*** 2007 Canadian GP ***

[sameerrao]

Montreal free practice session 2 times
1. ALONSO McLaren 1m16.550s
2. MASSA Ferrari 1m17.090s
3. HAMILTON McLaren 1m17.307s
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m17.515s
5. HEIDFELD BMW 1m17.827s
6. ROSBERG Williams 1m17.992s
7. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m18.108s
8. FISICHELLA Renault 1m18.130s
9. WEBBER Red Bull 1m18.181s
10. SATO Super Aguri 1m18.309s
11. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m18.316s
12. KUBICA BMW 1m18.399s
13. BUTTON Honda 1m18.474s
14. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m18.493s
15. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m18.545s
16. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m18.602s
17. WURZ Williams 1m18.871s
18. TRULLI Toyota 1m18.895s
19. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m19.331s
20. ALBERS Spyker 1m19.453s
21. SUTIL Spyker 1m19.662s
22. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m20.519s

[sameerrao]

James Allen's comments

FRIDAY FORM GUIDE Friday practice in Montreal emphasised once again just what a demanding track the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is. And as James Allen explains, expect drivers, cars and tyres to be pushed to the absolute limit this weekend in what he expects to be the most unpredictable race of the year so far. Montreal is a really tough examination of a car and driver. The track is low in grip and takes time to rubber in. Off-line it is treacherously slippery and if you do go off-line most of the track is lined with walls. Hit or even glance one of those and you bend the suspension as many drivers did today. The cars take a real beating over the kerbs and it is the hardest race of the year on brakes, with four big stops on every lap. Then there is the chaos of the safety car, which is deployed here more often than anywhere else. This can catch out even a dominant car if it comes at the wrong moment and the order in qualifying is unlikely to be the order at the end of the race. Tyre management This year the race is going to be made even more tricky by the tyre choice. Judging from what we saw today the graining (surface rubber ripping off the tyre) was bad and the degradation (drop in lap time) is pretty severe – over the course of four laps on the super-soft tyre Raikkonen’s lap times went from 1m18.2s to 1m19.2s. So if you factor in the fuel burned over the four laps, the tyre lost 1.3s of performance in four laps! Managing the tyres on Sunday will therefore be the key to doing well. Bridgestone decided to go very aggressive on the tyres this weekend, bringing the soft and super-soft from the range. At the start of the year the plan was to use the super-soft only in Monaco but over the course of testing Bridgestone found that the super-soft would be worth trying in Montreal and at Budapest, both tracks where the grip level is notoriously low. The problem, according to one driver I spoke to, is that the super-soft tyres this year have a casing which is quite old technology and it doesn’t work the compound as the 2006 casings used to. There is no doubt that over a single flying lap the super-soft is faster and so we will see everyone using it in qualifying, as in Monaco. But the soft is a more consistent race tyre, so that will be the one most people use over two of the three stints. The battle resumes Alonso looks very fast and he is the man to beat on Sunday, but his margin today of 0.8s over Hamilton is exaggerated. Alonso did his usual trial run on 30kg of fuel to simulate the conditions at the end of qualifying tomorrow. His 1m16.5s was very impressive and in other runs he did a total of four laps faster than Raikkonen’s best in the Ferrari. Massa popped in at the end with a quick lap, but we don’t know how much fuel he had in the car. If he was doing the same programme as Alonso then Ferrari are in trouble in qualifying. It’s always hard to say. Ferrari were chasing it at bit early on but they found the sweet spot on set-up as the day progressed. I’m not sure what the balance of power will be like on Sunday, but the Ferrari does manage its tyres very well over the long runs, so that will help them. But in general I think that the McLaren is the faster car at the moment. Lewis did not take the fuel out and set his times on a higher load. He was learning this track today and trying not to hit any walls. He came through well and matched Alonso’s times for most of the day. I’m not sure that he will beat Alonso this weekend as this is a particular circuit. I still think Indy is his best chance. Toyota's troubles Toyota are very concerned tonight about the double suspension breakage on Trulli’s car. He twice broke the front suspension on the kerb at turn eight. He had not hit the wall beforehand. This track is no worse than others we visit in terms of suspension load and Toyota have identified the upright as the problem. According to other team’s engineers, it is not a part you can strengthen easily at the track, especially the other side of the Atlantic. Toyota are saying tonight that they are “hopeful” of being able to continue this weekend. The outside bets The Red Bull looks pretty fast once again, but they need to get the car to the finish. Mark Webber has yet to score a point in 2007, despite running in the points on several occasions. I fancy them to get a good result this weekend. Same for BMW. The car looks very consistent and fast here and as long as they don’t go for a kamikaze strategy as they did in Monaco, they could get their first podium of the season this weekend. It was very hot today and it’s forecast to cool down over the next two days, with rain forecast for tonight, which will wash the track clean again. This is set to be the most unpredictable race of the year so far.

