First real post of this season. Somehow never had time or the motivation to punch in anything. Though I never missed a single qualifying session or race. The Grand Prix of Canada was a historic race for many reasons. This one’s not going to be just another race review. Here in this post I analyse how it all went, the media coverage, driver quotes and how can a few mishaps be avoided. 

Prologue

I missed the start of the race and switched on the idiot box when the first lap was almost done. The excitement could not build up in time and the next few laps were fairly uninteresting. Fernando Alonso had slipped back and it was good to see Hamilton right in front leading the rest of the pack. Caught the replay of the start well in time. It was rather funny to see Alonso literally slithering on track. 

Disaster – The White Noise

Driver: Robert Kubica

Team: BMW Sauber on Bridgestone soft compound tyres

Its been reported that the F1.07 clipped the back of Schumacher’s Toyota but it doesn’t appear to be the case. Something terribly wrong with the track.  Before you read further watch it for yourself.

From the cam of someone in the audience :-

The car took off as it went off the track. Seemed to be stable on track otherwise.

Now where did the tyre wall disappear? You leave concrete walls for the drivers to crash into? And that too that bent in a way that they collide head on. Watch the video again as the chassis hits the wall and tears into bits. The driver had absolutely nowhere to go. The car was hung in the air and braking would have been useless. The only choice was to crash into that deadly concrete wall painted in white. Ridiculous and Insane. And thats FIA.  They need atleast a quadruple tyre wall in front of that concrete wall. High speed turns can be disastrous and have proven to be.

My first impression when I saw the crash. Is the guy fine? Kubica would be seriously hurt.  I would not rule out the possibility that we have lost the first pole in F1, a very young talented driver. Whatever they may say about the safety of the modern F1 car, I was still in a stupor. It took exceedingly long for the rescue team to arrive. There were no fire marshals near the car and they seemed to watch the car from a safe distance, safer than usual. Whats that? The guy is still sitting still in the car and no attempt was made to get him out. The car could have burst into flames at any moment. Track mashals seemed to be reading the newspaper at that time, though the medical team car arrived within seconds. 

F1.07 after the impact

All wheels but the left rear wheel were gone. There was no sign of any aerodynamic equipment left on the car. Front wing and front suspensions (left at the concrete wall), rear wing and right suspension (somewhere on track during the barrel roll), badly damaged left rear suspension still sticking to the chassis. Most importantly the monocoque was still intact.

>> At the heart of the modern Formula One car lies the immensely strong ‘monocoque’ structure, often referred to as the ‘tub’. This incorporates the cockpit and the driver’s ’survival cell’, but also forms the principal component of the car’s chassis, with the engine and front suspension mounted directly to it. Both roles – as structural component and safety device – require it to be as strong as possible. << SOURCE: Formula1.com

Life saver for Robert Kubica. I discovered once again, crashes are not exciting at all, and I don’t derive any pleasure from any on-track or off-track mishaps.

Cry Baby Alonso

He speaks as if he did not put a wheel wrong on the track. First lap slide and subsequently overshooting the corners regularly during the course of the race. Not once or twice, many more times. Reigning world champion complains about his car.

Takuma Sato overtook Fernando’s McLaren with few laps remaining in the race.  Good one Taku ! Surely he must have enjoyed it and felt as if he won the Canadian GP.

Quote:

“What an awesome weekend for us. So many things happened during this race ………. During the last few laps I had a great feeling because I was able to race with the front runners and I was able to confidently overtake and take back my position. This was absolutely the most beautiful day in my racing career and is an amazing result. A huge thanks to the guys today and all the people who support us.” – Takuma Sato, Super Aguri (6th)

Thats One.Here is Another story.

What really happened and is not likely to be revealed. Big pressure on Alonso to keep his place in the team with Hamilton improving with every race. Hamilton pipped Alonso for Pole position. Alonso was pushing right from the start in a desperate attempt to overtake team-mate. Made a mistake at the first corner (which is his first one ever since I started watching him drive an F1 car) . Made more mistakes because he was pushing too much throughout the race. Could have possibly scrubbed his tyres in the attempt to do so. Blamed everything on pit stop rules of the FIA and the safety car periods. Later he came up with another excuse, the team favored the british team-mate. Thats reigning world champion’s words who once called Michael Schumacher the most unsporting driver in Formula 1. 

