Formula 1 - 2017

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McLaren and Honda

The McLaren team has been pussyfooting around the issue of Honda for some time now and continues to be very neutral, at least when it comes to on the record remarks. It is clear to most close observers that the relationship is not going to last forever: there have been too many disappointments and not enough performance. There have been rumours of McLaren cutting and running for several months but then came stories that a deal might be brokered that would allow Honda to buy some technology from Mercedes in order to get the engine programme on the right path. For a while this looked like the likely outcome because McLaren did not want to be seen to be pushing Honda out of the sport. Then came a new deal between Honda and Sauber, which kicks off next season.

This means that whatever happens with McLaren, Honda will be in F1 next year. It seems, however, that the idea of getting help from a rival is not something that the people at Honda can accept. Thus, the only hope for the future is that Honda will start pulling rabbits out of hats. Unfortunately, this is not happening either, with delayed upgrades and solutions that do not work.

Breaking up with Honda will be an expensive divorce (if it goes ahead) because McLaren is heavily dependent on Honda funding. However, the ability of the team to find money from elsewhere and to attract the best talent is also dependent on performance and there comes a point at which the team needs to decide whether to continue in the current state of drift, or terminate the deal, take the pain and start making plans for 2018. To try to do things before that might be desirable, but it is not likely to happen because a cobbled-together McLaren with a different engine would be unlikely to be very competitive and Mercedes (the only real choice as a replacement engine supplier) is unlikely to be willing to undertake such work at short notice.

The bottom line in all of this is that work must begin NOW on cars for 2018. It is already too late in some respects, but it is still possible. We don’t know what McLaren aerodynamicists will have in the wind tunnel at Woking, but it might be wise to have a model with a non-Honda engine.

To be fair to McLaren, if there is going to be a break-up with Honda, there is a fairly sound argument that Honda failed to deliver the goods. Look at the Constructors’ World Championship and it says all you need to know: McLaren has a big fat zero in the Constructors’ Championship… It is last.

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And on that note.. McLaren losing patience with Honda - Zak Brown

McLaren’s executive director Zak Brown says the team is nearing its limit with engine supplier Honda, as its troubled partnership continues.

Since rejoining forces in 2015, McLaren has failed to score a podium finish and is currently last in the 2017 constructors’ standings – the only team yet to score a point.
Over the last three seasons, poor reliability and a lack of power with Honda’s power units have severely hampered McLaren’s results.

With Honda’s planned Canadian GP upgrade being delayed, Brown says the team has “serious concerns” about its chances of winning titles with the Japanese manufacturer.
“The executive committee have now given us our marching orders,” he told Reuters. “We’re not going to go into another year like this, in hope.

“I don’t want to get into what our options are. Our preference is to win the world championship with Honda.

“But at some point you need to make a decision as to whether that’s achievable. And we have serious concerns.

“Missing upgrades, and upgrades not delivering to the level we were told they were going to, you can only take that so long. And we’re near our limit.”

Brown admitted Honda seems “a bit lost” with its current V6 Turbo power unit, adding McLaren is now entering a “fork in the road” when it comes to considering its future engine supplier.

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McLaren: Vandoorne held back by junior career driving style

McLaren says new Formula 1 recruit Stoffel Vandoorne has been hampered by him sticking to the driving style he learned during his successful junior single-seater career.

Vandoorne was promoted to a full-time race seat in place of Jenson Button for this year, but has struggled compared to teammate Fernando Alonso so far, failing to escape Q1 at any of the first five races.

Before graduating to F1, Vandoorne won titles in Formula 4, Formula Renault 2.0 and GP2, and won multiple races in Formula Renault 3.5 and Japanese Super Formula.

Unlike Formula 1, these categories all use a single make of chassis, and McLaren believes sticking too rigidly to the driving style that served him so well in those categories has hurt Vandoorne’s form in F1.

“When you come from these kinds of [junior] categories, it’s the same car for everybody - so you have a driving style you have developed around this car to drive them,” explained McLaren racing director Eric Boullier.

“Formula 1 is different - every weekend we bring new front wing, new bodywork, new rear wing, new floor, so the car balance is very different.

“When you have been told during your young career to drive the car one way, in Formula 1 you have to be a bit more flexible and this is only experience.

“He is learning. The team has to move chassis-wise, set-up wise to go to his natural driving style - because every driver has a natural style - and at the same time he is moving out of that, trying to drive differently.”

McLaren summoned Vandoorne to its Woking HQ before the recent Monaco Grand Prix and the Belgian’s form improved after he'd held a special round of talks with his engineering group in a bid to better communicate his needs.

The Belgian driver made Q3 for the first time in Monte Carlo, before crashing at the Swimming Pool, and was looking good to score McLaren-Honda’s first point of the season in the race until crashing out under challenge from Sergio Perez after the safety car restart.

“I’ve been working hard with the team over the past couple of weeks to improve the relationship with the engineers and to get from the car exactly what I want and it’s a step in the good direction,” Vandoorne said.

“The result in qualifying was very encouraging, apart from the crash, but every time we were out on track we were fifth, sixth, seventh - we definitely had the potential to repeat that in Q3.

