Hamilton: It's like being on ice!

Lewis Hamilton was left frustrated with both the performances of his McLaren and the Montreal track following second free practice on Friday afternoon. The 2008 Champion, who has taken the last two pole positions in Canada, finished the day seventh quickest.

With McLaren expected to be on top this weekend, not least due to their top speed-assisting f-duct systems, Jenson Button and Hamilton finished first and fourth in the morning although the that translated to only seventh and 11th in the afternoon.

"I'm not happy with how this afternoon went," a frank Hamilton explained to reporters in the cramped paddock.

"I think today, in general, the track has just been incredibly difficult to drive; it's very difficult to switch the tyres on and to get heat into them - it's like being on an ice rink out there, it's so slippery!

"It's a huge difference to how it was when I was here before; we had great grip and the track got better and better but today we were struggling, for sure."

Lewis also casted doubts over McLaren's straight-line performances. "We're not pulling away down the straights - we have quite a lot of bottoming," he admitted. "It's a bit of an unknown because we tried a few things and the car was just as bad, if not worse…on the Option (Super Soft compound) tyre it's unbelievable."

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-...-being-on-ice/

No comment. :evil_laug

They will have to work hard overnight in McLaren that is for sure. The thing is the tiniest of setup changes can make it night or day.

Going to be interesting to see the qualifier and see if they have gotten a grip of the problem.

cry

Looking okay after the last practice though. Maybe McLaren got a hold of their troubles or the track has dried up a bit more.

Speaking of driving nice cars. I drove a fully race prepped BMW M3 E46 today on a race track. The car has 340+ hp, race compound tires and a GT wing for additional downforce. Obviously it was totally stripped of everything except race chairs, steering wheel and pedals. It does 0-60 in just a bit over 4 seconds. It was a BEAST! My RX-8 felt soooo weak when I was driving home afterwards. Oh and the M3 cornered like a beast too. It beat the shit out of the RX-8 in acceleration, brakes and most of all in the twisties. With the race suspension and low weight in the M3 my stock RX-8 feels like a slugish slug in comparison.

Oh and it was also very easy to drive. After just 3 sessions (1 session was 20 minutes) I felt totally comfortable in the car and dared to attack the corners to almost 80%. I don't drive someone elses car on 100%. So big props on BMW for making a well balanced and easy to drive car!

Oh and I managed to set a faster lap time than the owner of the car ;)
That was like icing on the cake.

Looking forward to a good qualifier to relax to now and a good race tomorrow to watch.

the e46 m3 makes up for a good race car. You should strip your car as well, place the right seats in it and have fun again. I have a friend wth an m3 csl and we keep doing similar laptimes, even when swapping cars. Since the m3 is less of a momentum car is also easier to drive fast around a course, you don't have to enter the turns as fast with the available power. Definitely a great car!

Yeah, I suspect as much. When my friend had his E46 stock he and I were driving very similarly. I am a bit faster driver than him and thus I could use momentum against his power. But since he modified his car so heavily he is 4-6 seconds faster per lap on a track where I lap in around 1:13. I also have race tires on the track but the rest is stock, otherwise it would be 10-12 seconds difference.

He however has another car and can afford to make the M3 into a race car. Me, I only have my RX-8 and I love it for being such a great compromise. Room for 4 people, good storage and fun on twisty roads and on the tracks. Simply a lovely car.

You just reminded me what my car once felt like :)

Just me that's daft enough to have my daily driver on rose-jointed wishbones and race/rally spec suspension then? :lol:

Don't worry, you're not alone.

Anyway Ecclestone proved again to be an idiot. He wants to charge the teams for the weather forecasts and the gps during the race.
They invent a lot of crap to cut on costs and then..

What a qualifying!
Hamilton did really drive like a beast, props to vitantonio liuzzi as well.

Oh...
Happy 2000th post to me!

We don't get to see the qualifying for another 2 1/2 hrs. NASCAR takes precedence.

is the quilfy on speed channel recorde event? or is it live

I loved seeing Hamilton coast on the car since he had to turn off the engine to leave some fuel in it. He was just sitting there waving and patting his car. And then once it had stopped he went off and started pushing it back. I love the view of, I'm not leaving my car behind :)

One thing though is that Hamilton took the option tires, where as I think both Red Bulls qualified on the hard tires. I might be wrong on that account though. What Hamilton needs to do now is to put down insane laptimes from the start to build a lead because he has approximately 10 laps before the graining kills his grip entirely due to the harsh Montreal track.

If he gets stuck in slow traffic after the pit stop he will not win and the Bulls will take it. If he manages to keep speed after the pit stop it can be insanely exciting. I am SO looking forward to the race tomorrow.

Do note that McLaren decided to go with hard tires for Button and soft for Hamilton. Button can maintain his hard tires well and gain a good advantage in the race that way. Hamilton is more aggressive and can put down insane lap times and therefore gets to start the race with an insane sprint. They took both strategies in hope that one of their drivers will take the 1st place tomorrow, and they don't know which. It is a nice safe gamble and it will be really exciting to watch!

Oh and happy 2000 Bse!

Recorded, I is aired at 3:30 Central.

Happy Attachment 258864

grats man :ylsuper:

hellll yaaaaaaahhhhhhhh
hamilton has taken pole.

Only thong I am worried about is Hamilton being on soft tires

The problems is when they start to go off, he will be back in traffic and loosing time. When we were in the age of refueling, this was the way to go.

Okay, after reading a bit more it seems Button put his time on the soft tires too and just did not manage to squeeze out as much speed as Hamilton.

So my analysis that McLaren ran with double strategies was wrong.

I also read that Button said the prime tire is faster than the option here.
The prime is the quicker tyre, but they're going to have to change to the option [soft tyre] at some point during the race. And if they get stuck behind Lewis in the early laps, then I'm sure they're going to get frustrated.

http://en.espnf1.com/canada/motorsport/story/20166.html

I must admit I don't follow McLaren's strategy by starting slow, but they are the experts. Not me.

Well done Hamilton and Mclaren and Button!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep McLaren are the experts, not me. They knew what they were doing.

Hamilton showed maturity in his driving and showed that he CAN maintain his tires too. As a matter of fact both Button and Hamilton did excellent in the tire department leaving Alonso behind in the end of the race even though they had identical strategies. That could of course be the difference in car too.

Massa had a bad day and did some really strange driving today. It could all be race incidents, but lets admit that he was involved in a lot today.

But the top 3 drivers did an excellent drive, challenging the Bulls and beating them. Great Race!

lol omgggggggggg
i LOVEEE this pic
http://images.planetf1.com/10/06/800...um_2465129.jpg

Hamilton: Here, have some :D
Button : Hehehehehahahaha
Alonso: well zat leaast i'm a thurd

Hamilton really passed Alonso in a tough way, I liked watching that lap!