FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2011
The Track
Race Date: 12 Jun 2011
Circuit Name: Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
Number of Laps: 70
Circuit Length: 4.361 km
Race Distance: 305.270 km
Lap Record: 1:13.622 - R Barrichello (2004)
Full Throttle: 57%
Brake Wear: High
Tyre Compounds: Super Soft / Medium
Downforce Level: Low 3/10
Tyre Usage: High
Average Speed: 201kph (125mph)
History
The early Canadian Grand Prix was one of the premier events of the new Canadian Sports Car Championship, a series which had been created alongside the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport in 1961. Several international sports car as well as Formula One drivers participated in the event. For the first five years, the event would be won by drivers with either prior Formula One experience, or would enter the championship after winning the Canadian Grand Prix. In 1966 the Canadian-American Challenge Cup ran the event, with American Mark Donohue winning. Formula One took over the following year, although the CSCC and Can-Am series continued to compete at Mosport in their own events.
The first winner in Montreal was Quebec native Gilles Villeneuve who died in 1982 on the final qualifying lap for the Belgian Grand Prix. A few weeks after his death, the race course in Montreal was named Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after him. Gilles Villeneuve was one of the first inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, and the only Canadian winner at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
The 1982 Canadian Grand Prix, in the shadow of the death of Villeneuve a month earlier, saw another accident when Villeneuve's teammate Didier Pironi stalled on the grid. Raul Boesel struck the stationary vehicle, and Riccardo Paletti then struck the rear of Pironi's Ferrari. Pironi and F1 doctor Sid Watkins came to Paletti's aid to try to extract him from his car, which briefly caught fire. After a half hour, Paletti was extracted and flown to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
In 1987, the race was not held due to sponsorship dispute between two local breweries, Labatt and Molson. During the break the track was modified, and starting line moved to its current position.
Ferrari's Jean Alesi won the 1995 edition, which occurred on his 31st birthday and which would be the only win of his career. Alesi had inherited the lead when Michael Schumacher pitted with electrical problems and Damon Hill's hydraulics failed. the victory was a popular one for Alesi, particularly after several unrewarded drives the year before, namely in Italy. Alesi's win at Montreal was voted the most popular race victory of the season by many, as it was the number 27 Ferrari—once belonging to the famous Gilles Villeneuve at his much loved home Grand Prix. Schumacher gave Alesi a lift back to the pits after Alesi's car ran out of fuel just before the Pits Hairpin.
The 1997 Canadian Grand Prix was stopped early due to a crash involving Olivier Panis. He was sidelined for nine races and some see it as a turning point in the career of the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix winner.
In 1999, the final corner of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve became well-known for crashes involving former World Champions. Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve all crashed into the same wall which had the slogan Bienvenue au Québec (Welcome to Quebec in English) on it. The wall became ironically known as the "Wall of Champions". The wall also was involved in a crash with Ricardo Zonta, who was, at the time, the reigning FIA GT sports car champion. In recent years, GP2 Champion Nico Rosberg and CART Champion Juan Pablo Montoya have also fallen victim to the wall.
In 2001, there was the first sibling 1–2 finish in the history of Formula 1, as Ralf and Michael Schumacher topped the podium. The Schumacher brothers would finish 1–2 in the 2003 edition as well. 2001 was also noted for Jean Alesi achieving Prost's best finish of the season; he celebrated his fifth place by doing several donuts in his vehicle, and throwing his helmet into the crowd.
The 2007 race was the site of rookie Lewis Hamilton's first win. On lap 67, Takuma Sato overtook McLaren-Mercedes's Fernando Alonso, to cheers around the circuit, just after overtaking Ralf Schumacher and having overtaken Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen earlier in the race. The race saw Sato move from the middle of the grid to the back of the pack and to a high of fifth before a pit-stop error caused him to move back to eleventh. Sato fought up 5 places in the field in the last 15 laps to finish sixth. Sato was voted "Driver of the Day" on the ITV website over Lewis Hamilton's first win. The race also saw a horrific incident involving Robert Kubica (who went on to win the race the following season).
In the weeks leading up the Grand Prix, city officials trap as many groundhogs as they can in and around the race course, and transport the animals to nearby Ile Ste-Helene. Nonetheless, in 2007, a groundhog disrupted the practice session of Ralf Schumacher. On race day itself, Anthony Davidson had been running in third until he struck a groundhog, initially thought to be a beaver, which forced him to pit and repair the damage to his front wing. In 2008, a groundhog crossed the track at the hairpin in the 2nd practice session but luckily did not disrupt the session.