“It’s a continuous development. I’m still new in Formula 1 and it’s building that relationship with the engineers, trying to understand what you need from the car to be quick. It’s going in the right direction.”

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Red Bull F1 technical boss Newey backs proposed 'shield' concept

Red Bull's Adrian Newey has backed Formula 1's proposed 'shield' cockpit protection solution over the halo, but says time is running out for teams to incorporate it into 2018 designs.

After F1 teams evaluated the halo last year, the device was shelved as the FIA's preferred method and replaced by the shield, with a view to its introduction next season.

It will be tested later this year in practice sessions from the Italian Grand Prix, with talks between teams and the governing body about the concept having continued in Monaco last month.

Newey, whose team led development of the aeroscreen last year, says he would be happy to see the shield mandated for 2018, as long as there are no visibility issues or other problems.

"I think it's a better solution than the halo, that's for sure," he told Autosport.

"I think the first thing with the shield is to check the visibility, to see if it's a viable option.

"If the distortion is too much, then it's a non-starter, obviously.

"In terms of then having a closed cockpit, I don't think that's such a big thing to be honest.

"But I think it's getting quite tight for 2018."

Newey suggested work should also continue on reducing the risks associated with lost wheels and other major parts, beyond a single cockpit protection device.

Following Justin Wilson's death in the 2015 Pocono race, IndyCar added a series of high-tensile zylon tethers to help keep aerodynamic devices attached.

"I feel that there are things that can be done to minimise the risk, particularly from flying wheels or debris," Newey added.

"The tethers on the wheels aren't 100% at the moment, we still occasionally see wheels coming off.

"IndyCar has tethered other things, such as the front wing, nosebox and rear wing, and so forth.

"That seems to me to be a good interim solution.

"We've raised it, but there's not been a lot of action so far. I guess it's all in discussion."

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LANCE STROLL BRUSHES OFF HOME F1 RACE PRESSURE WHILE MONTREAL BENEFITS FROM ‘STROLL FACTOR’

Williams rookie Lance Stroll is unaffected by the pressure surrounding his debut Formula 1 race in Canada even as the promoter claims his entry has increased ticket sales.

Sunday’s race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will be the first to have a home entry since the 2006 iteration in which Jacques Villeneuve qualified 11th and crashed out on lap 11.

“You have to embrace it.” said Stroll to JA on F1 during Williams’ 40th Anniversary event at Silverstone.

“It’s going to be great being in Montreal in front of home fans, friends, family and just being home will be nice.

“It’s kind of old-school. The crowd is closer to the track there, the grandstands aren’t huge, and the runoff isn’t massive, but I love that and I think it shouldn’t change. I think that’s what makes it really cool,” Stroll said to the Globe and Mail.

“The city is buzzing, it’s one of the best weekends in Montreal of the year.”

The 18-year-old Montreal-born driver has, according to the Montreal Gazette, played a part in spurring growth of up to 15% in ticket sales for the event, which is also celebrating the 50th anniversary of F1 in Canada.

The event’s promoter François Dumontier dubbed the increase ‘the Stroll factor’ (‘l’effet Stroll’), but after a difficult start to the season in which the rookie has failed to finish four times without scoring a point, the Williams driver maintains that he is focused solely on his own performance going forward.

“It’s great that there’s a lot of attraction to the sport and fans come out to races, but you have to stay focused in what you’ve got to do and you can’t get distracted by it.

“You’ve got to stay in your bubble throughout the weekend and do what you [have to] do.

“I think for all the drivers when you arrive at this level it’s just outside noise.”

Stroll is unfazed by his results this season, including the collision between him and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr in Bahrain (for which Sainz was penalised) and his 16th place finish in Spain, claiming his Formula 3 and Formula 4 results prove he’s up to the task.

“I think more than anything – I don’t want to sound cocky but in a positive way – I don’t doubt my capabilities as a racing driver.

“I’ve proved that to myself in the past and in my Formula 4 and Formula 3 championships and I still don’t doubt myself even though it’s been a tricky start to the year.”

Stroll won the F3 Euro competition in 2016 with 14 wins out of 30 races and became the F4 Italy champion in 2014 with Italian outfit Prema Powerteam.

“But what I do know and I do have to accept is that Formula 1 is very different from any other championship,” he continued to JA on F1.

“I think the tyres are very tricky to understand. We see that this year, the compound is a lot harder to get in the working window than even last year’s compound – that for me is tricky.

“The cars here are heavy, they’re snappy, they move around a lot.

“It’s good, its challenging, I enjoy it a lot but it’s a challenge and we see it with a lot of drivers; they’re definitely harder to drive.”

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ALONSO: IF WE ARE NOT WINNING BEFORE SEPTEMBER I WILL NOT STAY

Fernando Alonso has once again issued an ultimatum to McLaren-Honda warning that he will leave the team if they are not winning before September.

Alonso told media ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, in Montreal, “We have to win. If we are not winning before September, when I will make a decision, I will not stay.”

“I joined this project to win the title. If you are not in a competitive position, maybe you change project.”

