Canadian Grand Prix – 2006

[Small_Fryz]

Depending on Trulli’s strategy, he’ll probably hold up a lot of people that could, otherwise, be moving forward.

Thats what Trulli does.

 

[Kylehnat]

Thats what Trulli does.

I saw that coming, yet it's no less funny.

 

[richie85]

Why are you singling out last year? There hasn't been a good championship battle since 1998. 2003 was okay, but we all knew Kimi wasn't going to do it.

Last year's final stages were interesting, as the McLaren was clearly the fastest car on the grid. It was obviously not even close to the excitement of 2000's championship battle, which was the last memorable one. Now Alonso is on pole with a one second margin, I think Schumi's big talk about Ferrari closing the gap in both Canada and the US is not gonna happen. It's a shame, but Alonso is gonna do it again this year, which is fine. It's the way in which it is done that really justifies F1's low-point in terms of popularity and excitement.

 

[miss_schu]

I think Schumi's big talk about Ferrari closing the gap in Canada in the US is not gonna happen.

Yes, it's not looking too good for Schumi at the moment, but I hope that all changes! I hope he manages to overtake JT when the lights go out!

 

[Andrew R]

I'm excited about this race, I'm going to have to go to bed....nowish so I can get up at 2:30am to watch this. Damn timezones.

 

[miss_schu]

I'm excited about this race, I'm going to have to go to bed....nowish so I can get up at 2:30am to watch this. Damn timezones.

I can't wait too! I have to get up at 5:00 am!

 

[Brett]

I am looking forward to the race here whenever it starts in the next couple of hours. I've always kinda liked the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. With its combination of long straights and slow corners, it makes for an interesting track. Hopefully Alonso won't run away with the race again and both Kimi and Schumi will be able to challenge Alonso.

 

[Kylehnat]

I can't wait too! I have to get up at 5:00 am!

You'll get no sympathy from us North America folk

 

[Solid Lifters]

OK, that was an interesting start.

Fisi, he moved but got his car stopped before the start. He shouldn't get a penalty for that, should he?

Fisi will be the "backbone" for Renault. He just signed a one year contract with Renault. Sounds like he's their lead driver.

I would have sworn they would have hunted after Kimi.

Well, looks like Fisi gets a penalty for his blown start. Great.

 

[Omnis]

Jacques is out, and Ralf spun under the Safety Car.

 

[jammyozzy]

Aww man, that was so unfortunate for Villeneuve.

Still, now everyone's bunched up again for the last 8 laps or so, maybe we could see some challenges for the lead.

 

[amp88]

I've got three questions about this race:

1. Why did M Schumacher qualify with close to one stop fuel and end up two stopping in the race (surely pitting on lap 32 of a 70 lap race he could have put in enough fuel to one stop had he wanted to).
2. Why did M Schumacher qualify with so much fuel on a circuit that's historically hard on brakes considering the amount of extra running this year (many more laps in new qualifying), and not one stop.
3. Why did R Schumacher continue running even though he was so far off the pace and clearly a hazard (just ask J Villeneuve).

A slightly more enjoyable race than the last few have been, IMO anyway. Good drives from Alonso, Raikkonen (excepting running wide at the hairpin and letting M Schumacher through), M Schumacher and D Coulthard.

edit:

Fisi, he moved but got his car stopped before the start. He shouldn't get a penalty for that, should he?

Yep, the cars aren't allowed to move during the lights sequence.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Finally! A decent finish for Renault at this track. Hey, just finishing it is great for them, since the last two years not a single Renault finished the race.

Great race. Very entertaining, for a change.

 

[zoxxy]

I hate Alonso for winning every time. It's all thanks to Briatore.

 

[Carl.]

Yep, thanks Ralf, there's just not enough chicanes on that circuit already... 👍

They really have to change rules for the car ordering behind the safety car... all cars on the leader's lap should be put in front. Alonso already had almost 4s on Raikkonen at the start line...

Passing straight through that green chicane seems like a pretty good way to shave a few tenths off a lap time, too.

In the end, that was still a better race than the last ones, impressive drives from Alonso, Trulli and Coulthard, after starting from the back

 

[Lee]

Nico Nico Nico... Weekend full of promise and controversy for him, suprised JPM didn't follow him into the wall.

