The season returns this weekend for it's only trip over to North America, setting up at the circuit which inspired the compound for this years tyres, designed to replicate what the weather beaten Canadian tarmac induces across the rest of the season. Which does open the question of how will these new tyres perform on the cheese grater surface in Montreal.
Amidst the higher degradation Canada does have the tendency to throw some extra madness into the mix, on a circuit tightly packed on an island on the St Lawrence Seaway space is not a attainable commodity. So the track is not too dissimilar to the 'street' track in Valencia which will be the next event. The walls surround the circuit and make safety car interventions just as likely as they were in Monaco - though I wouldn't be expecting a red flag this time, but I didn't expect one then either.
But then there is something else rather epic race going on this weekend - a race so epic it almost overshadows one of the greatest races on the F1 calender. A race which eats up my sleep for the weekend cutting out the need to visit my bed from Saturday morning until Sunday night - spending the night in between sitting on my chair watching the awesome Le Mans 24hrs. Or at least 18hrs of it as I do have some stage responsibilities which naturally takes priority, so as a result both the post race and qualifying entries may be delayed through fatigue and the aforementioned responsibilities.
Here is a little video of the Le Mans lap filmed in the Blogmobile - the time is rather slow because the filming lowered the FPS down to single figures so couldn't get the maximum out of the car and there was some traffic in Tetre Rouge. An off at Mulsanne corner and track inaccuracies means that any time isn't that comparable - the fastest AI car is 7s slower than the actual track although in different cars. But issues aside here is a lap of the Circuit de la Sarthe which will be pounded around for an entire 24hrs, the onboard shot shows the limited amount of visibility inside a closed cockpit LMP1 machine such as this years 908 or Kronos Racing entry.
The Track
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| Sourced from FIA.com |
Over recent years this leg, Canada has offered up some spectacular races filled with pit lane collisions, disintegrating tarmac, monumental accidents and of course the ominous threat of "The Wall Of Champions" lurking on the exit of the final chicane which has caught out so many drivers. And will likely strike again this weekend especially with the large concrete mounds that seem to be springing up in corners all over the world which will fire off anyone trying to cut some extra inches off the corner.
But instead of just rambling on about corners and walls, here is the now compulsory video, which is more effective in showing the layout of the circuit and showing how close the walls are. This week as with in Monaco I will be running an alternate Blogmobile to recognise the other big race of the weekend and a LMP1 Epsilon Euskadi car will be used instead so the times won't be comparable with the F1 grid. So I won't be making the 107% rule and will be beaten by Team Blue Peter.
Working at 15 seconds slower of where expect the cars to be running this weekend (the original Blogmobile produced a 1:22, so maybe making the bottom of the grid there) the LMP1 class machine isn't too designed for the more restricted confines of Montreal.
What to expect
Well I said it last time in Monaco and it turned out exactly right - madness did ensue with safety cars and red flags and this time is no different anything can and probably will happen in Canada. That level of unpredicability remains extremely high this weekend on a track which punishes tyres and brakes - whilst often falling apart and attracting carnage.
Form should be very similar to Monaco as the track favours the same properties in a car, focussing a lot on mechanical grip rather then aerodynamic although not to quite the same proportions as on the streets. So this should again make the gap between Red Bull and the chasing teams of McLaren and Ferrari who mounted a very strong challenge last time but were thwarted by the red flag. Vettel of course will be looking to continue the complete domination he has started this season only being beaten by poor tyres in China. Well on the way to taking major control over that regular championship thing which of course isn't as important as the official bonus points championship.
This is another event where mid-field runners will be hoping to benefit of the inevitable mayhem and with the help of some clever strategy score some decent 'real' points and perhaps some all important bonus points. The likes of Sauber and Force India used that plan to great effect in Monaco and given the higher chances for overtaking in Montreal some ambitious drivers could make the difference. It's a track where the pilot can overcome the peformance of the car - as it is more talent limited then car limited so there could well be some unusual names in the top 10. Teams like the Renault Squadron and Mercedes will need to look over their shoulders towards Willams, Sauber and Torro Rosso because it is going to be really close.
It will be intersting to see which teams count themselves safe on the harder tyres in Q1 when Lotus have been making significant gains and could threaten to knock out any overconfident contenders looking to save tyres. But on a track to do what is now being called a Webber - Montreal would be a good pick because passing is possible and madness is almost certain.
KERs and DRS
KERs will be very useful this weekend given the long back straight after L'Epingle hairpin and before the final chicane - a good exit can open up into a strong challenge for a position. But in addition to the main straight KERs could be used to effect an opportunistic pass into several of the corners on the lap including turns 1, 3, and 8 where with a good run and a degree of bravery and co-operation in equal dosage an overtake is possible. Everything will then be compounded by the unpredictable tyre condition and threat of safety cars which place all sorts of cars out of position so KERs opportunism could become a crucial weapon.
Now when we come to DRS things become rather interesting, for the first time this season there will be two separate DRS zones on the lap. The first of which will be on the long back straight starting on the exit of the hairpin - DRS will then be reactivated after the final chicane for use on the front straight. This new system only has a singe detection zone which counts for both active zones, giving the driver behind two chances at completing the pass.
What is not clear at this point is that if a pass is made at the chicane will the passed driver be allowed to activate it, or does the lead driver having gained a position get a free activation on the main straight. Adding an additional zone in immediate succession does create more permutations and complexity but could make things very interesting considering the length of the back straight and the proximity of the walls, after all we don't want to replicate Webber's accident at Valencia with less run off.
Canada is one of the most anticipated races of the year and is often filled with intrigue, mayhem and excitement. Combined with a later UK start time it makes it one of the great events of the year and paired with the outstanding Le Mans race Sunday is going to be brilliant. I won't be in the house for qualifying so the report on that will be a little delayed and will be written during the night under a veil of tiredness. I'll be typing away in the dark after catching up with the session on the iplayer after my final night of backstage duties. But however you watch this weekend one thing is for certain - it is going to be mega.
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