2016 Canadian GP

F1 will head to the land above the USA as they head to Canada. Tire choices for Canada will be the same as it was in Monaco (Soft, Supersoft, Ultrasoft), however, Haas and Renault have thrown the dice by not bringing any Supersoft tires. Here are the headlines entering Canada ay.

Lewis Hamilton: "That win was earned"

Instead of having an underdog win the biggest race, Lewis Hamilton took the top step of the podium. What made people scratch their heads was in an interview after the race. Lewis said that his win was "earned." Sure, because having Nico being ordered to move over and Red Bull forgetting Riccardo needed tires was the way to earn the win.

Sergio Perez Shocks the Field?

Sergio Perez took his Sahara Force India and finished a very impressive 3rd, but this has been the norm for quiet Sergio. Since 2014, Sergio has more podiums than McLaren (3 to 2) and has more podiums than former 24 hour of Le Mans champion Nico Hulkenburg. Sergio consistently has good rounds but usually does not find himself getting the attention that Hulkenburg does. Who knows, Sergio Perez could be a driver people may need to have his name thrown in the "I will replace Kimi" race.

Poor Riccardo

Somebody get poor Daniel Riccardo some tissues. His first pole was amazing, however, what happened to him in the race was more amazing. For Daniel's pit stop going from intermediate tires to Supersoft tires, his crew were so worried about Max Verstappen's car that they waited 10 seconds before getting Riccardo's tires. This blunder ended Riccardo's victory drive and gave it to Lewis Hamilton.

Welcome to the Party McLaren!

Hey everyone, there are people awake at McLaren. Who knew all they needed was for me to let them hear it...if they read the EFR forums. It seems the McLaren Honda may have some speed that it did not have at all last season, to quote Fernando Alonso, "GP2 Engine." It seems McLaren's possible return to the front is projected for 2017. Now, I wonder if Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso will have the motivation to come back for McLaren in 2017.

The Penalty Box

Not everyone in Monaco got away without a penalty. F1 will give grid spot penalties to Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson for their... interesting moves in Monaco. Kvyat's penalty was for his collision with Renault's Kevin Magnusson...as if Kvyat's season could get any worse than it already is. Marcus Ericsson's penalty came from his collision with Sauber teammate Felipe Nasr. Nasr and Ericsson's relationship is about as strained as Rosberg's and Hamilton's, it is just we don't notice Sauber that often.

Also to add, it'll be interesting to see how much more pressure will be heaped on Haryanto at Manor in the wake of Alexander Rossi's Indianapolis 500 victory. Can he come up with the IndoMonies needed to stay alive in the sport?

Magus978 wrote:Also to add, it'll be interesting to see how much more pressure will be heaped on Haryanto at Manor in the wake of Alexander Rossi's Indianapolis 500 victory. Can he come up with the IndoMonies needed to stay alive in the sport?

Rossi has definitely put Haryanto on notice. The kickstarter for that to happen will be Kimi Raikkonen. If Raikkonen retires, then it will be a domino effect to fill in rides for 2017.

Also, Nico Rosberg will be another kickstarter for ride swaps. If he leaves Mercedes, there will be 2 major rides available that several drivers could fill.

I know this will sound crazy, but it is highly possible that if the ride swaps go the way I think they will, Rossi could end up at a team like Force India, Williams, McLaren, and maybe Haas. Below is what I think could get Rossi at one of the teams listed.

Raikkonen, Massa, Button, Alonso retire
Rosberg to Ferrari
Wehrlein to Mercedes
Sainz to Williams or Force India
Perez to McLaren or Williams
Gutierrez either out or to Manor

Then, there will be seats open at, from my predictions, Toro Rosso, McLaren, Haas, Manor, Williams, it is possibly wide open who goes where.

Silly season is a bit early to call, but I would be thinking that anyone who works at Sauber doesn't have good job security at the moment, from the shop sweeps to the executives. Honda might be what they need (driver development, financial input), but Ron Dennis wouldn't be too keen on that...

Red Bull might have a tougher time in Canada than they did in Monaco. This might be Ferrari's time to jump up and take the fight to Mercedes. I would expect the Mercs to triumph but this might be a time for Ferrari and perhaps even Haas to shine... Ferrari I think has an engine upgrade in the works for Canada.

If Renault is having problems with brakes, then Montreal will exacerbate those problems. If Palmer is having problems with talent, then Montreal will also... exacerbate that problem.

Is it just me or is Pascal Wehrlein perhaps trying a bit too hard? Seems half of the problems he is having outqualifying Haryanto seem to be from him pushing too hard and making errors. Granted... I don't think Haryanto has actually beaten Wehrlein in a true head to head, and Wehrlein certainly doesn't have problems when it comes to racing other cars. Being lapped, however...