[ZfrkS62]

if the report is right about Hamilton's fuel load and learning the track, then Alonso is in trouble. He better pray for team orders. I foresee Hamilton standing on top of the podium sunday afternoon for the first time.

I hate to say it, but i think this year belongs to McLaren. They consistently are faster in practice and give the Ferraris a run for their money in qualifying. during the race, the only thing that lets them down is their pit strategy where Ferrari always shines.

I want to see BMW come up another spot this weekend and take a podium. They have made leaps and bounds over last year and it would be a shame not to see it progress in North America.

[bultaco_metralla]

Originally Posted by ZfrkS62 if the report is right about Hamilton's fuel load and learning the track, then F1's Lance Bass is in trouble

....and Massa, and Kimmi, and Kubica... and all the pilots LMAO!!

Since Monaco i dont believe a shit about Hamilton Strategies..... its all the english press with his rumours, Hamilton isnt going to win in Canada... trust me!! maybe he tastes THE CHAMPIONS WALL !!! LMAO!!

We have a great day on sunday, F1, MotoGP, NadalVSFederer and soccer, in fact ive met some friends for sunday, pizza + beer + ALPHA MALE BEHAVIOUR !! LMAO!

[Mattk]

Hmm, I think it's still too early to call. One good thing about these new qualifying procedures is that you can really get a sense of how the race may progress.

But, I really do think this could be McLaren's year if Ferrari don't pick up the pace.

[saadie]

that run on fumes by al0nso was grand!! ... flawless ....

hamilton is not living upto expectations to be honest ..... but away .. cant wait for qualification .... :\ frigging 10 hours from now

[Mattk]

hamilton is not living upto expectations to be honest

Podium positions in every race is not living up to expectations? What more did you expect?

[blinkmeat]

2007 Canadian Grand Prix Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.071 2 6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:16.459 3 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.465 4 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:16.666 5 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:16.864 6 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:16.975 7 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:17.071 8 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:17.329 9 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:17.391 10 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.391 11 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:17.454 12 7 Jenson Button Honda 1:17.468 13 10 Robert Kubica BMW 1:17.601 14 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:17.624 15 19 Scott Speed STR-Ferrari 1:17.742 16 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:17.748 17 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari 1:17.799 18 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1:18.270 19 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:18.428 20 17 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 1:18.489 21 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1:18.758 22 21 Christijan Albers Spyker-Ferrari 1:18.933

At least Z know's what he's talking about :roll:

[Svensson]

Hamilton grabs pole, finally!
Hope he will kick Alstronzo's ass tomorrow too.

[Svensson]

What makes it even more impressive is that this weekend is the first time Hamilton has ever driven here.

[saadie]

Originally Posted by Mattk hamilton is not living upto expectations to be honest Podium positions in every race is not living up to expectations? What more did you expect?

he has never really been under pressure, he has never won .. this was his first ever pole .... ...

only got to see q3 ... damn good work by hamilton and heidfeld!!! 8) 8)

ferraris are going down :\

[5vz-fe]

This has been traditionally a Ferrari track, something is seriously wrong here!

[bmagni]

Originally Posted by 5vz-fe This has been traditionally a Ferrari track, something is seriously wrong here!

yeah, Massa's lap was lame... Kimi was ok...

[saadie]

aahaha ..

Pos No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 1 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.576 1:15.486 1:15.707 2 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.562 1:15.522 1:16.163 3 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:17.006 1:15.960 1:16.266 4 6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:16.468 1:16.592 1:16.411 5 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:16.756 1:16.138 1:16.570 6 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:17.315 1:16.257 1:16.913 7 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:17.016 1:16.190 1:16.919 8 10 Robert Kubica BMW 1:17.267 1:16.368 1:16.993 9 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:16.805 1:16.288 1:17.229 10 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:17.324 1:16.600 1:17.747 11 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.490 1:16.743 12 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari 1:17.541 1:16.760 13 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:17.011 1:17.116 14 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:17.436 1:17.304 15 7 Jenson Button Honda 1:17.522 1:17.541 16 19 Scott Speed STR-Ferrari 1:17.433 1:17.571 17 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.542 18 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:17.634 19 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1:17.806 20 17 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 1:18.089 21 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1:18.536 22 21 Christijan Albers Spyker-Ferrari 1:19.196

[Svensson]

Originally Posted by dani_d_mas Have I read correctly? Takuma Sato 5th? :shock:

That's not the final result, he'll start from 11th place tomorrow