Canada GP Race Report

As promised, it was raining in Montreal - ish.  The race had been pushed back because of the forecast and then there was the opportunity to undo that but IndyCar wanted the viewers too so a last minute compromise was reached and the race stayed at the revised time.  I was yawning by the end.

No one felt intermediate wet weather tyres were necessary we were told but then it seemed a few drivers did start the race with them.  I say "start the race" but I shouldn't get ahead of myself.  The formation lap went smoothly but the lights came on individually as normal and then it was a long time until they went off.   Nobody went.  It was strange.  Next we were told there was going to be an extra formation lap because Linblad had stalled.  On this extra formation lap Piastri said it was time for intermediates over the radio.

Linblad had to be pushed back down the grid, whilst cars were going past to get to their grid slots.  It was all incredibly strange.  Once the cars were all settled in their places, they were sent off for another formation lap so the marshals could keep pushing.  Everyone would have to undertake fuel saving measures because there were three formation laps which are extra to the race length.  It was then decided that these laps would come off the race distance.  Piastri continued to debate tyre choice with his team (he was on the intermediates).

Despite heavily pointing right, Russell lost two places to Antonelli and Norris, who took the lead.  Hamilton was up into fourth.  Piastri pitted at the end of the first lap.  It turned out there were lots of drivers on intermediate tyres, including race leader Norris, who pitted at the end of the second lap.  The two Audis also changed and had to double-stack.  

The drivers behind Linblad had also gone into the wrong positions after Linblad vacated a space on the grid, so that was something else for the Stewards to consider.

What the pundits all wanted was for Antonelli and Russell to have a real go at each other on the track.  On lap seven, Russell wanted the lead and took it causing Antonelli to lock his wheels and go wide off the track.  As Verstappen went past Hamilton, the Ferrari driver was quickly on the radio to complain that he had no power.    

Russell and Antonelli started going for it again, the Italian really pushing his team mate.  Suddenly there were Yellow Flags: Piastri went across the hairpin and into the side of Albon, putting him out of the race and sending the McLaren  in for a new nose.  Things kept going wrong for the team and they had to bring Norris in shortly after to remove grass and debris from the sidepods.  

It was lap 23 that saw Antonelli finally get past Russell for the lead and Piastri was given a ten second penalty for taking the Williams out of the race.  Unfortunately Antonelli went wide on the next lap and at last they touched as he took the lead back.  Halfway through, Russell went across the kerbs because he had lost power, giving Antonelli the lead.  He was furious, throwing the headrest  in front of the car, thumping it then throwing his gloves down after he he had climbed through the hole in the fence.  Antonelli now had an easy lead, six seconds ahead of Verstappen.  A Virtual Safety Car was brought about.  Lots of drivers came in for fresh tyres.

Norris soon had to drive his McLaren into a nice tidy corner as his gear box failed.  Perez brought a broken car into the pits with collapsed suspension, making him the sixth car to retire (Alonso had retired, been in the pits and retired again).  

Leclerc and Hadjar had battled for fourth quite heavily earlier in the race.  The stewards were so busy that it took them many laps to review and award Hadjar a ten second penalty for weaving in front of him.  The other Ferrari v Red Bull driver battle was between Verstappen and Hamilton for second.  With six laps to go Verstappen was left with nothing to defend with and Hamilton got past.

The top three were interviewed by Hamilton's former team mate Heikki Kovalainen (a name I haven't typed for a very long time).  The linguist thanked his team and the spectators in their native tongue; all those hours on Duo Lingo have not been wasted.

Monaco is the next race and will be a bigger challenge for the young Antonelli.  Ferrari also are prone to silly mistakes at the circuit.

Canada GP Qualifying Report

There was no big news between the Sprint and Qualifying.  The pundits were very excited that Antonelli might try and get his own back on Russell over the weekend.

Aston Martin bought the early drama with an unsafe release for Alonso and a wheel rim falling off for Stroll.  There were a lot of sloppy laps from the drivers in the first session and out went Ocon, Albon, Alonso, Perez, Stroll and Bottas.  Yet again it was not looking like to would be Stroll's year to win at home.  Antonelli was the fastest ahead of the two McLarens.  His team mate was in eighth and we assumed sandbagging.

The action in the second session was at the top of the time sheet: Hadjar took the quickest lap right at the end with a ramshackle smattering of top runners behind him.  The bottom six were Hulkenberg, Lawson, Bortoleto, Gasly, Sainz and Bearman.  It wasn't a great showing for Williams despite having shown promise recently.  The Alpines and Audis really seem to be making progress.

Russell came quite close to the wall of champions in the final session but not close enough to be a champion.  There were lots of quick laps in the last minute.  It was very close between the two Mercedes with Russell getting it on the last lap set.  The top ten were Russell, Antonelli, Norris, Piastri, Hamilton, Verstappen, Hadjar, Leclerc, Linblad and Colapinto.  Linblad is really outshining Lawson this weekend and Leclerc cannot shine as brightly as Hamilton, who, as we are always told, loves Canada.

Take a close look at Antonelli in the interviews; he looks like his figure has been added in in the edit and has been sized too small.

