As the effects of the microbial attack allegedly blamed on the inhabitants of Bird Island have begun to wear off after causing much affliction of the throat region, makes it convenient that this is written down not vocalised as it would have sounded awful. The later session times due to the time zone differences between Canada and the corner of blog HQ, is a lot more comfortable for us viewers in the UK, well if it hadn't coincided with some event elsewhere. But it does have the impact of making the reports a little later especially if we ended up with the four hour epic we had last season. Luckily the powers that be have scheduled the Le Mans 24hr race on a different weekend to the Canadian GP, making life here a little easier. On top of that the junior show isn't this weekend either so I'm not writing this at 2am as I was last year
As the world has it's focus on a bunch of folk kicking an edgeless safety cube around a field over in Eastern Europe but here in Blog HQ the attention is directed in the other direction across the Atlantic ocean in Montreal. Where the qualifying session for the Canadian GP has just come to it's conclusion so I turned straight to this corner of the internet to commence the writing process, although by the time this is actually released the session will have been over for a longer time. A while has already elapsed so time to move on with things.
Qualifying
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| Image credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk |
So swiftly on to the opening of Q1, which saw several drivers taking to the track at the beginning of the session - all looking to get a time set down before a perceivable likely red flag, like we had in Monaco last time. Given the proximity of the walls here and the fact that the barriers have already been visited this weekend including the first victim of the wall of champions in Friday practice as Bruno Senna lost it in the final chicane. Back with qualifying and it was Rosberg who was first to take to the track ahead of a flurry activity - Nico having lost all the practice time with a detached fuel connector in the morning session.
Inevitably it was the Mercedes that set the fastest time, while a little further behind Kamui was taking an alternative route through turns one and two, redecorating the pit lane exit with turf and mud, a route which saw Vergne hit the wall in FP3. Rosbergs time at the top was usurped by Hamilton who has been quick in the McLaren in the first practice sessions on Friday. Massa was reinventing turn one by missing most of it out cutting across the tarmac run-off space, one of the few parts of the track which is not guarded by an ominous wall. It was time for another lead change this time it was passed to Fernando Alonso in a much improved Ferrari this weekend now in possession of genuine pace to attack for pole.
Fernando's time held for a while, resisting challenges from Hamilton who slotted into second, that was until a surprising charge from Force India's Nico Hulkenberg who put the car at the top of the timesheets. Another pole favourite, Vettel was still in the garage and hadn't set a time by this point, however the German bloke probably wasn't too bothered as everything was well under control in the Red Bull garage. A little closer to the edge of control was One-Stop Perez using absolutely all of the road in the final chicane, placing a tyre mark on the wall of champions, as close as you want to get in that corner without losing wheels. All change at the front when Schumacher took the lead, before Vettel came out and claimed the lead for himself, while down in the relegation zone the newer teams had Vergne once more for company - and that was how the session was to finish.
Next up we moved on to Q2, which proved to be exceedingly close - as if Mr Kipling had made it himself, the top 13cars were separated by 0.7s but for the purposes of this narrative it might be an idea to start proceedings at the beginning. Also as it is half time between Germany and Portugal the comprehensibility of the next couple of paragraphs might improve, only slightly since the team allocation for the in house Blog HQ who-gets-the-chocolate-bar at the end of the tournament competition, and it can be assumed the blog has no hope... However I digress once more and back to the session, Ricciardo in the remaining Torro Rosso who was the first to take to the track to set a benchmark time of 1:15.9 a time which was quickly beaten by the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. The lead changed quickly into the hands of Jenson Button before both of the Red Bull drivers locked out the provisional front row.
In the fight for the final places in the top ten the action was frantic, with every car that crossed the line the timesheet tumbled and rearranged itself shaving thousandths off the benchmark time to avoid relegation. The battle centred around the Sauber pairing, and the Lotus cars, with Teh Massa, Button, and Force India involved as well. The gap between the cars was minuscule, for example Felipe running 12th found a tenth of a second and gained four places in the process, dumping the Saubers out into relegation and placing Jenson one the edge of the knockout zone.
As the session drew closer to its conclusion Alonso took the overall lead while Grosjean and Di Resta managed to move into the top ten at the expense of Raikkonen and Hulkenberg. Everything seemed all set and done, and for the most part it was, except for one final moment, as Maldonado tried to pull himself out of relegation, but carried too much speed into final chicane and that generally only ends one way... Introducing the wall of champions once more, the Williams brushed the wall bending the rear suspension. Pastor managed to avoid a second more destructive impact with a swift spin in the other direction, but he was relegated with a damaged car, the second Williams to hit the wall over the course of the weekend.