Quote:

“I think this was a strange race with the Safety Car being deployed so many times which worked to Lewis’ advantage today and my disadvantage. I came into the pits for the first time on lap 24 as I had no more fuel so basically there was nothing I could do. It was a shame as this resulted in a ten-second penalty but I guess that unfortunately those are the rules but there was no alternative other than to stop on track with no fuel. After that I had to push as hard as possible because I was stuck in the middle of the field and when you push to the maximum you sometimes go off track but at that stage there was nothing to lose. Whilst it was a difficult race for me I’m pleased for the team and Lewis that we were able to secure some important points and Lewis winning his first race and also that Robert is OK. I hope for a bit more luck for the US Grand Prix next week and at least I can leave Montreal with two points more than Massa.” – Fernando Alonso, McLaren (7th):

• How many times has it happened with other drivers when you(they call the donkey Fernando Alonso) won. Possibly 50% of the times. And out of these 50% times of these, it was Kimi Raikonnen who suffered. He needs to recall, take a look back into the last two seasons, HOW he became world champion.  Other drivers’ bad luck made his day everytime. He complains because he is on the losing side this time. Where is that sporting spirit that you talk about Fernando? Better grow up.

• You could not follow the rules, thats your and your team’s problem. Don’t blame the FIA for making rules, nothing is concealed from the team or the driver. Even the fans know all the subtle details. Massa and Fisichella are still NOT complaining and have admitted their faults. They were black flagged.

• The spaniard did not have a good race still he is struck with that smugness of scoring 2 more points over Massa. Alonso is one rapacious driver. You lost 8 points on your team-mate, get over that pittance of 2 points. Watch out for your team-mate and not any of the ferrari drivers. He may strip you off the glamour and world championship title very soon.

Another comment came in tuesday’s news report.

Quote:

“From the first moment I arrived at McLaren I wasn’t comfortable with everything,” the Spaniard told Cadena Ser radio. “This is an English team, with an English team-mate. You know that all of the help goes his way. I have understood that from the first moment and I won’t complaint about it.” - Fernando Alonso

You are complaining already by saying that you won’t complain about it. Wouldn’t McLaren want to win the constructors title?

The comment never came before the canadian grand prix finished. You cannot expect the same setups of your car and team-mate’s car to be identical. Different drivers with different driving styles WILL have different kind of setups and configurations. You cannot expect your car to be perfect in every race. It happens a lot more often with other drivers and teams but they don’t complain that their team-mate is favored and they are given an inferior package. And IF you don’t like McLaren nobody would stop you from leaving the team.

Sweet Victory for Hamilton

The Brit never put a wheel wrong. He could have suffered the most during the safety car periods but just in his 6th F1 race he showed tremendous maturity and talent. Soaked up the pressure and built up a comfortable gap right from start and also after each safety car period. Never really looked at ease, was pushing to the right extent and keeping the wheels just far enough from the walls. Perfect pit stop strategy by McLaren for both Hamilton and Alonso. Its a different case though that the latter doesn’t want to acknowledge it.

Sheer class, sobriety and maturity on the podium. Perhaps it was the happiest moment of his life but never lost his cool. Kept it simple and celebrated like a talented young boy he is.

 Who’s the tallest of them all? Hamilton or Wurz

Taking nothing away from Heidfeld and Wurz. Best results of their careers for the two drivers. Wurz appeared like a rock star standing tall on the podium. Interesting hand gestures to celebrate his finish. Hamilton should have had his father in podium but sadly thats not allowed. Wonderful result for the team and history made in Montreal. First rookie driver ever to finish on podium in every race and on top in only the sixth race of his career.  Lot of racing to come and some wonderful moments ahead in the season. Hamilton is the guy to watch.

The media coverage

HT boast of being the leader in printed press. What all came in HT monday sports section was amazingly stupid and inconsiderate. You state the surprisingly obvious. Not a single alphabet about one of the most horrendous crash in Formula 1 in the recent past. Brainless editors and reporters with no sense of perception.  

Kubica does not need any more friends 

Read the post race interviews and the selected driver quotes. Everybody wants to tell the people that Kubica is his friend. Alright you were concerned, thats understandable. Perhaps mentioning some of the obvious things is not needed at all. You never want that things to happen to any driver be it your friend or not. Every driver was happy and relieved to hear the news that Kubica was OK. Thats again the spirit of the game. Fernando seemed to blame Kubica for crashing and spoiling his race by an additional/extended safety car period.

More comments to be added on further analysis