Canada GP Sprint Report

What was all the chat about before the Sprint race?  Tyres?  Engines?  Wet weather?  No!  Groundhogs.  The one Albon ran into during practice (that meant he missed Sprint Qualifying) had the consequence that he was starting in the pit lane alongside Bottas, Bearman and Gasly.  Stroll's suspension failed on the way to the grid so it looked like he would not be crashing into anyone during the Sprint but he was able to get going from the pit lane.

The Mercedes actually made good starts and went off in formation.  Behind them there was more action.  Hamilton was able to get past Piastri.  The Audis had an awful start, both cars dropping back several places in the melee.  

On Lap six, the Mercedes decided to go racing.  Initially I thought they had been told to hold places because Antonelli looked like he was deliberately staying back.  As they kept going, with Antonelli trying everything to get past, he went off twice and the second time Russell was even more aggressive in asserting his position and it was a bigger off.  Antonelli consequently lost a place to Norris and was pounced upon by Hamilton.  As Kimi complained on the radio, the team told him to "keep it cool" asking him not to draw attention to the team from the stewards.  Team Principal Toto Wolff put his foot down and told him to stop the "radio moaning".

Hadjar complained of engine problems and was then retired by Red Bull on Lap nine.  The mechanics worked some wizardry over one lap and sent him out again.  

On the final lap, the drivers pulled out all the stops to try and make up some places.  Antonelli went too far and went off across a grassy corner again as he tried to get past Norris.  Piastri got past Hamilton and the shock of it meant that Leclerc snuck through too.

The top eight for points were Russell, Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton, Verstappen and Linblad with Colapinto and Sainz in the top ten but gaining no points.  Perez was eleventh for Cadillac, their highest finish yet.  Wolff came back on the radio to stop Antonelli criticising the team publicly.

The Mercedes team mates had the briefest of handshakes once they got out of their cars before Russell went for a chat with Norris.  Jean Alesi tried to gee up Kimi but failed.  

It bodes well for an interesting race with the Mercedes battle hotting up but another of other drivers hot on their heels behind and keen to scoop up the points.

Other notes: Lando has started growing his moustache ready for November.  Alesi looks like he's trying for a position with FIFA.

Canada GP Sprint Qualifying Report

There were so many reasons to look forward to this race.  The Brits were excited that Hamilton might be strong for a win as he gained his maiden victory at Canada.  The Brits were excited because it would probably rain (indeed the race start time had already been put back before a wheel had graced the tarmac).  The Brits were excited that Russell might attempt a comeback at a title challenge rather than let his young upstart team mate walk away with the drivers' championship.

It was not going well for the Brits or the wildlife though as Albon hit a groundhog on the track and then crashed his car.  Williams could not fix it in time for him to compete in Sprint Qualifying.  Lawson also wouldn't be starting because he had a hydraulics problem.

The drivers went out and tootled about and all was as normal until Alonso went into the barriers and the session was Red Flagged.  He had locked up and went nose-first into the tyres, which would have hurt and the barriers would need to be fixed.  Drivers were desperate to be first out of the pit lane.  Mechanics were poised with hands raised to let them out.  Hamilton had been the quickest but still felt the need to go out again at the restart.  The next eight stayed in the pits.  Colapinto, Ocon, Bearman and Gasly did not get across the starting line in time.  Stroll was not able to better his time or gave up.  Out went Perez, Stroll, Gasly, Bottas, Albon and Lawson.

In the second session, Russell finally found his groove and was the quickest driver.  There were a few cars fighting it out to just get through with Verstappen crossing everything in ninth place.  It was Sainz who took tenth, which will make Williams wonder what Albon could have done.  Out went Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Colapinto , Ocon, Bearman and Alonso, who could not go out with his broken car.

Hamilton continued to look strong in the final session.  With two minutes to go Russell went quickest with all purple sectors and the commentators called it.  However Hamilton was still going along with a few others.  They were stretching the life of the tyres and Norris was able to get onto the front row, knocking Hamilton off; Piastri pushing him back further.  Hamilton should have come out later because Antonelli was also able to put in a quicker lap.  The grid would like up with Russell on pole, then Antonelli, Norris, Piastri, Hamilton, Leclerc, Verstappen, Hadjar, Linblad and Sainz.

The questions for Saturday would be whether Russell could maintain this advantage and whether Mercedes will continue their run of poor starts.  There are a number of drivers who could take the win.  Giving that the Sprint is supposed to be speedy was quite lengthy in the end thanks to Alonso.

Canada GP Race Report

Even though Russell was on pole, it still felt like it might be Verstappen's race, possibly Piastri's, probably not Norris's.  The British press were trying to put the Red Bull driver off by continually referencing his 11 licence points, perilously close to a race ban.  Having apologised two weeks ago for his misdemeanour, he was getting more and more annoyed by the questions.

Following Qualifying, Lawson and Gasly fitted new engines (not themselves, personally), which meant that they would start from the pit lane.  Tsunoda was in 18th after his 10 place penalty.  Hadjar was 12th after a three place drop for impeding Sainz, as he started 16th this would be no consolation for the Williams driver.

