FORMULA 1 - 2014

[MIKA27]

Canada agrees 10-year F1 deal

Formula 1 will return to Montreal and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the next 10 years after agreeing a new deal.

Ahead of Saturday's qualifying for the Canadian GP, the race organisers confirmed that a new agreement had been signed.

The deal will see Canada remain on the calendar until 2024.

"This is a positive outcome for Montreal," said Mayor Denis Coderre.

"The Canadian Grand Prix is part and parcel of Montreal, one of the big international events that builds our outstanding reputation as one of the world's great cities."

Coderre also revealed that 32 million Canadian dollars will be put towards making improvements to the circuit that will include a new paddock complex as well as a new grandstand.

[NaFFe]

Well done Ricciardo great race stuff happening everywhere.

[MIKA27]

Canadian GP: Ricciardo takes maiden win in Montreal thriller

Popular driver Daniel Ricciardo became Formula 1′s newest race winner, when he powered to a well calculated victory in the Canadian Grand Prix, keeping patient before pouncing in the final laps to ****** the big prize from Nico Rosberg who spent the last quarter of the race nursing home a seriously malfunctioning Mercedes to second place, and managing to keep at bay Sebastian Vettel who made it onto the final step of the podium.

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve tends to deliver incident packed races, and the 2014 edition on the Ile Notre Dame was no different. Drama started early on as Marussia drivers Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi made contact on the opening lap, both crashing violently in and around Turn 4, spreading debris and fluids across the track. This brought out the safety car for several laps.

When racing resumed it was all about the Mercedes duo at the front with Rosberg chased hard by Hamilton, and the rest left battling it out in their wake. During their duel for the lead there were some big moments, one in which Rosberg was lucky to escape a penalty when he cut the final chicane with Hamilton tucked under his rear wing.

Shortly after the half way mark the hithero ‘bullet proof; Mercedes finally showed a fallible side as both cars, almost simultaneously suffered with a lack of power which then led to a loss of rear brakes. Suddenly the silver cars, still circulating in tandem, were two seconds a lap slower than their rivals, the pair snapping at each other, but on lap 48 Hamilton drove into the pits and retired, while Rosberg began a remarkable feat of nursing the stricken W05 home.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff explained, “We had a problem with both cars on the same lap. When Lewis pitted, because of pit stop, the temperatures rose too high in the brakes and he lost them. Nico saved it with a brilliant drive.”

“We knew brakes could be an issue, but this particular issue occured because if you lose the MGU-K, it’s much harder on the brakes. And with the rise in temperatures in the pits you end up having a real problem,” explained Wolff.

“We had two drivers who were perfect. You could have said maybe freezing order would help the end result, but that’s not what we want to do and not what people want to see.”

Behind Rosberg at that stage, Sergio Perez was in inspired form as he opted for a one stop race in the Force India, but it came at the cost of outright pace and as a result he soon had a train of cars behind him with Ricciardo and Vettel among them, along with Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Massa who was on fresh rubber and enjoying an impressive race. In fact the Brazilian at one stage looked good for victory, as his Williams was by far the faster car in the final stages of the race.

Fast forward to the final lap,with Perez’s tyres all but done, Massa appeared to miscalculate his overtake as the pair headed into Turn 1. The Williams clipped the Force India and the two cars slammed the barriers, both drivers lucky to climb out of the wrecks.

By this point Ricciardo had overtaken Rosberg a couple of laps earlier to take the lead and victory was in the bag as the Safety Car was deployed for the final lap of the grand prix to tend to the Massa-Perez incident.

Few would have bet much on either Red Bull driver taking the win, but as the Mercedes powerhouse imploded, Ricciardo sensed the opportunity and seized it. First by stalking stubborn Perez relentlessly, and then hunting down Rosberg to take his first Formula 1 victory.

The day belonged to the Australian, who summed up his race afterwards, “I am still a bit in shock. Thanks everyone. This is ridiculous. There are lots of Australian flags, which is nice. The race really came to life for the last 15-20 laps.”

“Hamilton had a problem and Rosberg was slow down the straights. I really struggled to get past Perez but managed to finally get a run out of the last chicane and get a nice run out of turn one and set my sights on Nico with couple of laps to go. I finally managed to get in the right spot to use DRS and it’s an amazing feeling right now,” said Ricciardo.

Mercedes’ fine run of wins came to an end on a day in which they were targeting a record of six 1-2 victories, they were lucky not to end up with two DNFs, as by all accounts Rosberg did an outstanding job to keep the car going, given the condition it was in. His efforts were rewarded with second place and a 22 point lead over his teammate in the world championship standings.

Rosberg commented, “That was all over the place. There was so much going on. It’s disappointing because we want to win every race and we have the car to win every race. It was disappointing to have a problem like that but after everything to finish second in the end was OK.

“We want to keep fighting, just as we did today. We owe that to the fans and will keep doing it. It’s so close and I don’t think it’s straining the cars. When the team sees it’s risking the cars they will jump in and make sure we bring them home. We need to make sure we get to the end of the race,” added Rosberg.

Third placed Vettel made a great start, slotting into second place but relinquished that to Hamilton shortly after the first Safety Car period ended. He nevertheless toiled hard all afternoon, losing out to teammate Ricciardo when the Australian opted for an early pitstop and then did enough to leap-frog the reigning world champion.

Vettel reflected, “Congratulations to Daniel. It’s his day. We had a big help from Mercedes, unlike other weekends, but we were there to capitalise. It’s been a positive day. Daniel’s first win and a first win for Renault in the new era of engines. They have had a good comeback although there is still plenty of work ahead of us because Mercedes are quicker down the straight. But all in all it’s been a good day.”