Asked where he planned to go, Alonso revealed, “Until I sit down with myself in September, I cannot say for sure.”

This week McLaren chief Zak Brown told Reuters that he felt Honda were working hard but that they “seem a bit lost” with regards to the F1 power unit technology. The interview is being interpreted as the first step in the divorce proceedings between the two organisations. 

Alonso said of Brown’s interview, “We all want to win and Zak’s comments about Honda is what you would expect him to say. He wants to win, he wants McLaren to win and things have to change.”

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HAMILTON: TOO EARLY TO SAY WE’RE ON THE BACK FOOT

Lewis Hamilton acknowledges that his team will need to work hard to catch Sebastian Vettel in this year’s title race, but at the same time he does not believe that Mercedes are on the back foot after six races in the 20 race world championship.

Hamilton said ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, “It is going to take a lot for us to catch those points up but so much can happen in the season. There are 14 races left. It’s too early to say we’re on the back foot. It is so early in the season.”

“We are just not in our most comfortable position, but it doesn’t mean we can’t fight and win the championship. It just means it will be harder for us to do so than perhaps the others.”

Hamilton has won five times at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, he even has a stamp in his honour along with legends Jackie Stewart, Gilles Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.

But despite trailing Vettel by 25 points, Hamilton does not believe he is in a must win situation, “If we don’t win here, we have 13 races more to win. If we don’t win here, we will focus hard to win the next one.

“This is just one circuit that has its own unique characteristics. Other circuits, with higher downforce, we have done well in Barcelona and China so there will be races where we are strong and perhaps not. We are going to try to make sure the car is quick everywhere,” explained the triple Formula 1 World Champion.

The Mercedes W08 is proving to be a finicky piece of kit, not comfortable on street circuits like Monaco and also supposedly averse to slippery surfaces – a trait of the track on the man-made Ile Notre Dame.

Hamilton added, “We are working hard to rectify the issues we had in the last race and we will attack this race. We have some unique bits on the car this weekend and it doesn’t mean we can’t take the fight to them.”

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WILLIAMS ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP WITH CANADA LIFE

Press Release: Williams Martini Racing and Canada Life are proud to announce a new multiyear agreement to support Lance Stroll as he continues his debut season in Formula One.

It had been over ten years since a Canadian driver lined up on the Formula One grid, but this year Lance will take to the track for his home Grand Prix in the same year that Canada celebrates its 150th birthday, and his hometown of Montreal celebrates its 375th. As part of the agreement, Canada Life branding will appear on Lance Stroll’s race overalls and on the Williams Mercedes FW40 race car from this weekend’s race.

The announcement comes in the build up to this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. As part of the event, Lance was joined by Canadian Olympic gold medallist, Alexandre Despatie, to speak with soon-to-be graduates of the Pathways to Education Verdun programme. The teens had the opportunity to hear the inspirational stories about the obstacles that both athletes have faced in their careers and how they persevered.

Every year, thousands of young Canadians drop out of high school – a decision that costs them for the rest of their lives. Pathways to Education empowers young people to achieve their dream of graduating. As part of its approach of giving back to the community, Canada Life has been a longstanding supporter of Pathways to Education and their mission to transform Canada into a Graduation Nation.

“At age 18, Lance is a Canadian all-star and the up-and-coming man to watch in Formula One,” said Jeffrey Orr, Chair of the Board at Great-West Lifeco Inc. “We are very excited to cheer on Lance as he works tirelessly to achieve success in Formula One.”

Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal, added: “We are delighted to welcome Canada Life as a partner. As an organisation, Canada Life’s dedication to the financial, physical and mental well-being of the Canadian community is exemplary. Family and community is also at the core of everything we do at Williams, and we are proud to share these similar core values. I look forward to sharing a successful partnership for the foreseeable future.”

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Tweaks made to circuit surroundings in Canada

Minor changes have been made to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, the seventh round of this year’s Formula 1 championship.

Canada is celebrating 50 years on the Formula 1 calendar in 2017, and the country will remain on the schedule until 2029, after a new contract was agreed.

Ahead of this weekend’s race, the FIA confirmed the tweaks that have been made on safety grounds.

“Large sections of ageing guardrail have been replaced by wall blocks, mainly in Turns 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 10,” read the updated circuit notes.

“All the new walls have been fitted with new debris fences of varying height. A new debris fence has also been installed on the wall on the driver’s right between Turn 14 and the finish line.

“The gravel around the outside of Turn 8 has been replaced by asphalt and the Grass-Crete around the outside of Turn 13 has also been replaced by asphalt.

“Tyre barriers have been replaced by TecPro barriers in Turns 1, 2, 3, 8, 10 and 13, and a 180 metre [long] SAFER barrier has been installed around the outside of Turn 5.”

The circuit layout has not been changed.

Formula 1 has visited the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on all but two occasions since 1978.

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Drivers warned over Turn 8/9 chicane cutting

Drivers have been warned that they must re-join the track in a certain manner if they run deep at Turn 8/9 during this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

The tricky final right-left chicane has caused controversy in the past, with higher kerbs, and a polystyrene block, installed in recent years, in order to deter corner-cutting.