It was a clean start.  Albon was both under pressure and pressuring others but went across a chicane and through the grass, dropping back places.  Antonelli got past a risk-averse Piastri for third place.  Then there was a quiet ten laps until Norris overtook Hamilton and Alonso, and Antonelli started to really challenge Verstappen.  He avoided it by pitting very early.  The race leader, Russell, followed him in on the next lap, which put Antonelli out front.  Then he pitted.  There was confusion brought on my the Red Bull strategy, so many drivers having taken a stop, it was hard to see who would be where.

By lap 21 everyone had pitted apart from Norris and LeClerc, who were in front, a cluster of Ocon, Sainz, Albon (one team mate having gotten past the other, who was very irate with the team for not listening to him), Tsunoda, Bortoleto and Stroll, then Lawson and Gasly, who would be returned to the back of the pack when they did.

Albon refused to box and a numbers of cars overtook him in quick succession.  When he did pit he was last.

LeClerc pitted just before the halfway point and immediately questioned the choice of tyre Ferrari had given him.  LeClerc had asked for Plan C as he felt the tyres were okay.  Ferrari thought Plan B would be better but failed to communicate this with him.  Norris pitted from the lead and came out in 5th and could do a one stop race.

Aston Martin gave Alonso some gentle guidance and he told them he was racing not testing.  He really was.

By halfway through, not a lot had changed in the top 9.  Verstappen was still setting the pace, even from fourth.  Everyone responded when he pitted again.  When Russell stopped it went wrong and cost him valuable seconds.

Having done 49 laps, Albon pulled off the track and down an escape road.  It was a terrible day for him.  Then Stroll was awarded a ten second penalty for forcing another car off the track, we don't know who, we didn't see it, it wasn't replayed.  The Canadian driver was really bringing the show for his home fans.

The top five were covered by less than eight seconds with 16 laps to go.  Lawson was also retired due his Power Unit, they wanted to look after it.  It hadn't taken long to wear it down, given that they fitted it overnight.  Then, with eight laps to go, the McLarens were battling each other hard for fourth and fifth.  With Antonelli right ahead of them, they could have been making a play for a podium finish, it's seemed short-sighted by their leadership.  It proved to be true, Norris got down the inside and was ahead but Piastri fought back hard.  It looked like he clearly had the lead but he backed out heading onto the straight.  For some reason, Norris thought he could overtake then and took the slipstream, pulling out at the last minute.  He hadn't pulled out quite enough though, as he hit the go pedal to move ahead, he was not alongside but slightly behind.  He tagged his team mate, which sent him on to the narrow slip of grass next to the wall where his car was basically shredded between rock (teammate) and hard place (wall).  We rewound twice to watch despite knowing it would be replayed from different angles.  Here was the Safety Car that Norris had been counting on.  Piastri appeared to have been unharmed, lucky not to have a puncture.  He had been looking in his other mirror to see where Lando was.  There was basically not a car width's gap for him to put his car through.  It was such an error of judgement.  When asked on the radio if he was okay, Norris laid the blame calmly at his own feet: "It's all my bad.  All my fault.  Unlucky.  Sorry.  Stupid from me."  No one could disagree with that.  If it was Latifi or Sargeant who had made the move...  I had written that opening comment about it not being Norris's race two hours before this incident.  It speaks volumes. Stella would be getting it in the neck.  Piastri looked very pale when he got out of the car but was given an immediate briefing by the team about what he should say.

Russell and Verstappen were still playing silly games with each other under the Safety Car, Verstappen radioed that he had to overtake Russell because his driving was erratic and the other saying that he overtook him.  Each hoping the other would get a penalty because that was the only way to move their positions, as the race would end under the Safety Car.  They went on to have a very civilised conversation in the cool-down room.  The camera operator clearly knew to capture their faces as the McLaren incident was replayed.  "There just wasn't a space there," Russell declared.

The Top 10 was Russell, Verstappen, Antonelli (very well deserved), Piastri, LeClerc, Hamilton, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Ocon and Sainz.  It was Alonso's first points of the season and he had told Brundle before the race that Canada was good to him.  There was a lot of celebratory hugging in the Mercedes huddle in front of the podium.

There was so much chat about tyre choice (until the drama at the end) and having to run two different compounds.  The whole thing is so contrived and should be stopped; there must be other ways to make races interesting.  Perhaps if the only people who could choose tyre strategy were the drivers, that would make it spicy.

Canada GP Qualifying Report

This event in Canada felt like it could be another Monaco.  The track is narrow and the walls are punishing.  Norris was fastest in practice and his team mate and main championship rival, Piastri, hit the wall.  LeClerc also had a pretty big crash in the first session, which meant he didn't get out for the second one.  Stroll was back for his home race having had an operation on his wrist and recovered in a fortnight.

There was drama as we went into the first session.  Tsunoda was given a ten place grid penalty for overtaking under a red flag during practice.  I wonder what his excuse will be, it seems like it might be a valid mistake.  With everyone having set a lap, Albon lost the engine cover on his Williams, leaving debris all over the track and the session had to be red flagged for some tidying up.

