Lap 53 Webber in the pits and Hamilton is responding to his team orders
he is flying and is currently racing half a second faster than Alonso.
1:17:22 is Hamilton’s lap time. vettel 3 seconds behind Alonso and Hamilton
9 seconds behind, both Ferrari and Red Bull need to pit again.
Lap 52 and it was a problem with the rear right tyre for
Hamilton…here’s the pic.
Lap 51 another poor pit stop for McLaren and that will be costly not
only in terms of how close Alonso was but also that he will come out behind
Webber who is being held up. “Give it everything over these next two
laps” well he is going to have to isn’t he. Tha could cost the race
Lap 50 at this point we would be expecting some more pits but for now
all teams remain in the garages. hamilton about to lap button, and is told “give
it everything you can now” Alonso is gaining. Hamilton pits ALONSO
LEADS
Lap 49 Rosberg really is flying and is gaining on Webber, still about
12 seconds out but that was almost 3 seconds gained in a lap.
Lap 48 three retirements then and expect more, the highest number of
cars to finish this race is 19 and that was in 2010. Webber warned about the
speed coming from Rosberg in 5th. Hamilton told he is “doing a great job”
and to maintain speed, Alonso in 2nd is 3.3 seconds behind.
Lap 47 drive-through penalty for Jean Eric Vergne for speeding in the
pit lane.
Lap 45 and another blow for Schumacher it looks like the end of his
race AGAIN.
Lap 44 Hamilton at the front warned that Alonso is upping his pace and
he needs to maintain his current speed. Massa now up to 6th and that’s great
racing from the Ferrari given the start. Not a good day for Williams with
Senna back in 19th. Schumacher on the radio told “RFA still open so
caution caution” that means his DRS is still open and that’s really
slowing him down. He goes into the pits, it’s a decent stop but not sure the
problem is resolved.!
Lap 43 Hamilton Alonso and Vettel still the front three, both HRT’s are
out and Button is struggling, if you’re just joining me you have missed a
heck of a 42 laps!
Lap 42 Hamilton told he is in a good position and there is no need to
worry after he asks if McLaren are sure Ferrari and Red Bull are not on a
one stop. Great battle with Rosberg and Perez and takes the position in 7th.
Raikkonen’s pit stop proving very costly at the moment.
Lap 41 Rosberg fastest 1:17:5 Perez now up to 4th Webber in 5th. Almost
a problem for Schumacher, he goes deep into the hairpin but just avoids
Kobayashi!
Lap 40 Webber locks up and that’s allowed grosjean to catch up with
him. good news, Schumacher is still in the race, he is back in 12th and
battling to get into the points. hamilton fastest 1:17:7, Raikkonen finally
pits and that will relieve Webber.
Lap 39 Button struggling with tyre degradation. McLaren say it would
have been just as bad if they had put the sift option tyres on. Not sure he
will be any happier with his position at the end of this, championship
continues to slip away from him.
Lap 38 Rosberg the fastest and it’s 1:17:9 and he is catching Webber,
Button still back in 17th. Raikkonen really holding drivers up now in 4th,
he is yet to stop. Further back Grosjean is 8th and being followed by Massa.
Button telling his team he has very little grip. Rosberg now in the pits.
Lap 36 Webber told to “hang on in there” and that it will “open
up in a moment” well even if it does I think he’s been held back too
long to make much of a move for the podium.
Lap 35 half distance now and Hamilton remains in front and he is, as it
stands, on to make it a historic 7th different winner in as many races.
Would be great to see him win especially coming five years to the day after
his first ever win.
Lap 33 Yellow flag is out in sector four, Perez and Raikkonen damaging
Webber’s race now. they are clearly one a one stop strategy and the
Australian cannot make a move. Button is in the pits and off come the super
softs and on go the super softs…interesting decision from McLaren and he
emerges in 17th
Lap 32 Raikkonen is losing pace on vettel but he should be safe in 4th
for now as Perez is also slowing. Big gap from 10th back as Paul Di Resta
loses pace. Hamilton asking if he is driving to target and told they will “continue
with Plan A”. All three front runners are within a tenth of each other
on lap times.
Lap 30 Red Bull responding to Hamilton’s pace but it’s not Vettel it’s
Mark Webber in 6th with a 1:18:3, he’s chasing Perez and should gain a place
shortly when the Sauber pits.
Lap 29 Look at the speed from Hamilton he just clocked a 1:18:4, he is
told on the radio he needs to make sure he can “run to target” in
this stint. massa up to 9th after that disaster earlier and Hulkenberg has
overtaken Button for 14th what’s up with the McLaren!?