This regulation has now been extended to the Turn 8/9 chicane, where gravel on the outside of the corner has been replaced by asphalt run-off for this year’s event.

“Any driver who fails to negotiate Turn 9 by using the track, and who passes completely to the left of the orange kerb element on the apex of the corner, must keep completely to the left of the orange speed bump on the exit of the corner and re-join the track at the far end of the asphalt run-off area,” read the event notes issued by Formula 1 Race Director Charlie Whiting.

“Any driver who fails to negotiate Turn 14 by using the track, and who passes completely to the left of the orange kerb element on the apex of the corner, must keep to the left of the red and white polystyrene block and re-join the track at the far end of the asphalt run-off area.

“The above requirements will not automatically apply to any driver who is judged to have been forced off the track, each such case will be judged individually.”

Several safety-based changes have taken place since last year, though the track layout has not been altered.

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Williams expects good result from Lance Stroll at home race

Williams are expecting a strong performance from rookie Lance Stroll at his home race this weekend in Montreal, Canada, with the 18-year-old yet to finish inside the top ten.

With the Williams car better suited to the demands of the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit, technical chief Paddy Lowe is hopeful of a "positive result" and believes Stroll can enjoy a strong race in front of his home crowd.

"Our car should go better at this type of circuit than we did in Monaco, so we will do our very best to secure positive results this weekend and to put on a great show for our North American fans," said Lowe.

"This is Lance’s home race so it will be a very special weekend for him," he added. "We were encouraged by his performance in Monaco so he can build confidence from that and have a good race here."

Stroll is expecting a "special" weekend in Canada as he grew up close to the circuit.

"Montreal is going to be amazing for me, as this is not only my home race but it is also held in my home city, which is buzzing while the race is on. I grew up about 20 minutes away from the race track, so this will be something special and not many people will get to experience that feeling.

"As a kid I attended the race pretty much every year, then missed a few years while living in Europe, but was back there last year.

"For me it is a pure racing event. It is not the flashiest Grand Prix, as the paddock is small, but it is cool, unique and old school. The fans are really close to the track, the grandstands are huge and the run off areas are not massive, but I love that and hope it doesn’t change."

MIKA: Special weekend hey?

I call DNF, wall of champions will kiss his car and take him out before lap 26

 

[MIKA27]

Jolyon Palmer unconcerned by rumours about his F1 future

Renault’s Jolyon Palmer has dismissed concern over his future in Formula 1, commenting that there have been “rumours since my third race”.

Palmer graduated to Formula 1 with Renault in 2016, after a year as the outfit’s test and reserve driver, but scored only a sole point in Malaysia, amid the manufacturer’s struggles upon its full-time return to the sport.

Palmer retained his drive for 2017 but has so far been shaded by new team-mate Nico Hülkenberg, who has scored all of Renault’s 14 points, with Palmer so far logging a best result of 11th, in Monaco.

The Briton, though, has dismissed concerns, and insists that it is up to him to alleviate any pressure, as he chases his first point of the season.

“What puts pressure on is not putting in good performances,” Palmer said ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.

“I am aware that the start of the year has been pretty disappointing. I am working hard and I am ready to turn it around.

“In terms of the rumours there have been rumours since my third ever race in F1 so it is nothing new for me.

“Of course, the way to stop it is to do well on track and hopefully I can do that this weekend.”

Palmer insists that he and Renault have been making progress, despite his failure to break into the top 10 in race trim.

“It’s been a tough start to the year, there’s been some positives recently even if it doesn’t necessarily show on the results sheet," he said.

“Monaco was a race distance and we were pretty competitive in terms of times as well, but obviously when you start 16th it’s difficult to make any overtakes or do much else.”

Renault test driver Sergey Sirotkin and Robert Kubica both participated in a private test in Renault's 2012 car in Valencia earlier this week.

MIKA: Who is Jolyon Palmer....? Is he an F1 driver?

[MIKA27]

Grosjean contract clause behind Giovinazzi's FP1 schedule

Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen have revealed that their contracts determined why the Dane will lose more track time when Antonio Giovinazzi drives his Haas F1 car in FP1 later this year.

From the British GP onwards, Ferrari's third driver Giovinazzi will complete seven Friday outings for the American team – and six of them will be in Magnussen's car.

While it is not unprecedented for one driver to suffer most in such situations, teams generally try to share the load, with the race drivers giving up alternate Fridays.

However, Grosjean had his contract changed to ensure he wouldn't have to give the car up.

Meanwhile, when Magnussen signed his deal – which he negotiated himself –  he assumed that both drivers would have the same arrangements.

Grosjean has agreed to give up one FP1 session, despite not being obliged to.

"It was decided in 2015 when I signed my new contract," said the Frenchman. "Learning from the past! I can't tell you what it says, but basically after I left Lotus, I didn't want to leave my car any more.

"Gunther [Steiner, team boss] asked me if I was wiling to give one, and I said yes, and I think for the team as well it is good to have a certain consistency, and being able to develop the car as well."

Magnussen said he was not too worried about the situation. 