The session continued.  Alonso had been in the lead when the flags were waved but Norris led his team mate when it ended.  Albon, with a fresh engine cover, made it through but his team mate, Sainz went off and through the dust as he had a moment with Hadjar, who impeded him.  Hadjar was through (but possibly heading for a three place grid penalty) and Sainz was out.  It was Bortoleto in 16th, Sainz in 17th, Stroll in 18th, Lawson in 19th and Gasly in 20th.  I don't know why Gasly was so low, other than Alpine are having an awful year and are last in the constructors championship.

The second session passed calmly.  Russell was fastest, followed by Norris.  Out went Tsunoda, Colapinto (8 places ahead of his team mate), Hulkenberg, Bearman and Ocon.  We should have paid more attention to the performance of the Mercedes.

It was all down to the last laps in the final session.  Norris could not put a lap together and will be incredibly disappointed with all the promise he'd shown earlier in the week when it didn't count.  Verstappen looked like he would take pole, then Piastri put in the quickest lap, then Verstappen took it back.  Behind him,

 Russell had put in a purple, fastest sector and took pole.  All he has been asked about this year is what he thinks of Verstappen's behaviour, surely now it is time for him to be questioned on his amazing season.  Villeneuve, who did the interviews, went down this avenue.  Initially, George deflected them and then joked that he had "more points on his licence to play with".  The starting top ten was provisionally Russell, Verstappen, Piastri, Antonelli, Hamilton, Alonso, Norris, LeClerc (who couldn't seem to find a good place to be on track all afternoon), Hadjar and Albon.

It feels like it will be a strongly contested race tomorrow.  Russell and Verstappen must be in contention with at least one McLaren.  We can't rule out Antonelli or Hamilton.  LeClerc always seems to be in the right place if there are any lucky breaks.

Canada GP Race Report

There was no news overnight but the Saubers decided to start from the pits.  The track was wet to begin but as no rain was falling to there was a standing start.  Everyone started on Intermediate tyres except for the Haas who cut through the pack and gained 12 places between them by the second lap.  But the rain came down harder and harder, so the Haas decision seemed like the best one.

Gasly and Perez had a collision early on, with the Red Bull going into the Alpine but it was disregarded as a first corner incident.  LeClerc was told he had engine issues early on.  The drivers were all disappointingly good in the wet weather; apart from Sargeant who went off when it was drying out.

Drivers started to slip and slide and Magnussen pitted for Intermediate tyres but his team weren't ready and the stop was hideously slow.  Hulkenberg began to hold up a huge train of cars.

Ricciardo made a false start, invisible to the human eye and was given a 5 second penalty.

By Lap 20, DRS had been enabled and it was the McLarens who had the pace.  Norris was passed Verstappen into second and Piastri set the fastest lap.  The next lap, Norris was able to take the lead.  Russell was caught out but swerved and came back into the path of Verstappen and had to pull back into third.

Finally, Sargeant had his prang on Lap 25.  Teams were braced for a Safety Car and it was slow to be called.  He was in the middle of the track and rain was due imminently, so cars came in but could they choose the correct tyre?  Everyone chose Intermedite tyres.  Norris was the big loser as karma meant he was past the pit lane entry when the Safety Car was called, meaning he came out in fourth from the lead.

Ferrari then decided to roll the dice and brought LeClerc in to perform some resets on his car and put on Slick tyres.  He was tasked by his team to just keep it on the track through two minutes of rain.  He came back into the pits to get Intermediate tyres and came out last.

Albon made what must be the overtake of the season, taking both Ricciardo and Ocon in one corner; threading his way between the cars.

Gasly was the next driver to try Slick tyres and went straight off.  Finally LeClerc retired after a race to forget.

More dice were rolled when Norris went for the over-cut on Verstappen and Russell.  LeClerc was shown gripped to the monitors in the garage.  Unfortunately Norris's tyres were too cold and split them.  Russell was able to get past fairly quickly, whilst Verstappen sped away.  Drivers still slipped on the track and Russell gave the place back to Norris.

Further down the field, Perez lost grip and smashed his rear wing into the wall and had to limp back to the pits with it hanging off.  This was investigated after the race.  Whilst that was happening, Sainz lost control and spun across the track, taking out Albon.  With Albon's car needing taken off the track, the Safety Car came out.  Sainz made it back to the pits but retired there, which made it a double DNF for Ferrari.  I think James Vowles will be ripping up any contract he had penned for Sainz.

The fight behind Verstappen continued.  Piastri and Russell battled and the Mercedes lost out and was then taken by his team mate who came back into contention.  The pole sitter was going backwards fast.  Piastri was offered the chance to get past Norris by his team but told them he was too busy fighting, which you thought they should have been able to see.

At this point, Russell got past Piastri but Tsunoda had spun elsewhere, across the track and just avoided a huge collusion.  It took him a minute to get going again.  McLaren took to the radio to put in an unsubtle request for a Safety Car to clear the damage.

Russell and Hamilton raced to the end, with Russell putting in the overtake and no team orders other than to keep in clean and safe.

5 cars did not finish but Verstappen was bemused with his victory.  He kept his racing clean and was happy to take the points and the top step.  The next three drivers were all British, which is a strong showing.  Norris was awarded Driver of the Day.

