Canadian Grand Prix – Race

From my Qualifying notes:

• Pedro de la Rosa is in the Sauber in place of Sergio Perez following SP’s accident in Monaco two weeks ago.
• Tyre compounds for this weekend are: prime is soft (yellow band) and option is super-soft (red band).
• The “Wall of Champions” claimed SV’s Red Bull in Practice 1, and a different wall got lots of attention in Practice 2 with AS, KK & JD each smacking into it. PdlR also hit the wall in Practice 3.
• Provisional grid: SV, FA, FM, MW, LH, NR, JB, MS, NH, VP, PD, KK, PM, AS, SB, RB, PdlR, JA, JT, HK, VL, TG, NK, JD*(outside the 107% time)
• JD has been given the OK to race despite not making the 107% time.

Air temperature 19°C; track 20°C; wind 3.6m/s and it’s raining, so the race will start behind the Safety Car with everyone on wet (orange ring) tyres. They also won’t be allowed to use DRS

JA will start from the pit lane after some last minute changes to his car.

01/70 [SC]: The safety car leads away on the first lap (no formation lap)
JA exits the pit lane and joins the track behind JD – that could be a good move by Toro Rosso

02[SC]: Pit-car radio for FM warning him that they’re expecting heavy rain in 15-20 minutes

03[SC]: Pit-car from LH – he’s keen to get on with the race
General expectation is that McLaren set up their cars for a wet race, which is why they didn’t qualify quite so well

04[SC]: Safety Car in at the end of this lap
SV slows and backs up the pack, so he’s ready to boot it over the line

05/70: FA attacking SV into the main straight and again into Turn 1
LH alongside MW into Turn 1 – contact – MW spins, blocks LH – both rejoin the track
JB off the pace – MS eases past

06: SV, FA, FM, NR, MS, LH, JB, PD, NH, KK
MS defending P5 from LH

06: MS squeezes LH off track in the hairpin

07: SV fastest lap 1:34.827
Incident involving cars 2 and 3 (MW & LH) under investigation

08: The two McLarens touch! LH has broken his left rear suspension!
LH limping back to the pits but he can’t make it – pulls off
Safety Car deployed

08[SC]: JB pits – intermediate tyres (blue ring)
Replay shows LH had a much better exit from the final corner
Race control say no further action for the MW/LH incident

10/70[SC]: SV, FA, FM, NR, MS, KK, NH, VP (JB=P12)
Incident involving cars 3 and 4 (LH & JB) under investigation

11[SC]: Looks like the rain is starting
Incident involving car 3 (LH) safety car speed limit under investigation
Incident involving car 4 (JB) safety car speed limit under investigation – that’s both McLarens!
Why is the SC still out? What’s taking so long?

12[SC]: Pit-car for MW say they may replace the steering wheel at the next pit stop because he has a downshift problem
SC in at the end of this lap
Pit-car for SV telling him JB is on inters

13: MS takes a look at his teammate
MW attacking VP for P8
Drive-through penalty for car 4 (JB)

14: SV, FA, FM, NR, MS, KK, NH
JB enters the pit lane to serve his penalty – rejoins in P15
JB passes SB for P14; RB is next

15/70: JB attacking RB for P13
MW alongside VP out of turn 2; cuts across and takes P8

16: BBC confirm it’s raining in the pit lane
MW takes a look at NH

17: JB is ~4sec/lap quicker on inters – will the front runners swap or hang on and go straight to slicks?
MW takes P7 from NH

18: FA pits from P2 – inters – rejoins between the two Renaults
NR pits too
JB eases past PD for P9

19: FA takes P6 from NH
JB gets great traction out of turn 7 and passes VP
Rain coming down much heavier
Safety Car deployed

20/70[SC]: FA & JB pit – full wets

21[SC]: SV pits, followed by MW – new steering wheel for MW

22[SC]: FM pits, as does MS
Finally the SC has picked up the race leader (SV)
Pit-car from SV: Turn 9 to 13 is undriveable!

23[SC]: SV, KK, FM, NH, VP, PD, MW, FA, PdlR, JB; retirements: LH
On-board camera with SV shows there’s almost zero visibility … and there’s not a race car in front of him throwing up extra water!