"It was in the contract that I was offered. And I didn't know the other contract was like that! I assumed it would be the same, so I said, 'No worries.' It's not a big deal.

"I think Romain had a bad experience with his previous team where they took all his Fridays, and for sure he was a lot harder on that point than I was.

"They offered it to him, they offered us the same contract, but he clamped down on Fridays, because he had a bad experience, and I didn't worry.

"It's not perfect, it's not the best way, but I'm not too worried about it. I'll just have to make up for it."

Magnussen denied that he was relaxed about it because he has an ongoing deal for next season.

"I want to perform the best no matter how many years I have left in my contract, but there's not any reason to complain.

"That's what it is. I did this contract myself, I talked to the team myself, and you live and learn."

Grosjean said the cost of giving up FP1 sessions is related to how difficult it is to set up the car at the start of a weekend, when the loss of track time can be more damaging.

The Frenchman gave up his car 13 times in 19 sessions during the 2015 season, when he drove for Lotus. 

"In 2015, for example, I left quite a lot of my FP1 for [Jolyon] Palmer, and as the baseline of the car was pretty good, it wasn't too much of a problem.

"When the car is a bit more tricky to drive or you cannot find your baseline, then it is not ideal. But as a team sometimes these are things you have to do.

"It's not perfect in terms of performance-related things. But it may bring us some other advantages."

MIKA: A rather huge difference between Romain Grosjean and Kevin Manussen IMO, is that Manussen is such a natural race driver, he drives the car he gets to the best of its ability, whereas Grosjean doesn't trust the car unless it's absolutely spot on to his liking.  For two years, Grosjean has complained about brakes, while Manussen says "it's not that big a deal". While Magnussen does say it can be hard to judge the brakes, he doesn't complain about it and adjusts his driving style to the car whereas Grosjean just says "it's impossible to drive", and then pits.

I like both drivers but if I had to put money on abilities and consistency, my money is on Magnussen every time. 

[MIKA27]

Raikkonen: Vettel doesn't have number one status at Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen has refuted claims his Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel the Formula 1 team's number one driver in this year's championship battle.

Vettel jumped Raikkonen during the pitstops to win the Monaco Grand Prix, with the former denying the strategy was part of any plan from Ferrari to switch the order of its cars to benefit its title hopes.

 

But title rival Lewis Hamilton suggested otherwise and said it was clear Ferrari had chosen Vettel as its lead driver in the fight for the title.

When asked by Motorsport.com if Ferrari had a policy that determined Vettel is the number one, Raikkonen said: "No, we don't have anything.

"But when it comes to that point in the season, when one guy has a chance and the other guy doesn't have chance, it's normal.

"It's like it's always been in any team I've been in F1. I don't have any issues with that, I think it's fair game. We fight until we can and if we have to do something else, then fair enough."

Regarding Hamilton's comments, Raikkonen said: "I don't know how much he knows about other teams. Whatever he thinks is fine for me. We know what we do and sometimes this kind of things happen - it's nothing unusual.

"Yes, as always [we are free to race]. We know our rules in the team, we know what the team wants and it's simple as that. We race as hard as we can.

"We always try to beat each other, one guy will be in front every time. This time it happened like that. It happens."

When asked if the deal with Ferrari is that he's number one, Vettel said "No, it's not."

He added: "At this point of year it makes no sense because you have so many races to go. We are not trying to waste energy on what people think we are doing.

"We are doing our best, and as I said we have a clear policy."

Raikkonen cut a disconsolate figure on the Monaco podium but he insists he was frustrated with the team but rather with that fact he had finished second.

"I'm not mad," he said. "I was never mad. I was not happy to finish second - simple as that."

 

Raikkonen 'decided' on future

Raikkonen, whose contract expires at the end of the season, suggested he has crystallised his plans for 2018 but was remaining tight-lipped.

"I have [worked out my plans] but it's nothing I need to share with any of you," he said. "It's none of your business - you keep writing anyway - so it doesn't change [anything].

"The people who need to know know. We'll see what happens."

He added: "I have no contract for next year. There are always a lot of rumours about my contract every year. What happened in Monaco is nothing to do with my contract."

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F1’s predictability is a turn-off, Alonso warns

Fernando Alonso has warned the lack of competition in Formula One is sapping the sport’s popularity.

The McLaren driver made his comments during today’s press conference at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and drew attention to the nature of the questions he, Lewis Hamilton and Jolyon Palmer had been asked.

“An example is this press conference,” said Alonso. “There’s been not even one single question about this race weekend. Not for more, not even for Lewis, not even for him [Palmer]. If the future will be OK, if the updates will be OK… it’s always thinking forward too much, about next year, about September, whatever.”

“So there is not enough focus on this race weekend because the positions more or less we know. We can put in a paper the first 15 positions for qualifying and for the race and 99% we will match every single position. This lack of uncertainty, unpredictability, generates a lot of thinking forward, too much guessing.”

“Obviously some part of the sport will benefit from that, because we will generate a lot of talks in the media, generate a lot of fan interactions. But you miss a little bit what’s going to happen this weekend.”

