Paul Henman formula1,montreal Canadian Grand Prix – Qualifying

Canadian Grand Prix – Qualifying

The weekend after the Montreal beer festival it’s time for the Grand Prix circus to hit town. Last weekend we had high humidity and thunderstorms; Free Practice 1 was wet but fortunately not as bad as two years ago. DIR was fastest in FP1 (1:21.020) followed by BUT, GRO, ALO and RAI. FP2 was dry; ALO topped the timing chart (1:14.818) then HAM, GRO, WEB & ROS. Barrier repairs delayed the start of FP3, cutting the session to 30 minutes; the track was declared wet but a dry line appeared early on; WEB was quickest (1:17.895), SUT, HAM, ALO & VET.

Tyre compounds for this weekend are the white-marked mediums (prime) and red super-soft (options).

GRO has a 10 grid-spot penalty after causing an accident with RIC in Monaco.

A few minutes before the start of Qualifying and the heavens open – another downpour but it’s forecast to stop soon.
Radio for PIC saying it should end shortly

Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
Green lights – pit lane open
Rush to get on track on supersoft (option) dry tyres, in the hope of posting a time before the track gets too wet
RAI off-track but recovers
BIA spins in the hairpin
They’re all coming back in to change onto intermediates
Confusion in the Ferrari pit box
Everyone on track; only PIC on slicks (assuming that info is correct)
Looks like there’s a dry line on the uphill straight
VER 1:28.204
MAS 1:28.093
HAM 1:27.308
ROS 1:26.781
SUT almost rear-ends someone under braking
HAM cuts Turn 1
VET 1:26.293
Radio for ROS expecting this session to dry out and times will drop
HAM 1:25.944
ALO makes a real mess of Turn 2
RAI cuts the chicane
VET 1:24.788
10mins left of Q1
Lap times suggest it’s almost time to switch to slicks but parts of the track still look slippery, especially Turn 9
BIA cuts the final chicane
HAM 1:24.544
VET 1:24.083
ROS 1:23.840
Radio from VET – tyres are going off
5mins left of Q1; bottom 6 are BUT, CHI, VER, PIC, BIA, VDG
It’s still raining and too slippery for slicks
HAM 1:23.801
MAS 1:23.735
WEB 1:23.247
VET (on his out-lap) takes his time letting BUT past
3mins left; bottom 6 are BOT, RIC, CHI, VER, BIA, VDG
ALO 1:23.224
VET 1:22.318
1min left; bottom 6 are GUT, PIC, GRO, BIA, CHI, VDG
GRO runs wide in the hairpin
Chequered flag
GRO can’t improve on his time so he won’t make it in to Q2
Back of the grid: DIR, PIC, GRO*, BIA, CHI, VDG.
GRO’s 10 grid-spot penalty will drop him to P22

Air temperature 16°C; track 15°C; wind 2.6m/s; still raining

Qualifying session 2
MAS off at the first chicane; reverses back onto the track!
WEB 1:29.672
HAM 1:29.259
ALO cuts the final chicane … as do BUT, HAM and SUT
VET 1:28.825
SUT follows HAM as the miss the turn-in for the first chicane
VET 1:28.166
5mins left of Q2; bottom 6 are PER, GUT, MAS, SUT, MAL, BUT
Will someone switch to full wet tyres?
WEB 1:28.145
Radio for BUT – “we need to find 2 seconds”!
(BOT P3)
3mins left; RIC, ALO, SUT, MAS, GUT
MAS has stuffed his Ferrari in the tyre wall
Red flag – session suspended with 1:59 left of Q2
Replay shows MAS touch the white line under braking, then he’s a passenger as he slides sideways into the tyre wall
MAS clearly frustrated but he’s out of the car OK
BBC mention an interesting strategy: if you’re in P9/P10, sit at the pit exit and that’ll mean anyone trying to improve their time might not get to start a fast lap in time
Pit exit is getting busy as everyone waits to get on track
They’re 2 or 3 abreast at the pit exit – they’re supposed to be in single file
This is going to be interesting!
Green light; Q2 restarts with 1:59 left
Mad dash to get round on their out-lap before the chequered flag falls
BUT is near the back of the pack – he’s probably not going to make it
Bottom 6 are MAL, BUT, RIC, GUT, MAS, SUT
Chequered flag; WEB & BUT didn’t make it
SUT P9
HAM 1:27.649
RIC P10
Middle of the grid: HUL, PER, MAL, BUT, GUT, MAS
Yes, BOT (Bottas) is in Q3 but not BUT (Button)

The fight over the top 10 grid spots will be between HAM, WEB, VET, BOT, ROS, VER, RAI, ALO, SUT & RIC

Qualifying session 3
VET and WEB at the head of the queue at the pit exit
Green lights – WEB a bit slow getting going so RAI passes him
Radio for SUT – plan is 2 timed laps, pit for new tyres, then 2 more timed laps
WEB cuts Turn 3
VET 1:25.425
RAI P2
ROS P2
HAM P2
First lap done; order is VET, HAM, BOT, ROS, ALO, RAI, VER, PIC, SUT, WEB
RAI cuts Turn 9
Pit stops for more inters
Radio for RAI – run of 3 timed laps
3mins left of Q3; everyone on track
Radio for ROS – rain increasing
2mins left; order is VET, HAM, BOT, ROS, WEB, ALO, VER, RAI, RIC, SUT
WEB slides the tail in the final corner
Times are not improving
Chequered flag
HAM cuts the final chicane
RAI just keeps his Lotus out of the Wall Of Champions
Front of the grid: VET, HAM, BOT, ROS, WEB, ALO, VER, SUT, RAI, RIC

Provisional grid: VET, HAM, BOT, ROS, WEB, ALO, VER, SUT, RAI, RIC; HUL, PER, MAL, BUT, GUT, MAS; DIR, PIC, GRO*, BIA, CHI, VDG.
GRO’s 10 grid-spot penalty will drop him to P22

4 thoughts on “Canadian Grand Prix – Qualifying”

  1. I forgot to update my GridBids picks for this race so (I think) it’ll be the same as the previous race, which means they are VET, WEB, BUT, ROS, HAM & HUL.

  2. “Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen and Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo have been given two-place grid penalties for not queuing up correctly at the pit exit when Q2 resumed” [source: FIA]

    “With Raikkonen’s penalty being applied before Ricciardo’s, both drivers actually lose just one place on the provisional grid and will now start Sunday’s race from 10th and 11th respectively, while Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg moves up two places to ninth.”

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