2015 Canadian Grand Prix thread

[Hawkmoon]

The stewards for this Canada race was great for a change. Some stewards would have penalized Vettel for the move that made the Hulk spin. I did enjoy Massa's overtake of the Sauber of Nasr. How close he got! I am sure they must have touched slightly. The rookie did well to keep it together under pressure. I am sure the Steward was a top notch racer in his time. As he saw finer details that distinguish racing from malice or stupidity and made the race more enjoyable. The Monaco steward would have dished out a penalty to Vettel for Hulk's spin.

The ex-driver steward was Alan Jones, the 1980 WDC. He's a fairly no-nonsense guy it would seem. I don't think much of him as a commentator (on Australia TV) but I think he can tell the difference between a stupid move and a bit of hard racing.

[Hawkmoon]

This hits the nail squarely on the head:
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/an...-and-pony-show

Quite a different tone to the previous Ferrari boss. I particularly agree with this part:

I love Montreal but it doesn't mean we have to come out here and carry on this dog and pony show if there is no way of attracting an audience. Without them, you've got nothing.

F1 seems to want to hide itself away behind a pay wall. Fans have little access to the teams and drivers at races because that's reserved for the people who can pay to get into the paddock. Fewer and fewer countries have access to the sport on free-to-air television because the Bernie has let the rights go to pay TV companies who can afford to pay more. Races are lost to the traditional heartland of the sport (ie. Europe) in favour of countries with no motorsport heritage but deep pockets. As a result the stands are half empty because the locals can't afford a ticket. This is to say nothing of the product on the track.

Marchionne is right. A sport is nothing without it's fans. Even if the product on the track improves it won't make much difference if people can't get easy access to it.

[jens]

I dunno, I think Kimi is overrated to be honest. I don't think he is up there with the cream of the crop like Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso. I don't rate Vettel as good as Hamilton or Alonso but he is close enough. He has had his ass handed to him by both Alonso and Vettel now anyway.

Räikkönen is like the McLaren team now. People wax lyrical about how they "used to be great" and how they have "lots of potential", but real life evidence suggests they are no more than mid-level competitors these days and others have stolen the show.

[Nitrodaze]

Räikkönen is like the McLaren team now. People wax lyrical about how they "used to be great" and how they have "lots of potential", but real life evidence suggests they are no more than mid-level competitors these days and others have stolen the show.

I would not say Mclaren was "no more than a mid-level competitor" as you put it. Ferrari has been in this position in the past and Red bull are very much suffering the same but obviously better than Mclaren.
Mclaren was the main engine customer to Mercedes. A status that ensured that they always get the lastest and greatest engine tech that Merc comes up with. Now, with Mercedes running their own F1 team, Mclaren do not enjoy that special relationship anymore as Merc would obviously reserve the cutting edge tech for their team to maintain competitive advantage over its customers.
It is quite clear that Mclaren cannot hope to become world champions in this scenario where they are competing with their engine supplier, hence it is a no brainer that they have to move to a new supplier. In this case Honda.
It is always difficult to make such a technological move, particularly to a supplier that has been out of the sport for some time. Developing the car in this scenario would always put the team down the order of the grid. Hence Mclaren's current position is quite understandable. I assure you it is not a true reflection of the potential of the team. However, what is of interest is how quickly they can recover from where they are to fighting with the sharp end of the grid. If they can do it before the end of this season, then we are set for a cracking 2016 season, where l expect to see Alonso and Button (l hope) challenging for podium positions.
The two giants involved have the resources to do it. And the old partnership with Alonso in their car, also have the potential to do something special if they can get their recovery right. Hopefully by not rushing forward under pressure to deliver but by patiently doing it right.

Mclaren are world champions, definitely not a mid level competitor.

[jens]

You Mr Nitrodaze, have perfectly proven my point. The hype is still there. Three years ongoing.

By the way, I didn't say WAS, I said IS. It doesn't matter, what was decades ago. Lotus was also a top team, but isn't any more.

[jens]

Hence Mclaren's current position is quite understandable.

Not really. If they were somewhere, where Red Bull currently sits, i.e 4th best team, it could perhaps be somewhat understandable. But they are last. Which is worse than Jaguar, Toyota and BAR ever were. Except BAR in 1999...

[jens]

However, what is of interest is how quickly they can recover from where they are to fighting with the sharp end of the grid. If they can do it before the end of this season, then we are set for a cracking 2016 season, where l expect to see Alonso and Button (l hope) challenging for podium positions. .

There is only one example in the last decades, where a backmarker team become a front-runner within 1 year. That was Honda/Brawn GP in 2008-2009. Honda was a backmarker in 2008. However, 2009 saw a major change in technical regulations. As far as I am aware, there are no significant changes for 2016.

Being that far down the field is a sign of serious lack of depth in the team and there is no quick recovery/fix. There is a reason, why a team is last. It means they haven't done their homework well. However, you are right being last is not a true reflection of McLaren's potential. They should be in midfield at least. Saying they are mid-level competitors was actually a praise to them now!

[Nitrodaze]

There is only one example in the last decades, where a backmarker team become a front-runner within 1 year. That was Honda/Brawn GP in 2008-2009. Honda was a backmarker in 2008. However, 2009 saw a major change in technical regulations. As far as I am aware, there are no significant changes for 2016.

Being that far down the field is a sign of serious lack of depth in the team and there is no quick recovery/fix. There is a reason, why a team is last. It means they haven't done their homework well. However, you are right being last is not a true reflection of McLaren's potential. They should be in midfield at least. Saying they are mid-level competitors was actually a praise to them now!

I take your point, there has been a major reshuffle that led up to the engine manufacture switch. Williams is a good example of regrouping from such a re-organisation and it took them a while to get back to the sharpend. And l think they are still tittering on the border of the sharpend. But Mclaren have more resources and funding than Williams, so one would expect a shorter turnaround. With that said, l agree that one season may be a big ask for Mclaren to turn things around. But it can be done within 2 seasons; and to be challenging by the 3rd season, judging by the might of Honda. Boullier has his work cut out. If he pulls it off, he would be one of the most celebrated team managers on the grid.

This raises a number of questions tho:-

1. Can Alonso wait 2 years before being able to mount another world championship campaign? Note that this gestation period is very different from Hamilton's move to Merc. Hamilton had a "top end of the midfield" 1st year at merc, 2nd year won 1st WDC for Merc. But there were other factors involved which are quite different from Mclaren's. In Hamilton-Merc 1st year, the car was already where Williams currently is. The current Mclaren is much further back compared. Merc F1 was strenghten their team approaching taking Hamilton on board while Mclaren had a major reshuffle and engine change.
2. Would Alonso have what it takes to win the WDC in 2017? Can he keep motivated to do it?


I think with all these talks about changes to F1, we are set for some sort of change that could upset the order of things. Hence it is unpredictable who would have the next technological advantage.