villenueve and Ferrari. Gilles won his first race here in 1978, the track was renamed after him in 1982 following his tragic death, and Alesi’s only Grand Prix victory was scored here – fittingly in a Ferrari bearing GV’s number 27.

Nowadays Montreal is still linked with Ferrari, as Michael Schumacher has won 5 out of the last 7 races here, some despite not being on the best tyres, but now that Bridgestone seemingly have the edge over Michelin on race pace, even that potential chink is closed. In fact he still won last year despite being relatively hobbled by tyre and brake wear.

Canada is another venue that Williams really should figure in, they should have won last year but JPM threw it off the road. In 2002 JPM probably had a fuel advantage over Schumacher but retired before we found out, and in 2001 he went off into the scenery again. However Ralf did win in 2001 for Williams. We can expect BAR and Renault to be the major challengers once again, and who’d bet against Button for another podium. Somehow when you are on a roll, it all fits into place and little bits of luck, like the last race podium, start to come your way – call it rub of the green, but BAR and Button have it with them at the moment.

One team that doesn’t is McLaren. The light at the end of the tunnel is that the new MP-19B was encouraging, but we still wait to see it race. Some observers wonder why the delay, the car ran well at Silverstone and Adrian Newey tells us all the mechanicals are the same, the mods being largely aero based, so on the face of it they have nothing to lose by racing it as soon as possible, maybe they don’t have sufficient new parts for the two flyaway races? In anycase Montreal is hard on brakes, and one of the down sides of the current car is stability under braking. Can we expect McLaren to run their cars light in qualifying to see what pans out in the race I wonder? This certainly helped the front runners to get away at the Nurburgring, as Kimi found himself holding a track position way above the real speed of the car, and subsequently held most of the field up.

As to a winner, as ever the stats and current performance shout another Michael Schumacher win, so the real action is likely to be for the podium and points. JPM has something to prove at Montreal having thrown away two races in the past. Ralf needs to get some decent results on the board, as does Alonso after being shaded so far by Trulli. Sato is still full of fight after the Nurburgring and could be in the thick of it again.

So, we have a mix of drivers with something to prove and those in the ascendancy, like Button – could make for an interesting race if all the teams get the right nut on the right bolt at the same time…

[Super Tourer]

RACE TIMETABLE – all times are LOCAL time:

Friday 11June

11:00-12:00 Friday Practice 1
14:00-15:00 Friday Practice 2


Saturday 12 June

08:00-08:45 Saturday Practice 1
09:15-10:00 Saturday Practice 2

12:00 Saturday Pre-Qual
13:00 Saturday Qualifying


Sunday 13 June

12:30 - Race


LIVE TIMING: http://www.formula1.com/race/livetiming/721.html





TIME ZONE
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldcloc...query=montreal

Montreal is:

Standard time zone: UTC/GMT -5 hours
Daylight saving time: +1 hour


WEATHER

http://uk.weather.com/weather/local/...code=code&y=13


Outlook
Friday 11th June – Mostly Cloudy 21 dec C
Saturday 12th June – AM: Cloudy – PM: Sunny 24 deg C
Sunday – 13th June – Thundery Storms - 23 deg C



UK TV VIEWING

The Canadian Grand Prix on ITV1

Qualifying
Saturday 12th June - 00:00 - 01:20

Race
Sunday 13th June - 17:00 - 19:15

Highlights
Sunday 13th June - 23:45 - 00:45



Please check times with your TV schedule or the motorsport press before recording this race!

[Kicking-back]

1982 also saw the death of Riccardo Paletti on the start.

[Super Tourer]

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS



2004 Drivers Championship



1 Michael Schumacher 60

2 Rubens Barrichello 46

3 Jenson Button 38

4 Jarno Trulli 36

5 Fernando Alonso 25

6 Juan Pablo Montoya 24

7 Ralf Schumacher 12

8 Takuma Sato 8

9= Giancarlo Fisichella 5

9= Felipe Massa 5

11 David Coulthard 4

12 =Christiana da Matta 3

12= Mark Webber 3

14 Nick Heidfeld 2

15= Olivier Panis 1

15= Kimi Raikkonen 1







2004 Constructors Championship



1 Ferrari - 106

2 Renault - 61

3 BAR-Honda- 46

4 Williams-BMW - 36

5 Sauber Petronas - 10

6 McLaren Mercedes- 5

7 Toyota- 4

8 Jaguar Cosworth -3

9 Jordan Ford - 2





10 Tenths Tyre Maker Standings

1. Michelin – 155
2. Bridgestone - 118

[Red]

Originally posted by Super Tourer
Please check times with your TV schedule ..

Damn, I hate football.

[Super Tourer]

Originally posted by Kicking-back
1982 also saw the death of Riccardo Paletti on the start.

Indeed it did, a terrible crash once again with a Ferrari connection, as the unfortunate Paletti piled into the back of Pironi's stationary Ferrari.