The Montreal circuit is known for serving up exciting formula one grand prix races but no one was quite ready for this astonishing race.

The rain came down and threatened to spoil the whole event as spectators were first denied the excitement from the start.  No rush for the first corner, as the Montreal Grand Prix was started with the safety car.  But as the safety car moved over Lewis Hamilton tried one of his familiar over-taking manoeuvres and ran into and span Mark Webber’s car off the track.  Fortunately, both cars were able to continue.  Webber appeared to see Hamilton and move over giving Hamilton enough space to pass. Hamilton also had a light collision with Michael Schumacher before a crash with Jenson Button had Lewis Hamilton retire from the race with a tyre and rear suspension problem on lap 8.

And then the rain came down even heavier.  The safety car was called upon again and it was decided the race should be stopped due to the poor visibility from the spray.

After a long delay the race was restarted. Sebastian Vettel, who had led the race from the start, looked like claiming yet another victory in this season’s F1 championship.  Jenson Button survived collisions with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso and entered the pits six times, five for tyre changes and once to serve a drive-through penalty for driving too fast behind the safety car.  The safety car restarted the race four times in all.  After three restarts and 30 laps remaining, Jenson Button looked completely out of contention in last place.

But Vettel made a mistake and was amazingly out manoeuvred and beaten to the flag by Jenson Button who had come from last to first place as he passed the championship leader with half a lap to go to win the Canadian Grand Prix – a race and victory that will be remembered for a very long time.  Sebatian Vettel was second and Mark Webber third. The victory sees Jenson Button move into second place in the F1 2011 Championship.

F1 2011 Championship

1   Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull-Renault 161 points
2   Jenson Button (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 101
3   Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull-Renault 94
4   Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 85
5   Fernando Alonson (Spain) Ferrari 69
6   Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 32
7   Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault 31
8   Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Renault 29
9   Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes GP 26
10 Nico Rosberg Germany (Mercedes) GP 26

So what of Lewis Hamilton?  Is he a dangerous driver or just frustrated with not having a car to match his ability?  Some commentators would argue that though Sebastian Vettel is a worthy champion, Hamilton is the best driver in the world.  Furthermore, statistics show that no one overtakes as much as Lewis Hamilton which probably accounts for the amount of collisions he is involved in.

Would Lewis Hamilton be even more prolific than Vettel this season if he was driving a Red Bull?

The two British drivers and former World Champions give their thoughts on the Montreal circuit – the venue of Lewis Hamilton’s first ever win in Formula 1, and where the two achieved a perfect one-two finish last year.

Lewis Hamilton - Canadian Grand Prix 2010

Lewis Hamilton crossed the line in the McLaren to take the chequered flag at the Canadian Grand Prix despite being penalised and reprimanded for running out of fuel at the end of his qualifying session on Saturday.  Hamilton was fined $10,000 after stopping on track with an empty tank and a precedent was set to ensure that this is not a regular occurrence.

The Red Bull driver Mark Webber had qualified in second place but was penalised for replacing the gear box on his car and moved down the grid five places.

Lewis Hamilton took the lead at the beginning of the race ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button as a collision between Felipe Massa’s Ferrari and the Force India of Vitantonio Liuzzi occurred.

Within 7 laps of the race most of the front runners were in the pits swapping from the soft to the harder tyre options leaving Vettel in the lead followed by his team-mate Mark Webber. The whole race was to be decided on tyre choices with the Red Bull team drivers choosing different options as the race progressed.  While Vettel chose the option tyre Webber stayed on the primes with the hope of building enough of a lead so as not to lose the lead when he needed to re-pit for his option tyre.  Webber’s hopes were dashed when he was passed one lap before his scheduled stop by Hamilton.

Alonso was sitting in second place in his Ferrari until lap 56 when he was passed by the second McLaren of Jenson Button after getting held up by Karun Chandhok in the Force India.

Robert Kubica was forced to take three stops during his race due to tyre wear and almost collided with the Mercedes of Michael Scumacher emerging from the second stop.  Both cars were jostling for the place over the kerbs in turns three and four, compromising both cars and resulting in Schumacher finishing down in eleventh place.  Kubica was later reprimanded for his dangerous driving when he cut across the track in front of Adrian Sutil to take the entry lane of the pits.