Lap 27 Hamilton fastest man out there and is 3 seconds out in front but
almost nothing between Alonso and Vettel in 2nd and 3rd. Perez in 5th is yet
to pit as is Raikkonen ahead of him.
Lap 26 Raikkonen has got himself up to 4th in front of Perez, Webber is
6th in front of Rosberg and Grosjean. Button still back in 14th. Pedro De La
Rosa has also retired. HRT have no cars left then
Lap 25 Schumacher told: “we need to take Di Resta to save our race.”
Short, sweet and to the point. What can Schumacher do, he is currently 13th
Lap 24 I correct myself, Karthikeyan is out of the race now, he spun
out and the yellow flags remain out. No safety car for now.
Lap 23 Button’s race not going as well as planned he is in 14th and
battling to gain a position from Michael Schumacher in front. Hamilton
asking which is his weakest sector and is told that it’s the last. Yellow
flag is out for something on sector one. One of the HRT’s has just spun out
but is still in the race.
Lap 21 replays show, Alonso had to yield his position but credit to the
Ferrari he did well to get back in position to ensure Vettel didn’t gain a
place. Grosjean pits and HAMILTON LEADS
Lap 20 WONDERFUL Alonso emerged in front of Hamilton and is 2nd with
McLaren 3rd and Vettel 4th…fantastic racing here. Hamilton really putting
the pressure on and Alonso is teasing him in front. But the DRS is key and
Hamilton overtakes Alonso for second.
Lap 19 Hamilton went into anti-stall when trying to get out of the pit,
but seems to be in flying form regardless. Alonso pits
Lap 18 and it’s been a LONG while since ii wrote this but great pit
stop for McLaren and Hamilton, slow to leave, has emerged in front of
Vettel! Alonso was expected to pit there but has stayed out, he is showing
great pace and that’s why. vettel tries to go outside the chicane on the
McLaren but misses out!
Lap 17 it wasn’t as speedy as Red Bull would have wanted but the
traffic works well for him. Kobayashi now fastest with 1:19:3, track
temperature is plummiting and that works well for the Saubers. Hamilton pits
so now ALONSO LEADS
Lap 16 Button now on the super softs so he will be doing at least a
two-stop race. Hamilton is flying and has the DRS to make a move on Vettel,
he makes the move but Vettel pits! HAMILTON LEADS
Lap 15 FANTASTIC move from Raikkonen up the inside and he has overtaken
Button for 7th, the McLaren driver under more pressure from Kobayashi but
for now he is holding in 8th. Grosjean the fastest 1:19:6, and look at this!
Hamilton is now less than a second behind Vettel, seven tenths of a second
as they go into lap 16. Button pits.
Lap 14 Di Resta’s pit well times but Schumacher comes out too far back
[17th] , bad luck follows this guy hey. Hamilton at the front doing well to
stay on Vettel’s tail
Lap 13 that was not good timing for Massa though and he has emerged at
the back of the pack. Schumacher locks on the hairpin but looks to have
recovered and Di Resta is now in the pits and now Rosberg has space to
stretch his legs. Schumacher pits.
Lap 12 Di Resta now struggling with tyres…his rears he is saying and
that news will be warmly welcome by Button and Mclaren. Massa the first car
to pit and it’s good rom the Ferrari team.
1-10 VET, HAM, ALO, WEB, DIR, ROS, GRO, SCH, BUT, RAI.
Lap 11 Button told the cars in front are suffering with tyre
degradation and this is his chance, stay close and wait to pounce. Grosjean
driving very well in 7th, showing good pace and as I have said for the last
few races, one to watch.
Lap 10 Paul di Resta told his window is open to go in if he so pleases,
for now he remains on the track, Hamilton is now closing in on Vettel and is
faster than the Red Bull. It’s all very tight between 5th and 15th, 10
seconds between them and there’s traffic building. Di Resta holding them up.
Lap 9 2.1 now Vettel’s lead and a great battle for 9th with Button
Raikkonen and Kobayashi going on. Just three seconds separating the top
three but for now all 24 cars remain on the track. Rosberg getting warnings
on the radio and it looks like Mercedes are having problems very early on.
Lap 7 Hamilton staying on Vettel’s tail, the lead is not getting any
bigger for now, more trouble for Massa as he has just come inches from
smashing into the Wall of Champions, he isn’t the first and certainly won’t
be the last and is now on the radio saying there are problems with his
tyres…more pressure on him than any other driver out there today.