This lead us to the final session, with the ten remaining contenders featuring the top five teams with the exception of Raikkonen's spot being occupied by Paul Di Resta's Force India. It was that very car that caused initial concern here in Blog HQ as the theoretical penalty point marker of doom wavered over his name, as the Scot performed a couple of sector times before returning to the pits. A sign traditionally that a driver doesn't intend to complete a flying lap in the session. Once more it was Nico Rosberg who wanted to set the initial time at the start of the final phase of qualifying, what was more interesting is that Massa was the next driver to assume the top position when Alonso had failed to beat the Mercedes.
In contrast to other qualifying events this season the lap time seemed to be coming on the second or third lap on the tyres once they have reached a degree of thermal equilibrium - a state which can negate the difference between the two compounds. But in this final session all the cars were running the softer compound just to make sure they had the greatest chance of taking the pole position, and that place moved into Hamilton's hands after he found a quarter of a tenth over Felipe. Lewis celebrations, if there were any, were to be short lived as his time was to be obliterated by almost half a second, the same margin that separated the entire top ten in Q2. So who was the latest victor, and conveniently as Germany have just scored against Portugal it was indeed that German bloke who was now sitting provisionally on pole.
Time for the second runs to see if Vettel could hold onto first place, Sebastien managed to extend his lead by another two tenths with his second lap to put the victory out of reach, Hamilton tried to beat the German bloke but only managed second place. Despite earlier doubts Di Resta came back out to complete a timed run, finishing in 8th ahead of Oh Sch....umacher and Button who was sitting in pit lane. The pole seemed settled but purple sectors started to show on the timing screen belonging to Fernando Alonso's Ferrari but the challenge failed in the final sector dropping down into third position. Webber and Rosberg lined up fourth and fifth ahead of Massa and Grosjean. Di Resta held position ahead of Oh Sch...umacher and Button rounded out the top ten
The bonus points championship points winners
From an unusually well mannered qualifying session in Canada without a predicted red flag which has affected two of the practice sessions but that meant the times were so much closer without an interruption to break up proceedings. So here are the points winners from today's qualifying session.
10pts - Red Bull - After a week of protests against holes in the floor and and then having further issues in their front axles the team still produce a car that can achieve a comfortable pole
8pts - Nico Rosberg - For being at the front of every session at some point despite not having any running in final practice.
6pts - Paul Di Resta - For being the only driver outside the top five teams to make it into Q3
5pts - One-Stop Perez - For putting rubber on the wall of champions
4pts - Pedro De La Rosa - For beating both of the Marussias in the generally accepted slowest car on the grid
3pts - Caterham - For getting both cars ahead of Vergne, would have been more points if Vergne's time wasn't so off the pace
2pts - Ferrari - For finally making their car competitive and able to challenge in the hands of both drivers
1pt - Bird Island - It may have been several days ago but it has to get a bonus point
The penalties championship
Only one pseudo penalty was handed out today to Raikkonen and that was in the form of a 2,500 euro fine for his very late pit entry at the end of FP3, where Kimi over-ran the chicane and then decided to give up and cut across the corner to enter the lane. There may have been other fines this season but no-one seems to have told me about them, not being in the loop and all ah Blog HQ is a very secluded place.
The penalty points championship
Considering everyone was so oddly well behaved throughout the session it seemed like we were going to get away without the waving the angry finger of penalty points at anyone. But we were not so lucky, as the attention turned to the people running the SKY broadcast who we all widely accept to be inferior to the BBC - although the Croft and Davidson practice coverage is a loss to BBC, but can't have everything. There was almost a penalty point for Jacques Villeneuve the guest pundit this weekend, for complaining about most things, but because the crazy bald Canadian had a point the points fell elsewhere. Directed to Johnny Herbert who dismissed the Sauber performance as poor and disappointing, when they only missed the top ten by 0.008s. In any book that is rather close and only half a second off fastest, not poor Mr Herbert.
Looking to Tomorrow
As it has been recalled over the postings for this weekend, last season's Canadian GP was a fantastic race in changing conditions with monsoons, safety cars, crashes, and Jenson coming from the back of the grid to win the race on the final lap. This time around the weather looks a lot more stable and drier but that doesn't mean the race is scheduled to be any less entertaining. Ror example in 2007 in the era of cars where passing was close to impossible, we had four safety cars including a monumental accident for Robert Kubica and an epic pass by the legend that is Takuma Sato on Fernando Alonso. That was a moment that had the blog been in existence all those years ago that would have received full bonus points.
So tomorrow's race is an brilliant event in prospect, one where anything can happen and there are at least ten cars that could cross the line first, in 70 laps of what can be assumed to be a race of attrition. Those walls will probably claim a couple of cars over the course of the race, and cause the introduction of the safety car in the process, which is almost guaranteed to make an appearance. Trying to predict a winner from the possible madness that could unfold would be rather difficult but this is a track that has been unsuccessful for Red Bull and strong for Hamilton. But behind them Ferrari are quick this time and depending on how crazy things can get, other drivers further back could strike. Winning from the back a la Button last time because there won't be the rain and the changeable conditions, but the implausible is certainly a possibility, so until then this is farewell from me here at Blog HQ.
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