T.T.

Lewis getting pole at Montreal doesn't surprise me. He owns stop-and-go tracks. It suits his driving style perfectly. His first win was here, probably for that reason. He probably would have been faster if it wasn't for the dirty turn 10, which apparently affected the Ferraris more than everyone else.

Motomouse

iTrader: (1)

You forgot about Robert Kubica. The BMW is a **** car compare to Mclaren or ferrari(take a look the top speed of those cars) but he do inposible things with the car and he take a 2nd place

morkusyambo

I believe Lewis was the best driver on track for qualifying. That being said, there is no way he could have gotten a better lap yesterday. When he locked the rear tires on his pole lap, he was entering the corner as fast as possible. Any faster and he would have slid slightly off line, which would have put him in the marbles.

As for Ferrari, they are normally the fastest cars in a straight line. Why would they be so down on speed? Hmmm. Me thinks they set the cars up for rain tommorow.

morkusyambo

The BMW is not a "****" car compared to anyone. They had a radical redesign this year and are still trying to learn the car without compromising race results. Its too bad the rules are changing again this offseason, or we might have seen them competing every race for wins next year.

PS. We still may.

nu2rx8

I'm thinking that the other teams, incl Heikki's crew dialled in more downforce fearing tire wear. Remember they are using the Monaco compounds in Montreal. As fast as Lewis is here, it'll be interesting to see if he can manage the tires on a normal strategy, or if he'll have to do three stops.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2008/...c-to-be-fixed/

Montreal tarmac to be fixed
08 June 2008

Canadian Grand Prix officials have decided that the tarmac at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit needs resurfacing at certain places. Drivers expressed their concern about the poor state of the surface at the hairpin and with a 70-lap race on Sunday, chaos could be inevitable.

According to Canadian GP executive officer Francois Dumontier, the problems should be solved in time for the race. "This year we chose a new specialist to settle the issue, but obviously conditions related to the technological evolution of the race cars do create some problems", he said. "Aggressive adhesion of grooved tyres, removal of traction control systems and the actual physical configuration of the hairpin corner itself could all be probable causes for this situation."

"We will correct this problem as soon as the last car leaves the track today, and everything will be rectified for tomorrow's races."
...............................

This fix will probably with a quick set epoxy. I would expect that there will be a loss of grip where the repair takes place. The track will have to be resurfaced, at least in the affected areas, before next years race.

alfy28

any one know if speedchannel is going to air this today? only thing i see is MOtoGp at 100central. not sure if MotoGp stands for Motor Cycle Grand Prix or does it stand for F1. ususally it would say Formula 1 racing. btw this is my on screen cable guide.

rglbegl

Not speed channel
This one is on the FOX network

Channel 11 for use here, which I have in HD!!!!


BTW - Kubica is the man.

alfy28

ty rg, btw grats to bmw and kubica

T.T.

Wow, Lewis really messed this one up. Good job from BMW though.

MazdaJeff

Great race. I found it very entertaining. Goods stuff for BMW!

morkusyambo

I'm happy for BMW. They, along with Williams, seem to be class acts.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

There was more carnage than at Monaco where you would expect it.

Celronx

iTrader: (1)

Yep, it was a very strange race all around. It was a good race none the less.

IB Tim

Well...I'm not so happy

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/7443089.stm

Raikkonen bemoans Hamilton crash
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Ile Notre Dame, Montreal, 6-8 June

Kimi Raikkonen was left cursing his luck after a "stupid" pit-lane mistake by Lewis Hamilton ended his race at the Montreal Grand Prix.

The Briton ran into the back of the Ferrari driver as the Finn waited at a red light to rejoin the race.

Both drivers retired but Hamilton faces a further cost of being demoted 10 grid places at the French Grand Prix.

Raikkonen said: "I'm not angry but what Hamilton did was inexplicable. More, it was stupid."

Hamilton had no argument with the punishment by Formula One's governing body, the FIA, and McLaren confirmed they will not be appealing the decision.

The Englishman will head to Magny Cours on 22 June having lost his championship lead to BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica who recorded his first Grand Prix win during an eventful race in Canada.
And the incident meant Raikkonen has failed to score points in his last two Grands Prix after the Finn drove into the back of Adrian Sutil's Force India in Monaco two weeks ago.

Raikkonen added: "I'm not the right person to talk about a shunt, given what happened in the last race but it is one thing to collide on the track in the heat of the race and another in the pit lane when you are stopped at a red light."

The punishment capped a weekend turned sour for Hamilton, who had qualified in pole position and was seemingly on his way to back-to-back wins in Montreal.

