Formula 1 - 2017

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KVYAT: IT’S A STUPID F@CKING CIRCUS!

Toro Rosso driver Danill Kvyat departed Montreal fuming after the Canadian Grand Prix in which he was handed two penalties for indiscretions he committed during the race which ended in a DNF for him.

Kvyat’s torrid day began when he remained parked on the grid as the field streamed off for the formation lap. He finally got going but made the mistake of reclaiming his grid spot, which is not permitted by the regulations, as he did not manage to slot in before the first Safety Car line.

What followed was a race packed with irate radio messages, at one point his engineer told him over the radio to calm down with the foul language.

After the race the Russian was still seething when he told reporters, “There were few frustrations. But, yeah I was angry with what’s going on. Another penalty, like it’s a joke, right?”

“I mean, what are we doing? And I get two points on my license which again is a stupid rule. We are taxi drivers here? Or F1 drivers? I don’t understand this. It’s a circus, a stupid f@cking circus!”

“I will go and talk to Charlie. It’s f@cking… It’s annoying, it’s really annoying me. A simple job, they can’t do it properly.

“Maybe it’s better to go in Baku because now the heat is up for me, I don’t want to say anything wrong to anyone. I’m not sure if it’s really Charlie, i’m not sure it’s Charlie. I don’t know. I want to understand first of all who does this job,” added Kvyat.

Meanwhile tensions are also mounting between him and his Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard claimed that an accord to help one another slip-streaming in qualifying was ignored by the Russian.

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OCON: A PODIUM WAS POSSIBLE FOR ME

The pink cars of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon ran nose to tail for most of the final half of the Canadian Grand Prix, the one behind quicker on fresher tyres while the one in the front – fruitlessly chasing third placed Daniel Ricciardo – was asked to cede position but he refused.

It was one of the big stories in the aftermath of the race in Montreal: Perez arguing against clear orders from his pit wall, and as a result possibly costing his teammate a first podium.

Ocon bobbed and weaved as he clearly wanted a way past Perez, but when the hard charging Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel arrived on the scene Ocon ramped up his effort, but instead of getting by the other pink car the young Frenchman tripped up lost time and had to settle for fifth, while Vettel managed to get past both Force India’s to snatch fourth in the end.

Ocon, unflustered and smiling, told reporters afterwards, “It was a great race all in all. It’s just a shame I couldn’t have a chance to go and pass Ricciardo. I think I had the pace by far to do it, so a podium was possible for me.”

“But that’s how it is, that’s racing sometimes so we have to discuss what happened in the debriefing room,” he added.

Force India deputy team principal acknowledged, “Obviously we had given Checo the instruction that we thought Esteban might be a little bit quicker but at the end of the day we have a policy at this stage to say we let them race.”

“We let them race and sort it out themselves, and at the end of the day from a Force India point of view it was still a fantastic result. We come away with a significant amount of points,” added Fernley.

Force India COO Otmar Szafnauer also backed Perez, We talked about swapping them around, but Sergio wanted some time as Ricciardo was coming up to lapped traffic.”

“We agreed to that, and while we gave him that time, the Ferraris caught up. It takes two to three seconds to swap ’em, so we then didn’t have that time. Remember, Sergio had fresh tyres way back, and he couldn’t get by him. So would it be the same thing with Ocon… I’m not sure.

“We talked about it on the pitwall, we thought it was a good idea. But we let Sergio have a go, because he’s a great overtaker,” added Szafnauer.

Perez defended his actions, The best I can do is give plenty of points to them, as I have in the past. I think we got the most we could, and Esteban had many laps to overtake me, but he was not close at all.”

“I couldn’t get Ricciardo, so I don’t think he (Ocon) would have got him. Daniel was very strong on traction. When the team asked me to give the position to Esteban we were about to lap some cars ahead of us.”

“And I thought that Daniel might get traffic, and I only need two to three tenths to get the opportunity on him, and I could see he was struggling and I knew the Ferraris were coming,” added Perez.

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ABITEBOUL: THE NEXT BIG RENAULT UPGRADE WILL BE NEXT YEAR

Renault were expected to roll out a major engine update in time for the Canadian Grand Prix, then it was supposed to be at the forthcoming round in Baku, but the French engine manufacturer’s F1 chief Cyril Abiteboul insists this will not be the case.

Abiteboul told the official F1 website, “Frankly the next big upgrade will be next year. Then we will have a completely new concept. That will make a difference – but as I said 2018.”

Although no official horse power stats exist comparing Formula 1 engines, used by Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Honda, it is apparent that Renault are lagging behind the pace setters.

Obviously Red Bull – who use TAG Heuer badged Renault power units – are itching to have some extra horses bolted on to their ever improving chassis. But it appears they are living with false hope.

Abiteboul again took a stab at the expectations, “It was Red Bull who said that there would be an upgrade [in Baku]. There are upgrades permanently – every single race we are making some small improvements.”

“Last year we created a huge expectation and we came with an upgrade that had a big impact. But we can’t repeat that every year.”

“Now it is all about constant improvements which overall will make a difference – but there is no magic bullet. Every race the engine will become more and more reliable with the program on the dyno progressing,” explained Abiteboul.

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ARRIVABENE: OUR RACE WAS COMPROMISED RIGHT FROM THE START

Ferrari team chief Maurizio Arrivabene blamed a hectic first lap melee for his team’s below par result at the Canadian Grand Prix, while insisting again that team orders between championship leader Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are not in play.

Speaking after the race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Arrivabene said, “Unfortunately, our race was compromised right from the start, when Seb’s car was damaged so he was no longer able to give it his best shot. Initially, our data showed the damage was not too serious. It was only in the following laps that the wing broke, causing further damage to the turning vanes and the floor.”

“As for Kimi, towards the end he had a problem with the braking system control. Right from [Monday] in Maranello we will carry out a detailed analysis of the race, making the most of the data gathered as we prepare as well as possible for the next round in Baku,” he added.

Ferrari have a very capable car in the SF70H, but if there is one Achilles Heel this year for them it has been the starts. Last month they allocated their filming day at Mugello to practice starts in an effort to address the problem.

But truth is that in Montreal both the red cars laboured off the line, and were inevitably engulfed by the pack which then triggered the contact that broke Vettel’s front wing.

The Reds, who two weeks earlier dominated in Monte Carlo with a one-two finish, were fourth (Vettel) and seventh (Raikkonen) when the chequered flag waved in Montreal.

Again there was a murmur of team orders as Vettel’s charge through the field coincided with Raikkonen’s brake problem, the German getting by the veteran Finn with no effort,

The question of team orders surfaced after Monaco where there was a suspicion, in some quarters, that Ferrari favoured race winner Vettel at the expense of Raikkonen.

But before the race in Canada, Arrivabene insisted, “I always said that it is not that situation in the team. We are looking forward to the championship and we do all our best to win the constructors’ championship.”

“In order to do well in the the constructors’ championship, you need two drivers and this is very important for the house, this is very important for Ferrari.”

“That trophy, if you are able to win, stays at home, but the driver trophy goes to the driver, of course.”

“I was very clear since the beginning of the season in our rules of engagement: the team is above everything until the numbers are going on one direction or in the other direction.”

“I’m talking about the drivers’ championship -but there are no team orders. This is very clear and the drivers accept it,” he added.

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ALONSO: THE SPEED DIFFERENCE IS DANGEROUS

Speaking to reporters after the Canadian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso warned that his Honda powered McLaren is so slow on the straights that it is a danger to drive in race conditions.

