The 2007 Canadian GP Preview

The circus returns to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Canada for the sixth race of the season, with the drivers' championship tied between the McLaren drivers and Ferrari looking to make up the deficit.

Analysis

The Canadian Grand Prix takes place on a circuit that spends little time during the year functioning as a race track - consequently, the surface holds little rubber, resulting in a low-grip environment.

As marbles build up from the tyres, it becomes treacherous when you get off the racing line, so passing becomes noticeably harder as the race unfolds.

Safety Cars are a frequent occurrence, and as with all street circuits, there are some walls very close to the track and drivers appear to have quite an affinity for them: even world champions are prone.

Keys to a quick lap are the use of low-drag settings (which corresponds to low downforce), permitting great speed along the straights. Good balance is important, whilst attacking kerbs aggressively presents at least one area where drivers can make a difference.

Flashback

In 2006 the Renaults of Alonso and Fisichella filled the front row after a strong qualifying, with Raikkonen a comfortable third for McLaren and Trulli slotting his Toyota into fourth. Schumacher was a surprisingly distant fifth for Ferrari - even with the suspicion they were geared to run long.

Race day dawned bright, perhaps lulling Fisichella in to a false sense of security - he lurched forwards just before the start, incurring a penalty. Adding insult to injury, a fast-starting Raikkonen drove round him to challenge Alonso.

Trulli held onto fourth whilst Schumacher slipped back behind Rosberg and Montoya to seventh. His attempts to take a place back from Montoya resulted in a brief trip across the grass.

The Colombian then set about attacking Rosberg, the duo eventually bumping wheels in turn three on the second lap, sending the hapless Williams driver into the wall.

The resulting Safety Car allowed Montoya to stop for a new nose and sort out the debris from the Midland cars, which had again tangled at the start. When the car pulled in at the end of the tenth lap, Raikkonen made a concerted attempt to pass Alonso for the lead, finally getting a run in to the final chicane on the next lap.

Despite getting right alongside he was unable to make it stick, but it looked like a pass would be inevitable. Alonso stopped on lap 23, giving up two laps to Raikkonen on this strategy, but the Finn was unable to take advantage as a clutch problem meant he could not stop the wheels spinning during the pit-stops, costing about five seconds.

With the teams all on very soft, sticky tyres, marbles were building up fast off the racing line, making the track treacherous. Furthermore, the track itself was starting to come apart, particularly in turn 10, leading to drivers making off track excursions, only to bring dust back on the line and exacerbate the problem. Alonso seemed least impacted, pulling away at the front of the field.

Further back, Montoya hit the wall on lap 13 and took himself out of the race; Barrichello's engine gave up a lap earlier. Fisichella took his drive-through for the false start but made little impact otherwise. The Toyota of Trulli was slower than Schumacher, but the Ferrari could not pass. The only bright spot was Massa, making his way back from tenth on the grid with a single-stop strategy.

Villeneuve provided some late entertainment for the crowd by driving into the wall on turn 7 while attempting to lap Ralf Schumacher, bringing out the second Safety Car period. The restart did little to change the running order, though Schumacher was able to put Raikkonen under enough pressure on the penultimate lap to force an error, taking the opportunity to slip past for second.

Pos  Driver        Team                  Time
 1.  Alonso        Renault          (M)  1h34:37.308
 2.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari          (B)  +     2.111
 3.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  +     8.813
 4.  Fisichella    Renault          (M)  +    15.679
 5.  Massa         Ferrari          (B)  +    25.172
 6.  Trulli        Toyota           (B)  +    1 lap
 7.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber       (M)  +    1 lap
 8.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari (M)  +    1 lap

Fastest race lap: Raikkonen, 1:15.841
Qualifying best: Alonso, Q2, 1:14.726

Weather

With a high chance of showers on Friday, early running might be compromised as the teams are unlikely to spend too much time working on wet setup with the rest of the weekend set for cooler, cloudy weather.

Temperatures are expected to hit 26.C on Friday, but barely break 20.C on Sunday. Wind speeds are expected to be low, but the variable direction could hamper some car setups in their low downforce configuration.

Strategy

Traditionally a two-stop race, there have been some successes with different strategies in the past. Although tough on brakes, single stopping is a good way to make up places - playing to Safety Car periods in particular!

With much harder tyres on the cars this year, overtaking should be considerably easier than in recent seasons, so three-stoppers can take advantage of relatively light fuel loads and better preserved brakes, gambling on their overtaking skills - and no Safety Cars - to extend an advantage.

