The 2006 Canadian Grand Prix Preview

The Canadian Grand Prix is hosted at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. The circuit sees the teams looking for minimum drag settings, also exposing excessive brake wear.

Analysis

The Canadian circuit is little used, so it tends to start very green, which makes tyre selection a little tricky. Add the emphasis on low drag, which will see the teams with their lowest downforce levels of the year, and it is clear that mechanical grip is vital. Those who have the most powerful engines will be able to add downforce without becoming vulnerable on the straights, which is why this is a circuit that rewards power.

The long, fast straights and big stops make this place tough on brakes: teams run with maximum cooling here, and the softest tyres (from the hard end of the range) that they think will do the distance.

Flashback

The Canadian race in 2005 was one of the more incident driven of the year. Qualifying had Jenson Button on pole, though light on fuel, with Schumacher lining up a surprise second in a year that was tough for Bridgestone. Alonso was comfortable in third, ahead of Fisichella and a mercurial Montoya. Notable others included Webber at fourteenth and Barrichello twentieth after a gearbox failure - he started from the pitlane.

At the start of the race, Button and Schumacher started slowly, seeing the Renaults slide straight past, with Fisichella taking the lead and Schumacher slipped back to sixth. Villeneuve and Sato collided - the Sauber losing a front wing, though Sato immediately started attacking Trulli.

Barrichello worked his way up, and was running fourteenth after fifteen laps, when the first set of stops was well under way. Renault and McLaren proved heavy on fuel, stopping 24 and 25 laps in; Montoya passed Alonso, but ran wide on to the grass and yielded the position. Webber was very heavy, stopping on lap 28, before Barrichello on lap 31: the Ferrari driver returned in twelfth.

Fisichella's strong race in the lead came to a miserable end when his hydraulics gave up, as Button and Schumacher made their second stops on lap 34: the Briton returned just behind the McLarens in fourth, ahead of Schumacher.

Alonso, feeling the pressure from Montoya, upped his pace, but the Spaniard was pushing too hard and he clipped the wall, retiring from the lead. Montoya then led Raikkonen and Button; then, on lap 44 Heidfeld's engine gave up spectacularly. A couple of laps later, Button drove cleanly into the wall and out of the race, bringing out the safety car.

Controversy ensued, as McLaren pulled Raikkonen in first, rather than race leader Montoya: the Colombian was then forced to stop a lap later, and in his frustration rejoined the circuit whilst the red light was showing at the end of the pitlane, resulting in his disqualification.

After the safety car pulled off, Raikkonen led, though with a steering problem, ahead of Trulli - who soon suffered a sudden, catastrophic brake failure, leaving Schumacher to chase down the leader: Raikkonen then suffered brain fade and straight lined a chicane, seeing Schumacher close up to pressure him, whilst Barrichello completed his drive through the pack to finish third.

Pos  Driver        Team                  Time
 1.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes  (M) 1h32:09.290
 2.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari           (B) +     1.137
 3.  Barrichello   Ferrari           (B) +    40.483
 4.  Massa         Sauber-Petronas   (M) +    55.138
 5.  Webber        Williams-BMW      (M) +    55.779
 6.  R.Schumacher  Toyota            (M) +     1 lap
 7.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Cosworth (M) +     1 lap
 8.  Klien         Red Bull-Cosworth (M) +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:14.384

Weather

Stray thunderstorms could punctuate the weekend, but otherwise a moderately warm, sunny weekend is expected. Low winds, fairly consistently from the same direction, should make setting up the car relatively simple.

Tyres

Despite the requirement to maximise mechanical grip, the long, fast straights preclude the teams from taking their softest tyres, as they would come apart under the stress: rather, they are expected to take options from the harder end of the range.

Teams that are considering three stops will be able to look at far softer tyres than one stoppers - which could offer good overtaking opportunities.

Strategy

The fastest strategy in Canada is based on what traffic is anticipated - and where the safety car periods will fall. Single stopping cars can make up a lot of places, but usually spend too much time in traffic to have an option of winning; similarly, three stoppers have to make quick work of traffic to stay at the front, so the podium finishes are likely to belong to drivers on two stops.