Alonso said after his DNF in Montreal, “The race itself was already hard enough given the lack of power. They were passing us in the middle of the straights and sometimes it was even dangerous with such a speed difference.”

A look at the speed trap figures show that Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari reached a top speed of 344 km/h at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, while Alonso’s top speed was a relatively meagre 317 km/h – 27 km/h down on the benchmark speed.

It was an all too familiar and sad story as his McLaren cruised to a halt in Turn 1 with another expired Honda power unit, with yet another technical issue which is sure to cost him penalty points for the next race in Baku.

The Spaniard explained, “It is not only that we lost a point [in this race] and we lost another race, we will start last in Baku because Jenson [Button] changed the power unit in Monaco and started last.”

“Here we lost a power unit and in Baku we will start last again. The situation is definitely not nice,” lamented the double F1 World Champion.

The highlight of his weekend was probably when he climbed into the grandstand, after alighting from his broken car, and threw his race gloves into the crowd.

He recalled, “I hoped to give the gloves to the guys there but the grandstand was too far away so I thought it will not get there if I throw the gloves.”

“So I thought I’d go up and throw the gloves, but once I was there I nearly couldn’t leave. We have so much support from the fans here every time we come to Canada so I felt I should give something back,” added Alonso who, along with his beleaguered team, has yet to score a point so far this season.

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Kimi Raikkonen 'had hardly any brakes' in final 10 laps

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen says he had “hardly any brakes” during the final 10 laps of the Canadian Grand Prix, compounding a difficult race for the Finn.

The 2007 Formula 1 world champion dropped to sixth at the start, behind both Red Bull drivers, and lost another place by running wide through the exit of Turn 7 at the restart.

Ferrari put Raikkonen on a two-stop strategy to make the most of fresher tyres and challenge the Force Indias towards the end, but his car developed an issue, which send him wide at the final chicane, dropping behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

His pace dropped off towards the end of the race with a brake problem, but he still managed to finish in seventh place.

“At the start, I got wheelspin off the line and obviously we lost quite a few places,” he explained.

“From that moment it was not an easy race: I struggled in the first few laps, it was difficult to get past.

“We decided to switch our tactics to two stops to create a speed difference with fresh tyres. We had a very good pace again and we were nicely going back close to the guys in front.

“Unfortunately, we had the issue with the brakes and we could not really use our speed. In the last ten laps, I had hardly no brakes; it’s a pity but at least we could bring the car back and get some points.

“It was not an easy day for the team but this is how it goes sometimes. If this is our bad day, then we have to take it and go forward.”

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Carlos Sainz Jr. gets three-place grid drop for Azerbaijan

Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz Jr. has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the next round of the season in Azerbaijan, following the opening lap collision in Canada.

Sainz Jr. made contact with Haas rival Romain Grosjean on the run to Turn 3 and speared to the inside of the circuit, where he slammed into the side of Williams’ Felipe Massa.

Sainz Jr. continued head-on into the barriers, though was fortunately able to walk away uninjured, while Massa was forced to retire, with Grosjean returning to the pits for repairs.

The Spaniard was judged to have been "careless and potentially dangerous" and was handed a three-place grid drop for the next race at the Baku City Circuit, along with two penalty points, bringing his 12-month total to seven, just five points from a race ban.

“I had a good start and was in P12, trying to overtake Fernando [Alonso] around the outside of Turn 2,” said Sainz Jr.

“He got better traction than me out of there so I focused on positioning myself to try and attack him into Turn 3 and, all of a sudden, I touched with a Haas that was on my right-hand side.

“I have to say I never saw the car there, it’s simply a dead angle in my mirrors so I never knew he was there.

“If I had realised I was there, of course I would’ve been more careful and left some space.

“Once we collided I was just a passenger, crashed into the wall and that was the end of my race unfortunately.

“I’d like to say sorry, especially to Felipe, who received a touch from me… I just couldn’t do anything to avoid it. It was a big crash, but I’m fine.”

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WOLFF: NO SURPRISE IF ROSBERG RETURNS WITH FERRARI

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff hinted that we perhaps have not sen the last of Nico Rosberg, and even suggested that the 2016 Formula 1 World Champion may pop up as a Ferrari driver at some point in the future.

Speaking during a lunch with local journalists in Canada, Wolff said of Rosberg, “I tell you one thing: “I wouldn’t be surprised if he changed his mind in a year and reappears in a Ferrari.”

“Nico is only 31 years old. If he is unfortunate, he still lives another 70 years!” he added with a laugh.

“I think that when he took the decision to retire it was because it was just too much. It was a very stressful year — very stressful years against probably the best driver in Formula 1. And he felt at that stage exhausted. That’s how he appeared to me.”” explained Wolff

Asked if he was speaking on a hunch, Wolff replied cheekily,  “No, I just want to create some stories.”

However Rosberg, who quit the sport unexpectedly at the end of last year after clinching his one and only F1 world title, insisted recently in Monaco, “My time in F1 is over. I am happy and proud of my career, the results and successes that I had. That fulfills me a great deal. But it is now in the past and I plan to do new things.”

However unlikely such a scenario might be, Rosberg would be an interesting fit at Ferrari as teammate to Sebastian Vettel when Kimi Raikkonen decides to hang up his helmet or the decision is made for him.

Rosberg quit unexpectedly at the peak of his career, having clinched the world title after a high pressure season where he went toe-to-toe with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton. He retired with 206 grand prix starts on his CV, finishing on the podium 57 times, on 23 of those occasions he stood on the top step.

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Ralf Schumacher and Fernando Alonso row over karting circuit

Former Formula 1 rivals Fernando Alonso and Ralf Schumacher have become embroiled in a war of words over Alonso's karting facility in Oviedo.

This weekend Alonso's circuit is hosting the CIK-FIA European Championship, the most prestigious event in its short history.

Schumacher's KSM team is competing, but he has complained that the venue is not up to standard and that karts were being damaged and drivers risked injury.

In a post on KSM's Facebook page, Schumacher said he had warned officials about the track earlier in the year after testing.

"I'm very disappointed about this race because we face a very unusual situation," he wrote.

"For the first time since I joined karting again it feels totally wrong to race at a track like this.

"Don't get me wrong, but I was trying to explain back in January after testing here for three days that the layout of the track is not one we should be racing on at a CIK or FIA level.

"Now we are here and we destroy more material than you could imagine.

"This race is going to cost a fortune for all participants and only because a decision has been taken by people that don't understand the needs of karting.

"On top of that we risk the health of our drivers, which again is unbelievable.

"One can only hope that people start to listen to the teams so that we can avoid this in the future."

Alonso defended his venue when asked about Schumacher's comments in the Canadian Grand Prix paddock.

"First of all I think Ralf needs some publicity - he has been so many years now out of the first page, and he wants to take benefit from this," Alonso said.

"We have an Asturias championship, the Spanish championship, and now the European championship, together with the FIA and CIK homologations, so they tell you which space between the track you need to have, what space of run-off area you need to have, what cornering speed you need to have, what kerbs you need to fit, because there are standards for all the circuits.

"According to those we built the circuit and we are hosting this weekend a fantastic event with more than 200 drivers there.

"And yeah, I saw Ralf's comments, that he broke some chains and tyres and axles.

"I think he needs to tell his drivers to drive on the asphalt, that's the first thing, because all the other teams are OK. Only his team has maybe run out of money."

Alonso suggested the fact Schumacher had a kart track of his own was a factor in his complaints.

"The second thing is we cannot forget that he has a go-kart circuit, in Germany, and he wanted to host the European championship, and maybe the FIA was not so happy with his circuit the way it is," Alonso added.

