Thoughts on the Canadian Grand Prix

[Julian Mayo]

I guess Rubens was the driver of the day if I had to vote for one

I am still trying to get over Alonso's brush with the wall. He should have won this one.
But I keep trying to tell myself that it he is soooo young he has to make mistakes otherswise he'll be a machine
I think he was a bit unsettled having to fight Fisichella and was pushing too hard trying to gain time on Montoya

He'll struggle in Indy because of his qualifying slot but he'll still get a podium. The Renault is faster than the McLaren. That was proved in qualifying.
Talk about qualifying, it has become so meaningless. Michael was second but he had no fuel and Button and BAR were over the moon yet they knew they were light. It is all marketing. Alonso The Cute had pole IMHO

I agree with Graham, the only two worthy of the win were Alonso and Montoya. The rest were just lucky

And all this JV bashing ??

Hey guys JV had to change the front wing after Sato cut in front of him if you didn't notice
And Massa finished ahead of Webber if you didn't notice

So are you trying to divert attention from the dreadful performance of Webber ? And don't blame the car, the BMW engine is still in the Williams and not the Sauber

Phew, okay one thing at a time. I was the first to beat up on Webber
I mentioned JV in another thread because The Team Owner is unhappy with him, which doesn't bode well for his longevity with the team, and which other team will pick him?
Yes Massa finished ahead of Webber, because Williams rev restricted him for the last quarter of the race
I agree that q is meaningless/marketing
Alonso is soooo young? How old do you think you have to be to fight for your country? If those blokes make a mistake? At 23 Alonso should be at the peak of his reflexes, and his years of racing should have taught him to control his emotions. This is the big league, if it was any other driver you would be bagging the hell out of them

[JayVee]

Phew, okay one thing at a time. I was the first to beat up on Webber
I mentioned JV in another thread because The Team Owner is unhappy with him, which doesn't bode well for his longevity with the team, and which other team will pick him?
Yes Massa finished ahead of Webber, because Williams rev restricted him for the last quarter of the race
I agree that q is meaningless/marketing
Alonso is soooo young? How old do you think you have to be to fight for your country? If those blokes make a mistake? At 23 Alonso should be at the peak of his reflexes, and his years of racing should have taught him to control his emotions. This is the big league, if it was any other driver you would be bagging the hell out of them

Mistakes is what makes experience. He is the youngest to win a race and will be the youngest world champion. If those before him didn't make more mistakes he wouldn't be the youngest

Name a World Champion who didn't make mistakes in "the big league" when they were 23.
And you really think those brave people who willingly go fight for their country don't make mistakes ? Of course they do.

I am dissapointed of course. He lost the race. When he does it again he'll be bagged.

Webber had a mediocre race. Towards the end they slowed him down because Heidfeld retired but Webber made at least two mistakes (the ones we saw on TV), one of them he lost 3 places I think.

[rah]

I think I saw Webber lose two places each time he slid. But it was very early in the morning so excuse me if this is wrong. I don't think anyone is making excuses for Webbers mediocre drive. Not like Monty and Alonso.

[Julian Mayo]

Phew, okay one thing at a time. I was the first to beat up on Webber
I mentioned JV in another thread because The Team Owner is unhappy with him, which doesn't bode well for his longevity with the team, and which other team will pick him?
Yes Massa finished ahead of Webber, because Williams rev restricted him for the last quarter of the race
I agree that q is meaningless/marketing
Alonso is soooo young? How old do you think you have to be to fight for your country? If those blokes make a mistake? At 23 Alonso should be at the peak of his reflexes, and his years of racing should have taught him to control his emotions. This is the big league, if it was any other driver you would be bagging the hell out of them

Mistakes is what makes experience. He is the youngest to win a race and will be the youngest world champion. If those before him didn't make more mistakes he wouldn't be the youngest

Name a World Champion who didn't make mistakes in "the big league" when they were 23.
And you really think those brave people who willingly go fight for their country don't make mistakes ? Of course they do.