Everyone behind Vettel inherited two places at the expense of Massa and Perez. Invariably in races of high attrition Jenson Button rises to the occasion, and this time around it was no exception as the McLaren driver turned ninth on the grid into fourth place at the end of the day.

“If you got caught in traffic it was difficult to overtake but I fought my way through in the end,” said Button. “The incident with Sergio and Felipe you don’t want to see, but they are OK which is good and I had that little dice with Fernando [Alonso] and [Nico] Hulkenberg and went down the inside of both of them. It was a fun race and some reasonable points. In a straight-forward race we wouldn’t have finished fourth but I feel we are making progress with the car and the team should be happy.”

Nico Hulkenberg salvaged some joy for Force India by finishing fifth on a one stop strategy. The German opted to start the race with the yellow band Pirelli Soft tyres, later strapping on the Super-softs but for some reason the latter tyres did not give him the extra edge expected.

Fernando Alonso finished sixth in the Ferrari, but the F14T did not give him options to attack and thus it was more of a case of gritting it out, which the Spaniard did while his teammate Kimi Raikkonen who finished tenth, struggled to the point that he spun at the slowest point of the track in the process.

Valterri Bottas salvaged seventh place for Williams, the young Finn in the wars throughout the course of the afternoon. Jean Eric Vergne was eight in the Toro Rosso and McLaren rookie Kevin Magnussen crossed the line ninth.

MIKA: What an exciting race!

Was so pleased to see Daniel win his first GP, was humbling to see Vettel give Dan a hug and congratulate him. Shows Vettels maturity.

A huge shame about Massa, I really wanted to see him get a podium.

[MIKA27]

Williams: We’re lucky not to have someone seriously hurt

Williams provided evidence to stewards which led to Force India’s Sergio Perez being penalised after a violent last lap crash with Felipe Massa in what was a duel for third and fourth place in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Rob Smedley, Williams head of vehicle performance, told media after the race, “We were lucky not to have had someone seriously hurt and lucky not to collect Sebastian in a side-on impact. We showed the stewards evidence that Felipe brakes about five metres earlier than the lap before.”

“There is evidence from the side shot – if you take Felipe and Sebastian [Vettel] through the braking phase, the distance between them is the same and you see Perez is backing towards Felipe. We showed them the overhead shot. Perez brakes very early, and the car jinks to the left, either because he does it or because of brake problems, I don’t know.”

“And we showed them evidence from the radio transcript [with Perez] talking about ‘I have no rear brakes.’ And they [Force India] said: ‘If you can carry on, carry on, and if you can’t, pit.’ That sounds like a terminal problem and why you leave a car out in that condition is beyond me. I’m a bit peeved, to say the least, that this has happened,” added Smedley.

Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley confirmed that Perez had an electrical fault on the braking system, and said, “We’re all just really relieved that they’re both all right because it doesn’t bear thinking about what can happen in silly accidents like that. We need to look at the data and see what actually happened.”

Both Massa and Perez were taken to hospital for precautionary brain scans after incurring impacts of 27G, but were discharged shortly thereafter. Both the Williams and Force India narrowly missed crashing into Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull as they slammed out of control into the barriers in Turn 1.

[MIKA27]

Force India ignite conspiracy theory after Perez penalty

Force India suspects a conspiracy, after Sergio Perez was penalised for a terrifying last lap crash at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix.

As they tussled for fourth on the last lap, Williams’ Felipe Massa hit the back of Mexican Perez’s Force India, sending them both into the tyres at high speed.

They were both transported to Montreal’s Sacre Couer hospital for checks and later released with no injuries.

Both Williams and Force India pointed the finger of blame. Williams’ post-race press statement said Perez “crashed into” Massa, but Force India claimed Perez was “the innocent victim”.

The Mexican said after a check up, “On the final lap I was defending my position going into turn one when I suddenly got hit from behind. It was a big impact, but I am okay.”

Ultimately, the stewards sided with Massa, penalising Perez five places on the forthcoming Austrian Grand Prix grid.

But according to Auto Motor und Sport, however, Force India suspects a conspiracy because, in addition to the four stewards in Montreal including former driver Derek Daly, also in the stewards room on Sunday was Adrian Fernandez.

Former Indycar driver and Mexican Fernandez was Perez’s manager until two years ago, when they split acrimoniously .

“The driver steward was Derek Daly,” said Force India team manager Andy Stevenson. “I don’t know why Fernandez was asked for his opinion.”

FIA race director Charlie Whiting insisted: “From time to time, there are observers to the stewards. Fernandez will be the driver representative in Russia, so we invited him here to have a look.”

Whiting said any talk of an anti-Perez conspiracy is “nonsense”.

[MIKA27]

Red Bull: New multi-year agreement with Newey

Red Bull has confirmed reports that Adrian Newey will stay with the team beyond the 2014 Formula 1 season.

Earlier it was reported that the reigning champion team had devised a cunning plan to keep the highly sought-after engineer out of the clutches of its big-paying key rivals.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said that Red Bull are building a new technology centre near their Formula 1 factory in Milton-Keynes, where new and innovative technical projects will be born – with none other than Newey in charge.

Reportedly, the projects will range from innovative road cars to aircraft, “with the secret hope that someday he will miss competition and crawl back to Formula 1″, said correspondent Michael Schmidt.

Shortly after those reports emerged, Red Bull announced in Montreal that it has inked a new “multi-year agreement” with the Briton.