Any team with option tyres that are too soft for three stints and are unhappy with their prime tyres, or with questionable brake wear, or with engine concerns is likely to take the three-stop option - though their drivers will have to turn in qualifying-like performances for the whole race.

Conclusions

The race weekend is going to be particularly interesting, if only to see what transpires between the three leading teams. Will Ferrari be able to match Renault on pace? Will McLaren continue to improve their form? Perhaps...

There is a realistic chance that rain will occur, which means that the teams have to be working hard at anticipating the issues their competitors might be facing and working out how to leverage them to gain places.

There is an outside chance that Honda might crash the party, too, which is an important factor.

A lap of Montreal with Kimi Raikkonen

You reach 297km/h in fifth gear along the short pit straight, before braking hard for the left-right weave of turns one and two. Located just before the pit lane exit, turn one is taken at 133km/h in second gear, and is immediately followed by the Coin Senna. This right-hand hairpin is negotiated at 71Km/h in first gear. You push hard on the throttle as you exit the Coin Senna for the short straight that leads to the chicane of turns three and four.

You drop from 258km/h in fourth to negotiate the right-left flick at 148km/h in second. Exiting turn four, you sweep flat out through the long right-hand curve of turn five, reaching 258km/h in fifth before once again braking hard for the left-right flick of turns six and seven.

The first left-hander is taken at 90km/h in second with your speed increasing to some 142km/h in second for the right of turn seven. Full on the throttle on the exit as you power along the Place de la Concorde, achieving speeds of up to 298km/h in seventh gear, before dropping back through the gears for the right-left sequence of turns eight and nine.

Entering the bumpy braking zone under the bridge for turn eight, your speed decreases to 113km/h in second gear. The slightly faster turn nine follows and this can be taken at 155km/h, still in second gear. Exiting turn nine, you blast along the sweeping straight that leads to the L'Epingle hairpin.

Having reached speeds of 299km/h in fifth gear, you brake hard for the 180-degrees right hander, which swings you round onto the Droit du Casino. Accelerating along the main straight, you reach 334km/h in sixth gear as you approach the hardest braking point on the track.

You pull 2.5G as you brake sharply to negotiate the final two corners that take you back to the start-finish straight. The right-left complex of bends is negotiated at 144km/h in second gear and you have to be careful not to jump the kerbs too aggressively.

Team by Team

Renault

Silverstone was another great event for Renault, with Alonso leading almost from pole to flag; repeating the experience in Canada would go a long way to putting a nail in the coffin of this year's championship.

Prospects for doing so are surprisingly high: the car is clearly the pick of the grid, but there have been moments when Ferrari looked a little quicker; although McLaren are starting to get involved in the fringes, they are not yet looking ready to win races, unless there is a problem with the leaders.

For the sake of the championships, the team could well be looking to avoid risks and pick up the points that are available without taking risks: this is likely to leave the racing a little less exciting at the front, but closing out the competition is a perfectly decent strategy.

Drivers: Giancarlo Fisichella often runs well here, and has four podiums to his name. He has been struggling to match the pace of his teammate, but this is one of the few circuits when he might be able to do just that.

Fernando Alonso has never finished on the podium here, so this is one he is particularly motivated to win. His chassis is certainly good enough to do so.

Objectives: Win.

Juan Pablo Montoya leaves the pits at Silverstone © McLaren

McLaren Mercedes

Silverstone was quite encouraging for McLaren. Despite scraping on to the podium, they illustrated that it is possible to compete to be there.

Canada is not likely to disappoint entirely, either. Provided the Mercedes engine is producing power on a par with Renault, this should be another strong weekend for the team.

Drivers: Kimi Raikkonen might struggle to keep the pace of the Renaults for the whole race; at Silverstone, he was undone by Renault's ability to improve their game - they remained untouchable throughout the weekend. Montoya had a great race last season and will be looking to capitalise on any mistakes Raikkonen makes over the weekend. His pace here is phenomenal, so watching qualifying and the race start should be very interesting.

Objectives: Get on the podium.