Coulthard drove a good race, certainally deserved that point with a nice pass on Button. 👍

Well Alonso just furthers the point that he has won the championship with a record number of races left. Be interesting to see what he can do at McLaren next year, that's for sure.

 

[Sting]

I feel bad for Nico, the kids got a caboodle[/made up word] load of talent, its just the race never seems to go his way. Canada is one to forget and now to look forward to the next race.

 

[darkfinal]

I hate Alonso for winning every time. It's all thanks to Briatore.

2004. Schumacher. Ferrari. Jean Todt.

And everyone was like "OMG this guy is amazing" back then....


That doesn't exclude this has been hell of a boring race though, I'm really willing Alonso to have a few incidents within the next races, that'd make things go -finally- more interesting. I can't wait till next year, when Alonso will finally have car issues (GO McMerc xD), Raikkonnen will find his stability (either on Ferrari or Renault), with Hamilton pushing up as soon as they slow their paces on

 

[daan]

3. Why did R Schumacher continue running even though he was so far off the pace and clearly a hazard (just ask J Villeneuve).

I spent most of the race shouting at Ralf when he was on screen to just stop and get out of everyone's way. It was as if he waited until he took someone out before finally stopping!

But then I realised that even though he was going very slowly, he was still ahead of Sato....

 

[Lee]

Just a quick off-topic thought: With all the marbles left on the track today, especially on the hairpin. I'd hate to think what it's going to be like at Indy, especially on Turn 13, could we see another tyre drama there?

 

[Kylehnat]

I can't wait till next year, when Alonso will finally have car issues (GO McMerc xD)

McLaren will be better next year. McLaren is not a team that languishes for very long. Even this season, we've seen a marked improvement throughout the last few races. Too bad their pit crew seemed to be on drugs today.

Yep, the cars aren't allowed to move during the lights sequence.

I thought the lights were set at 4 seconds? They were definately held longer than usual today. Just Fisi's luck, too. A sure podium, lost a fraction of a second before the race even starts...

I hate Alonso for winning every time. It's all thanks to Briatore.

What does Flavio have to do with it? In any case, neither of them is to blame if the other teams don't bring it. This isn't Reubens letting Michael by in the last turn of a race; it's Alonso de-pantsing the rest of the field on a consistent basis.

Just a quick off-topic thought: With all the marbles left on the track today, especially on the hairpin. I'd hate to think what it's going to be like at Indy, especially on Turn 13, could we see another tyre drama there?

With the speed they carry through there, the rubber should just roll up the track, and not be in the way at all.

 

[amp88]

I thought the lights were set at 4 seconds? They were definately held longer than usual today. Just Fisi's luck, too. A sure podium, lost a fraction of a second before the race even starts...

The lights stay on for a pre-determined time between 2 and 7 seconds before going out. If it was 4 seconds every race people would take advantage of that and get perfect starts every time.

 

[Brett]

Well I had to leave just after the Safety Car pulled off with eight laps left. Seems like I missed Kimi getting passed sometime in there. I had seen Kimi come out of the pits ahead of Schumacher and that is really about all I saw at the end. I don't remember the sequencing though of which of these events came first. I just remember the SC pulling off and Alonso getting a huge jump on the field.

Overall, I was very disappointed in McLaren. Kimi was putting in a pretty good drive and the pit crew just absolutely killed his chances with the first stop. It didn't help that there was another problem in his second stop. 👎

 

[Kylehnat]

The lights stay on for a pre-determined time between 2 and 7 seconds before going out. If it was 4 seconds every race people would take advantage of that and get perfect starts every time.

Ah okay. The lights usually seem to be on for about the same amount of time each race, which is why today's light seemed unusual.

 

[Andrew R]

Overall, I was very disappointed in McLaren. Kimi was putting in a pretty good drive and the pit crew just absolutely killed his chances with the first stop. It didn't help that there was another problem in his second stop. 👎

It was Kimi's clutch, not just the pit crew. In the post-race conference, Kimi said he had the clutch all the way in but the wheel was still rolling, then in the second stop it didn't work at all.

It was a fairly good race, full of action. It was hard restraining myself from yelling at Ralph...I don't think mum would have appreciated the early wake-up and I wasn't too happy when Kimi went wide, allowing Schuey through but you could tell he was starting to slip.