I am dissapointed of course. He lost the race. When he does it again he'll be bagged.

Webber had a mediocre race. Towards the end they slowed him down because Heidfeld retired but Webber made at least two mistakes (the ones we saw on TV), one of them he lost 3 places I think.

JV, you are starting to sound like my ex- wife whom I love dearly, but she would not listen ( thats 1, thats 2 thats 3... bang)
I was the FIRST TO BAG WEBBER., ...Alonso stuffed up in thebiggest way possible, he handed over the race win to his only rival. Aha , I know why you have gone from JV to Alonso, ....JV nearly lost the unloseable WDC.,
Alonso ??
Just lie down on the couch, and chat about your morbid attraction to ONE time winners, despite their best attempts to lose, perhaps it is a mother thing, feel nice and relaxed, breathe deeply, and talk, we are all your friends here

[Kapel]

All the top 8 drivers who avoided the wall (turn 4) are the driver of the race for me.

Montreal is known as car breaker circit & we all saw what it could do to the drivers-championship leader or whoever

Its easy for us to say that Ferrari & others were lucky to finish the race.But hey,doesnt F1 involve bit of luck to,apart from keeping the car on track & following rules

For me the idol winner should have been Montoya.He drove well & put pressure on the potential WDC which lead to his mistake.Mclaren,i think couldnt believe their luck on a 1-2 finish after both the renaults were out & mayb that got them excited had a brain fade for not calling Montoya in first(Cant think of PT ) & then not informing him about the red light.
I would not blame Montoya for this one bit,he obviously wanted to come out ahead of Michael.

Kimi did well to hold off Michael in the end even after the mistake,but i think Ferrari were off pace to catch Kimi anyway.

Rubinho had all his bad luck reversed on Sunday & he did well to make the most of it.For the first time,i thought Michael was settling for 2nd & not pushing kimi to the extent he did at Imola.

BAR continue in their non-finish trip(expect BBQ soon) ,Trulli did well to avoid crashing after his brake failure at 200mph & Massa's fotunate 4th place coming at his partners home GP.

Ralf-very odinary,DC gets his weekly pay check & Klien showing Luizzi was a mistake.

The biggest suprise for me was Williams so off the pace where they have been traditionally strong(did BMW supply them with 2001 engines )

Monteiro did well to keep his car on track,unlike Narain,who has been over driving his car for the last 3GP's.Narian needs to relax on the not-so known circuit & bring the car to finish instead of trying to beat his teammate & over-driving the car all the time.

Renault are starting to make mistakes,especially Alonso expect more

2 races in a row & 2 lucky drivers winning the race.This is exiciting stuff...

Hope to see some more failures & unexpected winners at US GP

[Julian Mayo]

I would not like to be getting engines from a supplier who is"possibly" going to bale out. At worst the Williams cars are only going to get better due to aero and mech. grip improvements. Strangely enough, if memory serves me correctly, early in the season Mario was bagging Williams for lack of pace yet it was the engine that restricted them in Bahrain, etc and the chassis has worked well from Monaco, the engine again aat Montreal?
I consider myself a bloody good poker player, I don't think I would play with Sir Frank, unless I took my own deck

[Kapel]

I would not like to be getting engines from a supplier who is"possibly" going to bale out. At worst the Williams cars are only going to get better due to aero and mech. grip improvements. Strangely enough, if memory serves me correctly, early in the season Mario was bagging Williams for lack of pace yet it was the engine that restricted them in Bahrain, etc and the chassis has worked well from Monaco, the engine again aat Montreal?
I consider myself a bloody good poker player, I don't think I would play with Sir Frank, unless I took my own deck

I agree here with u Julian,Williams have improved their aero which was displaced with results in Monaco & Europe.Montreal needed dowforce & power- which i think was lacking in BMW engines.

