2007 Canadian Grand Prix
Template:F1 race report infobox The 2007 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 10 June, 2007, at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montréal, Canada.[1] It was the sixth race of the 2007 Formula One season. The race was won by Lewis Hamilton, who also started from pole position on the grid; it was his first Formula One victory. Second and third places were taken by Nick Heidfeld and Alexander Wurz, making this the first Grand Prix of the 2007 season that has had drivers from teams other than Ferrari and McLaren on the podium.[2]
The race was filled with many incidents resulting in the safety car being deployed on four separate occasions. This included the violent impact of Robert Kubica's BMW Sauber against a concrete retaining wall, that he escaped with a sprained ankle and concussion.[3] During the race Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella were disqualified for failing to stop at the end of the pit lane when the exit was closed.[2]
Report
Pre-Race
At a test session at the Paul Ricard circuit on May 17, with the track set up to replicate, set up to replicate the conditions of the Canadian Grand Prix. Despite the fact that the previous 2 days, the McLaren team had dominated on the Monaco set up of the circuit, Ferrari had the best of the next 2 days results on the Canadian set up.[4][5] During the 2 weeks leading up to the race, Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa released statements to the press saying that they believed that everything will be different in Canada because of the very different conditions - as shown at Paul Ricard.[6]
Practice started on the Friday with Fernando Alonso leading the way on both of the 2 practice sessions.[7][8] The Spaniard outpaced his team mate and the closest Ferrari, Felipe Massa on both occasions. BMW Sauber showed good results from Nick Heidfeld - at 5th place then 7th place - despite the fact he said the car was difficult to drive,[9] but Robert Kubica suffered from a fuel leak resulting in him being unable to post a timed lap and a considerably slow time in the second practice. Kubica told the press after the fuel leak, "the car has been quite difficult to drive."[9] Red Bull showed promising results with both drivers in the top ten on the morning practice.[7] Honda stayed down behind its customer team Super Aguri in the first practice, but got Barrichello above the Super Aguri car of Takuma Sato in the second practice. Toyota's suspension problems meant that their second practice was cut short. After first seeing problems with Jarno Trulli's suspension, Toyota stopped both drivers for 45 minutes as a precautionary measure.[9] By the time they got the cars back on the track, they only managed a few extra laps until the problem reoccurred. Heikki Kovalainen ended a poor practice day by going into the wall at turn 7 on old tyres, damaging the suspension.[9] His team mate, Fisichella, had better fortunes, staying in the top 8 in both sessions.[7][8] At the end of the afternoon practice, Mark Webber slowed down unexpectedly before turn 8 causing Scott Speed to go straight into the back of the Australian's Red Bull car.[10]
The morning Saturday practice lasted 43 minutes, 17 minutes short of the 60 minute practice scheduled, due to the Renault car of Kovalainen with a suspected engine failure spilling oil on the track - a failure continuing his run of bad form during this race weekend.[11] This resulted in a red flag period, 10:33am-10:50am local time. Hamilton lead the practice with the fastest lap; with Räikkönen, Alonso and Massa taking second, third and fourth respectively. Sato finished a strong session in the Super Aguri car in fifth place, outpacing the Honda works team for the second time this race weekend. Toyota continued their bad weekend with fourteenth and sixteenth places.[12] Their suspension problems from the day before had not been resolved, and the two drivers were given instructions not to ride the kerbs at turn 8, to avoid further damage to the suspension.[13] Red Bull came back with 2 repaired cars to enter the top ten with both the cars.[12]
Qualifying
Qualifying saw Hamilton take his first pole position, in a McLaren one-two on the front row.[14] Heidfeld drove very well to take third position, in front of the Ferraris of Räikkönen and Massa.[14] Massa shared the third row with Mark Webber, who didn't seem to be suffering the same braking problem that almost put team mate David Coulthard out in Q1. Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica, Giancarlo Fisichella and Janro Trulli completed the top ten.[15]
Consistent with previous form, the Hondas of Barrichello and Button failed to make the cut into the top ten; they qualified thirteenth and fifteenth respectively. Takuma Sato, once again out-qualifying the two works Honda cars, only just missed out on the top ten, just in front of Vitantonio Liuzzi. Coulthard, after a his braking problem in Q1, had only one shot at a lap.[16] He just made it through to Q2 where he settled with a position in-between the two works Honda cars. Scott Speed was the slowest car in Q2 putting him in sixteenth position.[15]
Anthony Davidson just missed out on Q2 putting his Super Aguri in 17th position behind his team mate Sato. Ralf Schumacher and his team were disappointed, qualifying at 18th.[15] Heikki Kovalainen crashed into the wall at turn 5, damaging his rear suspension and losing his rear wing, resulting in a red flagged session.[14] Once the debris had been cleared, Kovalainen in his repaired car managed one flying lap that put him in 13th, after which he was pushed down by better times to 19th. Unfortunately for him, he had to make an engine change due to a rare engine failure and was thus demoted to the back of the grid.[17] Wurz, Sutil and Albers qualified in 19th, 20th and 21st after being pushed up a place by Kovalainen's engine change.[15]
Race
Lewis Hamilton led from the start, fending off Fernando Alonso at turn one, with Alonso running wide and letting Nick Heidfeld go through to second place, Alonso damaging his car in the process, he would run off a further three times at this point[18][19] Everybody got off the grid except for Jenson Button who had a gearbox problem and could not select first gear.[20] The first accident of the day was Scott Speed who clipped the rear wing of Wurz and went into the hairpin with broken suspension.
