Pre-GP Stats Analysis: Canada

Ferrari aim for 200 poles

The one recorded in Monaco was Ferrari's 199th pole, therefore the Maranello cars are ready to reach the relevant milestone of being the first team to record 200 pole positions.

These are the other milestones Ferrari set in pole positions:

Pole  Race               Driver          Car model
  1   1951 British GP    J.F. Gonzalez    375
 50   1970 German GP     Jacky Ickx       312B
100   1983 Austrian GP   Patrick Tambay   126C3
150   2002 Malaysian GP  M. Schumacher    F2001

Kimi and Fernando out to reach 500 points

Before the Canadian Grand Prix Kimi Raikkonen counts 491 points scored in career and Fernando Alonso 499, they both are able to reach the milestone of 500 points scored.

So far only five drivers were able to reach that goal, this is the all-time ranking:

Driver              Total points
Michael Schumacher     1369
Alain Prost             798.5
Ayrton Senna            614
David Coulthard         527
Rubens Barrichello      522

Kimi the Fast

Kimi Raikkonen recorded in Monaco his third straight fastest lap and now he is running to enter the third longest sequence of fastest laps in the history of Formula 1.

Kimi was able to record such a sequence already once, in 2005.

These are the top sequences of all times:

                 Fastest
                 laps in
Driver           sequence  From race:      To race:
Alberto Ascari      7      Belgium 1952    Argentina 1953
Michael Schumacher  5      Bahrain 2004    Europe 2004
Jackie Stewart      4      Monaco 1969     Great Britain 1969
Gilles Villeneuve   4      S. Africa 1979  Belgium 1979
Nigel Mansell       4      Canada 1991     Great Britain 1991
Kimi Raikkonen      4      France 2005     Hungary 2005

It's worth to consider that going from three to four fastest laps is historically a difficult step. In the history of Formula 1 there are 22 sequences that stopped at three fastest laps.

That's odd

The fact that Raikkonen is on a string of fastest laps helped to develop a singular occurrence in this championship: up to now the fastest laps have been recorded only by cars that carry odd numbers: in Australia and Bahrain the fastest lap was scored by Heikki Kovalainen (car #23), in Malaysia by Nick Heidfeld (#3) and in the last three races by Raikkonen.

In 2004 this trend continued until the seventh race in calendar. At the time 6 fastest laps were recorded by Michael Schumacher (car #1, with a sequence of five, see above) and one by Montoya (#3).

And finally...

After talking about it since the Turkish Grand Prix, Rubens Barrichello is really about to equal Patrese's record related to the highest number of race starts without any reasonable doubt.

Rubens now counts 255 starts and if he takes the start in Canada he will reach the Italian driver at 256. Patrese's record was set in the 1993 Australian Grand Prix.

Moments to remember in the Canadian Grand Prix

1998 - An eventful afternoon

The first episode to catch the attention, and that caused the interruption of the race, was the accident that saw Wurz rolling over after a contact with Alesi right after the start. At the second start the Championship leader, Mika Hakkinen, made only a few meters before his gearbox got stuck in second gear, forcing his retirement.

At the first corner Alesi was again involved in an accident: this time Trulli went airborne and ended on top of the French's airscope. The safety car was sent in and at the restart Coulthard was in the lead with Schumacher on his tail. The situation was unchanged until Diniz made an off-track excursion and then started distributing blocks of grass all over the circuit. The safety car was deployed again, then another rolling start, three more laps, more accidents and again a safety car intervention.

At this point Coulthard throttle failed and Schumacher was left in the lead. The German took advantage of the safety car to make his first pit stop, but when he came back on track he didn't pay too much attention to the other cars and squeezed Frentzen on the side of the track; as a consequence Heinz-Harald to avoid an accident had to end his race on the gravel trap. Michael was penalized with a stop&go, but without the McLarens around he was eventually able to win easily.

Damaged BAR and Ferrari behind the 'Wall of Champions' © LAT

1999 - Bienvenue au Quebec

The four safety car interventions are the marginal note of a race that saw three World Champions hitting the wall after the last chicane, the one that had written on it "Bienvenue au Quebec". Among the victims of this spooky wall there was Michael Schumacher, that was leading the race. Since the german's retirement there were no rivals for Hakkinen, that won easily. There was controversy on the final stages when Coulthard punted Irvine on a spin. Eddie made some fine overtakes and came home third.

2000 - Cover me

After a few laps it seemed all over, when Coulthard was recalled for a stop&go penalty and Michael Schumacher was left all alone in the lead; his only other rival, Hakkinen, was blocked behind Villeneuve.

At mid race the rain started to fall, but Schumacher didn't show his usual form in the wet, he was unusually slow and he also took a trip through the grass at turn one. Barrichello came up behind him, but he remained there, without challenging Schumacher. At the end Michael thanked him for this behaviour and promised that he would have paid him back in the future.

2001 - Bye bye brother

The most competitive cars in Canada were the two Ferraris and the two Williamses, but Montoya after a few laps ended the race on the barriers and Barrichello followed him suit and the race was then a private affair between the Schumacher brothers.

With Michael in front no one expected Ralf to attack and in fact "junior" duly stayed on the tail of his brother until Michael stopped in the pits. At this moment Ralf, who was faster despite running longer, put in four fastest laps and then stopped in the pits, regaining the track with a comfortable lead and going on to win.

2002 - No contest

Ferrari was starting to benefit of the superiority of the F2002 and was able to choose between a one stopper for Schumacher and a two stopper for Barrichello, to compensate the brazilian's slower pace. They were clearly set for a one-two, but a safety car intervention spoiled Rubens' strategy, that instead of pulling away was stuck in traffic.

