Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix

It was a weekend full of anticipation and expectation, but unfortunately the weather had it’s part to play. The glitz and glamour of Monaco seemed a world away when Formula 1 arrived to a cold and wet Canada. The Ile Notre-Dame has been known in recent years for providing challenging weather conditions, but it caused havoc throughout the weekend with the teams. Every practice session was rain affected meaning the new compound Pirelli tyres couldn't really be put through their paces on Friday. Saturday however proved even more challenging for the teams, with the morning practice session cut short, preparation for Qualifying was somewhat rushed.

Qualifying Report:

Rain clouds were hanging around for the one hour session, track conditions were very greasy as the rain was falling unpredictably, and drivers were caught out. Force India suffered most early on with Paul DiResta not making it into Q2 for the second race running, it was a terrible 20 minute session for the Scot qualifying in 17th. Romain Grosjean didn't fair any better also missing out, and with a 10 place penalty from Monaco, the Frenchman started from the very back of the grid.

The weather deteriorated for Q2, track conditions were challenging to say the least. The intermediate tyres were coping, but only just. McLaren were really struggling to set a solid time, Felipe Massa meanwhile was really struggling with his tyres. The Ferrari clearly a handful in the conditions and a repeat of Monaco was just around the corner. Turn 3 as a matter of fact. Massa touched the white line going into the corner sending the Ferrari straight into the barriers, and his frustration was clear to see. The red flag came out while his car was recovered and tyre barrier repaired.

The restart was somewhat chaotic, every single car waiting at the end of the pit lane, and it was a frantic dash to the line with just 2 minutes left on the clock. In a bid to find a gap in the traffic, Jenson Button missed out by a second and didn’t manage to get into Q3. Toro Rosso performed well once again, with both cars making into the top 10. The star of qualifying however was young Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas for Williams, he was sensational in the tricky conditions and surprised everyone qualifying in 3rd. Fernando Alonso struggled with his tyres and ended up settling for 6th place, Nico Rosberg’s run of pole positions came to a slippery end as he qualified in 4th. Teammate Hamilton however faired much better qualifying in 2nd just 8 hundredths of a second from Pole Position man Sebastian Vettel.

Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen received 2 place grid penalties after qualifying for failing to line up correctly at the end of the pit lane.

The Starting Grid

1. Vettel – Red Bull
2. Hamilton – Mercedes
3. Bottas – Williams
4. Rosberg – Mercedes
5. Webber – Red Bull
6. Alonso – Ferrari
7. Vergne – Toro Rosso
8. Sutil – Force India
9. Hulkenberg – Sauber
10. Raikkonen – Lotus – Grid Penalty
11. Ricciardo – Toro Rosso – Grid Penalty 12. Perez – McLaren 13. Maldonado – Williams 14. Button – McLaren 15. Gutierrez – Sauber 16. Massa – Ferrari 17. DiResta – Force India 18. Pic – Caterham 19. Bianchi – Marussia 20. Chilton – Marussia 21. Van Der Garde – Caterham 22. Grosjean – Lotus – Grid Penalty

The Race.

The weather finally cleared up on Sunday, and the crowd were expecting a fantastic race as this famous circuit often provides close and exciting races. Wheel to wheel action is always guarenteed around this tight Canadian street style circuit. The 22 cars lined up on the grid for the start, all eyes focusing on those 5 red lights. As they went out Sebastian Vettel got away superbly from the line, Mark Webber got away well too in the sister Red Bull and along with both Mercedes swamped the Williams of Bottas into the first turn. The rookie driver got a clean start but just didn’t have the pace, he was losing positions left right and centre. After the initial shaky start the young Finnish star put up more of a fight against Alonso, but the Williams was no match for the Ferrari. Paul DiResta got a good start making up places as did the Caterham of Van Der Garde. Meanwhile up front World Championship leader Sebastian was pulling out an ever increasing lead.

A few laps into the race Bottas was beginning to head a train behind his Williams, Vergne was first in line in the Toro Rosso, Adrian Sutil was right behind looking to take advantage, but his Force India made the move under braking into turn 3 and lost the rear end, performing a 360 and was extremely lucky not to get hit from the line of cars behind. It was a brilliant save from the returning German driver who continued without damage, but lost several positions.

Teammate Paul DiResta also found himself having a close shave, this time it was the other Williams of Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan missed his braking point at the hairpin, locking up and sliding into the back of the Scot. There was damage to both cars but nothing too serious, the Williams came off worse as the front wing lost several pieces. It wasn’t turning out to be the best of races for Force India on their 100th Grand Prix appearance.

Kimi Raikkonen was a man on the move in the Lotus, he made a fantastic overtake on the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo on the outside of turn 1. The flying Finn was on a mission after his disappointing qualifying session on Saturday, Felipe Massa was just behind also looking for any possibility to pass. It was an action packed start to the race and things were bubbling up nicely.

Pastor Maldonado found himself the topic of conversation in the stewards room once again, the Williams driver receiving a drive through penalty for causing a collision, the race was not turning out the way the teams had planned.

Kimi Raikkonen’s race took a turn for the worse too after a slow pit stop lost him several positions, he was then informed he had high fuel consumption, the Lotus driver was having a poor weekend compared to his usual high standards.