Alonso believes there should be a greater focus on each race weekend rather than what’s going to happen after it.

“When you come here you focus with the engineers, you prepare the race, you prepare the strategy, the tyre temperatures, whatever. [Then] you come to a press conference and it’s all about next year, what Zak [Brown] said, what Lewis said, what Toto [Wolff] said. So you freeze a little bit the emotions about the race this weekend. So it’s probably what it is.”

MIKA: What he said! Agree!

[MIKA27]

Rain showers forecast for race day in Montreal

Periods of rain are expected on Sunday in Montreal which could affect the seventh round of the championship at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The race is due to begin at 2pm local time and with periodic showers due to fall throughout the day drivers may have to respond to sudden changes in conditions.

They aren’t likely to get much chance to test their cars in wet conditions during the preceding days. Qualifying on Saturday should see warm and sunny conditions.

The first day of practice on Friday will be cloudier with a slight chance of rain. But it’s Sunday forecast which is causing the most concern at the moment.

This venue is no stranger to wet conditions. The 2011 race was badly disrupted by rain and ended up taking over four hours to complete. Rain also affected qualifying in 2013.

[RijkdeGooier]

That was some start, alas only 10 rounds for Max ??

[rckymtn22]

On 6/8/2017 at 6:59 PM, MIKA27 said:

Williams expects good result from Lance Stroll at home race

 

MIKA: Special weekend hey?

I call DNF, wall of champions will kiss his car and take him out before lap 26

Managed to avoid the Wall of Champions for a 9th place. Pretty good result.

 

[skalls]

Interesting race.  The Indy race the night before turned into a wreckfest.  This race continued the trend.

[MIKA27]

7 hours ago, rckymtn22 said:

 

That was just luck.

[MIKA27]

Sorry guys, we had a long weekend here in Melbourne, so was far too busy to post.

[MIKA27]

CANADIAN GRAND PRIX: HAMILTON SUPREME AS FERRARI FUMBLE

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was in supreme form as he powered to victory at the 50th edition of the Canadian Grand Prix for the sixth time, and for the third year in a row, to cut Sebastian Vettel’s overall lead to 12 points and put Formula 1 champions back on the top step of the podium.

The Briton led from start to finish, after qualifying on pole at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the sixth time, to chalk up his 56th career grand prix victory and third of the season and with it reducing the points gap to Vettel from 25 to 12 points.

A decade ago Hamilton scored his maiden win at the venue on the Ile Notre Dame, and only Michael Schumacher has won the race in Montreal more times.

Hamilton said afterwards, “Big thank you to this crowd. Every year the energy grows. I had my first pole here and my first win here. To repeat it is incredibly special. Valtteri did fantastically well to get the points for the team. I am over the moon.”

Hamilton’s team mate Valtteri Bottas sealed a Mercedes one-two, finishing 19.7 seconds behind the winner, with Daniel Ricciardo third for Red Bull for the third race in a row.

Bottas said, “Always good to be here. As a team we really needed this one-two to get the points. I am very, very proud to be a part of this team. I knew what I had to do in the end, this was good points for us.”

His teammate Max Verstappen jumped from fourth to second at the start and looked strong early on until his engine expired on lap 10.

Ricciardo summed up, “Today I only had fun when I saw the chequered flag. I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes. Concentration was getting tough. It’s great to be on the podium”

Ferrari’s Vettel, winner of three of the previous six races, finished fourth after a fumble at the start which cost him track position and then dropping further down the field when he had to pit to replace a front wing damaged when Verstappen cut into his path as they hurtled into Turn 1.

All credit to the German for throwing all he had in pursuit of the final step of the podium, but it was too much, too late.

Kimi Raikkonen, also had an awful start, but at one stage looked set to beat Vettel, but technical issues intervened late in the race and in the end the Ferrari veteran had to settle for seventh, with Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg in eighth.

The pink Force India cars of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon were fifth and sixth, but are likely to be embroiled in some heated post-race discussions as Perez defied his team’s order to allow a faster Ocon past late in the race. A podium was there for the Frenchman, but his Mexican teammate had other ideas.

Montreal born teenager Lance Stroll was ninth, a career-best finish for the 18-year-old rookie whose performance will have pacified his critics. 

Clearly delighted the 18 year old said, “Today is special in so many ways. It’s been a tricky start to the season but we have known we were capable of doing it. It’s about having a clean weekend, a solid race and I had good communication and good balance.”

“The first points are done. It’s not going to get easier – we will still have challenges but I am just happy today,” added Stroll.

Teammate Felipe Massa was taken out of the race after a few corners when the out of control Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz slammed into the rear of the Williams. Their race day ending there and then.

The final point went to Haas driver Romain Grosjean.

Race Report

At the start Verstappen made the best getaway to shoot down the inside to claim P2 as leader Hamilton went into Turn 1. Slow-starting front-row starter Vettel was swamped, contact with Verstappen and perhaps Bottas too resulting in broken wing elements for the German. He would later pit on lap six for running repairs that dropped him to the rear of the field.

Vettel succeeded, however, in fending off a hard-charging Daniel Ricciardo who had passed Kimi Raikkonen when the lights went out.