24[SC]: BBC confirm it’s still raining heavily with no sign of easing up
Forecast is 20 more minutes of this downpour
Pit-car from JB saying very poor visibility
Looks like the rain is getting heavier!

25/70[SC]: Red flag – race suspended
Cars will line up on the grid
There’ll be a 10 minute warning before the restart

Some drivers are out of their cars
BBC interview LH – JB was slow out of the corner … oh, thanks TSN for cutting away! 🙁

Marshals bring LH’s McLaren back to the pits – tow truck is clearly driven by a local because the front wing of the McLaren is bouncing off the track!

Forecast says no let up in the rain until 2:45pm … well, it’s 2:45 and it’s still pouring, so no sign of a restart yet
Pit-car radio for NK says they don’t expect a restart for at least 30mins

Tweet from Mike Gascoyne: “Rain definitly easing now and starting to get brighter, in fact nearly stopped” [sic]

BBC say the rain has virtually stopped … and there’s a cheer from the crowd 🙂
Sounds like a couple of engines firing up – hopefully we’ll get the 10 minute warning soon

Another Tweet from Mike Gascoyne: “Next heavy shower in 15 mins, but this is only a shower, the front has passed over”

Official update: Race will be resumed at 15:50; all cars must be fitted with wet tyres for the restart.

5mins to the restart; small shower as the teams strap the drivers in and make sure the cars are ready to go
Pit-car for FM says the shower should only last for 5mins

2mins to restart; teams are starting to clear the grid

26/70[SC]: Safety Car leads everyone (except LH, of course) on the restart

27/70[SC]: SV, KK, FM, NH, VP, PD, MW, FA, PdlR, JB

28/70[SC]: Doesn’t appear to be too many puddles – marshals have cleared a lot of the standing water – but there’s still lots of spray and therefore poor visibility

29/70[SC]: Slow moving Lotus – it’s HK – sounds like lots of revs but not much movement
Pit-car radio tells HK to pit

30/70[SC]: HK makes it to the pits and is pushed into the garage

32/70[SC]: Looking like the Safety Car should be in soon
Pit-car for JB asking him if it’s safe to start; JB says it’s about there
Looks like there’s even some sunshine braking through

34/70[SC]: JD pits – inters
SC in at the end of this lap
Pit-car for JB saying there’s only a few more laps on wets and then it’s time to switch to inters
Lights off on the SC
SV starts backing everyone up and then bolts out of the chicane, trying to lose KK

35/70: FM attacks KK into Turn 1 but KK keeps P2
MS and AS pit for inters, as do TG, RB and SB

36: NH, JB JA and PM all pit
Drive through penalty for JD for incorrect tyres – he swapped to inters before the SC came in
AS cuts across the grass but stays out of trouble

37: FM and FA both pit – FA has to wait – unsafe release of FM but they won’t be penalised, they never are 🙁
FA has spun the Ferrari and beached it on the kerbs
Safety Car deployed again!
JB has a puncture – was there contact?

38/70[SC]: SV pits for inters
Replay: JB was up the inside of FA; FA turns in and makes contact; spins the Ferrari but damages the front left of the McLaren
JB pits for new inters and a replacement nose cone

39/70[SC]: Marshals finally get a crane to move FA’s car

40/70[SC]: SV, KK, FM, NH, PD, MW, MS, VP, NR, AS; retirements: FA, HK, LH
Incident involving cars 4 and 5 (JB & FA) under investigation
SC in at the end of this lap
Lights off on the SC; SV backs everyone up; deja vu!

