It's that time again where blog HQ re-activates in time for another weekend of complaining teams, eternal tyre controversy and some rather misplaced DRS zones - all sense and logic seems to be crumbling around us. But before we get onto the inevitable pre-race topics that have been plaguing the sport and the internet over everything that was revealed during the Monaco weekend - which in iself has come in for a massive amount hate during the interval; there is one order of business. In 2011, we had a similar sligtly mental race on the streets - and at that time I challenged Canada to beat that event, the result was potentially the greatest Canadian GP of all time. So therefore I officially challenge Montreal to put on a better spectacle than our latest race, and hopefully this time the internet will not be so angry about the event - even David Coulthard put the boot in against the Monaco GP. DC cited once more the excessive tyre saving and the only drivers willing to do anything were those with nothing to lose - if the internet had it's way Perez would have been beaten up and fired for his 'overtaking'. Here he just got a penalty point, but several bonus points for being entertaining. These very turbulent times, even the Monaco GP hadn't put it right, people are angry, some more than others, and I can't see any solution that will keep people happy.
At the centre of all the anger and current controversy is tyres, and what Mercedes have been up to. The rules as they stand say that testing is not allowed during the season, for cost cutting reasons - but there is a clause where Pirelli can conduct a 1000km test session for tyre development and research. That clause is only legal if the teams involved in a Pirelli test use a car which is over two years old and using a non-race driver. Something Ferrari did early in the year after Bahrain which has been deemed legal - but Mercedes used the current car and drivers which is why they've been called to an official FIA tribunal. What the outcome of that could be, it is anyone's guess it could be a fine as per the spygate enquiry with McLaren, or exclusion from the constructors title, the thing is in this case is that is is a team problem - not a single person is responsible for the case. So unlike the crashgate issue at Renault where Briatore was banned - the team as an entity are at fault... allegedly.
But time to leave the murky world of off-track politics and problems there is actually a race this weekend, and a rather good one..
The Track
In this era of large modern and often artificial circuits taking over the calendar it is nice to come to somewhere which is raw, un-molested and brilliant - Montreal is such a good lap and has been the host to some spectacular races. It has all the important characteristics and none of the disadvantages, well that was before the FIA turned up and decided that DRS zones should be in another stupid place, but that might not matter if the potential rains arrive over the weekend. And we all know how much fun things can get at a rain affected Canadian GP. There is one small problem, a small grey haired problem called Bernie sticking his nose in again - complaining about facilities and space... on an island. Good old Bernie want't the circuit to undertake £10 million updates, or potentially threaten exclusion from the calendar - which would earn him some penalty points.
The layout is mostly made out of chicanes which often polarises audiences and supporters - but at Montreal they work really well - especially the turn 3-4 sequence, something that other circuits can learn at lot from. For example the monstrosity that has insulted the grandeur of Spa where the bus-stop used to be would immensely improved by being replaced by this series of corners. I think that what makes this circuit more enticing is the presence of those traditional North American concrete walls. Making the circuit so much more challenging with very limited room for error while still allowing overtaking and duelling between the barriers.
At the end of three consecutive chicanes there is one of the only three corners on the track which isn't a chicane - the hairpin (one extreme to another) the scene of many former overtaking maneouvres - including the one where Kubica overtook his own wheels in that infamous accident. But with the positioning of DRS, this corner may be considerably underused - because passing anyone here makes the attacker vulnerable to being re-passed on the straight under the irrepressible power of DRS. Made all the more worse by having two consecutive DRS zones with a single activation point, I don't know which committee decided that - but they should probably all be thrown out into the river.
Concluding the lap is the most famous part of the track - it isn't the challenging final chicane, or the long concrete lined straight by the river - but a tiny stretch of tyre wall at the very top of the front straight. This being the 'wall of champions' the wall that has taken several victims many of them being race winners and world champions - every year at some point someone ends up in that very barrier. It used to be due to the powerful and challenging nature of the cars, but now the accidents are down more often than not to the oversized apex curves in the middle of the chicane. Because if they weren't there, traditional driver mentality will want them to cut the track to gain any advantage - even if that does mean planting the car firmly in the wall in the process.
What to expect
Well I think that the only thing that will come out of this weekend despite the result whatever that may be is the ever deepening and developing crisis between Mercedes, Pirelli and the rest of the world because that'll dominate the coverage. But aside from that there is a competition which may fall the way of many of the other races this season - the folk at Mercedes probably will be very quick on Saturday in qualifying... if the rain stays away. This is a mechanical grip based circuit dominated by braking and traction zones - something that Mercedes have been good at (even before the questionable test debarcle). But where it will benefit them it may play against Red Bull who are all for aero-based venues, and might bring McLaren closer to the front - but not right at the front. Who this might also help is Ferrari who have an all round decent car, although Monaco was a bad weekend for the team on a similar track configuration. Where this puts lotus and an increasingly displeased Raikkonen (who has removed Perez from his Christmas card list) is a bit of an unknown.
The mid-field has become a little disjointed over the past few races, Force India are leaving the pack behind and have overtaken McLaren in the process - while Torro Rosso and Sauber are left to control that part of the grid. As for Williams well they've carved out a little zone of their own - which is occasionally visited by Gutierrez in the less rapid side of the Sauber garage, as Hulkenberg is dealing with the STR cars. Williams problems were further exemplified by bring defeated on pace in qualifying by Van Der Garde's Caterham - which didn't last long as the Dutchman spent most of his time in Monaco attacking Maldonado. But Canada is different and may allow Williams to regain their position ahead of the battle at the bottom of the field, which due to a penalty will contain Grosjean's Lotus.
After Monaco, Montreal makes up a duo of facinating races, on tracks that will punish mistakes without acres of tarmac run-off. It is another of the venues that gets a special tick in the list of pre-season anticipation. It has seen so much action and some spectacular races, all we can hope is that the current method of preserving tyres and that domineering scandal doesn't compromise what could be another astonishing event. So until the weekend, this is farewell from Blog HQ.
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