Recent developmentsOn October 7, 2008, the Canadian Grand Prix was dropped from the 2009 Formula One calendar, which left the Montreal race off the list for the first time since 1987. In the provisional 2009 schedule released in June 2008, the Canadian Grand Prix was to have been held on June 7, a date taken by the 2009 Turkish Grand Prix in the revised schedule.
Since the US Grand Prix was dropped after 2007, this means that in 2009 no Formula One race was held in North America for the first time since 1958. (The American Indianapolis 500 formed part of the FIA World Drivers' Championship from 1950 to 1960, but was not run to Formula One regulations and only very rarely entered by regular championship competitors.)
During the Australian Grand Prix, reports surfaced that the Canadian Grand Prix could return during the 2009 season in the event that the race circuit in Abu Dhabi was not ready in time. On April 26, 2009, Speed reported Bernie Ecclestone as saying the FIA was negotiating a return of the Canadian Grand Prix for the 2010 season, provided upgrades to the circuit are completed.
On August 29, 2009, the BBC reported the provisional schedule for the 2010 season, which had both the Canadian and British Grand Prix marked down as "provisional". The Canadian GP was scheduled for June 6. The 2010 Canadian Grand Prix was eventually run in Montreal on June 13, 2010.
On November 27, 2009, Quebec's officials and Canadian Grand Prix organizers announced they have reached a settlement with Formula One Administration and signed a new five-year contract spanning the 2010-2014 seasons. Under the five-year agreement, the governments will pay 15 million Canadian dollars a year to host the race, much less than the 35 million a year Ecclestone initially asked for.
The Technology
Tyres:Canada is one of the most complex tracks of the year to predict due to its wide variety of grip levels and inconsistent surfaces. This results in a high and sometimes uneven amount of tyre wear, putting the accent firmly on durability and strategy. Tyre wear is a critical factor at the Montreal circuit, traditionally making Canada one of the most entertaining races of the year. Since its inauguration in 1978, the track has undergone a number of changes, notably some resurfacing before last year’s grand prix and the addition of some new and higher kerbs in 2005: both of which influence the way that the tyres behave.
With the track hosting only two major races per season – Formula One and NASCAR – there is a marked evolution in terms of grip over the course of the weekend as more rubber gets laid down on the surface. On Friday, drivers will be given two additional sets of Pirelli’s new medium compound slicks to evaluate for the future during the two free practice sessions.
Aero:The minimal downforce nature of the circuit requires teams to optimise engine performance and reduce drag where possible to accelerate quickly out of the slow corners or chicanes, power down the straight and remain stable under braking to negotiate the next sequence of the lap. The availability and performance of DRS wings will be important for those teams still engaged in developing their cars. The entire lap is completed in less than 80 seconds and while the engine is only run at full throttle for around 60% of the lap, top end performance will be important, something that Cosworth engines should relish.
Engine/Drivetrain: The return of the Canadian Grand Prix has restored one of the sport’s best loved races to the Formula One calendar, but it also brings back one of the most technically demanding power circuits. The composition of long straights and slow corners demands an efficient low downforce car set-up with excellent stability under braking, coupled with good traction sustained through the corner and good engine torque when exiting. The lap is very stop-start and thus one of the toughest circuits on brakes and engines, requiring engineers to pay close attention to brake wear and engine telemetry throughout the 70 laps.
The Schedule
Thursday 09th June15:00: FIA press conference
Friday 10th June10:00 - 11:30 - First free practice
14:00 - 15:30 - Second free practice
16:00 - FIA press conference
Saturday 11th June10:00 - 11:00 - Third free practice
13:00 - 14:00 - Qualifying
14:00 - FIA post qualifying press conference
Sunday 12th June13:00 - 15:00 - Canadian GP
15:00 - FIA post race press conference
All times Montreal local.On the Internet
[url=http://formula1.com]Live Timing (Registration required)[/size][/url]
Montreal Weather Forecasts Circuit Gilles VilleneuveInformation sourced from here, there and everywhere. Enjoy!
Topic: FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2011 (Montreal) 10 - 12 June *SPOILERS* (Read 1381 times)