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MCLAREN-HONDA SPLIT IS A DONE DEAL

A British newspaper is reporting that McLaren have decided to ditch Honda as an engine supplier and revert to Mercedes customer engines starting in 2018.

The Daily Mail writes: “Sportsmail understands McLaren will drop their current engine partners, Honda, after patience with the Japanese manufacturers’ uncompetitive and unreliable engines finally ran out.”

The report adds that the move may cost McLaren close to €90-million and the deal with Mercedes, which is in the last stages of being finalised, will be announced before the Formula 1 summer break at the end of July or early August.

The ‘divorce’ from Honda comes after three years of sheer frustration and dogged disappointment for the McLaren team, who have been reduced to a shadow of what they once were.

The second most successful team in the sport’s history have become the laughing stock of the paddock thanks to the way under powered and constantly unreliable Honda engines. And the problem is that there is no light at the end of this long tunnel.

Most recently in Canada, their star driver Fernando Alonso retired with yet another power unit failure and declared that the speed deficit to his rivals posed a danger on track. 

Last month Alonso made it clear that if he does not have a winning car by September he will quit the team. It is highly unlikely, if not impossible, that Honda will be able to meet the ultimatum.

McLaren do not want to lose Alonso who they rate very highly, and a move to Mercedes power is their only short-term solution which could pacify the Spaniard and convince him to stay.

Meanwhile in recent weeks, McLaren chiefs Zak Brown and Eric Boullier ramped up their criticism of Honda.

Brown said before the race in Montreal, “Honda’s working very hard but they seem a bit lost. We were only told recently that we wouldn’t have the upgrade coming (for Montreal)…and we don’t have a definitive timeline, which is concerning because the pain is great and we can’t sit around forever.” 

With Boullier adding after the race in Canada, where Alonso looked to be on track for a top ten finish before yet another failure, “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,” added the Frenchman.

Indeed the team’s long-standing owner Mansour Ojjeh, who this season has been a more visible figure in the McLaren pit garage in the wake of the departure of Ron Dennis, was seen in lengthy talks with Mercedes chief Toto Wolff and chairman Niki Lauda in Montreal.

Much was expected of the McLaren-Honda reunification, as the partnership enjoyed one of the most successful stints in Formula 1 history, winning four drivers’ titles and four constructors titles between 1988 and 1991, during the Alain Prost Ayrton Senna era of the team.

But at the same time McLaren also have impressive history with Mercedes, winning two drivers titles with Mika Hakkinen in 1998 and 1999, as well as the constructors title in 1998 – which they have not won since.

The Woking team claimed their last Formula 1 title, with Mercedes power, when Lewis Hamilton won his first drivers’ championship in 2008.

Jenson Button scored the team’s final F1 victory at the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix with Mercedes power, but their final year as a Mercedes customer team in 2014 resulted in only two podiums, when both Kevin Magnussen and Button finished second and third in Australia that year.

Since 2015 the team have been using Honda engines, but have never finished higher than the top five until now. This season they have yet to score a point and lie last in the championship standings after seven rounds.

When approached for comment a McLaren spokesperson said: “Nothing is decided is the truth of the matter.”

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VERSTAPPEN: THE WHOLE SEASON HAS BEEN CR@P

In his short time in Formula 1 Max Verstappen has developed a knack for not mincing his words, and in the aftermath of his DNF at the Canadian Grand Prix he is clearly not impressed with his season.

After muscling his way to second place, his race came to a premature end on lap 10 as his Red Bull coasted to a halt on the exit of Turn 2, compounding the frustation for Red Bull and Verstappen. 

With Montreal done and dusted, he was asked by Ziggo Sport what his prospects are for the forthcoming race in Baku, Verstappen replied, “I don’t care too much. The whole season has been crap so far, with everything.” 

The teenage Dutchman, hinted that the problem lies with Renault, “Updates were promised but there have been few. I’m worried, also for the direction for next year. The regulations are not changing much [for 2018], so the more the team learns this year, the better it is for next year.”

“We wanted to go for the world title this year, but we are far from it,” the 19-year-old said later after calming down. I want to win and I absolutely think this team can. You can see we have improved the car a lot. But the power is yet to come.”

“It is what it is and I can’t influence the situation. You can get upset, angry, but it doesn’t solve anything. It’s better to be optimistic and try to make the most of the situation,” he added.

Red Bull team chief Christian Horner is aware of the 19 year old’s frustration, he too dropped his head in disappointment when the number 33 car coasted to a halt, and explained, “He knows how hard the team is pushing to make the car better. He’ll see the big picture.”

Horner pointed to the fact that Daniel Ricciardo, in the other Red Bull, finished third, “We were racing against a Mercedes and we beat Ferrari. Max hasn’t had the results, but it’s still a long season. His time will come.”

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VETTEL: I WANTED THAT PODIUM

Sebastian Vettel fluffed his start at the Canadian Grand Prix, as a result incurred damage to his front wing which forced him to play catch up all afternoon and although he finished fourth, after a charge through the field from last place, he really wanted to be on the podium.

He said after the race in Montreal, “I wanted that podium. We didn’t get it, so I’ll take fourth.”

“With the damage in the beginning it was not ideal. It was bad that we didn’t spot it – I had a little bit of a feel [of damage] out of Turn 6 and then the safety car came, but I wasn’t sure because it was the first lap of the race and it was very windy, so I thought it might have been a gust and the first lap the tyres are not there.

“We should have spotted [the damage] and got a free pit stop. In the end we did it when everybody was back at pace and we had to catch up for a couple of laps.”

One of the highlights of the race was the duel between the Force India duo of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, which Vettel managed to catapult by taking advantage of the pink cars battling one another.

The German recalled, “Coming back to that group at the end of the race was fun. With the two Force Indias it was quite difficult – they were very quick down the straights, and then when you have this phenomenon of cars behind each other all giving each other a tow and you’re at the back end, it’s not easy to create something.”

Vettel arrived in Canada enjoying a 25 points lead over title rival Lewis Hamilton, by the time they departed on Sunday night the gap was down to 12 points

“I think you judge what happens at the time. It’s clear that with the damage that we had unless there was trouble in front or we got extremely lucky with safety cars that it would be difficult,” he said.

“But in the end you look what you have in front of you. I was very busy for most of the race which I enjoyed, which was fun, it was good racing. There were some manoeuvres where I nearly wanted to close my eyes – but ultimately I think the team and the car deserved more. The pace was there.”

Mercedes bounced back from a mediocre Monaco Grand Prix weekend to post a dominant one-two in Montreal, but Vettel is not sure if the balance of power has shifted, “It’s a bit difficult to read – I think Mercedes were very strong in the race, but it’s also a different story when you can control the race, the pace, the tyres.”

“I was pushing flat out and when you chase other cars you lose quite a lot of grip, then you’re sliding, so a different race for us.”

The four times Formula 1 World Champion missed out on the podium for the first time this year, nevertheless he still heads the championship race but Ferrari now trail Mercedes in the constructors’ standings by eight points.

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INSIDE LINE: SENNA THE GREATEST QUALIFIER IN F1 HISTORY

Source: Paul Valesko Grand Prix 24/7

Lewis Hamilton finally matched Ayrton Senna’s record of 65 pole position starts in Formula 1 after his sensational pole winning lap during qualifying for the 50th edition of the Canadian Grand Prix.

While thoroughly deserving of reaching the milestone, and despite immense respect for Lewis, I for one was a tad saddened that Ayrton’s record was matched and no doubt soon to be surpassed by the Briton as also he hunts Michael Schumacher’s all time record of 68 poles.