Conclusions

With little evidence that anyone is in a position to challenge Ferrari or McLaren, these outfits remain favoured. Odds are improving for Hamilton to take his first win, and the low-grip Canadian weekend might offer him a chance to show something unexpected - but Alonso is clearly settling in well and improving his game.

Massa has been very quick at Ferrari and should continue to show Raikkonen the way as the Finn continues to lag somewhat in qualifying. Behind the frontrunners, it is starting to look quite interesting. BMW Sauber should be pushing the leaders, with Red Bull and Renault both hoping to show they are making progress.

A Lap of Montreal with Alex Wurz

"After the start-finish straight we have a second gear left-hander. The braking point is not that difficult to find, but still 'species race driver' always tries to out-brake the laws of physics and as a result we see cars sliding off there.

"Some of you might laugh at me saying that, because after the start in '98 I didn't think the laws of physics applied to me at all and I went flying in perfect-looking somersaults above Trulli, Alesi and co.

"On entry to Turn 1 the car seems to be loose most of the time, but a short burst of gas brings you to Turn 2, a first gear right-hander which changes its characteristics a lot over the weekend. I always ask myself if I should take the kerbs hard on the inside or not, but most of the time I end up understeering past the apex, with no choice other than turning the car with the throttle.

"Of course, to be able to drive the car with the power you need to adjust the traction control as well as the diff - but I'm not sure if this is the quickest way. I'll find out on Friday, when we have to carry out the vacuum-cleaning!

The next section is a third gear right-left chicane, which is interesting because you have to be very aggressive over the kerbs but, as there's no run-off on the exit, you still need to keep your testosterone output under reasonable control.

"It could well be that the kerbs play havoc with the traction control, so a special t/c set-up for this corner might help your exit speed. Certainly too much understeer in this chicane might be comfortable but it's also always too slow. Better to have it a bit loose on the rear here, my friends (and girlfriends).

"The quick right-hander that follows, where Olivier Panis had his nasty crash, should be easy flat this year, but the left-hand chicane after it is a bit tricky. I always tend to brake really late here, but somehow I think braking a fraction earlier and less hard is quicker and more consistent.

"Driving like this allows you to carry more apex speed and also lets you position the car much more cleanly in the mid-corner. Braking really ultra-late and hard mostly takes this ability away. I still need to try various driving styles through this section, like on all other corners, but here especially.

"OK, now we drive down to Turn 9, the chicane where braking is under the bridge and very bumpy. In fact, this chicane is all about the getting the braking right and not overdoing it on the entry. The exit is no problem at all as long as you enter smoothly. It's all second or third gear, depending on your gear ratios.

"Next is the hairpin, which, again, is all about braking. Ideally you set your car up so that it allows you to brake into the corner, but that's not so easy to do. In any case, it's a late braking comer and the exit is very important, because a long straight follows.

"The exit depends a lot on how the car is under braking - that sounds strange if you don't drive or engineer these cars - but if you suffer under braking the driver can't position the car nicely on the apex and then the exits suffer a lot.

"So sometimes if you have exit problems you need to think not only about your driving style, but also about the braking performance of the car.

"The last chicane, taken in third gear, is quite famous as many world champions have hit the wall at the exit. Certainly others have as well, including me. But why is that chicane so nasty? Well, as a surf dude I would compare it to the waves on the north shore of Kailua (in Hawaii): very nice-shaped waves, but if you get it wrong, man, that thing just crashes and smashes you down to the reef.

"It's the same in this chicane. You get comfortable with carrying more and more speed into the chicane and hitting the kerb more and more, until at one point, very suddenly, the comfort vanishes and it all turns into a 'concrete kiss'.

"But there's no other way with that chicane, you can only try to carry a lot of speed and put the power down very early to have a good exit. Speaking about the exit, some drivers go really close to the wall, which in my opinion is 90 percent show rather than being necessary."

Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton © LAT

Team by Team

McLaren Mercedes

Fast straight out of the box, the McLaren is proving quite reliable to boot. They have made a cracking start to both Championships, showing an edge over Ferrari despite the latter outfit more often being seen as favourites.

The Monaco one-two was a fantastic result but there are some factors that flattered the team: traditionally, their car is favoured there and Ferrari's package is not. This is certainly not the case in Canada, though they will have no fear of any other outfit this weekend.

The team has been making few mistakes, their package is largely reliable and both drivers are strongly motivated: despite anticipating an edge to Ferrari over the coming weekend, there is no doubt that they will be in a position to take advantage of any mistakes made during the race.