The team confirmed that Newey, 55, will work on “new Red Bull Technology projects”, as well as “advising and mentoring” the Formula 1 team “as it develops its Formula 1 cars over the next few seasons”.

In the past weeks, there have been reports of audacious offers to woo Formula 1′s most highly rated designer. Ferrari’s offer reportedly topped $20 million per year, while it was also reported that Mercedes expressed interest, but Team Chairman Niki Lauda claimed, “We made him no offer.”

Nonetheless, Newey is understandably in high demand, given his astonishing title hit-rate. But the 55-year-old is also unashamedly frustrated with the state of today’s Formula 1, featuring ever-restrictive technical regulations.

“What you can do with the car to make [a winning] difference with good ideas is less and less,” he said. “We’re moving to more of a GP1 series.”

The Full statement reads: “Red Bull is pleased to confirm that it has extended its successful relationship with Adrian Newey with a new multi-year agreement. As part of this new agreement, Adrian will work on new Red Bull Technology projects, as well as advising and mentoring Infiniti Red Bull Racing as it develops its Formula One cars over the next few seasons.”

“The details of the new projects will be announced in due course. Adrian joined Infiniti Red Bull Racing at the beginning of the 2006 season as Chief Technical Officer. In 2010 the team won its first Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships; the Austrian-owned team has retained the titles ever since, winning both Championships again in 2011, 2012 and 2013.”

[MIKA27]

Is Raikkonen facing the Ferrari axe again?

Ferrari sources have reacted swiftly to extinguish mounting speculation surrounding the future of Kimi Raikkonen, as the latest edition of the sport’s notorious ‘silly season’ gets going in Montreal.

Swirling around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve paddock are whispers that, having comprehensively failed to match Fernando Alonso’s pace in the first third of 2014, Raikkonen could be axed, for a second time, by Ferrari.

That move would be an echo of Raikkonen’s last Maranello exit, when the fabled Italian team had to pay the Finn millions to end his 2010 contract with Maranello.

Likewise in 2014, Raikkonen is firmly under contract not only for this year, but also 2015, when he is expected to be paid some $30 million whether he races or not.

“Ferrari will not fire Kimi a second time,” a Ferrari source told Sport Bild.

Recalling the amount of money it cost Ferrari to oust Raikkonen in 2009, the source added: “Ferrari doesn’t want to do that again.”

A driver manager also told Sport Bild, “It would cost Ferrari up to $30 million because he has a contract until 2015 with an option for another year.”

Word from the Raikkonen camp is that no matter what happens he is unlikely to remain in Formula 1 beyond the end of next year.

Instead Ferrari appear to sympathise with Raikkonen’s plight, as he struggles to come to terms with the below par Ferrari F14T. The team has added David Lloyd to The Iceman’s engineering arsenal which also includes Antonio Spagnolo.

Lloyd previously worked with Raikkonen during his championship winning year with the Maranello outfit, He and the Finn had a good relationship with in 2007.

[MIKA27]

Red Bull denies booting Mercedes out of hotel

Red Bull has hit back at Mercedes, amid a dispute over hotel accommodation for the forthcoming Austrian Grand Prix.

On Sunday, team boss Toto Wolff claimed Mercedes staff have been “kicked out” of their hotel bookings just days before travelling to the Styrian region.

“Those who work the most and the hardest on the cars will now have to commute 70 kilometres each day,” he said.

It turns out that not only does Red Bull own the Austrian GP venue, the energy drink company’s mogul Dietrich Mateschitz is also the new owner of the Schloss Gabelhofen, a castle that now operates as a hotel near the Red Bull-Ring.

But Red Bull’s Formula 1 director Helmut Marko denies the claim that Red Bull “kicked out” its arch rival Mercedes.

“Mercedes itself made the cancellation,” he told APA news agency in Montreal on Sunday.

He is also quoted by the German newspaper Bild: “Mercedes told us suddenly and with no reason. I have the correspondence to prove it.

“We have kicked no one out of our hotel,” said Marko adding that the fuss about the hotel story was “unintelligible theatre” on Mercedes’ part.

In fact, he said Red Bull has bent over backwards to help Mercedes, after it emerged that Lewis Hamilton’s plans to have his motor home in Austria fell through.

“Despite great difficulties, we have given him a room at Steirerschloessl,” said Marko, referring to the best hotel near the Red Bull-Ring, “so that he can prepare in the best way possible.”

Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda, however, hit back at Red Bull’s account, “A joke! We have not cancelled our rooms – why would we do that? Because Mateschitz bought the hotel? We would have liked to have stayed there.”

[MIKA27]

Formula 1 to scrap Bahrain pre-season test

Formula 1 will scrap plans to return to Bahrain for pre-season testing next winter, in an effort to cut costs.

This year, to guarantee good weather for all-important running of the radically-new cars and engines, the teams headed to Bahrain’s Sakhir track for eight days of running ahead of the season opener in Australia.

But with cost-cutting now such a high priority, the sport will not be returning to the island Kingdom ahead of the 2015 season, Speed Week claims.

Pirelli chief Paul Hembery backed the move, “Bahrain is much further away from everything than Spain is, so testing there is more expensive.

“Logistically, Bahrain is a nightmare,” Hembery added. “If you have a problem, it takes a lot more time to fly out new parts. Six hours flights, not two.”

Speed Week correspondent Mathias Brunner said team bosses agreed in Canada at the weekend that three pre-season tests will take place next winter — all of them in Spain.

The precise dates have not yet been decided, but it is believed the winter testing will begin at Jerez and end with two sessions in Barcelona.