Hamilton had opened up a lead over Heidfeld of 19 seconds by lap 21. Alonso meanwhile showed little to no pressure of overtaking Heidfeld. Alonso makes a mistake on lap 14 and 18 and, after falling to over 5 seconds behind Heidfeld, is overtaken by Felipe Massa. Massa moved into second when Heidfeld pitted on lap 20. Hamilton pitted on lap 22 and rejoined in third place.[21]
On lap 22, Adrian Sutil crashed at turn four, and safety car had to be deployed, Hamilton had just pitted before the safety car was deployed.[22] At that point, the pit lane was closed but Alonso and Nico Rosberg were forced to pit in order to avoid running out of fuel, and were given 10-second stop/go penalties. When the pit lane was opened and the rest of the field pitted. Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella left the pit lane when the red light was still on, and both were later black-flagged from the race on lap 51.[23] The safety car was also deployed on lap 50, due to debris from Christijan Albers 's crash on the previous lap, and on lap 55 due to Vitantonio Liuzzi crashing into a wall. During a safety car deployment on lap 58, Jarno Trulli crashed after a pit stop.[21]
The race was restarted on lap 26, and on the approach to the hairpin on the first lap afterwards Robert Kubica hit the back of the Toyota of Jarno Trulli. The impact forced Kubica onto the grass at the edge of the track, where a bump launched his car into the concrete wall just before the hairpin. After losing much of the nosecone and front suspension in the initial impact, the BMW flipped back across the track and came to rest against the armco in the run-off area on the other side of the track. Although initial reports said that he had broken his leg, he escaped with a sprained ankle and concussion.[24] Trulli witnessed the crash in his rear-view mirrors and lost concentration due to the worry about the Polish driver's condition; due to this, he crashed on the exit of the pitlane after his second stop. The safety car was deployed again after this crash.
On lap 37, Trulli and Nico Rosberg are battling for position. Both spin off the track in almost synchronised fashion touching each other. This was an amussing occurrence due to it resembling a form of dance. Both drivers were able to keep going. One lap later David Coulthard is forced to retire due to a gearbox problem.[25]
Including the two disqualifications, a total of 10 drivers failed to finish the race, 6 of them because of accidents. Several cars were damaged during the race: Alex Wurz's rear wing was damaged in the incident that took out Scott Speed, while Anthony Davidson hit a groundhog[26] on the racetrack, while running in third place. This meant that the safety car had to be deployed on numerous occasions. At the final restart with 10 laps remaining, all of the remaining cars were on the same lap creating some close racing and overtaking. Hamilton sustained his consistent pace throughout all of the incidents and pulled well clear of Heidfeld in the closing stages, taking his first race win relatively comfortably.[2] His championship lead was strengthened when Takuma Sato, in a Super Aguri, passed reigning champion Fernando Alonso for sixth place around the outside of the final chicane.[18]
Austria's Alexander Wurz picked up his third career podium with third, in the race that marked ten years since his debut race in F1; Nick Heidfeld picked up 2nd place after trailing Hamilton for the majority of the race distance. The race was the first time in the 2007 season where a driver other than the four from Ferrari and McLaren made the podium.[2]
Reaction to the race was mainly focused on Hamilton. This was due to the fact that it was his first grand prix victory, making him first black driver to ever win. It was also thought impressive that it had taken only six races for him to win and, in the process, take the lead in the drivers championship at the age of 22. Niki Lauda was "stunned" by the victory and Damon Hill believed "People should not underestimate what he had achieved in a short space of time". Speculation began in the media about the possibility of him winning the drivers championship. Alonso and the Ferrari team were disappointed with the outcome of the race. By finshing seventh Alonso lost ground on Hamilton in the divers championship. Ferrari also lost grond in both the constructors and driver championship by gaining a total of just four pionts fromn the race. Alonso belived Hamilton to be "very lucky" to have won the race and did not congratulate his team-mate after the race. Hamilton's prerformance was felt to been faultless and all the more impressive due to four separate deployments of the Safety Car.[27][28][29]
Classification
Qualifying
| Pos | Name | Team/Engine | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Lewis Hamilton
|
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:16.576 | 1:15.486 | 1:15.707 |