The McLaren driver had built up a 6.8-second lead over Kubica before the safety car emerged on lap 17 following Sutil's crash.

When the pit lane reopened two laps later, Hamilton took on board enough fuel to see him through to the end of the race.

But in his hurry to get back out, and not lose sight of Raikkonen and Kubica who had both refuelled first, he ran into the back of Raikkonen.

Raikkonen and Kubica had been lined up side-by-side waiting for the pit lights to turn green, signalling that they could return to the track.

"I saw the two guys in front of me battling in the pit lane and all of a sudden they stopped," explained Hamilton, 23.

"I saw the red light but it was too late to stop. I don't think it's a racing incident. It's just unfortunate when this stuff happens.

"It is a lot different if you crash into the wall and you are angry with yourself.

"I apologise to Kimi if I ruined his race. I would rather neither of us be out. I was so quick I was breezing it.

"We'd looked so strong for the whole weekend though, so at least we can leave Montreal confident that we have a package that will enable us to fight for the world championship from here on in."
Kubica, meanwhile, was happy to emerge unscathed from the incident.

"We all pitted together," said the Pole. "I saw Kimi side by side with me.

"Then I just heard a big shunt and saw Kimi's moving and realised it was Lewis. He was over Kimi's rear wing.

"I just kept concentrating waited for the green light and managed to pull away well.

"I have to thank him that he shunts Kimi and not me."

McLaren team principal Ron Dennis defended Hamilton's error but was keen to put a dismal weekend behind him as the team aim to recapture the lead in the drivers' championship.

"No racing driver would deliberately put himself out of a Grand Prix, and the plain fact is that Lewis didn't realise that the cars in front of him were coming to a halt until too late," Dennis said.

"It's difficult for a driver to decide whether to focus on the lights or on the cars ahead in situations like that.

"For a team that exists to win, today was a very disappointing day. But the fact is that we had the pace and therefore the capability to win, which is of course encouraging."

alfy28

massa was just dominating the last 10 laps. superb driver he is.

IB Tim

Seems a bit weird that Hamy continues to try and mount former Champions.

morkusyambo

I like the comment from Kimi where he said he isn't the right person to talk about "shunts" considering what happened to Sutil at Monoco.

I think it shows some class considering no one would expect a driver to make a comment like that two weeks after an incident.

nu2rx8

A right ***** up by Lewis (and Nico), but imho no better or worse than Kimi's accident at Monaco.

The question for me remains why is it that the sport of C.F.D., 19k rev engines and carbon brakes does such a poor job at managing safety car periods? I can't think of a logical reason for stacking up multiple cars in the pit lane mid-race unless chaos and accidents is the goal. I also can't think of any series from BTCC to ALMS or from ARCA to NNCS that does a crappier job of controlling the field under caution than F1.

Oh and excellent job Kubica (but I was really pulling for Heidfeld more).

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

It's those 6 sec. pit stops. You don't have a chance to get the field by before the line behind the safety car gets by. Give them a 5 lug wheel and slow the fuel delivery rate (like the LeMans Series). That would slow them down.

BlueRenesis82

Well, I really don't see how Nico was at fault, if Hamilton didn't slow down until he jammed into Kimi, he wouldn't have seen the light either.

But I do agree that F1 does an awful job with some of the logistical things with the series, the safety car period and needing to refuel in particular.

RX26b

Anybody else catch excitable Bob Varsha exclaiming how these engines put out 900 hp? Next year he'll probably be claiming 950.

LionZoo

Kimi at least crashed while racing and driving on the edge. Losing it under braking is not a great way to go, but considering how unstable F1 cars are perhaps not as embarrassing as shunting in the pitlane. It's like the difference between crashing while driving hard and crashing in your driveway.

moRotorMotor

There is a couple things I am unsure of that maybe one of you guys would be able to clarify for me.

Did Kimi and Robert leapfrog Lewis in the pits? The broadcast switched to commercials while the race was still normal and right after the commercial, the video transmission was cut, so the only part I saw was Lewis sliding into the back of Kimi in the pit lane.

Secondly, I think it is just me, but I think the announcer (I was watching the ITV broadcast) said that Nick Heidfield was fueled for the rest of the race and he was in first place. A little later on, he seemed to have let Robert pass him at turn 1. Was this because Robert out qualified Nick or because Robert is higher in the Driver's Championship? I felt bad for Nick that he had to come in 2nd place. I truly thought, due to the circumstances, that Nick should have won the race.