Montoya was in the same condition and this took out Schumacher's only real rival. The German was able to pit at half race with an advantage of more than twenty seconds and easily cruised to a comfortable win, also because Montoya's engine failed a few laps to the end.

2003 - The Montoya factor

For the third straight year the Canadian Grand Prix was an affair between Ferrari and Williams. Like in 2001 Barrichello and Montoya made mistakes on the first laps and dropped out of contention, so the fight for the win was between the two brothers. Ralf led the first stint, then Michael passed in front and remained in the lead for the rest of the race. He was not the faster out there, since in the final stages he was followed closely by a bunch of cars: his brother Ralf, Montoya and Alonso, that finished in this order.

The fact that Montoya was classified just behind Michael despite losing ten seconds for a spin said it all about Ferrari's inferior race pace.

2004 - And for the fourth straight year...

...a Ferrari-Williams fight for the win! This time however it seemed all over for the red cars at the end of qualifying, with only a sixth for Schumacher and a seventh for Barrichello. It was a strategical trick, because Ferrari sacrificed grid positions in order to take on more fuel and thus being able to make one pit stop less than their rivals.

When Ralf Schumacher fell behind his brother after his second stop it was all over and Michael won again. After the race the Williamses were disqualified for illegal brake ducts and Barrichello completed a Ferrari one-two.

2005 - The curse of the lead

The fight for the win was restricted to the two Renaults of Fisichella and Alonso and the two McLarens of Montoya and Raikkonen. They were running in this order until the first pit stop, when Montoya was able to pass Alonso, only to run on the grass and losing the position just conquered.

Then the curse of the driver in the lead began: first was Fisichella, retired with an hydraulical problem, six laps later it was Alonso's turn, that brushed the guard rails and retired as well. Third was Montoya, disqualified for having exited the pits with the red light... The only one left was Raikkonen, that managed to contain Schumacher in the final stages and win.

2006 - Untouchable Fernando

The first stages of the race were decisive: Alonso and Raikkonen pulled away, while behind them Fisichella was penalized for a jump start and fell behind Trulli and Schumacher, with Jarno that slowed down the pack.

Raikkonen followed Alonso like a shadow for the entire first stint and it was expected that he came out of the first pit stop in the lead, but he had clutch problems and Fernando not only kept his lead, but gradually pulled away. A late safety car mixed the things up, Raikkonen tried to catch the spaniard but made a mistake at the hairpin and Schumacher was able to snatch second place, that he kept to the finish line.

Lewis Hamilton drives into parc ferme after winning his first Grand Prix © LAT

2007 - The first for Lewis

Lewis Hamilton took his first win in Formula One in commanding style, leading from start to finish, while his rivals struggled for the entire race: his team mate Alonso had a personal trouble with turn one, recording four offs in that point, Massa was disqualified for exiting the pits with the red light (see Montoya in 2005...) and Raikkonen simply wasn't there all afternoon, unable to match his rivals' speed, claiming several problems, from brakes to debris stuck in his wings.

This race will be remembered for a nasty accident that saw Kubica smashing his BMW Sauber on the wall after losing downforce at the front for a contact. The Pole ended his run upside down, with his feet protruding from the cockpit. He miraculously escaped major injuries.

Canada personal scoreboard

• Kimi Raikkonen won in 2005 and was third in 2006, these are his only podium appearances in Canada out of seven starts. He never qualified on the front row, his best grid result being a third in 2006;

• Felipe Massa's best result was a fourth place in 2005 out of five starts. His best qualifying spot is a fifth last year;

• Nick Heidfeld claimed his only Canadian podium last year with a second place. His previous seven starts were pretty much a nightmare, with three engine failures, an accident and only three points racked up in seven attempts;

• Fernando Alonso recorded only one podium place, winning in 2006. He counts three retirements out of six starts;

• Nico Rosberg didn't gain a single point in Canada. In two races he retired once for an accident and last year scored a tenth;

• David Coulthard can confirm this is a demanding track. He started there fourteen races, he retired five times and climbed on the podium only in 2002 with a second place. He was classified seventh four times. In the last five years he was able to qualify inside the top ten only in 2004 with a ninth place;

• Mark Webber was able to score points in Canada only in 2003 and 2005. His best result is a fifth. He qualified always 14th or lower except for 2003 and 2007 when he was sixth;

• It's better not to ask anything about Canada to Jarno Trulli. The italian retired seven times out of eleven starts. His best result is a sixth, recorded three times;

• Jenson Button alternated one classification to one retirement since his debut year in 2000. Even years are the ones when he usually finished the races so there is hope for this edition... His best result was a third in 2004;

• Rubens Barrichello was second in Canada three times: in 1995, 2000 and 2004. The last time he finished in the points was in 2005 with a third place;

• Giancarlo Fisichella was incredibly consistent in Canada from 1997 to 2000, when he racked up four straight podiums, an unique feat among the current drivers. Then the "Button syndrome" set in and he started alternating one retirement to one classification. As per Jenson, even years are usually the ones when he finished the races.

Anniversaries of the race weekend

6th of June 1982 - Detroit. It was the race that crowned John Watson as the King of street circuits. The english driver after fifteen laps was thirteenth, over a minute adrift from the leader of the race, Alain Prost. Watson started an incredible series of overtakings with a race pace that no one was able to match.

At half race, 31st lap, he was up to fifth, 37 seconds down on new leader Keke Rosberg, because Prost had retired for fuel feed problems. John continued with his progression and his team mate, Niki Lauda, crashed trying to keep up.

At the 42nd lap Watson put the seal to his masterpiece, passing Rosberg, that was experiencing brake problems, and going in the lead. In the final stages the McLaren driver slowed his paced, but ten laps to the end he could count on an advantage of half of a minute over his pursuers.