There was a great battle between Adrian Sutil and Felipe Massa around lap 23, the Ferrari driver looking to make amends for his mistake in qualifying. The Force India driver had other ideas however as he was defending his position firmly, but fairly. The other Ferrari of Fernando Alonso was also on the attack once again up against Mark Webber. It was a 3 car chase involving Rosberg, Webber and Alonso all duelling for the final podium position with just a couple of seconds between them, and getting closer by the lap. Just a few laps later Webber passed the struggling Mercedes, closely followed by Alonso. Rosberg didn’t have the pace this weekend that he has shown in recent races, his teammate Lewis Hamilton was having no such issues however racing well in second albeit some way behind Vettel.

Mark Webber found himself involved in an incident with Van Der Garde, the Caterham was being lapped but at the hairpin he turned in on Webber making contact. Van Der Garde spun while Webber had damage to his front wing. The Dutchman received a 10 second stop go penalty shortly after for ignoring blue flags, and deservedly so. Alonso was closing in on the Australian making a sensational move in the outside of turn 1. It was a fantastic show of commitment and determination from Fernando Alonso moving him into 3rd place. Shortly after Van Der Garde was again in the wars, this time it was the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg involved. Down at the final turn the Caterham made contact with the Sauber, causing a puncture on Nico’s car and breaking the front wing of the Caterham. Both cars retired due to the damage and Van Der Garde received a 10 place grid penalty for Silverstone for causing the collision.

Paul DiResta was having a terrific race in the Force India, he made his first and only pitstop on lap 57. It was a clean show from the mechanics and Paul had managed the longest stint on a single set of tyres all season. It was turning out to be a good 100th race for the Indian outfit, until Adrian Sutil received a drive through penalty for ignoring blue flags. Sutil found himself with old friend Hamilton right behind with Alonso attacking the Mercedes. It was the battle for second position and Hamilton was heard over the team radio shouting blue flags. No matter what Hamilton did, the Ferrari was clearly much faster. It was a scintillating battle to watch with Alonso looking for any opportunity to pass the Mercedes. Just like the overtake on Webber earlier, Fernando Alonso nailed the Ferrari on the outside of turn one even with a slight touch on the Mercedes. It was the overtake of the race with a huge show of commitment once again from the Spaniard to the delight of the Ferrari fans.

It wasn’t quite over, Hamilton fought back in the latter stages of the race. The Mercedes pace seemingly picked up in the slipstream of Alonso, but Hamilton just couldn’t quite get second place back from Alonso. Sebastian Vettel had no such worries however as he dominated the Grand Prix winning by just over 14 seconds from Fernando Alonso, with Lewis Hamilton just over a second behind. It was Red Bull’s first win around this famous island track, and it was the first Canadian Grand Prix for some time not to be interrupted by a Safety Car.

Race Classification after 70 Laps.

1. Vettel – Red Bull
2. Alonso – Ferrari
3. Hamilton – Mercedes
4. Webber – Red Bull
5. Rosberg – Mercedes
6. Vergne – Toro Rosso
7. Di Resta – Force India
8. Massa – Ferrari
9. Raikkonen – Lotus
10. Sutil – Force India
11. Perez – McLaren
12. Button – McLaren
13. Grosjean – Lotus
14. Bottas – Williams
15. Ricciardo – Toro Rosso
16. Maldonado – Williams
17. Bianchi – Marussia
18. Pic – Caterham
19. Chilton – Marussia

DNF: Gutierrez – Sauber, Hulkenberg – Sauber, Van Der Garde – Caterham.

Tom Wilkinson’s Post Race Pointers:

McLaren suffered their worst race of the season in Canada thanks to misjudgements and lack of pace. Jenson Button has said the team face a “massive” task in order to catch the front runners as they failed to score any points for the first time in 65 races. I think the team can kiss their title dreams good bye for 2013.

Fernando Alonso was pleased with the teams performance through the race on Sunday, but has emphasised that qualifying pace must improve. The Spanish favourite has yet to start a race this year higher than 3rd place, the last 3 races has seen him start from the 3rd row of the grid. Ferrari and Alonso can challenge Vettel this year, but they must improve in qualifying.

Williams must improve their car if they are to gain in the mid field pack. Valtteri Bottas had a huge lack of pace on Sunday and could not remain in a points position. The Oxfordshire based team have confirmed Mercedes engines from next year, hopefully the return of turbo engines will see a return of success for the legendary Williams team.

Testing has been the topic of conversation in the paddock weekend as the tyre saga goes on, but the FIA have confirmed that there will be in-season testing in 2014. It is a sensible solution by the governing body and it also allows teams to test younger drivers as well as new developments.

And finally I would like to offer my thoughts to the family and friends of a marshal who was tragically killed at the circuit on Sunday. The unnamed marshal was assisting in recovering the Sauber of Gutierrez when the tragic incident happened. Marshals do a superb job at every race to ensure the safety of others, every race fan appreciates and respects their bravery and dedication to the sport we love.

Driving For Pleasure is the place to be for all the Formula 1 and GP2 action in 2013. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @TomWilkinsonF1 #TWF1 throughout the 2013 F1 season for all the latest news plus my Live coverage on every race this season.