It is also reported that, also for cost reasons, Formula 1 could once again axe in-season testing, despite the fact the concept of post-race tests at some key Grand Prix circuits was only introduced this year.

Brunner said: “It (the in-season test ban) is not yet set in stone. There are team bosses who want at least two tests during the season.”

[MIKA27]

Bianchi 'disappointed'

Jules Bianchi refused to lash out at his team-mate in the wake of Sunday's double DNF, only saying that he was "disappointed" for Marussia.

After the high that was Monaco where Bianchi scored both his and the team's first World Championship points, Marussia failed to finish in Canada.

Racing for position off the line, Max Chilton crashed into Bianchi, putting both drivers in the barriers and out of the race.

Speaking about his less than one-lap race, Bianchi said: "I got a great start, kept everyone who was behind me behind and then obviously Max and I were racing each other through Turns 2 and 3.

"I braked into Turn 3 and there was an impact, after which I ended up in the wall with a badly damaged car.

"I am disappointed for the whole team because once again we had a strong weekend and it was a race that held so much promise for us, both in terms of the car we had and also how the race ultimately panned out.

"Now we have to move on and give the team a better reward from Austria."

[MIKA27]

Alonso: Not good enough for Ferrari

Fernando Alonso has lamented another poor race day for Ferrari after the team left Montreal with just nine points.

The double World Champion finished sixth while his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was down in 10th, but it would've been much worse had Force India's Sergio Perez and Felipe Massa from Williams not crashed out on the penultimate lap as they were fourth and fifth respectively at the time.

"We were lucky with some DNFs at the end to pick up some points but sixth and tenth is too little for us," Alonso said. "Jenson took the opportunity at the end with one of his banzai moves to gain two places.

"The car did improve a little bit compared with the last race but others did a bigger step than us."

Alonso called on his Ferrari team to take a leaf out of Red Bull's book after the Milton Keynes team won through Daniel Ricciardo in Montreal, despite having plenty of problems of the winter.

"We need to work but the example of Red Bull is there now," he said. "In winter testing people wouldn't think they could win a race, especially in the first half of the season. But it shows how things can change in Formula 1."

[MIKA27]

Hamilton has 'lot to do' after second DNF

Lewis Hamilton lost ground to team-mate Nico Rosberg in the Championship when he was forced to retire from the Canadian GP.

Racing his team-mate for the victory, Hamilton briefly took the lead after the second round of pit stops only to run wide and allow the German back through.

Fighting back, Hamilton missed the chicane and mounted the kerbs resulting in a puncture. But with smoke also coming from his brakes, his race was over.

Rosberg finished in second place, putting him onto 140 points in the Championship, 22 ahead of Hamilton.

"Well I've had a lot of work to do since race one - that is now two DNFs that I have had and zero for Nico," he told Sky Sports F1.

"We will keep pushing and hopefully comeback stronger in the next race."

However, Hamilton's retirement was not the first issue of the day as earlier both the Brit and Rosberg experienced a loss of power.

Mercedes revealed that it was "high-voltage control electronics failure lead to permanent loss of MGU-K drive on both cars in today's race."

Speaking about the issue, Hamilton said: "We knew as a team that we had some problems part of the way through our second stint, but we thought that we would be okay to manage it.

"Not just me, but Nico as well and that is why we were going at the pace we were going. I jumped him in the stop and I was thinking 'wow what an amazing feeling' then straight away that lap the brakes failed so there was nothing I could do.

"The thing is I was following him and when you are following someone you are getting more heat - he was in clean air the whole time in front and so there was not really much I could do. When I finally came out in front I think by then everything was already cooked so there was nothing I could do.

"It was an unfortunate day, but the team still go 18 points which is good, so we will move on and hope we don't have any more DNFs throughout the year."

[MIKA27]

Jenson Button says fourth place flatters McLaren

Jenson Button called his Canadian Grand Prix fourth place a "lucky" result for McLaren, but still reckons the car felt the best it has in the 2014 Formula 1 season.

McLaren has lost ground since its double podium in the opening round in Australia, with its early lead in the F1 constructors' championship becoming a distant fifth place.

Button's fourth in Montreal was the team's first top four appearance since Melbourne, and was achieved despite him being only ninth with 12 laps to go.

A string of late passing moves plus Sergio Perez and Felipe Massa's last-lap crash brought the Briton up the order.

"Some races you get unlucky, some races you put yourself in the right place and it works out," said Button.

"But in terms of how the car feels, that's a lot more important than the fourth place.

"There is progress being made. The feel of the car is the best it's been all year here, with less downforce.

"There's more coming, the next couple of races should be where we see progress and take us closer to the front.

"A fourth place without people crashing is probably our aim for the next race."

Button had spent much of the race as low as 12th before the McLaren found pace on the soft tyres.

"The first stint was terrible on the super-soft tyre, I really struggled," he said.

"But as soon as we got on the prime the car was good, we came alive and I could pick my way through the field."

He gained two places in one move late on as Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg tripped over each other.

"Fernando almost hit Hulkenberg at the back and had to dive down the inside, Hulk had to go wide and I dived down the inside of both of them," Button said.

FRUSTRATING RACE FOR MAGNUSSEN

Kevin Magnussen came home ninth in the second McLaren and said it had been an underwhelming race for him.

"It was tough, not really much to do. It's frustrating when you're looking after the tyres and not really racing anyone," he said.

"I was racing [Jean-Eric] Vergne at the end but just couldn't get past him.

"I said before the race if we could get any points today we should be happy and we got two points."