Canada GP Qualifying Report

The latest news from silly season is that Ocon will be leaving Alpine at the end of the year and Perez will be staying with Red Bull for the next two years, Albon would also be with Williams.  Much like Raikkonen and Ferrari, he must know which cupboard the skeletons are kept in to have negotiated this contract.  Ocon is less of a surprise after his boss's outburst following a huge lapse of judgement at Monaco last time out.  Tsunoda was also confirmed over the weekend that he would be staying at Racing Bull next year.

It was a wet start to Qualifying but not raining.  The rain might have come but didn't in the first session.  It was pretty uneventful.  Perez fully justified his shiny new contract by exiting, along with both Saubers, Hulkenberg and Ocon.

It was quite competitive to get through to the final Qualifying session though.  Verstappen was noted by the stewards for doing something against the race director's directions.  Merecedes pulled something out the bag and did well but both Ferraris went out, with Sargeant, Magnussen and Gasly.  From such a spectacular weekend in Monaco, they left all their luck and know-how behind and didn't put on new tyres to get through.

Again, it was super competitive in the final session.  Russell held pole position, despite Verstappen completing his lap in exactly the same time, because he got it first.  Norris was an incredibly close third, alongside his team mate Piastri.  The next row was Ricciardo and Alonso, the Hamilton, Tsunoda, Stroll and Albon.  Presumably the Ferraris will move forward and the Racing Bulls and Williams will move backwards.  

There was no rain but it wasn't really needed to spice up this Qualifying.

There was a bit of a reshuffle from the end of Qualifying to the race start with different penalties awarded.  Off the start and around the first lap, there was lots of overtaking.  The most interesting race start for a long time.  Hamilton got ahead of Alonso straight away and Russell looked pushy too.  LeClerc overtook Albon, who I hoped wouldn't be going too far backwards.  Magnussen was pushed off.

Sargeant was given a "critical message" to stop the car and find a marshal.  This brought out the Virtual Safety Car.  Once they were back going, Verstappen, bored out front, created a new sport, where he earnt extra points by hitting sea gulls.  It wasn't much longer until a proper Safety Car came out, as Russell hit the wall and left a lot of debris across the track.  It was a good time to take a pit stop, Verstappen in first and then Hamilton released into Alonso.  The Spaniard really hammed up how bad it was with lots of sawing on the steering wheel.  Norris into his pal Albon too.  Obviously the Ferraris didn't pit.

A third of the way through, old foes Alonso and Hamilton started battling with Alonso retaking his second place.

After looking at a number of possible infringements, the stewards decided to throw the book at Norris for unsportsmanlike driving.  He had been backing up the pack.  His 5 second penalty gave several drivers a boost up the final standings.

It was a good race behind Verstappen.  Alonso had to save fuel through lifting and coasting but was determined to push and try to win the race.  Russell had been given some new bits of car and got back up to 8th position, which was a good job but had to retire the car eventually evincing more apologies.  Mick Schumacher watched on with envy in his eyes.  He reminds me of lady's companions in murder mysteries of a certain vintage.  Following Toto around dutifully and agreeing with everything he says in hopes of scraps from the table.

Obviously, Verstappen was the winner, with Alonso then Hamilton behind him.  Albon took Driver of the Day, finishing 7th having held up Ocon and Norris, who battled to the very end.  Hamilton had held Fastest Lap for most of the race so Red Bull sent Perez in for fresh tires to steal it.  We found out that Alonso had nursed a problem and probably could have been on for a potential win.  The Ferraris were 4th and 5th, with Sainz told not to fight LeClerc.  The Haas's, who had been Qualifying heroes, were 15th and 17th.  Alonso's Canadian team mate Stroll finished 8th and the crowd was hardly a sea of green, so he's being shown up more and more by his geriatric team mate.

Canada GP Qualifying Report

The drivers all went out on Intermediate tires as we had been given a sprinkle of excitement from the wet conditions.  Zhou immediately had trouble with his Alfa Romeo and he finally had to park up the car, leading to the session being Red Flagged.  He subsequently got it started again, which seems like a much better solution to cars being abandoned on track than stopping proceedings.

When the race restarted, drivers came straight out to beat the times set by the Williams drivers otherwise it would have been an amazing comeback for the team.  The drivers struggled to stay on the track, with times being deleted left, right and centre.  They raced each other to cross the line in time to set a final lap, having gone round and round for a long time.  There were no surprises in the bottom group: Gasly (who had been impeded), Tsunoda, De Vries, Sargeant and Zhou.  Albon in the other Williams was comfortably through but he has all the upgrades on his car.

In the second Qualifying session, Albon was the first driver to go out on slick, dry weather tires.  Everyone got a good look at home-track-hero Stroll making a big slide off the track, in a very close rendez-vous with the wall.  The Williams led the time sheet, with other drivers taking slick tires too late and then missing the window as it started to rain.  There was frustration up and down the pit lane.  LeClerc was furious with his team as he had radioed in to ask for slick tires at the right time and was denied by them.  The nail is being hammered in to his Ferrari coffin.  Will he be replacing the increasingly hapless Perez.  Both went out in this session along with Stroll, Magnussen and Bottas.