I do take slight comfort in the fact that the late great Brazilian accomplished the feat in 162 attempts, while Lewis took 195 qualifying sessions to match the total.

For Senna qualifying was his specialty, his raison d’être. It was the hour or two during a grand prix weekend whereby he could prove to himself, and the world, that he was the fastest race driver of his generation, even the best ever. It was a chance for him to flirt with that fine line between unrivaled mastery and total mayhem.

His exploits took place during an era when qualifying was run during a one hour session on Friday and another on Saturday afternoon. There was no shootout or gimmicks. Simply go out there and put the hammer down whenever the desire was there during those sixty minutes.

Ayrton liked to do his times very, very late in the session. Often the last guy to post a time, which added to the drama and apprehension.

It was a time when manufacturers built ‘one lap wonder’ engines designed for one flying lap, with close on 1000 horses on tap, before they grenaded. This coupled to super sticky tyres also specially produced for one hot lap and no more.

The driver that managed to combine these elements into one almighty lap would start the race from top spot, and inevitably it would be the guy in the yellow helmet who did the business in front of an audience – rivals and fans alike – that had grown to anticipate and appreciate the moments he took to the track for those all or nothing laps that are his trademark.

For me personally, as a photographer covering Formula 1 during that period for Associated Press, they are the most memorable moments of my all too brief time track-side, snapping my heroes.

The first standout qualifying – or make that Ayrton event because in retrospect that’s what they were – occurred at the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix, a venue where he may always be unrivaled.

It was that ‘alien’ lap that is now engraved in Formula 1 history. And I was there.

It was 1988 at the Principality. McLaren were the team of the moment, enjoying the best phase of their history (powered by Honda) with Senna in his first year with the team taking on Prost, the fully fledged feud between the two yet to erupt.

That year Monaco was the third race in the Formula 1 championship calendar, Ayrton’s first race at the Principality as a McLaren driver.

As a photographer I was out on track, snapping action at various points during the qualifying session. No apps or gizmos to tell me what-was-what in the standings.

So as Qualy ended I headed down to the make-shift pits and saw Ayrton surrounded by reporters. Literally rows of people keen to get a quote, to be there. A pensive Ayrton speaking quietly among them. Something special had happened. But what?

I made my way back to the media centre, films in hand to give to the darkroom guy tasked with processing them, before editing and transmitting to Assoicated Press desk in London.

At some point Ayrton had made it to the media centre. At the time the drivers were interviewed among the working journos, on a raised platform, in the makeshift and crowded media centre.

Waiting around, I took in what was happening. Ayrton was quiet, tired, sitting there waiting for the questions to start. When they did he answered in a soft voice, deliberate, punctuated by pauses.

A journo whispering to another was met with a glare from the Brazilian. A pin dropping could have been heard in the packed room, before he resumed.

To an audience transfixed he said, “I was already on pole, then by half a second and then one second and I just kept going. Suddenly I was nearly two seconds faster than anybody else, including my team mate with the same car.”

“I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension. It was like I was in a tunnel. Not only the tunnel under the hotel, but the whole circuit was a tunnel. I was just going and going, more and more and more and more. I was way over the limit, but still able to find even more.”

“Then suddenly something just kicked me. I kind of woke up and realised that I was in a different atmosphere than you normally are. My immediate reaction was to back off, slow down. I drove slowly back to the pits and I didn’t want to go out any more that day.”

“It frightened me because I was well beyond my conscious understanding. It happens rarely but I keep these experiences very much alive inside me because it is something that is important for self-preservation.”

It was one of his most astounding Formula 1 qualifying accomplishments ever. At the end of the Friday qualy session, that weekend in Monte Carlo, Ayrton was 1.9 seconds faster than teammate Prost and in Saturday’s session he was 1.42 seconds up on the Frenchman.

It was another ‘you had to be there moment’ which transfixed even the most seasoned journos in the room that day. For me, a long time Senna fan, it confirmed the guy was no mere mortal. He was special.

I admit that out on track that day, up against the barriers snapping away at the action, I was oblivious to what was going on. It only dawned on me when I listened to the post qualy interview, that I had witnessed something very special, historic. We moved many Ayrton pictures that evening…

The second unforgettable ‘lap’ (make that event) for me was during qualifying for the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez de la Frontera.

During Friday practice for the race Martin Donnelly’s Lotus slammed the barrier (at what is now called Curva Alex Criville) at 225 km/h it disintegrated into pieces. The chassis split in two and Donnelly ended up on the track still strapped to his seat. 

I was not far from the scene, although I missed the impact, I had a good view with my 500mm lense and snapped away.

It was eerie, watching, snapping Donnelly face down, awkward, almost lifeless, face down on the middle of the track, buckled to his seat, with yellow bits of his Lotus scattered around.

Professor Sid Watkins and his medical crew were there fast, and after a few minutes the red suited to my surprise Ayrton arrived at the scene too. He had run there from the pits.

He watched intently as the rescue workers toiled to get Donnelly into an ambulance and save his life. For hours, if not days, thereafter his condition teetered between life and death. Thankfully he survived.

But the Lotus driver’s injuries were intensive with X-rays showing he had bruised lungs, bruising to the brain and substantial loss of blood. The impact cracked his race helmet, and both his legs were shattered.

Professor Watkins stabilised Donnelly at the track hospital before he was airlifted to the hospital in Seville. It was a near death experience for the Irishman who also suffered kidney failure and nearly had his right leg amputated. It was a miracle he survived.

But I digress, because the point of this tale is what transpired hours later during Friday qualifying.

Ayrton, visibly distraught at what he had seen, contemplated missing the first qualifying session. But then decided to partake.

At which point he delivered one of those masterful laps, packed with courage and bravery to scorch around Jerez faster than anyone had ever been and claim the top time by 1.126 seconds over his closest rival, namely McLaren teammate Alain Prost.

A day later he went even quicker! But the Friday lap, under the circumstances, was the stuff of legend, a moment in time that is firmly etched in my mind.

The emotions on that day, up-and-down the pit lane, I cannot describe in words. It was out of this world stuff.

Again one of those ‘you had to be there moments’ to fully understand the mix of sentiments that encompass the prospect of looming death macabrely married to the euphoria of immense achievement.

That’s what Ayrton conjured to all present there that day. It was a conflict of emotions that I have not experienced since and to this day still sends chills up my spine.

Indeed the record books show that Hamilton has now matched his idol’s record of top spot starts, and I applaud him for a tremendous achievement and I am sure Schumi’s all time record will fall too.

But I also have slight remorse because for me personally Ayrton will always be the greatest F1 qualifier of all time no matter what the record books show.

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Correlation problems hurting Honda - Yusuke Hasegawa

Honda chief Yusuke Hasegawa says that reliability gains seen on the manufacturer’s dyno are not being replicated on-track, which is a new problem for 2017.

Relations between McLaren and power unit supplier Honda have been increasingly strained this season, its third campaign since reuniting, amid a lack of reliability and performance.

Honda had hoped to introduce an upgrade package at last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix but this was delayed, and Hasegawa was unable to give assurances that it would be ready for upcoming rounds in Azerbaijan and Austria.

Hasegawa explained that Honda is struggling to transfer results seen on the dyno to the circuit, a situation it did not encounter in 2016.

“We can't create good conditions on the dyno," Hasegawa told Autosport.

"We need to create the same conditions from the track on the dyno.