Lap 6 relief for Webber as Massa locks up on the second turn of this
lap and that’s put him back a little, shame for him he was making great
progress and is now back in 13th…Rosberg being told to do a better job
with his tyres, that’s early and it seems he has a problem with traction and
if he looks in his mirrors he will see Grosjean coming up behind.
Lap 5 Maldonado struggling at the back in 19th, he started with a five
place penalty if you remember for a gear box change. Vettel is 1.9 seconds
at the front now, Massa now the fastest man out there and putting pressure
on Mark Webber in front. Difficult to see places at the moment as the F1
graphic doesn’t mix well with Sky…
Lap 3-4 Vettel already pulling out in the front and unsurprisingly he
is the fastest man on the track. Button struggling for grip at the moment he
is currently back in 10th behind Schumacher. Replays of the start show it
was poor from Alonso who instead of challenging Hamilton in front ended up
defending his position and I correct myself that Paul Di Resta did in fact
gain a place on the start.
Lap 2 Petrov has lost two places in the early stages and Senna is
making a move on Kovalainen but the Caterham is using the KERS and holds
position. Massa makes a move on Rosberg and does it well moving up to 5th,
great start from the Brasilian in the Ferrari.
Lap 1: great start for Kovalainen up to 16th but no cars making any
position changes yet.
First corner: Vettel holds on to his lead, no touching on that turn,
wonderful start from the Red Bull at the front. Hamilton and Alonso hold
grid order and so far no incidents all cars make it through
Here we go then, race seven, vettel on pole, light out!
Here’s Andy Holgate’s view on Michael Schumacher:
Schumi
needs to stop playing stock cars and remember he’s in F1. Hot track, long
straights, probably a McLaren win.
Drivers now on their formation laps, ready for this?
Our man Tom Cary is in Canada, here’s the latest from him:
Gorgeous day here in Montreal. 27C, blue skies. I’ve just had some lunch in
the media cafe followed by a stroll down the paddock. Despite threats of
protests from students and civil rights campaigners – and another 20-odd
arrests overnight – no trouble has yet materialised as far as I’m aware. An
unfounded bomb scare and that’s about it. The grandstands seem packed and
the journey in was unproblematic. Our media shuttle was overtaken by a
Ferrari, followed in hot pursuit by Mark Webber in an Infiniti and Jenson
Button in a Mercedes. Not sure what conclusion, if any, to draw from that.
Seems an unlikely podium. Jenson desperately needs to bank some solid points
though. He currently lies 31 points behind Ferrari’s championship leader
Fernando Alonso, which would not be so bad were it not for the fact that
five other people lie between himself and the Spaniard. He cannot afford to
fall much further back or he will need a whole host of people to trip up
later in the year, on top of posting a few race wins himself. His starting
position of 10th is far from ideal. He is going to have to produce something
special. Can he do it?
Apologies for radio silence, technical issues at totally the wrong moment here
1841 So far it’s been a great weekend for defending world champion Sebastian
Vettel, he starts at the front of the grid today alongside Lewis
Hamilton and this is what he had to say after topping the bill in
qualifying:
I think we have learned a couple of lessons from the last few races where we
were quick but we didn’t get it out of the car in qualifying. I was happy
throughout qualifying really, I was able to get a little bit quicker each
time. It looked tight in the beginning but in the end we could make a bit
more of a difference. I’m looking forward to the race. I think we have a
good car.”
1839 Right, over to Michael Schumacher, and what can the German do
today to ensure he actually turns an unwanted stat around. The seven-time
world champion has retired from more races than he has completed this
season. His qualifying lap in Monaco went a long way to silence those
calling into question his decision to continue racing but again the
speculation is sneaking back in and he needs a good result…or at least a finish
to day to keep the rumour mill at bay. All thoughts greatly appreciated, I
know opinions on Schumacher are split.
Pitlane is open in Montreal, let’s have a look at what our columnist David
Coulthard has to say about this weeknd’s race and who we should be
watching:
Everyone is watching to see whether Formula One can produce a seventh
winner from seven races for the first time. You can quite easily see it
happening.Michael Schumacher took pole at Monaco last time out and Mercedes
are expected to be quick here, Lewis Hamilton is still awaiting his first
victory of 2012, while either Lotus driver is a decent shout. Some are
saying the unpredictability is too much, but I disagree. Just as tennis has
moved on from the era of Roger Federer winning everything to having three or
four guys capable of victory, so F1 is now ultra-competitive at the top. We
should be applauding that.
Many
thanks for your email John Bolwell, here’s his thoughts on what
Jenson Button needs to do this afternoon:
“Jenson’s only hope is that he gets in “the zone” on the prime tyres
and does what Vettel did in Monaco – go longer and faster than anybody else.