Hamilton took the chequered flag ahead of Button with Alonso in third place.  Vettel finished in fourth place followed by his team-mate Webber in fifth and Nico Rosberg for Mercedes in sixth, Robert Kubica in seventh, Sebastien Buemi in eighth, Liuzzi in ninth and Adrian Sutil in tenth.

Felipe Massa was given a 20-second penalty after the race for speeding in the pit lane after an unscheduled stop when he tangled with Michael Schumacher at the final chicane resulting in a damaged front wing.

Here are the results;

1. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 70 laps 1hr 33m 53.456s
2. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +2.2s
3. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +9.2s
4. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +37.8s
5. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +39.2s
6. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +56.0s
7. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +57.3s
8. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
10. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +1 lap

all times unofficial

Button also speaks about his recent appearance at Buckingham Palace to pick up his MBE and how humbled he was to be in such company.

Australia has now been chosen as the second round, allowing the race to begin at 5pm to fit in with the television broadcasters who favour racing in ‘twilight’ rather than the dark.  However, the Singapore round will still be under full floodlights when it takes place in late September.

Although as yet no contract has been signed, the Canadian Grand Prix has been pencilled in for the 13 June, if the contract fails again this year the Turkey Grand Prix will be held later to compensate.

South Korea is a new circuit on the calendar, set to take place in mid-October with the final round being held in Brazil as usual but it will be held in November.

Here is the calendar;

Australia          March 28
Malaysia           April 4
China              April 18
Spain              May 9
Monaco             May 23
Turkey             May 30
Canada*            June 13
Europe (Valencia)  June 27
Great Britain      July 11
Germany            July 25
Hungary            August 1
Belgium            August 29
Italy              September 12
Singapore          September 26
Japan              October 3
Korea              October 17
Abu Dhabi          October 31
Brazil             November 14

*Subject to the completion of contract negotiations with Formula One Management. If these are not completed then the Turkish Grand Prix will be moved to 6 June.

Note: The race in Australia will start at 1700 local time, in Malaysia at 1600 local time, in Singapore at 2000 local time, and in Abu Dhabi at 1700 local time.

Bernie Ecclestone

The three time Formula One world champion Sir Jackie Stewart has made F1 news in The Times today, saying that the time is right for the sports dictators Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley to step down and some new blood introduced to take the sport into the future.

Stewart is the first to acknowledge the contribution that Ecclestone and Mosley have made to Formula 1, by making the sport what it is today, but believes that the pair are also responsible for what he calls a ‘climate of disillusionment’ in Formula 1, and says that a reappraisal is long overdue.

“The era of big change is now essential because the sport has grown larger than either the governors or the commercial-rights holders. And that’s just a fact,” says Stewart who argues that Ecclestone, in particular, has milked the sport financially and has so much power and influence that “he could suffocate almost any performer who would dare to suggest that there must be change.”

Stewart is also critical of the fact that there is no natural successor to the current managerial stranglehold of Ecclestone and at 78 years old, that has to be wrong and he suggests that the sport would benefit from headhunting a CEO from outside of Formula 1.

Following recent F1 news of cutting running costs for 2009 and onwards, Stewart says that the problem is that too much revenue is finding it’s way into Ecclestone’s pockets and none is coming back into the sport.

It is no secret that many of the teams and racetracks are facing a torrid time in the current financial crisis, Honda’s withdrawal in December and the loss of racing in Canada and France announced last year bear testament to that fact, yet still the teams receive less than 50% of revenue. Racetrack organisers get very little in return from their huge investment often relying on ticket sales alone.

Like many others Stewart dismissed the recent medal proposal as being ‘non sensical an inappropriate for a professional sport.’

Canadian Grand Prix

The Montreal mayor, Gerald Tremblay, believes it may be possible to hold the Canadian Grand Prix in 2009 after a meeting with Bernie Ecclestone in London.

Tremblay told reporters,

“We’ve had a constructive meeting.  We have a better understanding of the issue.  We still have a lot of work to do, to evaluate all the options, but it is still possible to hold the Grand Prix in Montreal in 2009 and subsequent years.”