"The operational conditions are different so we need to understand why that makes a difference to the reliability.

"Last year, we could prove engine reliability on the dyno so we need to understand why now there is some difference from dyno to the circuit running [and] it's not easy. We need to improve the accuracy.”

McLaren has yet to score a point this season, with its cars reaching the chequered flag only four times from 14 starts, taking a best result of 12th in Spain, courtesy of Fernando Alonso.

Alonso retired from 10th place during the closing stages of last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix due to a loss in oil pressure, while Stoffel Vandoorne came home in 14th spot.

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Cyril Abiteboul challenges Jolyon Palmer to improve one-lap pace

Renault Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul has challenged Jolyon Palmer to improve his one-lap pace, in order to contribute to the manufacturer’s points tally in 2017.

Palmer has been out-qualified at each event by team-mate Nico Hülkenberg, with the Briton also eliminated in Q1 on five occasions.

Palmer started from 15th in Canada, five places behind Hülkenberg, and raced to 11th spot, three positions down on Hülkenberg, who has amassed all of Renault’s 18 points this season.

Abiteboul believes that Palmer needs to focus on his one-lap performance in order to stand a stronger chance of adding to Renault’s tally.

“Jo had a similar strategy [to Hülkenberg] and he now has two P11 finishes in a row,” Abiteboul said of Palmer’s race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

“The priority moving forward is for him to qualify higher in order to get a shot at winning some points and contribute to the team’s effort to gain ground in the Constructors’ Championship.

“[The] race allowed us to reduce the deficit between us and Williams, as we are aiming for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship before the mid-season break.”

Palmer rued his fortune after finishing just a second behind Romain Grosjean in the battle for the final points-paying position.

“This is very frustrating,” Palmer said of his Montréal race.

“I lost a lot at the start with the mayhem, I lost positions then got stuck behind Grosjean for about 60 laps and couldn’t get close enough to attack him.

“I think the pace was a bit better and if I could have started a couple of places higher, we could have gotten into the points.”

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Stoffel Vandoorne felt like a 'sitting duck' on straights

McLaren-Honda driver Stoffel Vandoorne says he was powerless to prevent rivals from cruising past during the Canadian Grand Prix, due to his lack of straight-line speed.

McLaren has struggled in 2017, amid a lack of reliability and performance, though Vandoorne crept into the top 10 during the early stages of the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, due to drama elsewhere.

However, Vandoorne lost several positions in the course of a few laps and eventually trailed home in 14th place, ahead only of Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein.

“It was a difficult race, but I think we more or less knew that before the start,” said Vandoorne.

“We found it tough on the straights, and also the amount of fuel saving we had to do today really hurt us.

“The closing speed of the other cars was really impressive, so we were a bit of a sitting duck. In the end, we made it to the finish, but it’s not the result we were hoping for. 

“It’s incredibly difficult to stay with the group ahead, and when we can stay with the group we are vulnerable and don’t have the power to defend.

“So we have to invent some tricks to keep the other cars behind, and then it all starts to become very challenging.”

Vandoorne added: “There’s no point moaning about it – I’m just trying to get on with my job – but I just hope there will be improvements soon so we can actually start racing with the others.”

Team-mate Fernando Alonso was set for a point but retired from 10th place with three laps remaining, after which he labelled the squad’s lack of straight-line speed as “dangerous.”

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Drivers lean towards Supersoft tyres for Azerbaijan GP

Formula 1 drivers have loaded up on Supersoft tyres for next weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit.

Sole tyre supplier Pirelli has nominated the Supersoft (red), Soft (yellow) and Medium (white) compounds for the sport’s second visit to the six-kilometre street circuit.

Title rivals Mercedes and Ferrari have mirrored each other, with both of their respective drivers selecting eight sets of Supersofts, four Softs and just one batch of Mediums.

McLaren has taken the most aggressive approach, choosing 10 sets of Supersofts from the 13 sets permitted for each driver.

As per the trend for 2017, the hardest available compound, in this instance the Medium tyre, has been all-but-abandoned, with only the Red Bull drivers, Felipe Massa and Marcus Ericsson selecting two sets of the white-banded rubber.

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Fifth place "realistic" for Toro Rosso – Tost

Franz Tost says that its “realistic” for Toro Rosso to hang on to its fifth place in the World Championship, although the team boss is resigned to the fact that Force India is already out of reach in fourth.

In what’s been a tight midfield battle, Toro Rosso has outperformed the likes of Williams, Renault and Haas so far in 2017.

In an exclusive Q&A interview with GP Gazette, Tost says that Toro Rosso is very much in contention to hold on to fifth place in the constructors’ standings – but doesn’t see his squad chasing down Force India, which is currently best of the rest behind the big three.

“We’re now in fifth place in the championship, and very close with the others as well,” he said.

“That means after each race it could change. But at least we have scored the points. I think we have a package which is quite competitive from the car side, and also from the engine side.

“The drivers are doing a good job, and also the team has made steps forward.

“Force India has scored many, many points, especially in Barcelona. They have a very strong package, I must say with Mercedes, they are very strong on the car side. They also made quite good steps forward.

“I do not want to become high-headed. I think the fifth place is realistic, and I’ll be more than happy at the end of the year when we score the fifth place. Then I’ll invite you for a dinner with a party!”

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Haas unhappy with Sainz's "dull" crash excuse

Haas team boss Gunther Steiner thinks it ridiculous that Carlos Sainz has blamed the lack of visibility from his mirrors for the crash with Romain Grosjean at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Sainz clashed with Grosjean on the opening lap in Montreal, after being caught out when he failed to notice the Frenchman was alongside him.

The Spaniard insisted in the aftermath of the accident that Grosjean had been in his blind spot, and that the view offered by F1's 2017 mirrors is limited.

"We've all been complaining, he said. "We all know what's happening this year with the low rear wings, having the mirrors just in front of us doesn't give you a clear picture of what's happening around you and that's it. The FIA always find a solution for this kind of thing."

Steiner, however, said that if Sainz knew there was an issue, he should have done something to make sure he could see better what is going on behind him.

"If he knew before they [the mirrors] were too small, they should have changed them," said Steiner. "That is not our problem. If he has got too small mirrors, that is quite a dull excuse.

"You can't say, 'Oh my mirrors are too small and I can't see, but I keep on using them!' It's like if we give you glasses and you cannot see with them, but you keep using them, know you cannot see, and keep running into the wall!"

Sainz was handed a three-place grid penalty of the next race in Baku for his part in the opening lap crash, which also took out Felipe Massa.

Grosjean was able to recover from the Sainz incident to take 10th place, after electing to run with the same set of tyres fitted at the end of lap one when his car damage was fixed.

  

Penalty questions

Steiner also said he was not too happy that Kevin Magnussen was handed a penalty for overtaking Stoffel Vandoorne under a Virtual Safety Car – especially because the Dane gave the position back afterwards when he realised he had made a mistake.

"He gave the position back," said Steiner. "If somebody is penalised, it seems to be always us, and I don't think we are that bad!

"Kevin did wrong, he shouldn't have started so early, but he gave it back immediately and I actually need to look at it again, as I am still not sure about the regulations and how it is written.

"Yes, he did overtake under the VSC, which he shouldn't. But he gave it back. Maybe it was better to stay in front!"

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Nigel Mansell: The 'most awesome' F1 car I ever drove

Nigel Mansell started 187 grands prix in Formula 1, driving for four iconic teams, and winning 31 races in a career that also included being crowned world champion in 1992.

