Canadian Grand Prix was best race since Brazil 2008, F1 Fanatic readers say

Posted on

| Written by

The race leaders battle for position in Montreal

Just how good was Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix? According to F1 Fanatic readers it was the best race since the epic championship showdown at Interlagos two years ago.

Now Bridgestone is looking into what lessons it can learn from the race to help produce more exciting Grands Prix over the rest of the season. But the power to do that doesn’t rest entirely in its hands.

The Canadian Grand Prix received an average score of 8.668 out of ten in our regular ‘rate the race’ poll answered by over 3,000 readers. Since the start of 2008, only the championship finale at that year’s Brazilian Grand Prix received a higher rating.

Three of the top four races as rated since the beginning of 2008 were all from this season:

1. 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix – 8.756
2. 2010 Canadian Grand Prix – 8.668
3. 2010 Australian Grand Prix – 8.638
4. 2010 Chinese Grand Prix – 8.326

Of course, two of those were affected by rain. But the dry Turkish Grand Prix also scored highly and is ranked ninth. This is very encouraging after the poor season opener in Bahrain.

According to Autosport, Bridgestone is now looking into whether they can bring their super-soft tyres to more races this year which they hope will promote more exciting racing without compromising safety.

But the super-soft tyres were also used at the Bahrain Grand Prix – which was as dreary a race I’ve ever seen. They can’t be the only reason why Sunday’s race was so good.

What made Canada a cracker was not just that the tyres didn’t last as long as usual, but that their performance was so unpredictable. The likes of Red Bull, who started the race on the medium tyres, expected them to out-last the super-softs at the start of the race far longer than they did.

Teams have such a wealth of data on tyre performance that, ordinarily, they can predict exactly how a compound is going to perform and degrade. Changes to the track surface at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, overnight rain on Friday and varying temperatures all played a role on turning Sunday strategy into a guessing game.

The same tyres will be used at Valencia for the European Grand Prix next weekend. Will we see as good a race there? Adrian Sutil doesn’t think so, because they believe they understand how the tyres will work there:

Montreal was a fantastic race for everybody, good for everyone to look at it. But Valencia is not such a chaotic race because the tyres work really well there. Montreal was just dominated by the tyres, which was why so much overtaking was possible. It was the situation of the whole weekend.
Adrian Sutil

This is not to say that Bridgestone shouldn’t bring softer tyres whenever it can to future races – they definitely should.

But an unpredictable track surface, and a circuit configuration that both reduced the harmful affects of turbulence on a chasing car and increased the chance of the leaders catching traffic also contributed to the great race we saw on Sunday.

2010 Canadian Grand Prix

    Browse all 2010 Canadian Grand Prix articles

    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

    Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

    121 comments on “Canadian Grand Prix was best race since Brazil 2008, F1 Fanatic readers say”

    1. I completely agree with the results of the survey – Sunday’s race was absolutely fanatastic. It had absolutely everything – a thrilling five-way battle for the win, changing strategies and tyre management issues, overtaking, crashes, controversy and a pantomine villian (no prizes for guessing who…).

      1. Lol :-), ……. I did not guess Di Monte for the pantomine part ;-)

      2. and a surprise leader, never thought I’d see an STR lead again :)

        Also shows what a great 2010 we are having, normally get 2 or 3 classic races a year and we’ve had 4 already and the others have been great too, other than Bahrain.

        A 5 way battle for the championship too, this is the best season I have ever seen since watching F1.

      3. what a surprise mclaren won them all

        1. How funny, McLaren didn’t win the 2008 Brazilian GP. FAIL

          1. True, but the sentiment is the same. All those races were victories for McLaren or McLaren drivers in one way or another. Yes, Massa won the race but Hamilton won the WDC.

            1. Fair point I think… Canada was a great race if you love McLaren. Not quite so great if you’re a Ferrari or Red Bull fan!