[Julian Mayo]

I would not like to be getting engines from a supplier who is"possibly" going to bale out. At worst the Williams cars are only going to get better due to aero and mech. grip improvements. Strangely enough, if memory serves me correctly, early in the season Mario was bagging Williams for lack of pace yet it was the engine that restricted them in Bahrain, etc and the chassis has worked well from Monaco, the engine again aat Montreal?
I consider myself a bloody good poker player, I don't think I would play with Sir Frank, unless I took my own deck

I agree here with u Julian,Williams have improved their aero which was displaced with results in Monaco & Europe.Montreal needed dowforce & power- which i think was lacking in BMW engines.

Kappy, one wonders if Mario started making noises about being dissatified with Williams because Sir had allready stitched up a V8 deal with another supplier. BMW are not good at V8s, sixes and tens yes
Here is a wild card, Americans are very, very good at V8s, and in small cubes ( Shudder,....outboards,shake... inboards,.....in ,shudder, boats)

Could we see Danica as the nominated test driver in the Williams Chevy/.Chrysler/dodge etc in 2006
Remember that $$$$$$ speak before commonsense

[Kapel]

I would not like to be getting engines from a supplier who is"possibly" going to bale out. At worst the Williams cars are only going to get better due to aero and mech. grip improvements. Strangely enough, if memory serves me correctly, early in the season Mario was bagging Williams for lack of pace yet it was the engine that restricted them in Bahrain, etc and the chassis has worked well from Monaco, the engine again aat Montreal?
I consider myself a bloody good poker player, I don't think I would play with Sir Frank, unless I took my own deck

I agree here with u Julian,Williams have improved their aero which was displaced with results in Monaco & Europe.Montreal needed dowforce & power- which i think was lacking in BMW engines.

Kappy, one wonders if Mario started making noises about being dissatified with Williams because Sir had allready stitched up a V8 deal with another supplier. BMW are not good at V8s, sixes and tens yes
Here is a wild card, Americans are very, very good at V8s, and in small cubes ( Shudder,....outboards,shake... inboards,.....in ,shudder, boats)

Could we see Danica as the nominated test driver in the Williams Chevy/.Chrysler/dodge etc in 2006
Remember that $$$$$$ speak before commonsense

It could happen.

I doubt Sir Frank started talking to other suppliers until he got an idea that BMW is fishing

[rah]

He has been around a long time. He is probably always fishing. When you are not a manufacturer then you are relying on someone else.

[Julian Mayo]

I agree here with u Julian,Williams have improved their aero which was displaced with results in Monaco & Europe.Montreal needed dowforce & power- which i think was lacking in BMW engines.

Kappy, one wonders if Mario started making noises about being dissatified with Williams because Sir had allready stitched up a V8 deal with another supplier. BMW are not good at V8s, sixes and tens yes
Here is a wild card, Americans are very, very good at V8s, and in small cubes ( Shudder,....outboards,shake... inboards,.....in ,shudder, boats)

Could we see Danica as the nominated test driver in the Williams Chevy/.Chrysler/dodge etc in 2006
Remember that $$$$$$ speak before commonsense

It could happen.

I doubt Sir Frank started talking to other suppliers until he got an idea that BMW is fishing

Kappy, While I don't particularly like SF, because he traditionally sees drivers as a means to an end, and compared to all the other team owners , has been quite nasty, (cant think how to spell vishus after 9 Wts )
I do admire
A/ his business acumen
B/his personal courage
C/ His ability to recognize something in driver REGARDLESS OF NATIONALITY , and shape a car and a team around that driver and win wdc, and wmc within 2 years of signing that driver
Williams, Saudi Arabia, and AJ were "terribly unfashionable"
It took a while, but, got a result against far more moneyed teams, and probably "better" drivers. AJ might have been next to my mum, when I was in her "tum" and heard the fella say," Win it as slowly as you can "

[Andre_Brasil]

A championship is won with the right foot AND brains.

Alonso courteously gave back the points Kimi lost at Europe.