[MIKA27]

Race Report- The Smiling Assassin wins in Canada

The notion of having a “Dream Season” in which you win every grand prix has come to end for Mercedes. Having won the first six races of the season, Mercedes experienced an MGU-K failure on both cars reducing power (slowing them by 20mph down the back straight) and eventually halting Lewis Hamilton’s race. Hamilton’s teammate, Nico Rosberg, was able to finish the race but did so in second place behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo who scored his first F1 win.

Exciting races are born from attrition and the notion and that is what we had in Canada. Mercedes may have lost their bid for the perfect season but they clearly haven’t lost their dominance.

Win

Certainly the big win of the day has to be Daniel Ricciardo, the Smiling Assassin, to take his maiden victory in F1. There are other “wins” starting with the Canadian fans who always put on a great race and create a fantastic atmosphere in which to hold a race. Austin could learn a few things here. A big “Win” for an exciting race.

Ricciardo is in good company winning his maiden victory in Canada and joins Lewis Hamilton, Robert Kubica and Gilles Villeneuve in doing so.

Attrition will always be a part of Formula 1 and a circuit like the one in Canada is a punishing track on brakes and every other component. Because of this, ten cars were out of the race. With that kind of attrition and the action up front, you may have missed another “Win” for the race which was the 4th place run for McLaren’s Jenson Button and a 9th place points finish for his teammate Kevin Magnussen. Much needed points for the folks in Woking.

Force India was another great storyline as they were playing serious strategy with this race and contextually designed around their long-run race pace. It nearly worked until Sergio Perez had brake issues that dropped him into the clutches of Ricciardo and then into the hands of Williams F1 driver Felipe Massa who crashed into Perez on the final lap.

Another “Win” could be for Nico Rosberg who appeared to have his brake bias set more forward and managed to cool his brakes and stave off a retirement, such as the one his teammate suffered, in order to finish the race which puts him 22 points ahead in the driver’s championship instead of just four.

Sebastian Vettel managed to finish a race and while it wasn’t where he would like to be—behind his teammate—it did signal a return to some kind of form for the 4-time champion. He was genuinely happy for Ricciardo’s win and seemed realistic about the gift Mercedes handed Red Bull in Canada.

Honorable mentions to Jean-Eric Vergne for scoring points in what has otherwise been a miserable season so far for the Toro Rosso driver.

Also to Renault for getting a little podium love from Sebastian Vettel who congratulated them for the win today. The company has taken a drubbing of late and needed the boost.

Fail

To start with, Kvyat, both Lotus drivers, both Marussia drivers, both Caterham drivers as well as both Williams drivers and Lewis Hamilton all get an “F” for their race in Canada. The DNF’s for both Caterham and Marussia is huge given the amount of attrition in this race and the missed possibility for more points if they had simply finished the race.

Max Chilton’s run of reliability—finishing every race he’s started in F1—came to a dramatic and costly end when he took his teammate out on lap one. Caterham’s turbo failure for Marcus Ericsson and Kamui Kobayashi’s suspension failure was a massive hit to the team.

Valtteri Bottas’s Williams may have done better but his deep dives into the hairpin lost him crucial positions and his ragged tires left him adrift of a shot for the podium. Williams F1 had every reason to score serious points Sunday but threw it away.

For his teammate, Felipe Massa, the day was turning out to be a dream race where a podium was possible due to his superior speed on fresher tires and while we thought we might be seeing the 2008 version of Massa returning, his crash on the final lap with Perez shows us that the old Felipe we know and love is still here…he just can’t quite get a break these days.

The reason the race was so exciting was because it wasn’t being dominated by Mercedes. There is a lesson in that for F1 but suffice it to say, the drama was riveting and it all centered around the notion that this could be anyone’s race given Merc’s power issues. The crowd went wild when Ricciardo passed Rosberg. They loved the pass and re-pass between Rosberg and Hamilton and tend to like racing where the cars can actually race each other.

A sour day for Ferrari as well as Fernando Alonso said that they would not have been in the points if the race had gone to plan without the Massa/Perez incident but finishing in 6th and 10th in a race with this much attrition is not good enough for the Scuderia.

The first corner defense of his line that Rosberg put on his teammate, Hamilton, was completely a case of good racing. While Twitter was ripe with accusations of Nico being dirty in his tactics have completely forgotten about Bahrain where Hamilton did the very same thing to keep Rosberg behind him. That’s racing folks.

WTF!?

The “WTF” has to go to Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez. I was a tad confused—what was that all about? Who caused what? At first blush it looked like Massa collided with Perez but then it looked like Perez jinked left catching Massa off guard.

It was later deemed, that Perez caused the incident by moving into Massa’s line and he was penalized a 5-grid spot penalty for the next race in Austria…the right call?

Marussia, hot off their first points of the teams history in Monaco, managed to get it all wrong and end their race on the first lap. BAD.

Lotus F1 still suffering technical failures and that is making a bad year worse. There was a crash in this race and Pastor Maldonado wasn’t involved so that is a positive.

There were some radio communications between Sebastian Vettel and the team in which it did appear, very similar to Hamilton, that the German was questioning the team’s strategy regarding his race. I don’t read much into that, just like I don’t when Hamilton does it, but some suggest that there could be some friction between the two.

Finally, when Nico Rosberg was under attack from teammate Lewis Hamilton around lap 33, he missed a braking zone and cut the final chicane. The stewards reviewed the situation and gave him a warning. At the time, Nico was leading the race and Hamilton was closing in. Twitter, again, was ripe with accusations that he should give the position to Hamilton as he cut the chicane and gained an advantage.