Tremblay, along with the Quebec Minister of Economic Development, Raymond Bachand and the Federal Minister of International Trade, Michael Fortier, met with Ecclestone regarding the decision not to hold the GP in Canada after reports that the organisers of the event allegedly owe the FOM around $10million in outstanding fees, although it is claimed that the government in Canada are willing to pay the debt.  However, so far the Montreal authorities have denied the claims that they owe money from  the past three years grand prix.

Tremblay said on Radio-Canada, that it would be an enormous economic blow for Montreal to lose the GP which reportedly generates $75million in tourism.

The race’s immediate future will remain up for negotiation until the official 2009 calendar is approved by the World Sport Council later this year.

Canadian Grand Prix Circuit - Montreal

The World Motor Sport Council have issued the calendar for the Formula 1 Grand Prix for 2009 after a meeting on Tuesday and there is to be no Canadian round.

The Canadian Grand Prix was provisionally scheduled for the 7th June but now the Turkish Grand Prix has been moved forward to June from August.

This means there will be no Grand Prix in North America in 2009 which Montreal have hosted since 1987.

Here is the Calendar for 2009;

Australia            29 March
Malaysia             5 April
Bahrain              19 April
Spain                10 May
Monaco               24 May
Turkey               7 June
Great Britain        21 June
France               28 June
Germany              12 July
Hungary              26 July
Europe (Valencia)    23 August
Belgium              30 August
Italy                13 September
Singapore            27 September
Japan                11 October
China                18 October
Brazil               1 November
Abu Dhabi            15 November

This weekend the teams and drivers are in Europe for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours.

The reigning World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen for Ferrari is going to settle for nothing less than first place after his race was destroyed at Montreal the last time out, after being hit from behind by Lewis Hamilton at the exit to the pit lane while waiting for the green light.

Raikkonen is now in fourth place on 35 points, 7 points behind the championship leader Robert Kubica for the BMW Sauber team and also behind the two drivers sharing 38 points, Lewis Hamilton for McLaren and Felipe Massa his team-mate.

The Renault at Red Bull Racing team also have high hopes for the Magny-Cours round after scoring a podium finish in Canada, leaving them fourth in the Championship.

David Coulthard hadn’t even qualified in the top ten, however, that allowed the team to adapt their strategy and filled him with fuel ready to do only one stop.  The team predicted the safety car at some stage during the race and when it did, Coulthard did not have to refuel unlike many of the other drivers and made an error free race to give him that third step on the podium.

The Renault team have had a pretty bad season so far with Fernando Alonso only scoring 9 points out of 7 races so far in 2008 and Nelson Piquet with nothing to show for his debut year.

This is the teams home circuit and they are hoping for more motivation here with the home fans.  The team have just completed a three day test at Barcelona which went well and they are hoping to see some improvement in France.

Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes McLaren took the pole position at Montreal ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix in the final seconds of qualifying.

Robert Kubica had taken pole position only moments before but had to settle for second place on the grid in the BMW Sauber followed by Kimi Raikkonen in third for Ferrai.

Fernando Alonso in the Renault is in fourth followed by Nico Rosberg in fifth for the Williams team.

Felipe Massa is down in sixth position in the second Ferrari after a disappointing session for him followed by Heikki Kovalainen in seventh, over a second slower than his team-mate, Hamilton.

In eighth place is Nick Heidfeld followed by Honda driver, Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber in the Red Bull claiming tenth place.

It is the best grid result so far this season for Barrichello while his Honda team-mate, Jenson Button was the slowest man on the track after suffering a gearbox problem.

Mark Webber could not improve on his tenth place but after having set the fourth fastest time, lost control of his car and hit the wall at turn seven badly damaging the the right hand suspension on the Red Bull and ending his session.

Timo Glock is in eleventh place in the Toyota followed by Kazuki Nakajima for Williams and David Coulthard in the second Red Bull Renault.

Jarno Trulli will start in fourteenth place after a couple of spins again today followed by Nelson Piquet for Renault and Sebastien Bourdais for Toro Rosso.

The two Force India drivers, Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella are next up followed by Button and Sebastian Vettel in the second Toro Rosso.

Here are the results;