Ferrari

After getting stuck behind Raikkonen until the second stop at Silverstone, Schumacher was never able to challenge Alonso for the win. Nevertheless, it confirmed Ferrari's pace is not too far off Renault.

In low downforce configuration, Ferrari are hoping that they are going to be able to recover the relative pace they showed in Monaco, another circuit that depends strongly on mechanical grip; they know that their engine is roughly on a par with Renault and continuous development of the chassis continues to move them forward.

Drivers: Michael Schumacher is having to race hard this season, but beating Renault could be possible this weekend, though doing so will require a flawless drive.

Felipe Massa has not really shone for a while, though he is normally not too far of his team-leader's performance; this weekend could be an opportunity to turn things around, so a strong qualifying session is going to be vital, followed by a solid race.

Objectives: Win.

Toyota

Despite another disastrous weekend in Britain, there is little doubt that Toyota have made progress with their revised chassis. The improved mechanical grip will go a long way to making itself felt in Canada, and if their engine is as useful as generally supposed, then they will be right in the fight for points.

That said, this season seems to have them suffering poor luck whenever they are threatening to make progress - like Trulli's engine failure at the start of Silverstone qualifying. Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is notorious for accidents and safety car periods, so making the most of others' misfortune is going to be an important element of their strategy. Further boosting the team, they should benefit from further mechanical and aerodynamic developments this weekend.

Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher © LAT

Drivers: Jarno Trulli seems to have stepped up his game with the revised chassis, though his results do not reflect it. Last year, he suffered a sudden, catastrophic break failure towards the end of the race, so a more circumspect approach is probably wise this year.

Ralf Schumacher seems to get results in Canada, though he never quite appears to be at his best. Last year, he ran behind Trulli, yet scored the points when his teammate retired, so perhaps it is related to working better with his equipment: either way, he must be fighting for points this weekend.

Objectives: Score points - with both cars finishing.

Williams Cosworth

Following on from another disappointing weekend at Silverstone, Williams are hoping that the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is going to offer them a chance to improve their luck. The team are taking a significantly revised car with them, and hoping that their Cosworth engine will be able to show that it is still at the cutting edge of power: this may be one of their strongest races this year.

Of course, even if the power is there, the car has to make it to the finish; provided they can be reliable, getting both cars well into the points has to be the target. Beating Renault or Ferrari would be tough, but perhaps McLaren will be vulnerable - in which case, even a podium might be possible.

Drivers: Mark Webber had a good race in 2005, working with a heavy fuel load to make progress well into the points - a repeat this year would do no harm, though he would probably prefer to qualify lighter. Nico Rosberg has not been to this circuit before, but ought to have little trouble learning it. He is probably quick enough to give Mark Webber a hard time in qualifying, but staying ahead of him on race day seems less likely.

Objectives: Get both cars in the points - target a podium.

Honda

Following a dismal start to the season, Honda's poor form continued at Silverstone, where Jenson Button did not even make the first cut in qualifying, then an oil leak ended his race. Rubens Barrichello qualified sixth, but slid backwards and out of the points on race day.

At home, the team are being reshuffled: Geoff Willis has left - the technical director role is now Shuhei Nakamoto's problem. Quite how this impacts the team at the track is still to be seen.

On the positive side, they looked pretty quick in practice at Monza, trying out their low downforce package and working on ensuring they have brakes to last the distance; this weekend it will be important to score points to at least show that the car is close to the pace in at least one area. Both cars should be capable of scoring points - and this is probably one of the best chances they will have for sneaking onto the podium if they can capitalise on the mistakes of others.

Drivers: Barrichello usually goes very well at Canada - last year, he made the podium after starting last. This circuit could well suit his driving style better than Button, so it would be no surprise to see him outqualify the Briton again.

Button, on the other hand, must be frustrated with his recent qualifying performances - particularly the disaster in front of his home crowd. If he is motivated and on form, then a solid qualifying is expected - though a repeat of last season's pole position is unlikely - but he will have to concentrate harder on Sunday to avoid driving in to the wall again.

Objectives: Get both cars into the points - threaten the podium.