I cannot recall a precedent for a leader to give away the lead for cutting a chicane on the first offense. I could be wrong but a warning is the precedent I recall and if Nico persisted in cutting the chicanes, then he would be asked to cede the position. No penalty, as in a drive-through or 5-second penalty, is clearly the right call from the Stewards which included our friend Derek Daly this weekend. Good call Derek.

[LLC]

Agree with Mika that the Canadian GP was a great race and that what happened to Massa was too bad. I need to get myself to that race next year.

[MatthewB]

What a great race - Well done Daniel.

After watching many replays of the final accident - how could they lay blame with sergio????

Clearly massa miscalculated the overtake and failed to create enough room for 2 cars. Bad decision...

[MIKA27]

ROSBERG BIG WINNER AMID MERCEDES TROUBLES IN CANADA

Formula 1 World Championship leader Nico Rosberg was all smiles after the Canadian Grand Prix, despite failing to win and grappling with technical problems for the final third of the race.

“Ricciardo wins,” announced the headline in Die Welt, “but the big winner is Rosberg”.

After six straight wins so far in 2014, ultra-dominant Mercedes struck trouble in Canada, with the energy recovery systems on both cars playing up.

On Rosberg’s W05, he simply lost the 160 horse power of energy recovery boost, but still managed to finish second behind Red Bull’s first win of the year.

“This shows how good the Mercedes engine is,” Renault-powered Red Bull’s designer Adrian Newey is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

The even better news for German Rosberg is that similar problems aboard Lewis Hamilton’s sister car meant that the Briton had to retire.

It means that Rosberg’s championship lead, only re-captured in Monaco two weeks ago, now extends to a considerable 22 points.

“Every point matters,” said the disappointed Hamilton. “That’s two DNFs for me and none for Nico, but we are learning as a team and I am sure that we won’t have any more incidents like we did.”

Mercedes’ problems meant that Australian Ricciardo made his already-impressive first season for Red Bull even better, with world champion Sebastian Vettel third.

“It’s nice that we could capitalise on Mercedes’ issues,” said new Grand Prix winner Ricciardo.

“I think it would have been disappointing if they had their issues and they were able to still get the best of us,” he added.

Ricciardo’s debut win would also seem to have concreted his place at Red Bull beyond 2014. “I can’t see any change happening soon!” he grinned on Sunday.

The team’s Helmut Marko agreed: “We are very proud of him. What he is showing now proves that our decision to put him there was absolutely right,” he told Sky.

The outcome of the Canadian Grand Prix also isolated Ferrari as the only engine manufacturer involved in Formula 1 yet to break through in the new V6 turbo era.

“Red Bull winning is a surprise,” Fernando Alonso told Spanish reporters after the race, having finished just sixth, four places ahead of his struggling teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

“What it shows is that it is important to keep working hard, because anything can happen in Formula 1. “If we had said after winter testing that Red Bull would win this race, you would not believe it. They have improved a lot.”

As for his personal goals for the next few races in 2014, Alonso sounded downbeat: “Finish ahead of my teammate and go home.”

[MIKA27]

Newey will lead Red Bull RB11 design then step back

Adrian Newey has confirmed that he is still heading up and very much involved in the the design of next year’s Red Bull race car – the RB11.

The paddock drew breath in Montreal when the world champion team announced that the Briton, the only undisputed ‘genius’ engineer in Formula 1, is stepping back from the front line.

Red Bull has managed to keep the 55-year-old from the clutches of high-paying rivals like Ferrari by giving him an ‘Advanced Technologies Centre’ to indulge his desire for other design projects outside of Formula 1.

Newey admitted that he is frustrated with the ever-restrictive rules in Formula 1, urging a “re-think” that could eventually take him back to the pitwall.

“I’m 55 and not ready for the beach just yet,” he told reporters in Canada, “so I’ll do this for a little bit and see what happens after that.”

For the moment, however, Red Bull’s new Newey-centric technology centre is not quite ready, and so the team’s current technical director is still on duty.

“Yes, absolutely,” said team boss Christian Horner, when asked if Newey is in charge of the 2015 car.

Newey confirmed to Auto Bild: “I will remain fully involved in the coming months and will design the car for 2015. During this time we will also look at how we set up the team for the future.”

So it is assumed that after Newey’s initial concept of the 2015 car is laid out, his design successors will take over.

“I will take on more of an advisory role,” said Newey, “and will always be there for my colleagues if they need advice and help.”

[MIKA27]

Ricciardo 'proved his worth'

Christian Horner feels Daniel Ricciardo proved his "thoroughly deserved the drive" with Red Bull Racing with his Canadian GP victory.

The Australian racer, who joined Red Bull from junior team Toro Rosso, has been the pick of the Red Bull drivers with two podium finishes leading up to the Canadian GP.

That two became three on Sunday afternoon in Montreal when he launched a late attack on the front runners to take the victory from Nico Rosberg.

It was the first time that Mercedes had been beaten this season and was in fact also the first time a car other than a Merc lead a race on merit.

"Amazing," said Red Bull team boss Horner. "Daniel has been unbelievable all season.

"Of all races we thought we could win, this would have been the most unlikely.

"The way he drove, he thoroughly deserved the drive. He's proved his worth. He's exceeded all of his expectations."

Meanwhile, chief designer Adrian Newey revealed that the 24-year-old kept his cool throughout the race even when he was struggling to pass Sergio Perez and especially when the victory was in his sights.

"Daniel is an amazing young man," Newey told the BBC. "What impresses me most is how calming he is when he comes on the team radio.

"We were a bit lucky in truth but we were there and ready."