It was raining cats and dogs in the final session, with Piastri bringing out the Red Flag as the first driver to put his car in the wall.  As conditions got so bad the drivers felt unable to continue the session came to an early stop.  This meant that Hulkenberg starts the race second, ahead of Alonso and behind Verstappen.  He had crossed the line moments before the Red Flag came out.  Albon didn't set a time at all.  Everyone seemed pleased to have made it to the end without enormous expense of ruined cars and a rush to rebuild overnight.  The race seems to be Verstappen's to lose.

Canada GP Race Report

The mood in Montreal was definitely to cheer the under groundhog, Alonso.  He'd come out with some fighting talk about overtaking Verstappen as soon as possible and everyone wanted him on the top step come the end of the race.  It was a good day for the Alpine sponsors.  Fernando was like an adorable grandfather at his teenage daughter's 21st birthday party, lapping up the attention.

Everyone pretty much got away clean at the start with a little front wing damage for the high-starting Magnussen coming into contact with Hamilton.  When DRS was enabled Sainz was straight past Alonso.  There was overtaking up and down the field as drivers out of place moved up and some took unusual pit stops.

9 laps in and Perez lost power, the pendulum has swung back from Red Bull starting the season with reliability issues to Ferrari and now back again.  He considerately parked it near a gap in the barriers to be moved swiftly.  There was a Virtual Safety Car, which many teams chose to pit under, including Verstappen which left Sainz in the lead.

Then Lap 20, Schumacher suffered a power unit failure and parked up.  Virtually out came another Virtual Safety Car and all those that didn't pit last time, pitted this time.  Apart from Alonso, so Verstappen passed him for the lead with Sainz in third.  Hamilton was in front of his team mate Russell, albeit with fresher tires for the fresher driver, so things could get nicely spicy for the Mercedes drivers.  I don't know if team orders were in play but nothing came of it unfortunately.  LeClerc also chose to stay out and take track position.  McLaren Ferraried things up by double stacking the drivers and then taking extra long to do each.

Hamilton overtook Alonso, who then took a regular pit stop, bringing him out in 7th.  The Big Question, as always though, is how are Ferrari going to ruin their race?  LeClerc was stuck behind Ocon for many many laps with Alonso behind him in the other Alpine.  Eventually, the team agreed to pit him.  However, they decided to go for a slow stop, which brought him out behind a long train of traffic in 12th.  They're ingenious and imaginative that team.

Meanwhile, Verstappen was complaining about his tires on the radio, so Red Bull pitted him from the lead.  Only to bring him out right next to Hamilton, who immediately overtook him.  The Dutchman was immediately on the radio swearing at his team.  Not to worry though, as Hamilton was in the pits the next lap, giving Russell third place on a different strategy.  Or was it?  One lap later and Russell was in.  By this point Ocon is running in 5th and Alonso in 6th, showing just how badly Alpine got their strategy wrong.  Just as Sainz and Ferrari had decided to wait for Safety Car to pit, Tsunoda put his car into the wall and ta-da...a Safety Car.  Now it was just a question of a fresh tire overtake at the restart - the biggest test of the Spaniard to far in his career.

In the closing laps, it became clear that Sainz did not have what it takes to take the lead.  Alonso asked for team orders to overtake Ocon but was refused.  LeClerc finished a creditable 5th behind the Mercedes but it's not saving his championship hopes.  The whole weekend showed that it doesn't matter too much if you choose an outstanding up and coming young driver or an old, experienced world champion, if you don't get the strategy right, you may as well employ Latifi.

Canada GP Qualifying Report

A wet race meet had been on and off since the teams touched down in Montreal and Qualifying Day saw just the right amount of rain fall; not so much the session was Red Flagged and sufficient to make it interesting.  The Goldilocks amount of rain.

Rain promises a shake-up in the order of results.  Gasly got himself in trouble with the stewards by driving the wrong side of a bollard.  Canadian Latifi was unable to get through to the second qualifying session, with his team mate managing to do so.  The other Canadian, Stroll, was also out along with team mate Vettel.  LeClerc, Albon and Stroll were investigated for going too slow.  All these investigations came to nothing...

In to session 2 and Albon went off the track, appearing to crash into the wall but no, he kept it going and rejoined.  He is just what Williams need.  Perez then showed Albon how it's done with a full frontal into the tech-pro with a thud and brought out the Red Flag as he couldn't find reverse.  With 8 minutes left of the session, torrential rain would have been very good fun, as Alonso would have been on pole position.  

LeClerc, already awarded a grid penalty for taking a fourth engine of the season, didn't go out to put in a lap.  Alonso held onto that first place for a while before Verstappen swooped in to claim it.  Along with Perez and LeClerc, out went Albon (starting 12th, well done), Bottas and Norris, who had a problem with his car.

In the final session, it all came to down to the very last laps the drivers put in.  Verstappen had quite a secure hold on pole position.  Sainz came close to challenging for it and took second from Hamilton before a storming Alonso, took that away from him.  Russell gambled on slick tires and could only manage 8th.  One wonders if Toto made that call just to stop Hamilton whinging for a bit as he out-qualifies his team mate for once.  Alonso is definitely the fan's favourite and he says he's going for it on race day.