But which car from his days at Lotus, Williams, Ferrari or McLaren was his favourite? We can probably rule out the last-named given how badly his short stint with McLaren went.

In this clip from Motorsport.tv's weekly programme The Flying Lap, former Williams team manager Peter Windsor joins Mansell at the team's 40th anniversary to discuss his favourite car, one he describes as "the most awesome" he ever drove - and it's not the 1992 title-winning FW14B.

 

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ANALYSIS: HOW FORCE INDIA THREW AWAY A PODIUM IN CANADIAN GP – AND NOT THE WAY YOU THINK

For the winning team in Montreal this was as easy a race from a strategy point of view as you will ever see, with the main opposition falling away early.

However behind the winner, Lewis Hamilton, there was some fascinating decision making going on and a lot of attention has focussed on the battle between the Force India drivers, with Sergio Perez refusing team requests to let the Estaban Ocon try to pass Daniel Ricciardo for a podium.

Radio logs show Perez refused five requests in total.

However the hidden dynamic here is that, even without a team order, Force India had a clear pathway to a guaranteed podium with one of their drivers; they just didn’t see it. We will explain fully in this report.

Meanwhile Ferrari was on a recovery drive with Vettel after damage at the start, but how could they have effected things differently there and did Kimi Raikkonen have a pathway to a podium with better decision making?

All will be revealed.

Pre-race expectations

Friday’s practice running was somewhat inconclusive as the long runs were compromised by a red flag stoppage.

However some indicators were available; the ultra soft qualifying tyre looked fine for a decent length first stint and the supersoft would do the rest of the race. It was the old scenario where a two stop was fast, but required a car to overtake the one stopper on track. The pace differential needed for that was around one second per lap.

Valtteri Bottas did some effective running on the soft tyre on the Friday long runs and that planted a seed for him and a couple of others that the soft might be a good race tyre, especially as the forecast for Sunday was warmer than Friday, which should play to its strengths.

However both Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo took the soft tyre in the race and found it slow. It was a mistake that both were able to recover from; Ricciardo by some great defensive driving and also by Force India missing a golden opportunity; Bottas by having no threat from behind so only time was lost, not track positions.

So how could Force India have got a podium without issuing team orders to Perez?

The post race debrief at Force India will have been a bittersweet experience; on the one hand they bagged another 18 points – their second best result of the year – from a strong double finish in P5 and P6.

But they will have to initiate a new set of protocols after Sergio Perez declined to allow Esteban Ocon to try a pass on Daniel Ricciardo for third place, despite five requests via radio to do so.

But more painfully, they will also see that there was a podium there for the taking, without even needing to resort to a team order.

The background is that Force India were able to take advantage of a great start for both drivers, which put them ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. And with Sebastian Vettel sustaining front wing damage, which forced an early pit stop, they were ahead of him too.

Raikkonen went aggressive by pitting on Lap 17, which was an attempt to pull the cars ahead of him into stopping earlier than they would wish. Force India’s response was to pit the lead car, Perez, and then to stay out and built an offset with Ocon, who did a masterful job of maintaining strong pace while looking after the tyres for 13 more laps.

This gave Ocon a substantial tyre offset; 13 laps to Perez and 14 to Ricciardo who was on the slower soft tyre.

Ten laps on these tyres was worth two to three tenths of a second every lap compared to the other car in Montreal this year. Having set up the offset strategy for Ocon however, Force India failed to enforce it as Perez stubbornly refused to allow Ocon to have a try.

Several F1 teams, including Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and Sauber have a developed structure for moving their cars around in circumstaces such as these, to gain the best result, which the drivers are contractually obliged to obey. For a smaller team, like Sauber, this can be hugely important as every point can have consequences in the millions of dollars. At the front end of the field it can mean a win and an extra seven points when fighting for a championship.

Mercedes have asked one driver to move over on four occasions since 2014, including the famous occasion in Hungary 2014, where Hamilton declined but said he wouldn’t block Rosberg if he tried a move – and including this year with Bottas in Bahrain.

However, what Force India missed was the opportunity to pit Perez on Lap 42; a move that would almost certainly have led to one of their drivers getting a podium.

How? Because this would have created a pincer movement with two cars on different strategies against one – impossible for Ricciardo to cover both. Ironically it would have replicated on Ricciardo what Red Bull drivers did to Bottas in Monaco last week.

In the short term it meant giving up a track position to Vettel, but his tyres were already 37 laps old and he was always likely struggle or to stop again with 28 more laps left to run to the flag.

So once Vettel stopped a second time he’d have struggled to pass Perez on the same tyres and so the move would effectively have put Perez ahead of both Ferraris.

Now Ocon would have been clear to attack Ricciardo and he believed he had that pace offset necessary to pass the Red Bull driver, who had made the mistake of choosing the soft tyre for the second stint, which was proving too slow compared to the supersoft.

Even if Ocon had failed, Perez would then be coming up quickly on fresh tyres and Ocon would then have moved aside to let Perez try his luck in the final laps.

By doing nothing, they invited Vettel to attack them. He passed both and a potential podium became fifth and sixth.

What was the point of setting up Ocon’s offset strategy if you don’t use it? And why do a split strategy early in the race if you don’t do one later when there is clearly something to play for? In war gaming terms, this was a win-win.

Staying put and allowing the lead car to refuse a request five times was a lose-lose.

Impressive recovery by Vettel as Ferrari slips back into operational errors

Last year in Montreal Mercedes had a faster car, but Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel had track position at the start and a bad strategy call to pit early lost them the chance to pull the levers, handing the win to Hamilton.

This year was different. There was nothing to choose between Ferrari and Mercedes on pace and on Saturday only an inspired qualifying lap by Hamilton was the difference.

At the start of the race, Vettel damaged his wing as Verstappen made an aggressive move into Turn 1. But due to a big accident further back in the field, the Safety Car was quickly deployed. At this stage Vettel had not had time to feel the damage to his wing, then the speed of the field was reduced behind the Safety Car, which masked it.

Now all F1 teams have a service called “Follow Me” provided by F1 Management’s broadcast service, which gives a forward facing on board camera shot of both team cars.

Vettel’s showed wing damage and other teams were able to see it.

Somehow Ferrari’s on site aerodynamicist missed it and so it was not until the car went back up to racing speeds that Vettel realised he had a problem. If you click on the photo above it will enlarge and you can clearly see the damage to the left side as we look at it.

He therefore pitted two laps after the end of the Safety Car period, dropping to last place.

What did it cost him, pitting at racing speed rather than under the Safety Car? About 20 seconds of race time and four track positions.

When you consider that he missed a podium by a fraction at the end, needing just one more lap to pass Ricciardo, that was an expensive operational error.

But there was also the question of whether he could still have made it if he’d been pitted a lap earlier for the second stop. When he came out he was told that he would have eight laps to fight the Force India duo and Ricciardo. In fact he caught them with only six laps to go, so the modelling was slightly out.

Meanwhile on Raikkonen’s car, there were even stranger decisions. The decision to pit Raikkonen first on Lap 17 to trigger a rush of stops for the cars ahead was brilliant, as Ferrari had two stops in mind and tactically he had nothing to lose.

He was also being used here by Ferrari to do a job for Vettel’s recovery as it pulled the other cars into sub optimal strategies, which ended up helping him to get the Force India pair.

But why they didn’t pit Raikkonen under the Virtual Safety Car on Lap 11/12/13? The pit window for a two stop is certainly open at that point.

If they had two stops in mind for a car that has lost two track positions to the Force Indias at the start (which is entirely reasonable) then why not save the seven seconds that a stop under a VSC gives you?

