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[What's Burning?]

I dreamed Scarlett Johansson would win.

[What's Burning?]

I had a dream that Nico didn't get a good leap off the line and got into a bit of a bashing with cars breaking late from behind as they went into that turn 1 left hander/turn 2 right hander section. He lost some pieces and the car wasn't perfect after that. He finished third. Surprisingly, Alonso finished second.

Alonso has to think waking up each morning feels like Groundhog's day.

[sagi58]

Alonso has to think waking up each morning feels like Groundhog's day.

Words of Wisdom from Wiarton
This too shall pass!!

[What's Burning?]

Eight years is a looooong time in the sport. I've come around to think he deserves better, but then again a lot of great drivers never won championship let alone two, so he's ahead of the game IMO.

[sagi58]

Eight years is a looooong time in the sport. I've come around to think he deserves better, but then again a lot of great drivers never won championship let alone two, so he's ahead of the game IMO.

True; but, the man is very good and still seems to be on his game. He's also very shrewd,
so I'm sure he's the best one to decide whether to leave Ferrari or F1, altogether.

[spankyham]

I'm dreaming that we see some of the results of James Allison's presence at Ferrari and Marco Mattiacci's leadership.

[sagi58]

I'm dreaming that we see some of the results of James Allison's presence at Ferrari and Marco Mattiacci's leadership.

There'll be dancing in the streets!!

[sagi58]

Chances to shine as F1 teams head to Montreal



Track characteristics

Montreal – 4.36 kilometers.
Race distance – 70 laps = 305 kilometers.
12 corners in total.
A circuit made up of straights, chicanes and a hairpin

Aerodynamic setup – Medium downforce.
Top speed 326km/h (with Drag Reduction System active on rear wing) – 316km/h without.

Full throttle – 60% of the lap (quite high). 15 seconds unbroken full throttle on main straight.

Time spent braking: 17% of lap (high). 7 braking zones. Brake wear – Very High.

Total time needed for pit stop at 80km/h: 18.8 seconds.

Weather Forecast

Set on the St Lawrence seaway, Montreal can experience extremes of weather for the race; it can be very hot and humid, but also cold and wet, as it was in 2011 (above). This will have a huge bearing on the tyres. It is common to see huge temperature variations – 15 degrees of track temperature on one day and 35 degrees on another. It is one of the most extreme circuit locations for this phenomenon.

Likely tyre performance and other considerations

Pirelli tyre choice for Montreal: Prime tyre is Soft and Option tyre is Super Soft. This is the same combination as in Monaco.

This combination of Pirelli tyres in Monaco proved very durable and quite hard to warm up and this is likely to be repeated this weekend.

The track surface is smooth and the lack of long corners means relatively low energy going into the tyres, which means longer life, but difficulty with warm-up. The key to making the super soft last is to limit sliding and wheel spin with the rear tyres. This happens when the drivers accelerate out of the low speed corners. This is even more of an issue this year with the high torque levels from the hybrid turbo engines, which really spin up the rear wheels.

Race Strategy: Number and likely timing of pit stops

At Montreal the winning strategy is always to plan your fastest race from lights to flag and then prepare to be flexible in the event of a safety car.

Because pit stops cost less time (18 secs) the temptation is to do two stops, but a Safety Car at the wrong moment can hand the advantage to a one-stopping car. There are many examples of this in recent years.

Because of the ease of passing, track position is less important than at many other venues. The most important thing is to qualify well and run your fastest race and see where that puts you at the end, because you will not have problems overtaking. Running in clear air as much of the race as possible is key, so if a car doesn’t qualify as well as expected, we may see the team try an aggressive strategy to keep the driver in clear air. For a fast car out of position, getting out of sequence is an idea, so the car can run in clear air as much as possible.

Historically it has worked out that going with one stop would mean that the car was ahead of the two stoppers at their final stops, but they can usually pass the one stopper in the closing stages as his pace drops on worn tyres. However a safety car would swing things towards the one stopper, so there is always an element of gambling in Montreal.

One stop would pit around Lap 26/28. Two stops, which should be faster, would pit around Laps 16 and 44.

Chance of a safety car

The chances of a safety car at Montreal are very high at 56%. Seven of the last 12 Canadian Grands Prix have featured at least one safety car.

This is because, with the track lined with walls and several blind corners, there are frequent accidents and the conditions for the marshals when clearing debris from an accident are dangerous.

[darwin dali]

I dreamed Scarlett Johansson would win.

[sagi58]

Daly to be F1 driver steward in Canada


Derek Daly will be the FIA driver steward at the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend, the seventh round in the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship.

Daly competed in F1 from 1978 to 1982, driving for Hesketh, Ensign, Tyrrell, March, Theodore and Williams. He started 49 races and scored 15 points - his best results coming in 1980 with Tyrrell when he was fourth in both Argentina and Britain. He also took three fifth places with Williams in 1982. He later raced in CART in America and also ran at Le Mans.

This will be his second outing as an F1 driver steward having previously done it at the Italian Grand Prix back in 2012.

"It is an honour for me to assist in Montreal," he said. "I like to stay close to F1 and I can't think of a better way than being directly plugged into race control."

[spankyham]

I dreamed Scarlett Johansson would win.

Hands off, I dreamed about her and her twin sister first

[NHcheese]

I dreamed Scarlett Johansson would win.

Hands off, I dreamed about her and her twin sister first

ANYWAY. what is the best race in recent years. Because... I thinkit is canada 2010.

[1Lemon]

Canada 2011 was my favorite Canada race. Although I have had some corkers on F1 2013.

[LewEngBridewell]

Canada 2011 was my favorite Canada race.

Definitely one of the best in recent times

[racechick]

Didn't like that race, but I definitely remember it well mostly I can't remember which race is which. I get them muddled up.