In the midfield there were more incidents however. Sainz and Grosjean touched, with the result that Sainz was pitched into a spin. He sailed out backwards through Turn 3 and slammed into Massa as he did so. The Toro Rosso and Williams drivers were instantly ruled out, but Grosjean managed to continue after a wing repair and a set of supersoft tyres.

The incident brought out the safety car as the two cars were recovered and on the re-start Bottas attempted to pass Verstappen around the outside into Turn 1. The Dutchman was alive to the threat, however, and fended off the attack well.

Bottas wouldn’t have to wait too long to get past the Red Bull man, however.

On lap 11 Verstappen’s Red Bull suffered a sudden and total loss of power on the exit of Turn 2. He was forced to pull over and retire. Bottas inherited second place with Ricciardo third.

At the front, Hamilton was carving out a lead and by lap 20 he was six seconds clear of team-mate Bottas. Ricciardo, meanwhile, pitted on lap 19 and took on soft tyres. The Australian dropped to sixth and then began to work his way back up the order.

It was a similar story for Vettel. The German had fallen to P18 after his early pit stop and despite losing more front wing elements the German quickly worked his work through the pack to sit in P8 by lap 22.

By lap 28, Hamilton was 24.4 seconds ahead of Ocon. Both were still on their starting ultrasoft tyres, but both were lapping in the 1:16 seconds, matching the pace of Bottas on soft tyres. Ricciardo was now fourth, though the Red Bull driver was now 12.4 seconds behind Bottas and almost 13 seconds behind Ocon.

Hamilton and Ocon eventually pitted on lap 3X. Both took on supersofts and while Hamilton rejoined in the lead, Ocon dropped to sixth place, between the Ferrari’s of Raikkonen and Vettel. At the front, after one stop, Hamilton led Bottas by just over 10 seconds with Ricciardo third a further 13 seconds back and with Perez now in fourth place.

By lap 49 Ricciardo was beginning to come under sustained pressure from Perez. The Australian’s engineer Simon Rennie told him that if he could withstand the pressure for a spell then the Mexican’s times would begin to drop off as his supersoft tyres faded.

Behind them, Vettel pitted for a second time from P6, taking on ultrasoft tyres for a final push towards the flag, with his race engineer Ricardo Adami informing him that he should catch his rivals ahead in the closing stages.

Vettel duly began setting purple lap times, recording a fastest race lap of 1:15.431 on lap 51 and then taking another three tenths out of that time on the next tour.

Perez, meanwhile was having no luck in attacking Ricciardo and by lap 56 the Force India pit wall was imploring him to allow the quicker Ocon through to try to pass the Red Bull. Perez, though, was ill disposed to the tactic and resolutely refused to cede the position, insisting that he would have an opportunity to pass Ricciardo.

Behind them Raikkonen went wide at the final chicane and that allowed Vettel through to attack the Force Indias. He seized the chance and by lap 64 was just 0.4s behind Ocon.

As Ocon tried to exert more pressure on his team-mate, Vettel attacked. Ocon tried to resist but ended up going wide and then lost position to the German.

That put Vettel through to P5 and he quickly reeled in Perez, eventually passing the Mexican with two laps left.

The tussling had given Ricciardo breathing room and as the final laps began he was 3.9s ahead of Vettel. The Ferrari driver closed in rapidly but there wasn’t enough time and the Red Bull driver was able to hold third behind easy winner Hamilton and Bottas.

With Vettel fourth ahead of Perez and a disgruntled Ocon, seventh place went to Raikkonen and eighth to Hulkenberg, with Stroll ninth and Grosjean tenth. 

[MIKA27]

STROLL: WORDS CAN’T REALLY DESCRIBE IT

Lance Stroll hit back at his critics in style by taking his first Formula 1 points to the adulation of a flag-waving crowd of home fans at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Finishing ninth, the 18-year-old Williams driver became the first Canadian not named Villeneuve to score in a grand prix and also the second youngest points scoring F1 driver of all time.

It had not been shaping up before then as a very memorable home-coming for the youngster, who grew up in Montreal watching races at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and dreaming of one day being on the grid.

A string of uninspiring results in his first six races followed by a disappointing qualifying effort that had him starting 17th for Sunday’s race had dampened excitement around Stroll’s home debut.

But with veteran team mate Felipe Massa crashing out on the opening lap through no fault of his own, Stroll delivered the controlled and clinical drive that his team and fans had been waiting for.

He became the second youngest driver to score a point behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was 17 when he finished seventh in Malaysia for Toro Rosso in 2015.

“It feels so good in so many ways,” said Stroll. “Words can’t really describe it. It’s been a tricky beginning of the season. As I was saying at the beginning of the weekend, it’s just about having a clean Sunday and it will come to us. That’s exactly what happened today.”

The milestone 50th Canadian Grand Prix, at a circuit named after Quebec motor racing icon Gilles Villeneuve who won the Canadian Grand Prix in 1978, provided the perfect backdrop for the breakthrough.

Gilles’s son Jacques never won on the track but did win the drivers’ title in 1997.

