Q & A with Montreal track vice-president

Strenuous efforts in the build-up to the race ensured that the areas that crumbled in qualifying were less of an issue in the race, but as the Montreal track's executive vice-president Francois Dumontier told autosport.com, more will have to be done to fully resolve the problem for 2009.

Q: Are you happy with the way the new facilities have been received?

Francois Dumontier: "Yes, of course, we're very proud of it. After the comments last year, we sat down and looked at what we could do. We're on an island, so we're limited with what we can do, but we expanded over the water, and the team have given good comments on expanding their space in height."

Q: Are any more new developments planned?

FD: "We will wait for comments from the teams. We based our design on Fuji, so we think it's pretty neat, but we're open to feedback."

Q: The on-track problems, how did they develop?

FD: "We had the same problem last year, since 2005 in fact, so after last year we took a serious look at what product to put there, and we really thought that what we installed was good enough to hold for the weekend. So we were pretty upset with what happened in qualifying, and we'll have to go back again and see what we can do. We'll look at what other tracks are doing, and see if we can use the same kind of product."

Q: There have been suggestions that the support package exacerbated the problem?

FD: "What we saw in qualifying and on race day, we went on the track after the Porsches and saw no problem. After the Formula BMWs, no problem. After the Ferrari Challenge race, we saw problems, so yes, they are part of the problem."

Q: What work was done on the track after qualifying?

FD: "At the hairpin it was concrete. At the other portion, at Turn 2, 7 and 14, it's a compound that we used at the NASCAR event, which was recommended by them. It's a mix of polymer and fibreglass. It expands into the asphalt, and it becomes hard in 20 minutes. We did it to prevent further problems. Right before the F1 race, we put a sealer on top, the prevent damage."

Q: Was it better on race day?

FD: "Yes, the comments from the drivers and from (race director) Charlie (Whiting), it was good, better than qualifying."

Q: Presumably you hope to solve the problem completely for next year?

FD: "We had a good week with the new installation, so the problem was not a good thing. Of course, our goal next year will be to have a perfect racetrack."

Q: Does the whole track need resurfacing?

FD: "I don't think so. The problem seems to be in the curves. We'll look at the hairpin, and the configuration of the hairpin. We'll look seriously at it with the FIA."

Q: Do the harsh winters have an affect?

FD: "Of course. We're the only racetrack that goes from plus-30 in the summer to minus-30 in the winter. The asphalt is affected by that, and the track is used a lot by buses and cycles all the time, so there's something there."

Q: Overall, was it a successful weekend?

FD: "We are very happy."

Q: Has the loss of the US GP had any impact on your race?

FD: "We tried to get people to fly in from the US, but the US is in financial problems at the moment, so we saw we had more planes coming from Europe than from the US."