F1: Team-By-Team Review

Formula 1

F1: Team-By-Team Review - Canadian GP

Here’s a guide to how F1 teams fared in the Canadian GP...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted June 13, 2010 Montreal (CAN)

McLaren teammates Lewis Hamilton (Right) and Jenson Button (Left) embrace after finishing 1-2, respectively, in the Canadian Grand Prix. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

The Canadian GP proved to be an exciting and unpredictable race as tire strategies and multiple pit stops added to the fun. For once we had no safety car interludes, but we had plenty of overtaking and an unusual amount of contact between cars. Here’s how things panned out amongst the 12 teams.

McLaren Mercedes
With its F-Duct boost, McLaren was always going to be quick at Montreal, and Lewis Hamilton duly took a brilliant last second pole. Jenson Button wasn’t quite so happy and had to settle for fifth, gaining a spot when Mark Webber was penalized. Hamilton got into the lead at the start, and shed his unloved options after just six laps. Fernando Alonso jumped him in the pits but he soon got back in front and thereafter had a perfect run to the flag, despite strong pressure from behind. Button put in a tidy drive, gaining second when Alonso tripped up in traffic, and stayed clear of any trouble.

Mercedes GP
Michael Schumacher was second on Friday morning but thereafter Mercedes struggled to get the best out of the tires. Schumacher was stranded down in 13th, while Nico Rosberg made Q3 but could only manage 10th. Rosberg had a bad first lap, almost coming to stop behind the Felipe Massa/Vitantonio Liuzzi shunt and dropping to 14th. He got rid of his options after just five laps and a clean race thereafter saw him rise to sixth place. He set the third fastest lap, bettered only by Robert Kubica (who put new tires on late) and the winner. Schumacher in contrast had a scrappy day that included contact with Kubica (which caused a puncture) and Massa. Struggling on worn options, he dropped out of the points when passed by the Force Indias on the very last lap.

Red Bull Racing teammates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in Canada. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Red Bull Racing
Mark Webber once again just pipped Sebastian Vettel – but this time only for second place, rather than the pole. The team chose to qualify on the prime tire, hoping it was the best bet for the race, but then Webber was bumped down to seventh by a late gearbox change. Vettel got into the lead when the option runners made their early stops, but he dropped to fourth after his own stop, because his rivals had gone faster on fresher tires. Any chance of challenging was spoiled by a gearbox issue that slowed him. Webber moved up nicely and led the race in the middle stint, but he dropped to fifth when he had to take options.

Ferrari
Fernando Alonso was close to the front from the start of the weekend, and ultimately qualified fourth. Felipe Massa was three places behind in seventh. Alonso gained a place from Webber’s penalty and by jumping Hamilton at the first stops led for a while. Hamilton and later Button both passed him, however, and he had to settle for third. Massa’s hopes were over at the start when he got into a territorial dispute with Liuzzi that resulted in a stop for a new nose at the end of lap one. He did his best to regain ground and had made it to the points but then crunched his second nose on Schumacher. He finished 15th.

Williams
Neither Williams driver made it to Q3, but they were best of the rest with Rubens Barrichello taking 11th and Nico Hulkenberg starting just behind him as fastest track rookie. The team splits its drivers for the start, with Hulkenberg on primes and Barrichello on options. Barrichello had contact with Jaime Alguersuari that damaged a brake duct and inevitably led to brake problems, and he finished 14th. He was a place behind his teammate, who endured a wild and busy race that saw him involved in several scraps. He needed a new front wing after hitting Adrian Sutil early on, and got a drive-through for pit speeding.

Renault
Robert Kubica joined the RBR drivers in going for prime tires in qualifying, and on a closely packed grid he was a disappointing eighth. Track newcomer Vitaly Petrov struggled to find any grip, and could not better 14th. Kubica gained two spots from the Liuzzi/Massa tangle but his primes went off early, so his strategy was ruined. After an eventful race he still managed to earn seventh, and even set his fastest lap after an extra tire change. Petrov tangled with Pedro de la Rosa and got drive-throughs for both that and for jumping the start. He finished a lowly 17th.

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