The answer hangs on whether the motive was to get the maximum result for Raikkonen.. or for Vettel.

We at JA on F1 remain firmly of the belief that in Monaco they didn’t deliberately switch the cars, it was a modelling mistake compounded by Vettel pulling unforeseen performance from his tyres in the five laps that followed Raikkonen’s stop.

Here it looks like Raikkonen may have been employed doing a job to disrupt the field and help minimise the damage to Vettel’s championship lead, rather than bag a podium for himself.

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BEHIND THE SCENES F1: SPOTLIGHT ON LANCE STROLL AS WEEKEND TURNS FROM TENSION TO RELIEF

This season has seen two of the three rookies in the F1 field struggling compared to their team mates with Lance Stroll and Stoffel Vandoorne matching up badly against Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso respectively.

Of the rookies only Esteban Ocon is standing out, keeping pace with Sergio Perez at Force India, as he showed graphically in Canada. Ocon did have eight races last season as a warm up, however and Vandoorne one.

The conclusion is that these 2017 F1 cars are far more difficult to drive, the Pirelli tyres are ‘peaky’ meaning that experience is critical in finding how to bring them in and maintain them in the optimum window and generally it is tough for a rookie to get the maximum from the car.

The Canadian Grand Prix offered a shot at redemption for Lance Stroll, the 18 year old from Montreal who was seeking his first points of the season, despite driving the fourth best car in the field, the Williams-Mercedes.

Stroll duly scored his first points of the season in his home town race, in ninth place, after a disappointing qualifying session. He made some fine overtaking moves and this result will help to calm things down – internally and externally – ahead of a trio of upcoming races where the Williams should expect to be very fast and where Stroll knows two of the tracks intimately.

We thought it would be interesting to look at his Montreal weekend in detail and see how things unfolded, looking for some conclusions about Stroll and where he fits in to F1.

Pre-Grand Prix weekend

The week building up to the race in Montreal was busy, Stroll did seven events including a private visit to a children’s hospital to help with fundraising, two sponsor events with Rexona, a Williams partner and a karting filming day with SKY TV’s Johnny Herbert.

The final outing was an event in Montreal’s downtown that was disrupted by a naked woman with a flare canister, protesting about F1 encouraging prostitution when it comes to town.

After that the F1 paddock must have seemed a relatively calm place on Thursday..

Thursday – Media Day

Stroll appears in the FIA Drivers Press conference and acquits himself pretty well. He sits in the centre seat of the three, conveying some importance to the speaker and he talks about how he used to come to the race as a small boy a decade ago when Alonso, Schumacher and then Hamilton were leading the way. He would watch from the grandstands and reflect on one day having a chance to race these cars.

He said expectations were high that he could score his first points in F1. This has been a strong track for Williams recently – back to back podiums the last two seasons and there has been a Williams on the front two rows of the grid in three of the last four years.

Drawn onto the inevitable question about the criticism he has faced for being a billionaire’s son, who’s not performing, he talks about how there will always be ‘haters’ but that he can only influence the things under his control and he will try his best again this weekend.

He comes across as a nice lad, clearly very young compared to the hardened pros around him, but an open and approachable person, willing to talk and certainly not worn down by the criticism.

Friday- Free Practice

It was clear from the start that the Williams was a competitive car this weekend, with a small margin on performance compared to Force India. A top ten starting grid slot was definitely there for the taking for Stroll.

Although he is a local boy, Stroll has never raced at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit before and so Friday practice was all about getting familiar with the layout and dialling the car into the tyres.

Stroll covered 36 laps in FP1, with a best of 1m 16.3 coming half way through a long run of 15 laps. In FP2 he did not follow the same pattern as the others, with a qualifying simulation half way through; instead he focussed on more long runs and familiarisation. He has had a few accidents this season already, pushing the car too much and so the brief from the team was clearly to keep it clean on Friday and not suffer any kind of incident that would set back confidence on the first day.

This was particularly important as the track was especially dirty and therefore slippery on Friday this year, with many cars spinning.

The strategy was to give him two new sets of tyres for the FP3 session on Saturday morning (rather than the normal one) to give him two chances to get his eye in just before Qualifying. This has been done before and was considered the best way to prepare him for an important qualifying session.

Montreal is unique in that it combines the risk of the walls and barriers of Monaco, but at much higher speeds. So bravery and risk taking are high on the list of requirements, as is real precision in the way that you take the kerbs in the chicanes like Turn 4/5.

It was notable how the crowd in the large grandstand amphitheatre of Turns 2 and 3 responded to him as he drove out of the pits; a warm applause similar to that for Hamilton and Vettel, the two main crowd favourites.

Saturday-Qualifying Day

The headline in the local Journal de Montreal (above) says it all. Stroll qualified 17th, eight tenths off his team mate Massa in Q1 and blamed the team for a strategic error in leaving him out on the tyres, rather than pitting him for a new set.

Stroll was sent out on a set of ultrasoft tyres and circulated for 14 laps without pitting, doing a push lap followed by a recharge lap. Other peers, like Ocon, did just six laps,while Vandoorne pitted for new tyres.

Massa did a similar plan to Stroll, but only for 10 laps. He subsequently went on to Q3 and set the seventh fastest time, best of the rest behind the top three teams, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. There was a half second gap back to Hulkenberg in P10 and Stroll should really have been in that gap with the car he has.

“The team decided that I should stay out on the same tyres. They were finished and didn’t allow me to improve. It’s so tight in the midfield, it’s easy to slip down a few rows,” he said.

“Ideally we should have changed them..when the times of others were constantly improving. The situation wasn’t helped by Pascal Wehrlein going off and triggering yellow flags at the end of the session, which meant that none of the drivers under pressure could respond with a final effort.”

Massa followed a similar plan and managed to get the lap time, but he’s got 15 years experience. Was it a mistake on Williams’ part, should they have thrown a new set of tyres at the situation? It was taking drivers several laps to get the tyres to come in

Sunday – Race day

Starting 17th on the grid, Stroll spoke before the race of needing an alternate strategy, something to allow him to use the pace of the Williams. He took advantage of the chaos on the opening lap to move up to 13th place. He was up to 10th by Lap 14, battling with Hulkenberg, who had pitted for new tyres under the Virtual Safety Car.

He pitted on Lap 26 and rejoined in some traffic behind Palmer in 17th place. He passed him 12 laps later, then Grosjean on Lap 41 Vandoorne on Lap 44 and Alonso two laps later. This put him tenth, knowing that Kvyat ahead had to pit and also serve a time penalty, so the ninth place was in the bag.

On the slow down lap he said, “At last… some points. It’s taken a while. Thanks, guys!”

Conclusion

The mantra F1 is not a finishing school has been used a lot this season.

Things were certainly getting tense at Williams, with Stroll’s imposing father Lawrence clearly unhappy after another difficult qualifying session, but Sunday poured some balm on the situation.

Clearly this is one of the most difficult seasons for a rookie to come into F1, much harder than when Max Verstappen came in as a 17 year old, due to the complexity of the cars and the peakiness of the tyres.

Stroll is not Verstappen, a once in a generation talent, but he is a champion of F4 and F3, like Ocon and Leclerc, who is now developing his skills in F2 with the Prema Power team that Stroll raced for in F3 and that his father co-owns.

You only have one career and Stroll’s best interests would arguably have been served by doing this 2017 season in F2 with Prema, winning some races and doing the available F1 test days with a 2017 car as a preparation for F1. Even Lewis Hamilton did a season in GP2 prior to entering F1.