Then, as the track rubbers-in and the fuel load comes off he should be like
lightening on the options in the second half, when everybody else is on the
prime. I can’t see a podium but he needs no worse than 4th if he’s to remain
in the fight.”
Our F1 correspondent Tom Cary may not be best pleased with me for
sharing this but, if you tweet it I will share it!
1828 Right on with this year’s race, here’s the Circuit Gilles
Villeneuve in numbers:
- Circuit length: 4.361km/2.709miles
- Laps: 70
- Race distance: 305.270km/189.685miles
- Lap record: 1min 13.622secs (Rubens Barrichello, 2004)
- 2011 winner: Jenson Button (McLaren)
- 2011 pole position: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 1min 13.014secs
- 2011 fastest lap: Jenson Button (McLaren) 1min 16.956secs
- Number of corners: 14 (6 left/8 right)
- Tyre compounds to be used: soft/supersoft
- Overtaking chance: into turns 10 and 13
- Average lap speed: 193kph (120mph)
- 2011 winning strategy: 6 stops (Lap 8, 13 – drivethrough, 19, 35, 37, 51)
- No of safety cars deployed since 2002: 14
And here’s the forecast for Montreal today/tonight:
Final word on last year’s race, here’s the moment Button overtook Vettel!
Fernando Alonso won’t be happy with the latest then, Spanish by birth,
driving for an Italian team, and the latter have just taken the lead against
the former in Euro 2012…
1817 having said all that about Button and last year, the Brit isn’t in
the greatest shape this weekend. If you saw qualifying yesterday you’ll know
that it was thanks to an error from Williams driver Pastor Maldonado that he
made it into Q3, the Venezuelan, who won his first Grand prix of his career
in Barcelona a matter of weeks ago, clipped his rear right wheel into the
Wall of Champions and as such spun out on a lap which was looking good
enough to lead the times. Shame for him though relief for Button. Here’s
what he had to say about it:
“I think today wasn’t great. Maybe we shouldn’t have put laps on the prime
tyre, because now we have five laps on the tyre starting the race, and the
guys behind me have brand new tyres. It’s not the best way to start, but
it’s going to be a hot race, and I think it’s probably going to be the
hottest race we’ve had this year.It will hopefully throw up a few surprises
for everyone, and we can still have a good afternoon.”
Predictions coming through now on Twitter:
1810 while the rain wreaks havoc on the French Open men’s final and the
cricket at Edgbaston this afternoon, if you saw the race in Canada last year
you will know only too well what rain does at this track. The race 12 months
ago was nothing short of phenomenal. If you remember, Jenson button started
from the back of the grid in wet, and when I say wet I mean monsoon-like,
conditions to take the chequered flag. Moreover, he did so with six visits
to the pits – five for tyres and one drive-through penalty – before the race
was suspended due to the torrential weather. The Mclaren driver took the win
after Sebastian Vettel, who had led fro 98 per cent of the race, slid wide
at the sixth corner allowing Button to overtake. Not sure we’re going to see
quite that level of excitement today but here’s to hoping! It was by far an
away one of the greatest F1 races of all time.
1800 Good morning, afternoon or evening depending on where in the world
you are joining me from for round seven of the 2012 season, the Canadian
Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and the question on everyone’s
lips, are we going to see a record seventh winner in this race? I’m totally
banking on it, and to break with tradition am getting my prediction out of
the way early. Lewis Hamilton for the win today. Email me with your
predictions at Emily.Benammar@telegraph.co.uk
To re-cap, here are the winners so far this season: Australian GP,
Jenson Button | Malaysian GP, Fernando Alonso | Chinese GP, Nico Rosberg |
Bahrain GP, Sebastian Vettel | Spanish GP, Pastor Maldonado | Monaco GP,
Mark Webber
How they start:
1st row
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault)
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)
2nd row
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari)
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault)
3rd row
Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes-AMG)
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)
4th row
Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus-Renault)
Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India-Mercedes)
5th row
Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes-AMG)
Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)
6th row
Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber-Ferrari)
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus-Renault)
7th row
Nico Huelkenberg (GER/Force India-Mercedes)
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
8th row
Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber-Ferrari)
Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams-Renault)
9th row
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham-Renault)
Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham-Renault)
10th row
Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/HRT-Cosworth)
11th row
Timo Glock (GER/Marussia-Cosworth)
Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams-Renault)
12th row
Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia-Cosworth)
Narain Karthikeyan (IND/HRT-Cosworth)