Red Bull Racing Ferrari

After a storming Monaco, Red Bull struggled at the British Grand Prix, making little impression on their competition. They will be hoping that their Ferrari power plant will help to propel them to better results in Canada.

Red Bull Racing © LAT

The team have not shown the form of last season, when they were always looking to snap up points from the front runners; with the midfield competition getting so tough, they are in need of an actual performance advantage to score real points, but the development cycle is not running quick enough to let them close the gap.

Drivers: David Coulthard continues to fight for every point he can get with this chassis, but they are not coming easy; right now, out-performing his teammate in order to be sure of a seat in 2006 is more the order of the day. The Scot's considerable experience is doing no harm in that regard - even when he is outqualified, he is normally outracing Christian Klien. Klien, likewise, is fighting for a season next year, and needs to get on with showing the team that he is the man to keep...

Objectives: Pick up a point if possible - otherwise, get both cars to the finish.

BMW Sauber

With a car that is, perhaps, a little weaker on the aerodynamic front than the remaining midfield runners, they are looking forward to this low downforce circuit that may allow them to show off the form of their BMW power-plant.

Accidents are a frequent occurrence in this event, ironically with the best drivers as prone to ending in the wall as any other, so there is a good chance that front runners under pressure will take themselves out of the race. This could easily see the team fighting to have two cars finish in the points.

Following the double points finish at Silverstone, this seems a decent goal - one that would confirm the progress the outfit have been making this year.

Drivers: Third driver Robert Kubica will be an important part of this weekend's point-scoring possibilities: getting the tyre and strategy choices right is going to be critical.

Nick Heidfeld and Jacques Villeneuve will be looking to repeat their qualifying performances. The latter, however, might be distracted: releasing a CD on the weekend and meeting friends and family on top of PR commitments could have an impact. On the other hand, his fans will certainly spur him on, though historically that doesn't seem to have been hugely beneficial for him.

Objectives: Get the cars into the points.

Midland Toyota

A tough season for Midland is unlikely to improve in Canada: the team have made some form of progress this season, but their work on low drag aerodynamics is likely to leave them behind their rivals.

The performance at Monaco hardly set the world on fire, so the mechanical component of the car's grip level is probably not going to leave the team anything to write home about over the coming weekend. The challenge will be ensuring the Super Aguri team does not manage to have a better outing.

Midland teammates Tiago Monteiro and Christijan Albers © LAT

Drivers: Tiago Monteiro is heading to Canada in the expectation that a tough weekend is ahead, but optimistic that the team will continue to outperform against (admittedly low) expectations.

Christijan Albers also seems to be pumped up for the event, though quite whether his optimism is well placed remains to be seen. He had a great lap with Minardi in qualifying last season, so at least there he will be hoping to excel and get in to the second session.

Objectives: Avoid finishing last at their owner's home Grand Prix.

Toro Rosso Cosworth

The British Grand Prix brought little in the way of surprises for the Toro Rosso outfit, with an anonymous qualifying and race. The limitations on the V10 Cosworth in the chassis could leave them vulnerable to being passed on the main straight in Canada, so a tougher weekend could be in the offing; but they should still be more than a match for Midland or Super Aguri.

Drivers: There is little to choose between Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi at the moment, though the American has less pace than his teammate, and seems to make more mistakes. Both will be hoping to beard someone from the Red Bull senior team, though doing so will be tough.

Objectives: Beat Midland and Super Aguri.

Super Aguri Honda

With the lowest downforce settings of the year, this circuit could reduce the deficiency of the SA05 chassis, allowing the team to leverage their Honda engines more effectively. This is still going to be a very tough weekend for the team; without their long overdue new chassis, they will struggle to get off the back of the grid.

Drivers: Takuma Sato has not done as well here in the past as his driving style might suggest: nevertheless, he is quick, and this year has been pushing the Super Aguri chassis as hard as it can go. Franck Montagny is talented, and may possibly outqualify the Japanese if his session goes well, but keeping ahead over the full race distance is another story.

Objectives: Get both cars to the finish - beat a Midland if possible.