[MIKA27]

Mattiacci: We are very angry with ourselves

Although Fernando Alonso did finish sixth in the Canadian Grand Prix, Ferrari under performed dismally in Montreal and if it were not for the three retirements ahead of them on the day the Maranello outfit would have been lucky to take home a couple of points, a scenario which newly team boss Marco Mattiacci admits irks them.

Speaking after an incident packed race on the Ile Notre Dame, Mattiacci said, “We are very angry with ourselves, but we have no intention of giving up. The Canadian circuit definitely didn’t suit us, given that it highlighted the strong points of some of our competitors and, on top of that, not everything went right either, given that we started from too far back and the others improved more than we did.”

“On the positive side of this weekend, everyone wants to fight back, starting with our drivers, Kimi and Fernando, who are both extremely tenacious guys, competent and competitive and they know how to work as a team to point us in the direction of the areas that are a priority in our development programme. Some updates produced good results on track and that’s why we will continue down this path race by race.”

“We have improved since the start of the year, but every step forward we make must be looked at in the context of what our rivals have done. Ferrari has begun work on a specific approach, based around a few key figures; President Montezemolo, James Allison, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and a group of highly talented engineers.”

“It’s a case of restructuring the team, with people being given the best possible conditions in which to get the job done,” insisted the Italian who was drafted into the Ferrari hot seat in April.

“There is a clearly defined development programme that we are working through and which will see us bring updates to every race. Another major target is to speed up our reaction time, which is something our competitors seem to manage to do,” added Mattiacci.

[MIKA27]

Lauda: Nico drove like a god, world champion class

Mercedes is not imposing team orders, even though their winning streak came to an end in Canada it may have continued had the Silver Arrows drivers been told to hold station, instead Nico Rosberg “drove like a god” to salvage second place while Lewis Hamilton went home with his second DNF of the season to his name

At the wheel of the W05, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were just as dominant at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but they both struck technical trouble in the race.

Many are wondering if the problems would have happened if the pair were operating under team orders, as per Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard at McLaren in 1998.

“It hurt at the time,” said Coulthard, recalling the Melbourne season opener where Hakkinen won due to a pre-race agreement amid questionable reliability, “but it guaranteed the team a one-two.”

Coulthard, now a commentator for British television BBC, wonders if Montreal might now move Mercedes’ to adopt a similar approach.

“It will be interesting to see whether that changes Mercedes’ approach if a similar situation, when reliability is marginal, arises later in the season,” he said.

The beneficiary of Mercedes’ Montreal issues was Red Bull, as Daniel Ricciardo recorded his first Grand Prix win.

“At the Red Bull-Ring there are long straights and uphills,” Helmut Marko told Sport Bild. “So we will only be able to beat Mercedes again if they have more problems.”

It is clear that, in Canada, feuding teammates Hamilton and Rosberg were fighting hard. They almost clashed at the first corner, and later Rosberg controversially ran across the chicane whilst defending a Hamilton attack.

It has been suggested that Hamilton eventually had to retire from the race because he pushed too hard after his technical problems began, whilst Rosberg steered through the trouble with more finesse.

“Lewis had the problem with the brakes at the same time as Nico,” said former Formula 1 driver Christian Danner, “but he (Hamilton) couldn’t adapt quickly enough. So he failed and Nico went to the finish.”

Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda agrees: “Nico drove like a god, absolutely world champion class.”

Coulthard, however, isn’t so sure Hamilton was to blame for his failure. “If the team are not criticising him for influencing the failures in Melbourne and Montreal,” he said, “then we have to assume he has done nothing wrong.”

Indeed, team boss Toto Wolff has publicly apologised to Hamilton for the latest problem. So, for now, Mercedes is pushing ahead with its policy of resisting team orders.

“You could say that we should impose team orders,” Wolff is quoted by La Presse, “but that is not our philosophy. Both drivers have been perfect. Slowing down could have improved the outcome, but this is not what we want, and definitely not what the public wants.”

[MIKA27]

Ricciardo now part of Red Bull’s long term plans

Canadian Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo will definitely still be at the wheel of a Red Bull in 2015, according to a report in Sport Bild.

Correspondents Ralf Bach and Bianca Garloff claim that an option on the impressive team newcomer’s contract was taken up by the world champion team in Canada.

Ricciardo, 24, went on to his first career victory in Montreal, and the 2015 deal could be announced at Red Bull’s home race in Austria next weekend, Sport Bild said.

According to the Australian Financial Review, the Perth-born driver has already hit the big time.

The publication estimated Ricciardo’s base salary at $3.65 million this year, with a victory bonus of between $1 million and $2 million per win.

Bach and Garloff also claim that Red Bull’s long-term goal is to keep Ricciardo alongside reigning quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel until at least 2018. That plan, however, could hit a snag.

Vettel is struggling at the wheel of the RB10 this year, with Helmut Marko admitting that, after four consecutive title triumphs, staring at the rear wings of the ultra-dominant Mercedes cars is “not exactly motivating”. The German’s frustration began to show in Canada.

German reports quote him as saying after finishing the Canadian Grand Prix third: “I’m sorry to say it, but our cucumber simply doesn’t go anywhere on the straights.”

He also seemed to criticise Red Bull’s strategy plan on Sunday, after he got stuck behind the Mercedes-powered Force India of Nico Hulkenberg in Canada.

“I was waiting for some smart strategic move on the part of the team, but it never came,” said Vettel.

Vettel may also be alarmed with the impending semi-retirement of Red Bull’s genius technical chief Adrian Newey.

When asked about Newey’s plans, Vettel referred to his existing contract before adding: “I’m looking short-term, if you ask me about the future right now.”