1. Fernando Alonso: Coming off the back of a Monaco win, tied with his team-mate for the drivers' championship, it seems that Alonso is finally starting to get to grips with the teams Bridgestone tyres. He has to be looking for another podium this weekend, provided the car will make it to the end of the race!

2. Lewis Hamilton: Continuing to shine, Hamilton's only clear flaws so far this year quite clearly came to the fore at Monaco where he lost practice time after crashing and touched the walls, despite running in a 'hold stations' pattern.

Provided he can reign in his temper, there is every reason to believe he will be able to perform well. Whether this is the circuit that will offer his first win remains to be seen ...

Objectives: Both cars on the podium

Renault

The season has not seen Renault showing the form of yesteryear: indeed, the package simply has not been competitive. Needless to say, considerably resources have been mobilised to resolve the problem, eventually yielding the fourth place in Monaco,

This could be the start of a big comeback by Renault, though it seems somewhat more likely that they have a package that is particularly suited to Monaco, and there is some way to go before they can genuinely expect to take points aware form Red Bull, let along the frontrunners.

Whilst they are probably not going to match the pace of BMW, there is no doubt that the team has improved; they should be able to run with the midfield this weekend and are certainly on the cards for scoring points, provided they can bring the cars home in one piece.

3. Giancarlo Fisichella: Finishing fourth, but a lap down in Monaco, apparently illustrates the strength of Fisichella, though he offers credit to the improving chassis.

Repeating the finish this weekend would be a difficult proposition, as the driver can make less of a difference here, so it will be particularly interesting to see how he goes, and infer the actual progress Renault have been developing the car.

4. Heikki Kovalainen: Another difficult outing at the last race puts the pressure back on Kovalainen to eke more out of himself. That his team-mate is far more experienced is not the point - the rookie has to start showing better form on race day if he is to retain his seat for long.

Objectives: both cars in Q3 and scoring points.

Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen © LAT

Ferrari

Something of a tough outing in Monaco belies the strength of the Ferrari team, who are unlikely to finish a full minute behind McLaren again this weekend.

Although there are some parallels between the circuits (both start the weekend very green, are prone to Safety Cars and technically count as road races) the fact remains that the Principality is something of an oddity - and a circuit that has often disadvantaged the Italian outfit.

Canada was not very good to Ferrari last year either, but general wisdom on the day was that their tyres were not on a par with Michelin.

Considering the levelled playing field for this year, that ought not to be an excuse, so the tifosi will be glad to see that their drivers are favourites. The package is robust and quick, both drivers have had good results at this circuit, and there is a real chance of scoring a 1-2 finish.

5. Felipe Massa: A decent outing in Monaco can have done little but help Massa's confidence, even if he finished that race well back from the McLarens. The Brazilian is clearly working well with his team and getting plenty out of a competitive package, so he has to be looking for a win this weekend.

6. Kimi Raikkonen: Frustrated in Monaco qualifying, the Finn will be looking to reverse the situation this weekend - his ongoing struggle to win races, and in particular contain his team-mate, must be starting to apply considerable pressure. Capable of running fast at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, though also prone to the occasional mistake, he should finish on the podium.

Objectives: Both cars on the podium

Honda

Last season, the Honda team struggled to make any impression in Canada - they qualifying poorly, before Barrichello suffered a retirement in the race, and Button lost out to Coulthard for the final point as grip problems left the car well off the pace.

Monaco this year was little better - though both drivers found themselves in Q3 for the first time this year after Coulthard's penalty. They ran heavy fuel loads that made it look like they were on a single stop, before pitting late and dropping places to finish outside the points.

Returning to the forthcoming Canada weekend. Although the car has clearly improved since the start of the season, there is quite some way to go. The drivers were able to make up for balance deficiencies in the car with their talents in Monaco, which is not so easy at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, so they are unlikely to repeat that performance - getting a single car in to the final qualifying session would be a decent result.

This race is one where attrition is often a factor, so keeping the cars reliable and pushing the midfield may permit them to get into the points.

7. Jenson Button: Although he is typically fast in Canada, Button has not finished too many races there - usually because the car has let him down, rather than due to his own mistakes. The Briton seems to have some affinity for the circuit and may be able to step up his game this weekend.

8. Rubens Barrichello: When he has finished in Canada, Barrichello has always done well - with five podiums from his fourteen visits to the circuit, including an outstanding second place for Jordan/Peugeot in '95, so it would be no surprise to see him drive the wheels off the car this weekend.