The FIA has worked to build the single seater pathway of F4, F3, F2 and F1 which is now in place and next season F3 will replace GP3 on the F1 support programme.

Perhaps this Stroll experience should act as a catalyst for the Federation to insist that young drivers must follow every step of that ladder, collecting credits on their licence, before entering F1. It would put more emphasis on development, which is important in all elite sports.

What Stroll has attempted to do is go straight from a soccer academy into the Champions League final.

He can’t undo that decision now. The next few races will feature tracks where he has raced before, like Austria, Silverstone and Hungary and Williams should be competitive at the first two of those.

He has Luca Baldisseri (above), Michael Schumacher’s former Ferrari race engineer, as his engineering mentor, who is employed by the family but who sits in on Williams engineering meetings, which is quite unusual.

He has the means to take a long view and Williams will have to accept that they are likely to finish sixth or seventh at best in the championship with only one car scoring regular points.

That’s hard to take for the technical team that has build the fourth fastest car, but sees Force India now on 71 points to their 22, Ocon on 27 points with six top ten finishes in seven starts to Stroll’s two points.

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INSIDE LINE: RED BULL AND RENAULT CRACKING UP AGAIN

The situation may not be quite as acrimonious as it was in 2015, but tensions continue to burble between Red Bull and Renault.

With Max Verstappen suffering Red Bull’s second mid-race engine failure of the season on Sunday, the team found themselves cost a potentially tremendous result due to a Renault power unit that four years into the V6-turbo era, is still neither particularly reliable nor competitive.

Certainly the situation has irked Verstappen, who complained after the race that the “whole season has been crap”, placing much of the blame on Renault for their lack of upgrades – yet while Christian Horner tried his best to walk-back much of the Dutchman’s remarks, the notion remains that team and supplier simply aren’t on the same page.

In a relationship that seems more dysfunctional than Bernie Ecclestone’s marriages, Renault and Red Bull have continued to go back-and-forth in the press with conflicting expectations over engine development. Much was made from the Red Bull side of a “big step” in engine performance coming first in time for Montreal, then Baku.

But now according to Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul will not happen until 2018. At the same time, Abiteboul has been more than happy to make his own proclamations, first about his engine allowing Red Bull to compete for a title this year, and more recently about improvements in reliability, neither of which has transpired.

As such neither side seems particularly satisfied with the other, but unlike the last time in 2015 when tensions boiled over, a new wrinkle has been added to the mix – Renault’s works team, making them both allies and rivals.

By the time Renault truly gets its act together, Red Bull could find itself in a position similar to McLaren’s in 2014 – their supplier with a chassis as capable as their engine, relegating them to customer status and shopping for another works deal.

Of course they don’t have to leave (and might not have any other options), but assuming both sides stay on their present trajectories, you would have to assume Red Bull would at least try to make something else happen – and unlike in 2015, Renault don’t really need them to stay.

Any way you cut it, the Red Bull-Renault relationship is strange and getting stranger. Cracks have been there for years – some patched over, some still growing. Engine failures like Sunday’s definitely don’t help the matter, nor does the confusion and back-and-forth in the press. Thirteen races are left in 2017, maybe things will get better, or maybe this is a soap opera waiting to happen.

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HONDA: WE CONTINUE TO WORK AS ONE TEAM WITH MCLAREN

Amid reports that a split between McLaren and Honda is a done deal, the Japanese manufacturer are not commenting on what they term speculation and insist they are committed to overcome the problems together with the Woking based outfit.

When approached for comment by GP247, with regards to a split, a Honda spokesman said, “We do not comment on media speculation. We continue to work as one team with McLaren to overcome this tough situation together.”

He explained the problems, “One of the issues we are facing is with reliability. We have faced more reliability issues this season than we would have hoped, but we have reached the cause of all these issues and have countermeasures in place.”

“It is our intention to banish these on-going reliability issues completely as soon as possible so we focus on improving our performance.”

As for a solution to the woes, that most recently caused Fernando Alonso to retire while looking good for a top ten finish, the spokesman said, “We will not comment on any specific solutions.”

“We are continuing our development with the team and we believe we will conquer this situation. We have many resources dedicated to this, and we are 100% commitment to our Formula 1 project.”

Whatever the case there is no denying that patience has run thin among McLaren fans, sponsors and staff. Three years of no podiums and a woeful run this year, that has yet to yield a point, has done the image of Honda no favours.

“We appreciate all of the support the fans have been giving us, especially during this challenging situation,” acknowledged the team spokesman.

McLaren chiefs Zak Brown and Eric Boullier ramped up their criticism of their engine supplier before and after the race in Montreal, suggesting that a ‘divorce’ may well be in process.

But apparently, behind-the-scenes, the situation may not be as dire as it seems, the spokesman revealed, “We have good daily communication with McLaren, and we are committed to overcoming these problems together as one team, therefore we do not feel it is necessary to send them a message through the media.”

Meanwhile in the aftermath of reports that a split between the two organisations has been agreed (ours here>>>) , with McLaren set to become a Mercedes engine customer in 2018, F1 veteran Mike Gascoyne is also convinced that the deal is done.

Gascoyne told Sky Sport, “The rhetoric has changed in the last race or two, very, very much both pre-race and post-race. Quite critical rhetoric for the last couple of races. It just sounds like a decision has been made and they are just fencing around about how to tell it to everyone. There has been a very big shift there, and Honda are getting worse if you look at it.”

In the current turbo hybrid era changing engines is not merely a bolt on job, but Gascoyne does not believe it will hinder McLaren’s shift to Mercedes power provided engineers at the factory have already got the green light.

“I think for teams doing the car for next year, knowing you are going to do it is not a particularly big problem. That’s why they will want to know, they will be gearing up… they might not announce anything, but back in the factory they will want to know.”

“They will want to be working on it now,” added Gascoyne who worked for Jordan, Benetton, Renault, Toyota, Spyker, Force India and Caterham during his tenure in the sport.

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PIRELLI: VETTEL DIDN’T BENEFIT FROM DEVELOPMENT TESTING

Amid suggestions that Ferrari  benefited more than their rivals from Pirelli testing last year, Pirelli chief Paul Hembery chief has denied this is the case.

It is well known that Ferrari did the bulk of testing last year to help develop the 2017 wider tyres, with Sebastian Vettel particularly enthusiastic to help out.

He covered over 2,000 km for Pirelli during testing of this year’s tyres, while Mercedes racked up a mere 250 km. The Silver Arrows drivers – Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg – were reluctant to give their time to tyre testing, while Vettel seized the chance whenever he could.

However, Hembery does not believe that as a result of this Ferrari now enjoy an advantage, he told the official F1 website, “Yes, Sebastian did a lot of testing. It was very intense and he gave us a lot of feedback. We thank him for that. That is what we wanted: the top drivers giving us good feedback.”

“But because he didn’t really know what he was testing – he was blind-testing – it might have helped him psychologically, but I doubt it helped practically.”

Vettel leads the championship after seven rounds and Ferrari appear to be able to get their tyres into a optimal working window more efficiently than their rivals, specifically Mercedes who have struggled on this front.

Hembery explained, “Actually Mercedes’ issue is linked a bit to certain circuits: in Barcelona they were fine – and in Silverstone and Spa they will be as well. It’s the lower-grip circuits where they’ve had a few more problems, but I am sure they will resolve any issues as we go through the season.”

Whatever the case everything clicked for Mercedes in Montreal, at the low grip Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, as they claimed their first one-two of the season and now it remains to be seen if they have solved the problem that afflicted their drivers in the early races of the season.