Newey reportedly tried to ease Vettel’s fears, telling Auto Bild Motorsport: “If my colleagues need advice and help, I will always be there for them. Sebastian as well. He is not losing me.”

Marko excused Vettel for any signs of mounting frustration, including the description of the RB10 as a “cucumber”.

“If we do not give Seb a car capable of winning, we cannot be angry with him for being disappointed,” he told Bild newspaper.

Undoubtedly, just as Red Bull are keen to keep Newey out of the clutches of high-paying rivals, the team may also be making plans to keep its multiple champion.

ABM said that one ‘project’ of the forthcoming Newey-led ‘Advanced Technologies Centre’ could be a bespoke Formula 1 engine, perhaps involving the well-known former Mercedes designer Mario Illien.

“It would not be the worst idea,” Newey is quoted as having said.

[MIKA27]

McLaren and Red Bull settle legal row over Fallows

A legal dispute regarding aerodynamics guru Dan Fallows between Red Bull and McLaren is now over.

Earlier, McLaren supremo Ron Dennis was threatening to take the reigning world champions to court, after he signed Fallows only to find the aerodynamics chief changed his mind and returned to Red Bull.

Team boss Eric Boullier conceded recently that McLaren was having to accept the likelihood that Fallows “will never join us”.

Given Adrian Newey’s looming withdrawal into semi Formula 1-retirement, it is perhaps now obvious why Red Bull was so keen to hang on to his deputy, Fallows.

In the meantime, it emerges that out-of-court talks between Red Bull and McLaren over the disputed contract have been taking place.

The latest reports suggest a non-financial settlement has been reached, possibly involving Red Bull’s early release of another McLaren recruit, Peter Prodromou, who until now has been on forced ‘gardening leave’.

“Ron and (Red Bull team boss) Christian (Horner) have indeed discussed a number of outstanding issues recently, yes, and they have resolved them,” a McLaren spokesman said. “As Christian says, a handshake is all you need with Ron.”

[MIKA27]

Steiner not sure Danica Patrick interested in F1

It is too early to be linking Danica Patrick with Team Haas claims the team principal of Formula 1′s newest squad.

American Patrick, widely regarded as the world’s most famous female racing driver, already drives for Haas’ NASCAR team, jointly owned by Tony Stewart-owned and Gene Haas, known as Stewart-Haas.

“You know, everything is possible,” Gunther Steiner, who is the boss of the new Haas Formula team, said in Montreal at the weekend.

At the same time, 61-year-old Haas reportedly told an American television network that Patrick, 32, would be a “good candidate” for the Formula 1 team.

“The ideal candidate would be an American driver,” he told NBC recently. “It’s much too early to decide about that. We have not talked about it.

“I also don’t know what Danica’s plans are,” he added.

A lot of other crucial variables are also unknown at this point, including the identity of Haas’ engine partner.

“We are having talks with Ferrari and Mercedes,” said Steiner. “Renault is not on our list, because they have no gearbox and they also have four strong customers already.”

Steiner also said that Haas are yet to decide the location of their “second base” in Europe, with the main headquarters to be at Kannapolis in North Carolina.

And yet another unknown is precisely how the first ‘Haas’ chassis will be made, after initial plans to work with the Italian manufacturer Dallara were drawn up.

But with the debut date now shifting from 2015 to 2016, Steiner hinted that Haas Formula 1 may now have enough time to build its own car from scratch.

“Now that we have more time, we would like to develop it ourselves,” he said. “Team Haas will need a technical partner, but we would like our own chassis and our own aerodynamics.”

[MIKA27]

Massa thinks pit blunder cost Williams F1 team victory in Canada

Felipe Massa says the Williams Formula 1 team missed a "big opportunity" to win the Canadian Grand Prix due to a problem at his first pitstop.

The Brazilian ran ahead of eventual winner Daniel Ricciardo and the Australian's Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel in the early part of the race, but was delayed by a problem with the left-front wheel gun when he pitted for the first time.

Although he briefly led the race before his final stop, before crashing out spectacularly on the final lap with Sergio Perez, Massa feels it was the pit error that cost him a shot at his first F1 win since the Brazilian GP of 2008.

"Honestly I was the quickest car on the track most of the time," said Massa, when asked by AUTOSPORT if he could have won the race without the pitstop error.

"Not with the super-soft, on that tyre I had a similar pace to [team-mate] Valtteri [bottas], but with the prime the car was amazing - really, really quick - and without this problem in the pitstop I think it was totally possible to be in front of Ricciardo.

"It was a big missed opportunity. We lost a lot of points. We had an incredible car - there were no problems at all.

"I'm so disappointed because it would have been a fantastic race."

MASSA AGREED WITH STRATEGY

Massa led the race when both Mercedes pitted for the second time with roughly 25 laps remaining, but the Brazilian did not believe it was possible to get to the end on that set of soft tyres so agreed with his team's call to pit for a second time.

"I think the decision was correct to stop," Massa added.

"I started to lose grip on the rear, and knowing that normally degradation is not low on our car I'm sure I would have been very slow at the end of the race."

Massa also had no idea Lewis Hamilton had retired late in the race, so did not believe he was fighting for a possible win as he charged back through the field over the final 20 laps.

"I wasn't thinking about the victory - I couldn't see the Mercedes very well and I didn't see Lewis retired, so I thought it was a fight for the podium," Massa said.

"They [the team] didn't tell me about the Mercedes problems.

"It was a good track for us so we missed so much, because it was possible to win the race.

"When I was in free air I was the quickest car on the track."