Objectives: Get a car to Q3 and look for a point from the race

Nick Heidfeld © LAT

BMW Sauber

Comfortable in their position as the team with the third-best package of 2007, BMW pushed Ferrari in Monaco, though they were not really able to run with McLaren.

Qualifying was better than their fourth row implied, as they had heavy fuel loads on board for single-stopping. Rewarded with fifth and sixth places in the race, they must have been a little frustrated that Fisichella was able to put his Renault ahead!

A year ago, things were not quite so rosy. Despite Kubica being fastest in practice, they were caught out by changing temperatures in qualifying and only managed to get in to Q2, though Heidfeld finished seventh and Villeneuve would have had eighth had he not crashed whilst attempting to lap Ralf Schumacher.

The low-downforce configuration could well see the team close a performance gap to the front: they have a strong aero program and are optimistic that their low-drag package will perform strongly.

Furthermore, the BMW engine is competitive, and both drivers have been on form. Outright pace should be sufficient to push Ferrari and McLaren - don't be surprised to see a Sauber finish in fourth place, or even the podium if either of those teams is not right on their game.

9. Nick Heidfeld: The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has not seen the best of Heidfeld - he has finished less than half his races there, and never better than the seventh of last year. That said, with the form of this package, even a 'steady' qualifying session and race should see him finish in the top six - whilst a good weekend would put pressure on McLaren and Ferrari.

Another difference to 2006 is that since Villeneuve's departure, Heidfeld has shown reinvigorated form in order to stay ahead of Kubica, and that is likely to continue, and be particularly reflected in qualifying.

10. Robert Kubica: Still not entirely comfortable with the style changes required to be fast on Bridgestone tyres, Kubica is nonetheless starting to show some of the speed that made him shine in 2006 - and at least is looking capable of pushing his team-mate again.

With that pressure lessened, heading to Canada and its low grip surface, it will be interesting to see if he can recapture some of the form of last year, when he was stunningly quick in practice. Should he do so, then he will be a genuine podium threat.

Objectives: Get both cars in to Q3 and one on the podium.

Toyota

Quite what happened to Toyota in Monaco is a mystery - the team simply failed to perform. Trulli struggled with braking all weekend (which bodes ill for Canada) and Schumacher struggled to get to grips with the car, qualifying 20th.

All told, they looked no better than the Spyker and Super Aguri outfits they fought to pass on Sunday.

Looking back at Canada last year, the team had a mixed weekend, but showed some definite promise - their low-downforce package at least had them capable of competing at the front of the midfield.

Their drivers have both run well there at times in the past, so it will be interesting to whether they are able to show a similar improvement in form this season.

11. Ralf Schumacher: Struggling in qualifying and on race day, it is difficult to see how Schumacher is going to keep his ride for another season unless he significantly improves his performance, at least in comparison with his team-mate.

The German is struggling to get the car set up to his liking, which would be particularly damaging for lap times in Canada, where higher downforce settings, compromising speed, is the only way to counter poor balance. Another tough weekend is on the cards ...

12. Jarno Trulli: Having out-qualified his team-mate every race weekend this year, Trulli has been showing his potential on Saturdays; returning to Canada should be welcome as he qualified fourth last year and took home three points. A repeat performance this year would be very welcome.

Objectives: Get at least one car in to Q3 and finish in the points.

Mark Webber © LAT

Red Bull Racing

Having raced strongly in Canada last season, where the team brought home a point, the team has to be looking forward to the forthcoming race with some optimism.

There current form is improving, though reliability has not kept pace, with the result that they should be able to score points on every outing, provided they can get the cars to the finish.

The Monaco weekend was a frustrating one for the team; Coulthard earned a penalty for blocking in qualifying, then raced with a damaged nose cone that took him out of contention, whilst Webber was let down by a misfire and failing gearbox. Reliability is likely to be an issue again this weekend.

With no testing since the last race, it seems likely that the team will continue to struggle with at least a fragile gearbox: if they are forced off the optimum line to limit risk, it would compromise their pace.

14. David Coulthard: With tough qualifying and an engine change in 2006, Coulthard surprised onlookers with a strong race to score a point - indeed, when he has finished here, it has always been in the top eight, so it would be wise to keep an eye on him this weekend.

15. Mark Webber: Also a strong racer in Canada, Webber has the advantage of generally out-qualifying his team-mate, though his luck is arguably worse on race day. The Australian has a strong pedigree and with a bit of reliability he ought to be able to get in to the points this weekend, provided the car goes the distance.

Objectives: Get both cars in the points.

