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Tom
Land of A Thousand Surprises
Land of A Thousand Surprises
Round Seven: Canada: 8th June 2008
Hamilton leads from Kubica at the start.
So, Round Seven of the Championship took place in Montreal on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The fast paced circuit is named after the famous father of ex-F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve, after being tragically killed in Qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder in 1982.
Top speeds on the circuit are around 200mph, especially on the straight before the pits. But there is also a very twisty yet fast section with many chicanes. One important chicane is the last two corners. This is usually taken just under 100mph and is very tight. The wall opposite says 'Bienvenue au Quebec' and is often referred to as the 'Wall of Champions' as many big names such as Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button hit it. A good line up the apexes of the chicane and a lot of control through is required for a good lap time.
It's not the only place that walls are a problem. Many areas of the circuit have tight walls where, if a car loses traction, impact is inevitable. With the track breaking and no TC, this was a problem in Practice and Qualification sessions.
The track was breaking into small pieces, causing cars to slide on the grains. It became so bad, especially at the hairpin, Turn 10, that between Quali sessions, people had to go and sweep the track so no 'marbles' of tarmac were present. The track had to be 'glued' there overnight with concrete and resin, not brilliant for grip but satisfactory for the race to run.
The start lights went out and the 70 laps begun. Hamilton kept his lead into the first corners with Robert Kubica second. No incidents this time but Alonso come off slightly to avoid Nico Rosberg who was passing him.
A few laps in, Adrian Sutil's Force India stopped. About half a minute passed before the front left brake set itself on fire. Marshals put it out but the Safety Car came out to relieve the track from constant pressure as it broke.
This turned out to be Hamilton's problem. The pit opened for those low on fuel to pit. So the front five did. However, Hamilton came out of his box behind Raikkonen. The ruling is that they can only exit the pit under a Safety Car is when all drivers have passed. This meant that the red light had come on to stop drivers. Raikkonen did, Hamilton reacted too late and slammed into his rear, taking them both out of the race. It has since been confirmed that Hamilton and Rosberg, another involved but not retired, will lose ten grid positions next race. I personally believe that this is wrong, especially for Lewis as it was driver error. You can't punish someone for making a mistake, we are only human after all. It would be like a teacher pointing out that you have spelt a word incorrectly, but not intentionally, then gives you a detention for it. You would claim it to be unfair. Which it is, really. So that's why I disagree with the FIA entirely.
Enough of me moaning, back to the race. Robert Kubica was leading from his team-mate Heidfeld. All cars decided to fuel long and finish without pitting again. Massa continued to fight up the field with a brilliant move going past Barrichello, who had just been overtaken by Kovalainen, and the McLaren.
Nothing else happened really until the finish. Kubica won his first ever Grand Prix, after almost being killed here last year. He now leads the Championship. The other BMW came second with a brilliant third place for David Coulthard in the Red Bull. It was his first podium since Monaco in 2006. This moves Red Bull into fourth in the Constructor Championship.
The problem for Hamilton is recovering. He may qualify first in France but he'll go down half the grid, which is a shame. This means Lewis will have to fight hard to retain a chance of getting back to the top.
A quick note to those who are critical of me and saying I don't update this page often: I physically cannot do so until a race has happened. The interval is about two weeks but sometimes one or three. You just have to be patient until then! Oh yes, I am now covering myself with the bottom two statements. Have a look please.
To find out more about Formula One and get the latest news visit formula1.com.
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Coulthard rides the kerb to his podium.
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Reporter Profile
Kubica crosses the finish past the chequered flag.
Tom is a great enjoyer of Formula One and wishes he could at least have a go at driving one of the cars. He swears to this day that, if he can fly a plane, surely he can drive a car. Unfortunately, nobody trusts him enough to prove this theory. In the meantime, he shouts 'That's Numberwang!' or humms to Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now'. This obviously is a good choice as he enjoys things that go too fast too much. Who wants to argue with a plane going 400 km/h? He also considers himself to be good at image manipulation, as his motoring themed banners suggest (see right). He is a big fan of Red Bull Racing and David Coulthard and Lewis Hamilton.
Next Race Starts In...
Racing Across the World
Monaco GP, Monte Carlo
25th May
Canadian GP, Montreal
8th June
French GP, Magny-Cours
22nd June
Spanish GP, Catalunya
27th April
Bahrain GP, Sakhir
6th April
Turkish GP, Istanbul
11th May
Malaysian GP, Kuala Lumpur
23rd March
Listen to the BBC's theme used for their F1 coverage in the 1990's before ITV took over (The song is 'The Chain' by Fleetwood Mac).
Australian GP, Melbourne
16th March
This is the racing map. Here, it will show you race locations for this year. Green locations are races that have happened. Red ones are yet to be contested. If you missed any race coverage or want to read it again, contact me by email (tom@i-mag.org.uk) and let me know. All races marked in green can be requested for but not the red ones as I can't predict the future. You will require Adobe Acrobat reader to view them as they are in PDF format.
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