41: replay – AS runs into the back of NR while they’re behind the SC

42: SV f/lap 1:30.847
MW out of shape coming out of the chicane – MS steals P6

43: SV f/lap 1:30.311
PD contact with NH onto the main straight – PD breaks his front wing

44: SV f/lap 1:29.874
PD pits – new nose cone
Drive through penalty for car 14 (AS) for overtaking under the Safety Car

45/70: SV f/lap 1:29.632
SV, KK, FM, NH, MS, MW, VP, AS, RB, PM
Pit-car for FM urging him to dispatch KK as quickly as possible

46: MS has passed his teammate for P4
Race control: DRS is now enabled
MS f/lap 1:29.215
Incident involving cars 9 and 15 (NH & PD) under investigation

47: FM f/lap 1:28.756
MW close to NH – uses DRS and blasts past for P5

48: SV f/lap 1:28.105
Pit-car for FM telling him he tried to activate DRS too soon which is why it didn’t work for him on the previous lap
Incident involving cars 8 and 14 (NR & AS) under investigation

49: MS f/alp 1:27.575
JB attacking PM
JB takes P11 from PM and straight onto the rear of JA

50/70: SV f/lap 1:27.202
JB blasts past JA for P10
MS off track but recovers
Drive-through penalty for PD
AS pits – super-soft

51: Pit-car for SV says they’re within 3 laps of going to dry tyres
MW pits – super-soft (option) tyres
MS passes FM and KK in one move! He’s now P2!
AS has punctured his new slick tyres

52: SV f/lap 1:26.431
More drivers stopping for slicks
AS is pushed into the garage – left rear suspension damage

53: MS pits, as does FM and NH
MW f/lap 1:24.626
FM has damaged his front wing

54: SV pits for super-softs – rejoins still in P1
Replay shows FM was passing an HRT car, on the wet track, slid into the barriers but kept it facing forward
JB f/lap 1:22.759
MW attacking MS into the final chicane but outbrakes himself

55/70: SV, MS, MW, JB, KK, NH, VP, RB, JA, NR
MW f/lap 1: 21.887

56: JB f/lap 1:20.513
NH runs into the rear of KK, brakes his front wing, slides into the barrier and down the escape road
Lots of debris on the road

57[SC]: Safety Car deployed

59[SC]: Still lots of debris from NH’s accident
Marshal fell over in the middle of the track – VP brakes hard to avoid him!

60/70[SC]: SV, MS, MW, JB, KK, VP, RB, JA, NR, PM
Safety Car in the end of this lap
Pit-car from JB asking about the age of the tyres on the cars ahead of him
SC lights off; SV backs everyone up; hammers it out of the hairpin; MS sticking to his tail

61: SV has opened a small gap over MS, who now has MW on his gearbox … who in turn has JB right behind him
Remember: no DRS for 2 laps after the SC pits

62: SV continues to pull away as the next 3 cars battle over P2

63: PM has stopped just after a pit stop

64: MW passes MS into the last corner but cuts across the grass
MW gives P2 back to MS but manages to keep JB behind him
MW cuts the final chicane again

65/70: MW’s out of shape out of the final turn; JB steals P3 while MW tries to stay out of the wall
JB’s now all over MS’s gearbox now
JB gets to use DRS and storms past MS 🙂

66: MW now pressuring MS again

67: MS takes a lot of kerb as he tries to keep MS behind him
JB f/lap 1:17.967 – that’s 1.5sec faster than SV
SV might be saved because we’ll run out of time before the final lap

68: MW passes MS for P3 and keeps it clean; instead it’s MS who cuts the corner
JB f/lap 1:17.509
Incident involving VP and KK under investigation

69: JB f/lap 1:17.218 – he’s 1.1sec behind SV
PD has pulled the Force India off track
JB under 1sec behind SV so he can use DRS

70/70 = final lap: JB f/lap 1:16.956
SV is pushing his Red Bull really hard – barely missed the wall
SV slides the tail out and JB steals P1 – YES!!! 🙂

JB takes the chequered flag … after 5 pit stops and a drive-through penalty!
SV P2
MW just ahead of MS for P3
VP P5
FM uses DRS to steal P6 from KK by just inches
JA P8; RB P9; SB P10
P11=NR, 12=PdlR, 13=VL (+1 lap), 14=NK, 15=JD, 16=TG, 17=JT, 18=PD
DNF: PM, NH, AS, FA, HK, LH

Yet another investigation: NK and TG this time – we may not have a final result for a few hours!

Provisional result: JB, SV, MW, MS, VP, FM, KK, JA, RB, SB, NR, PdlR, VL, NK, JD, TG, JT, PD … but there are lots of investigations still outstanding, including one involving JB.