Canada GP - "No, no, no, not like that" or "Nice one mate. Forced the error"

One of the commentators predicted that the race would come alive in the last 10 laps and, boy, did it.  The last 10 laps and 10 minutes after that.

The race started with your standard brakes on fire from Norris and the next chunk of the race was 50 Shades of Grey (optimum word: grey) talk from Brundle and Crofty about the hot, dirty track and how the tyres were being punished.

It was nice to see Ricciardo finally return to jousting with the front runners.

Then, lap 48, Vettel ran wide.  I thought nothing more of it...racing incident.

KMag whinged: "This is the worst experience I have ever had in any race ever".  I thought: "What about yesterday?"  Which is what his team principal came back to him with: "The guys stayed up all night...enough is enough".  Steiner rises to be one of my favourite principals.

Then, boom, 5 second penalty for Vettel.  There was some debate about whether he could increase his lead to accommodate this...but unlikely.

Mercedes boxed Bottas to get him fastest lap.  He will be the winner of that crown this year, even if the important one is sliding away from him.

Ferrari finished the race with the moral victory.  Vettel was voted Driver of the Day.  Hamilton was booed by the crowd.  Vettel switched the 1 and 2 signs for the cars around, then Hamilton dealt well with what could have been a very awkward podium.  Seb was magnanimous in the pre-podium room, telling Hamilton: "it wasn't your decision".  Subsequent to the race, Hamilton has told the media that he would have done the same thing.  Vettel has held his own press conference, lamenting the good old days of racing and it very much sounds like he was signing his own retirement card.

Other final thoughts include: why can Stroll only race competently in Canada?

Canada GP - Results

1= Evel Marque - 377*
1= BottHaas - 377
3. The Hope Fulls - 361
4. Je suis Charlie - 323
5. PickedInAHurry - 322
6. Jack the Lad - 269
7. The Pitstop Princess - 257
8. Hippy F1 - 231
9. Francesco Bernoulli - 190*
10. Ferrari Rocher - 180

* Home track played

Canada GP - "Grande vittoria, bravissima...and other Italianish"

Brundle: "It wasn't an all time classic, was it?"  Were you glad the chequered flag was waved early?

Grosjean's engine blowing in the pit lane as he left for Q1 was a sign that this race was to be all smoke.

There was suffering in the first lap as Hartley took Canadian Stroll out and brought out the safety car too early in the race for it spice it up.   Will Kvyat be back in a Toro Rosso seat soon?  Sainz and Perez meeting did nothing to alter the race either.  The commentators tried to bring out the old "how many stops?" chat to add suspense but Pirelli had said one stop was the way to go and no one was going to do any different no matter how many times pundits mentioned that you could make two stops.  I was also disappointed that Hammertime worked this race and Lewis overtook Raikkonen in the pits.  More pain when the driver we all want to see really racing, Alonso, retired on his three hundreded race, five years since he last won a race.  Will Kvyat be back in a McLaren seat soon?

I am also disliking the Live Points graphic.  Anyone else thought it was the order of the race a few times?

Brundle thinks it's the rest of the season is going to be all about who makes the fewest mistakes.  Sounds riveting.

Canada GP - Results

1. Give it some Gasly - 450*
2. Evel Marque - 383*
3. Two World Champions, Two Future World Champions, and um, Two Other Guys - 360
4. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 351
5. Maximum Attack! - 323
6. Halo, baby! - 307*
7. Hasstag#FaceBull - 301
8. The Pitstop Princess - 266
9. No Vices Now - 257
10. Spa Day with a Shooey - 256
11. The Hopefulls - 213
12. Hippy F1 - 210
13. Jack Johnson - 175
14. Wheels on fire - 166

* Home track played

Canada GP - Results

1. No Vices Now - 423
2. Evel Marque - 421*
3. Two World Champions, two future World Champions and, um, two other guys - 417
4. Bernie is a hobbit - 388
5= Hoping for an Indian Summer - 385
5= Torque of the Devil - 385
7. The Pitstop Princess - 372
8. Moneyball - 351
9= Jenson's Whinging Legacy - 308
9= Even more hopeful - 308
11. BOT-RAI-PER - 295*
12. Slightly Slower Racing - 278
13. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 277
14. Burn After Racing - 268
15. Hippy F1 - 233

* Home track played

Canada GP - "You are not giving me useful information"

*** THE PITSTOP PRINCESS HAS A SORE BACK. AFTER A SUCCESSFUL TEST IN MONACO, MONEYBALL WILL TAKE HER SEAT UNTIL SHE RECOVERS, WHICH SHOULD BE IN BAKU. PROVIDED SHE DOESN’T DRIVE FLAT-OUT INTO A WALL ANYTIME SOON… ***

Montreal is glorious. The people, the culture, the weather, the venue and – dare I say it – the races. It’s a consistently enjoyable weekend for all of the drivers, teams and spectators.  Still, not everyone loves it. This weekend was exactly the ‘perfect storm’ that Ross Brawn is attempting to manage out – an F1 race being staged at the same time as not one, but all of the Catalunya MotoGP, the BTCC at Croft and formula-e in Berlin (although who watches that?)…

…and it was a cruise for the Mercedes boys – just the sort of domination that we’ve not seen from them in 2017. Respect due to Hamilton, from his pole lap (reaction to which was universally "where did you get that time from??") to his man-management of Mad Max (until the sad demise of his Tag Heuer) to his race-craft (nice to see him call Vettel’s two-stop strategy way ahead of Bono). Like Ronaldo, his numbers don’t lie.
Still, it wasn’t the most exciting victory and no-one hit the Wall of Champions. Any actual race highlights?