If Kimi had made a 3rd place there he would be only 16 points from Alonso now. If Alonso would settle for 3rd at Canada he would be 28 points away from Kimi.

Good for us, watchers, but the reason Ferrari/Michael had made 5 in a row is above the neck.

[Julian Mayo]

[quote="Andre_Brasi

Good for us, watchers, but the reason Ferrari/Michael had made 5 in a row is above the neck.[/quote

Que?

[Jim Watt]

Have to begin by congratulating Julian for his thougthful review. Am embarrassed to be so lacking in estimation of the Honda Wallahs. I remember asking people why no one seemed interested in them before Jens stole the pole in Canada, but then I didn't think they really would send him out with only ounces of fuel. Does this mean Ferrari et. al. have decided their only chance is to steal a start position and pit on lap 3 or 4 for a fill up? Last week should have put paid to that theory: even though Michael and Jens were running on fumes, the Renaults catapulted past like jackrabbits!

What is really interesting to me is that now that Ferrari have a decent qualifying slot for Indy, what will they do with it? Michael has been pretty solid at here (though he did, once, fall asleep and spin in the infield --but that was back when he could win races on cruise control), but so has McLaren (remember Mikka's convincing win some time back). I think the strategy is going to be to let BOTH Rubens and Michael qualify on fumes and then decide --at the first (very early) pit stop-- which one will go back with the heaviest fuel load, probably Rubens. You can probably count on, given the speed across the field and the recent lack of caution on the part of drivers, at least one Safety Car period during which Michael could sprint in for a splash to put him back "in phase" with the field. This would mean that he'd be lean and fast when the Bridgestones will be at their best: in the last fifth of the race. Indianapolis, especially the sweeping right hander into the long main straight, will give Micheal the opportunity to really harrass either the McLaren or Renault in front of him! So look, race fans, for some exciting weaving here!!

Podium should be multi-manufacturers: probably one red car, one black & red and one blue and yellow. I know, last year Honda was also on the podium, but don't look for a repeat this year; I'd sooner expect to see D.C. on the podium than Jenson.

But back to Canada. I've been wondering about Webbo for some time (I know he's an Aussie and that should count for something, but remember J.V. is a Canadian and what did that count for last week?!) and now I can't help wondering more. I've seen some great driving from him, like the rest of you ... so how come all I seem to remember lately is excuses?

Consider, for comparison, JPM and Jenson: Monty has, at least, managed some convincing wins against first rate competition and Jenson had a lovely run of podiums last year with equipment roughly comparable to Webbo's Williams.

In short, if I were Sir Frank, I'd be wishing I had polished up my Spanish a little and talked the Columbian into trying one more time with the blue and white. As the Numero Uno at Williams I think he'd be working at least as hard as he is trying to best Kimi --and maybe he'd have better luck with a team that pays attention to the details AS WELL AS to its drivers?

And what of the sad Fisichella? Ah yes, I have long been a believer --and my heart leapt at the start of the season. But can it really be just "bad luck"? Remember Ralph? He can be blindingly fast, too. But only when everything is perfect. And how often does that happen?

No. The drivers that really matter today are as follows:
1. Michael (still the class of the field)
2. Kimi (he will win more than one WDC!)
3. Juan Pablo (no one is more exciting)
4. Rubens (as cool and skilled as D.C. --and faster)
5. Fernando (Kimi's main, and life-long, competitor)
6. Jenson (fast, smart, and most importantly, lucky)
7. D.C. (all anyone remembers is Mikka, but D.C.'s class now shows)

I can't pick a number 8 because there's a whole cluster at this level, including one WDC: J.T.; J.V.; Ralph, Fisi, Massa ...

So. May the best driver win this week and every week to come!!

Jim Watt

[Andre_Brasil]

Hey, Julian, what I meant to say is that those 5 Championships were won with speed AND good strategy.

Good strategy seems to be a rare asset on the pits (and I don't mean team orders).