“The most important thing for us today was Lance,” said Williams deputy principal Claire Williams. “He’s had a tough start to the year, hasn’t he? And to have a race like today, scored his first points, every rookie wants to do that and that’s what he did today.

“For it to happen in his home grand prix, it couldn’t be better. It’s just a dream come true for him,” she added

Wawrinka adds Annacone to coaching team for grasscourt season
The son of one of Canada’s richest men, Stroll has had a tepid welcome to Formula One in some quarters with the focus on his father’s fortune.

But Sunday’s race-winner and triple world champion Lewis Hamilton gave Stroll a positive grade for his work so far and preached patience.

“I know he’s had such a difficult season,” said Hamilton, who gave the youngster a wave when Stroll was about to be lapped and let him past without fuss.

“He’s been dropped in the deep end, critics, all those different things you have when you’re 18-years-old and you’re experiencing your first time in Formula One and one of the most difficult seasons. I thought he looked like he was doing a good job.”

MIKA: Lance did seem to make a few moves that were impressive, even backing off sometimes rather than force his way through and cause a shunt.

But considering he finished 9th in a race of attrition after qualifying 17th, not exactly a statement way to silence the critics. Will be good to see if he keeps this up, would be brilliant for Williams as a team no doubt about it.

[MIKA27]

ANOTHER POINTLESS NIGHTMARE RACE FOR MCLAREN

For a moment, McLaren allowed themselves to dream during the Canadian Grand Prix before the all-too-familiar nightmare of a Honda induced failure returned to haunt them.

Fernando Alonso, whose Indianapolis 500 hopes had been cruelly let down by a Honda engine failure last month, returned to the Formula 1 fold and was running in 10th place until, again, the Honda power unit packed up.

The once great former champions, the second most successful team in the sport in terms of race wins, remain adrift at the bottom of the constructors’ standings without a point after seven races.

“For the first time this season, running in 10th place within spitting distance of the flag, we dared to hope,” said Racing Director Eric Boullier in the team’s post race press release.

“OK, what we were daring to hope for were hardly rich pickings: a solitary world championship point for Fernando, who had driven superbly all afternoon, as he’s driven superbly every race-day afternoon for the past two-and-a-half years.

“But, after so much toil and heartache, even that single point would have felt like a victory. And then came yet another gut-wrenching failure.

“It’s difficult to find the right words to express our disappointment, our frustration and, yes, our sadness. So I’ll say only this: it’s simply, and absolutely, not good enough,” concluded the Frenchman.

McLaren executive director Zak Brown, who has ramped up criticism of the team’s engine partner this week, reiterated that.

“It should have been a point. It just let go without any warning,” he told Sky Sports television. “It feels like you could probably replay this interview at a lot of races this year. Very frustrating.

“This just kind of reinforces that we can’t just kind of sit around and wait for things to come good. We need to be proactive in that.”

Honda’s F1 head Yusuke Hasegawa said the power unit had lost oil pressure due to a mechanical issue and would be taken back to Japan for further inspection.

Alonso brought his car to a halt and clambered into the nearby grandstands to join the fans.

“I thought to give the gloves to the grandstands but it was a little bit too far so I thought I would go a little bit closer,” said the Spaniard.

The double world champion’s season has been littered with engine failures and grid penalties and he could see little sign of that changing.

“We will start last probably in Baku,” he said, referring to the next race in Azerbaijan. “It’s a tough time.”

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VERSTAPPEN: IT’S A MAJOR BUMMER

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen dropped out of the Canadian Grand Prix with mechanical issues after completing only 10 laps, but not before the Dutch teenager muscled his way into second place and looked fit for a fight to retain.

“Absolutely rubbish, yeah really. Suddenly I lost all power. I wanted to accelerate again and then everything went dark: the dash and I couldn’t even communicate anymore, absolutely nothing”, said a heavily disappointed Verstappen.

“It’s a major bummer, especially when you’re second. The start was super, I didn’t have any wheel spin and I think it was the best start they ever had at Red Bull. I didn’t notice anything of me touching Vettel, but well, things like that can happen. Ultimately you still end up with nothing, so it sucks.”

Verstappen concluded, “You know that the car is not good enough for the second spot, but I could have kept my position, because you see how difficult it is to overtake here. I pulled away from Bottas, so you couldn’t even call that a fight. I could have ended up on the podium.”

Red Bull team chief Christian Horner was visibly upset on the team’s pit wall when Verstappen’s car came to a halt without any power.

He said afterwards, “It was a great shame for us to lose Max on lap 11. He had an unbelievable start which propelled him into second place by turn two, and his race pace was also very good. He came into contact with Sebastian Vettel, but that looks more like a race incident.”

“We have made some great progress this weekend and it is a shame that Max couldn’t finish the race. You saw it, Max suddenly lost all power, Max and the whole team are really sick about this.”

“This track normally reveals all our weaknesses and if you are able to perform like this, the upgrades worked, and you can close the gap a little bit more, then you’re doing an excellent job. We need to keep that momentum for the next race. If Daniel hadn’t scored a podium, Max would have, normally speaking,” added Horner.