Williams

Another point-scoring finish in Monaco underlines the strength of the Williams outfit. Despite losing manufacturer backing, they are showing poise under pressure and effectively delivering reliable packages and strategies that give their drivers a real chance to finish in the top eight.

Last year, the team looked decent in qualifying but simply failed to close the deal on race day. With a stronger package this year, the team is scoring regularly, with a couple more points than their engine supplier.

Outside the top four teams points are hard to come by, so each one scored is hugely valuable for defending their fifth place overall from the struggling Toyota and rapidly improving Red Bull outfits.

16. Nico Rosberg: Having qualifying well last year, Rosberg has to be looking forward to visiting Canada again with a more competitive package - and this time getting to the finish.

The youngster has been showing his experienced team-mate exactly how to drive in qualifying, out-performing him on every occasion. A repeat is likely this weekend.

17. Alex Wurz: Having finished fourth in Canada '98 when running with Benetton, Wurz will be looking to add to his points finish in Monaco with another strong performance - if it comes with a decent qualifying session, the rumours of his forthcoming replacement (testing feedback notwithstanding) should cease for a while.

Objectives: Get both cars in to Q3 and score points.

Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi © LAT

Toro Rosso

Having shown a similar performance to Red Bull at Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve in 2006, Toro Rosso are clearly looking to upset the apple cart with the aim of finishing ahead this year.

It will not be easy to do so. Earlier in the season, when the senior team was struggling to understand their Adrian Newey chassis, they were competitive, but even with their own developments coming on stream they are not longer quite able to get as much from the package on a normal day.

In Monaco, twelfth on the grid was a very good result, with some excellent pace showing on race day, too. The team was clearly able to compete with Honda and Toyota, so keeping Williams and the senior outfit in their sights not an unreasonable goal.

New parts are due for Canada, including brand-new wings to trial on Friday. If they work out and the drivers can stay out of trouble on race day, there may even be a point on the cards.

18. Vitantonio Liuzzi: Comfortably faster than his team-mate on most qualifying sessions, Liuzzi has been unable to convert the advantage on race day - getting to the end of the race has not been a strong point. Finishing has to be top of his list of priorities for Sunday!

19. Scott Speed: Sometimes appearing lackluster in qualifying in comparison with his team-mate, there has been some speculation on the American's future with the team - so a strong race in Monaco should have helped to relieve some of the pressure. That said, he will also need to get on top of his qualifying performances to dispel the persistent rumours of his imminent demise.

Objectives: Beat Red Bull!

Spyker

There was little positive to report from Monaco, as the team struggled in qualifying and did not finish the race. The fastest time on a wet track in practice was nice, remarkable even, but did little in real terms besides a quick morale boost.

Reliability and performance problems still hamper the outfit. Recent improvements to their pace have been promising but seem to be at the expense of making it to the finishing line. It's not an overriding problem right now, as they do not threaten to score any points, but is a worrying sign for the longer term.

Although it is conceivable that the low-drag requirements of Canada might offer the team a chance to improve, they are unlikely to make much of an impression overall. The place is notoriously hard on brakes, so they are probably going to have to compromise their low-drag setup somewhat in order to ensure enough cooling to last race distance.

20. Christijan Albers: Having been taken out by team-mate Monteiro last season, Albers will be looking for an opportunity to show an improvement on his eleventh place for Minardi in 2005. More importantly, beating his rookie team-mate is becoming a pressing concern.

21. Adrian Sutil: Some bright spots in practice in Monaco highlight the rookie as a potential future talent, but there is little more to do with the current ride other than continue ensuring he looks better than his team-mate.

Objectives: Avoid qualifying on the back row and get both cars to the finish.

Takuma Sato © LAT

Super Aguri

An anonymous showing from Super Aguri in Monaco belies the fact that besides making a couple of mistakes, they had cars that were not entirely uncompetitive, and both drivers made it to the finish: a respectable showing for an outfit in their second year. It augers well for the weekend ahead.

Last season, their Canada campaign saw a significant milestone for the team, with Sato passing Monteiro on track before crashing on the final lap. This season, they have a package that should see them capable of getting in to Q2 and pestering midfield teams on race day.

22. Takuma Sato: The Japanese driver usually shows some speed in Canada, though his finishing record is not brilliant. Look for another strong performance in qualifying, and a decent midfield result if his car is reliable.

23. Anthony Davidson: Although he has not raced in Montreal, Davidson posted some pretty decent testing times for Honda, even when struggling to balance the car. This might be one of his better opportunities to shine.

Objectives: Shoot to get a car in to Q3, and race competitively in the midfield.