| 2 |  Fernando Alonso
|
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:16.562 | 1:15.522 | 1:16.163 |
| 3 |  Nick Heidfeld
|
BMW Sauber | 1:17.006 | 1:15.960 | 1:16.266 |
| 4 |  Kimi Räikkönen
|
Ferrari | 1:16.468 | 1:16.592 | 1:16.411 |
| 5 |  Felipe Massa
|
Ferrari | 1:16.756 | 1:16.138 | 1:16.570 |
| 6 |  Mark Webber
|
Red Bull-Renault | 1:17.315 | 1:16.257 | 1:16.913 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg
|
Williams-Toyota | 1:17.016 | 1:16.190 | 1:16.919 |
| 8 |  Robert Kubica
|
BMW Sauber | 1:17.267 | 1:16.368 | 1:16.993 |
| 9 |  Giancarlo Fisichella
|
Renault | 1:16.805 | 1:16.288 | 1:17.229 |
| 10 | Jarno Trulli
|
Toyota | 1:17.324 | 1:16.600 | 1:17.747 |
| 11 |  Takuma Sato
|
Super Aguri-Honda | 1:17.490 | 1:16.743 | |
| 12 | Vitantonio Liuzzi
|
Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:17.541 | 1:16.760 | |
| 13 | Rubens Barrichello
|
Honda | 1:17.011 | 1:17.116 | |
| 14 | David Coulthard
|
Red Bull-Renault | 1:17.436 | 1:17.304 | |
| 15 | Jenson Button
|
Honda | 1:17.522 | 1:17.541 | |
| 16 |  Scott Speed
|
Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:17.433 | 1:17.571 | |
| 17 | Anthony Davidson
|
Super Aguri-Honda | 1:17.542 | ||
| 18 | Ralf Schumacher
|
Toyota | 1:17.634 | ||
| 19 |  Alexander Wurz
|
Williams-Toyota | 1:18.089 | ||
| 20 | Adrian Sutil
|
Spyker-Ferrari | 1:18.536 | ||
| 21 |  Christijan Albers
|
Spyker-Ferrari | 1:19.196 | ||
| 22 | Heikki Kovalainen
|
Renault | 1:17.806* |
* Heikki Kovalainen made an engine change putting him back 10 places.
Race
Notes
- Fastest Lap: Fernando Alonso, 1:16.367 (Lap 46, 205.580 km/h)
- Laps led: Lewis Hamilton 67 (1–21 & 25–70), Felipe Massa 3 (22–24)
References
- ^ "Race page on Formula1.com". Formula1.com. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
- ^ a b c d "Race report". Formula1.com. 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
- ^ "Kubica escapes injury after crash". BBC. 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-06-10.
- ^ "Paul Ricard day three - Raikkonen takes charge". Formula1.com. 2007-05-18. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ "Paul Ricard day four - Raikkonen once more". Formula1.com. 2007-05-18. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ "McLaren will not dominate Canada - Räikkönen". GPUpdate.net. 2007-06-06. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ a b c "Friday practice 1 results". Formula1.com. 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ a b "Friday practice 2 results". Formula1.com. 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ a b c d "Friday practice - selected driver quotes". Formula1.com. 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ "Webber reprimanded over Speed clash". Formula1.com. 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ "Hamilton tops disrupted session". Formula1.com. 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ a b "Saturday practice results". Formula1.com. 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ "Toyota will race despite suspension problem". Formula1.com. 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ a b c "Hamilton grabs his maiden pole". Formula1.com. 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ a b c d "Qualifying results". Formula1.com. 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ "Red Bull hopes ride high with Webber". GPUpdate.net. 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2007-06-10.
- ^ "Engine penalty for Kovalainen". Formula1.com. 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
- ^ a b "Alonso, Ferrari struggle in Canada". Formula1.com. 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-06-10.
- ^ "Hamilton triumphant in Montreal". 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|Publisher=ignored (|publisher=suggested) (help) - ^ "Canadian Grand Prix - selected driver quotes". Formula1.com. 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-06-10.
- ^ a b "Canadian Grand Prix Commentary". 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|Publisher=ignored (|publisher=suggested) (help) - ^ "Adrian Sutil". autoracingdaily.com. 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ^ "Massa, Fisichella don't see red". eurosport. 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ^ "Unscathed Kubica out of hospital". BBC. 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
- ^ "F1 2007 Canada Race Report". bitsofnews.com. 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
- ^ "Beaver not guilty in Davidson F1 crash". The New Zealand Herald. 13 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
- ^ "Ten Conclusions From The Canadian GP". planet-f1.com. 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
- ^ "Sky's the limit for Hamilton". BBC. 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
- ^ "Hill applauds Hamilton's first win". autosport. 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
External links