Haryanto's ride is safe until July I think. Afterwards... Rossi may be getting the call to replace him, and winning the Indy 500 certainly helped his case, but I can't help but wonder if Manor might have their eye on someone else with the appropriate amount of money talent for that ride instead...

Cynon wrote:
Haryanto's ride is safe until July I think. Afterwards... Rossi may be getting the call to replace him, and winning the Indy 500 certainly helped his case, but I can't help but wonder if Manor might have their eye on someone else with the appropriate amount of money talent for that ride instead...

The other potential name i've heard is Jordan King, who's dad is the chairman of Manor. Problem is King was not that good in GP2 last year and saying Rossi smoked him results wise is an understatement.

Alta wrote:

Cynon wrote:
Haryanto's ride is safe until July I think. Afterwards... Rossi may be getting the call to replace him, and winning the Indy 500 certainly helped his case, but I can't help but wonder if Manor might have their eye on someone else with the appropriate amount of money talent for that ride instead...

The other potential name i've heard is Jordan King, who's dad is the chairman of Manor. Problem is King was not that good in GP2 last year and saying Rossi smoked him results wise is an understatement.

Before I forget, what about Stoffel Vandoorne? Remember in Bahrain, he scored McLaren's first point of the season in an underpowered MP4/41...or whatever version they are at. But, knowing Manor, I will have my hopes crushed before they could be raised.

The_Wall_91 wrote:

Alta wrote:

Cynon wrote:
Haryanto's ride is safe until July I think. Afterwards... Rossi may be getting the call to replace him, and winning the Indy 500 certainly helped his case, but I can't help but wonder if Manor might have their eye on someone else with the appropriate amount of money talent for that ride instead...

The other potential name i've heard is Jordan King, who's dad is the chairman of Manor. Problem is King was not that good in GP2 last year and saying Rossi smoked him results wise is an understatement.

Before I forget, what about Stoffel Vandoorne? Remember in Bahrain, he scored McLaren's first point of the season in an underpowered MP4/41...or whatever version they are at. But, knowing Manor, I will have my hopes crushed before they could be raised.

I think McLaren has him locked down, especially with rumors coming up of him replacing Button.

Here are the numbers for the Canadian GP

3: 3 venues have hosted the Canadian GP, Montreal, Mosport, and Mont-Tremblant.

433: Michael Schumacher holds the laps led record in Canada by almost 200 laps over Lewis Hamilton.

7: Michael Schumacher has won 7 Canadian GP's.

4: Lewis Hamilton leads all active drivers in Canadian GP wins with 4.

6: 6 active drivers have won the Canadian GP, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Alonso, Button, Vettel, and Riccardo.

45%: The average percent of lap time spent at full throttle in Canada.

10: The lowest position to win in Canada, achieved in 1981 by Jacques Laffite.

1: Gilles Villeneuve has won 1 race at his home track.

253.248km: In 1997, the Canadian GP was shortened from 69 to 54 laps due to a crash by Olivier Panis.

341.9km/h: Romain Grosjean scored the fastest speed in the now rebranded Lotus team.

7 Again: 7 track reconfigurations have happened at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.

We could be dealing with more rain this weekend

In FP2, Max Verstappen to Kevin Magnusson was separated by 1 second, that is 13 cars within 1 second of each other. I am ready for a dramatic qualifying session.

In FP3, Kevin Magnusson had a terrible crash which ended practice 8 minutes short. The top 5 is Vettel, Verstappen, Rosberg, Raikkonen, and Hamilton.

Hamilton Grabs Pole, Flirts With Track Record

Lewis Hamilton grabbed the pole with a time of 1:12.816, only 6 tenths off of Ralf Schumacher's track record time. The only major incidents were a spin by Haryanto in Q1 and Carlos Sainz "kissing" the wall of champions in Q2. Here will be the starting lineup for the Canadian GP.

Row 1: Hamilton - Rosberg
Row 2: Vettel - Riccardo
Row 3: Verstappen - Raikkonen
Row 4: Bottas - Massa
Row 5: Hulkenburg - Alonso
Row 6: Perez - Button
Row 7: Kvyat(3 Spot Grid Penalty, will start 16th) - Gutierrez
Row 8: Grosjean - Sainz
Row 9: Palmer - Wehrlein
Row 10: Ericsson(3 Spot Grid Penalty, will start 22nd) - Nasr
Row 11: Haryanto - Magnusson(DNS Q1, will start from the pits)

Sainz will receive a 5 spot grid penalty for a gearbox change

This race has been moved to NBCSN due to ongoing coverage of the terror attack in Orlando.

That was absolutely brilliant defensive driving by Verstappen to hold off Rosberg without resorting to dirty driving. He should have fallen to 5th with seven laps to go, but made sure that the only way that the #6 car could get around him was if it self-spun in the process!

Compliments to Ferrari on yet another beautifully crafted strategic race.