Good race overall, congratulations to Alonso. He was untouchable, again.

 

[Elegy]

Another pretty decent Grand Prix, though I think Kimi deserved to win this one.

By the way, there was a hilarious moment before the start where Scott Speed was getting on his mechanics about his tire temperature (I think). Apparently, they kept running him 5 degrees colder than Liuzzi.

"I'm just sayin', if I check the temperature and find out you've got me 5 degrees colder than Vitantonio's car, heads are gonna roll!"

 

[Blake]

That was a good race. In pretty treacherous conditions, too. Alonso showed signs of being human on his bogey track – a few mistakes, and a speed that others could match. In the end, no-one else could put it together over the race distance and Alonso was gifted a race that perhaps was not already a given. He drove smart, and got the job done.

Michael Schumacher drove an erratic race on the way to second place. I think the damages ended up being: 1 wall touch, two or three trips across the grass, and four or five trips across the final chicane.

Räikkönen drove a somewhat reasonable race, with a damage bill which was almost as bad as that of Michael: 2 @#$%ed pit stops, one trip across the grass, and at least 2 trips into the marbles at the hairpin. His pace dropped off a lot after the first stint, and he was pretty much out of it at that point.

Coulthard drove another good race. From 22nd to 8th is a pretty good achievement in a car like that – especially when you consider that he also beat his team mate. I hope (and suspect) that Red Bull will sign him again for 2007 and beyond.

The Montoya/Rosberg incident was pretty bad, and although I can see how Rosberg can be placed at fault, I think Montoya was asking for an incident like that to happen.

When he tried it with Schumacher, Schumacher had to yeild for the sake of his championship fight. But it just as easily could have been the same thing – Montoya was almost too pushy trying to shove his nose in there. Too late, now.

I have to feel sorry for Villeneuve. He had been driving well all weekend, and he was just unfortunate to come across Ralf when he did. Would have been nice to see a Canadian in the points at their home grand Prix.

Ralf Schumacher –
I give Ralf Schumacher my patented 5 dunce’s award. What on earth were Toyota and Ralf doing!? They were not going to score any points with his car. His car was a danger to other drivers. He was making Yuji Ide look like a decent F1 driver. That was not cool.

 

[miss_schu]

You'll get no sympathy from us North America folk

Thats ok, I don't need you're sympathy!

I would like to give a couple shout outs! Firstly, thanks to Jarno Trulli for holding Michael Schumacher up, for as long as you did! I knew you could do it! Thanks to Giancarlo Fisichella for jumping the start! Thanks to Juan Pablo Montoya and Nico Rosberg for jocking for position! Thanks to Jacques Villeneuve for putting himself in to the wall and thanks to you too Ralf Schumacher, for your part in that! Thanks to that handsome safety car that got deployed! (Thanks Jacques!) This enabled Michael to close the gap on Fernando Alonso, even if he didn't come first! Thanks to the Mclaren pit crew! Thanks to Kimi Raikkonen for slipping up in the closing laps, if it wasn't for you, Michael would not have got 2nd place! Last time that happened, you handed Michael 1st place! But don't worry Kimi, Michael too was having trouble staying on line on some occasions! Thanks to Fernando Alonso for giving me something to laugh at, again, in park ferme! And finally, thanks to Martin Brundle for choosing Michael Schumacher as his driver of the day! So ye, thanks 👍

I did, although, enjoy the race! There is nothing like a Formula 1 Grand Prix to kick start your working week!

Am looking forward to Indy!! Bring it on!!

MS

 

[Randymcchickenf]

I knew i should have checked this thread earlier, i didnt know when it was showing on ITV... Is there anywhere i can watch the race online? Even just the highlights?

 

[Solid Lifters]

Another pretty decent Grand Prix, though I think Kimi deserved to win this one.

By the way, there was a hilarious moment before the start where Scott Speed was getting on his mechanics about his tire temperature (I think). Apparently, they kept running him 5 degrees colder than Liuzzi.

"I'm just sayin', if I check the temperature and find out you've got me 5 degrees colder than Vitantonio's car, heads are gonna roll!"

No, it wasn't tire temp; it was engine temp.