· Sainz and Perez reduced their stock due to being a bit too bullish or stubborn (there’s no “I” in team, but there is an “AIIIIIIII!!” in Sainz)
· Max and Ocon raised theirs due to frankly supernatural ability (that start, Max! Wow) and genuine speed (how did Ocon hold off Bottas on those worn tyres?)
· There was plenty of opportunity to don tinfoil hats for the Ferrari swap (where did I leave the remote control for Kimi’s brakes? behind the couch?)
· Alonso got very close to just having a mediocre weekend but, despite his Honda engine snatching his well-earned points from him two laps from the end, somehow managed to put in the 4th fastest lap of the race and promptly vanished into the crowd to celebrate. He really is demob happy…
· “Anything you can do, I can do better” – Vettel trumped Hamilton’s Monaco recovery by rising from 18th up to 4th – some very brave driving, particularly taking the dirty line into turn 1 to get past Ocon. Can’t wait to see Hamilton and Vettel duking it out side by side – it’ll end in tears for someone…
· Good battles in the midfield (I loved K-Mag causing the Hulk to slam on the brakes with a bit of a shove into turn 1 and Nico biding his time… …before returning the favour about 15 laps later) and very good defensive driving from Ricciardo
· And Lance Stroll got points on home soil. (Yes, that Lance Stroll. Yes, seriously. Yes, I’ve seen how manically he see-saws at the wheel. Yes, it is like he’s playing Outrun. Ok, that is an old reference – Mario Kart then, for the youngsters. Yes, his overtake moves give me THE FEAR. He did make up 8 places though. At that rate, Massa would have won the race if he hadn’t been punted off on lap 1…)

Quote of the day went to DC with a scathing putdown of Kimi trying to adjust his settings:
"If you can count up to 15 or 16m euros in your paycheque, you can count up to 42 on your dash"

Bravest feat (feet?) of the day: Sir Patrick Stewart doing the schuey. Ooft.

And so, on to Baku. Apparently Mercedes worked 24/7 for ten days to understand and eliminate the set-up and race management issues that have plagued them so far this season – and that’s why they won Canada. Nothing to do with Hamilton’s utter domination at Montreal. Or that it suits the Mercedes engine and long wheelbase to a tee. Oh no. So, expect Mercedes to dominate every track from now on then. Can anyone spell hubris? (T May…?)

p.s. What’s that? Who actually won the Race of Champions 2017, I hear you ask? None other than Juan Pablo Montoya – at his first appearance in the ROC, no less. A Virgin victory – something we never heard in F1. But I’m presuming you know this, after watching the highlights on All4… Until next time!

Canada GP - "Get in there pal"

Maple syrup

Killer starts - Vettel up, Rosberg down
"Take it easy Kimi" - I can't imagine people have to say this often to the most horizontal man in F1
"I stop now?...argh!  A point" - and Alonso didn't get one either.
Defense - pronounced the American sporting way with a hard "D".  Verstappen keeping Rosberg in check.
A good strategy - at last Williams have come up trumps

Carob blend

Di Resta - Brundle away following a "small procedure".  I was very worried about the grid walk but they skipped it fortunately.
3,000 laps led - a new milestone for Mercedes.  Who started counting this one?  (James Allen?)
Di Resta - also nominated for pronouncing it "Will-yums"
Fuel - how did no one run out of fuel given that there was no safety car?  I am appalled by the abundance of planning and forethought.  This is not why I tune in to F1.
Wall of Champions - didn't claim anyone during the race.  This is not why I tune in to the Canada GP.
Final lap spin - Rosberg, you idiot.  He fought but he just didn't have what it takes to overtake.  And you can overtake at Canada even without DRS.  It does put some perspective on the Rosberg/Hamilton question.  Although he didn't lose a place.
Quoting Mohammed Ali - must be the new cupcakes and rainbow unicorns by now
Seagulls - apparently if you spend time looking at the seagulls whilst driving an F1 car, you risk locking up.  Even is you are a four times world champion.

Canana GP - Results

1. BogOffBernie - 395*
2. Weak end of Bernie - 392*
3. Merc-redible Hulk - 381*
4. Three teams, one dream - 361*
5. The Pitstop Princess - 357
6. Claire has to type out this sentence each time as my team name - 352
7. Halo, it's me - 299
8. No Vices Now - 287
9. Hippy F1 - 285
10. The Hopefuls - 275
11. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 267
12. British Racing Green - 243
13. The Maranello Marvels - 240
14. Marian's Marvels - 202
15. Indiana Walker and the Tyres of Doom - 152
16. Put out to Pastor - 135

* indicates "home track" has been played this race or so far during the season.  Nb. this is a change of policy from now on!