            2. like jonathaan said if youre team doesnt win the race is more likely to be bad since the majoraty of the f1fanatics are mclaren fans it makes sense anyway these races were fantastic even for an ferrari fan of course those races were bittersweet

            3. the majoraty of the f1fanatics are mclaren fans

              Again, I don’t agree. The last time we polled on that McLaren were the fourth most popular team behind BMW, Williams and Ferrari:

              https://www.racefans.net/2008/07/03/poll-which-f1-teams-do-you-like/

              I think a few people are jumping to inaccurate conclusions about the loyalties of this site’s readership based purely on its domain suffix. See this comment, and others, below: https://www.racefans.net/2010/06/18/canadian-grand-prix-was-best-race-since-brazil-2008-f1-fanatic-readers-say/comment-page-1/#comment-387503

              As I said before, less than a third of this site’s readership is British. And there’s little to no indication it has any bearing on how the ‘rate the race’ polls turn out.

            4. @ Keith could you do those two polls again, because they’re now 2 years old now and the site has grown alot since then.

            5. keith i dont want to be rude but i have to say that everyone knows how to click a button and understand english but the french spanish portuguese italian may not be the readers that post more comments i enter this site some 5 6 times per day were the readers counted per ip or per visits? those 30% british may be always the same and in the refer to less people than other countrys but anyway be more active on posting?

            6. I’m a Schumacher fan, and I thought the race was good. Maybe some people only will like it if McLaren win, but most of us enjoy the race for what it is, a competition.

              And I love Williams as well! Jonathan, surely you expect me to hate every race then!

              @Keith, I agree with Sato’s comment on the “which team do you like” poll. I’d like to see if Ferrari have had a dent in the armour since then.

          2. how funny wining the champ is more worth than a single race.i have to agree that the australian gp and the canadian were fantastic

        2. I thought Massa won Brazil 2008? ;)

          1. See Pete’s post.

        3. i think i ve always respected f1fanatic’s web comunity i know that my english isnt the best i probalby sound arrogant but it isnt on purpose. i just try to comment as impartial as i can and always trying to transmit the other teams fan perspective i´ve defended mainly red bull and ferrari cause im a ferrari fan and because i like to defend the less fortuned i accused some readers of being toooo biased maybe that true or just me being stupid dont know why but jonathan leggard makes me mad

      4. I think it will be hard for any race to overthrow Brasil 08 consider that not only was it a great race on track but it was a very suspense full race where title could be won or lost and it wasn’t until 5th car finish the start finish line that it was determined for sure.

        On Canada interesting fact. 65 recorded overtakes making it the 6th race with the most over takings in dry condition in the last 27 years. I know there was a lot but that was a number way above my guess or speculation. Fascinating race I thoroughly enjoyed the race even if “my” team didn’t win or even finish on the podium that I almost expected, nor did they get pole as I was hoping they would do (again). If you don’t know or guessed what team I refer to then re-read the message again ;)

        1. Shows how much the TV footage missed. Apparently that was also the case in Bahrain, as the front was boring, but in the midfield and in the back a bit more was happening – TV helped show Bahrain off as being boring, while it could have shown how even a boring race has some nice moments.

          1. i went to youtube and found very interesting bahrain gp but not on the front races with double overtakes mid corner unbelieveble which i didnt even remember

      5. big suprise, UK website…
        1. 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix – 8.756
        2. 2010 Canadian Grand Prix – 8.668
        3. 2010 Australian Grand Prix – 8.638
        4. 2010 Chinese Grand Prix – 8.326

        all rounds where Uk drivers have won, i dont think the statistics are very useful at all for global perspective of this season.

        lewis obviously didnt win the race in 2008 he won the championship with that race. his buddy let him pass on the final corner
        INCOMING FLAME!!!
        *hides*

        1. But I seem to remember the Belgian Grand Prix, won by Kimi Raikkinen, for my favourite team ranking around 6th, despite one J. Button and another guy who might have been called L. Hamilton crashing on the first lap. This is also one of two races that Ferrari have won since 2008.

          To quote BasCB regarding Red Bull:

          “Well Red Bull have been dominant on pace, so they just cruising to the win or double win might be nice viewing for us fanatics, it can hardly be called exciting.
          So when McLaren won the races where they outsmarted/outlasted/outlucked Red Bull in difficult and changing conditions are destined to be more exciting and better races.”

          It’s frustrating for me that Mclaren drivers keep seeming to win these wet or close races, but that’s just how things have gone. Don’t try to label this as “flaming” you.

        2. flatbeat – that point has been made in several other places in the comments already, had a look at some of the other replies.

    2. Has the tyre supplier been decided for next year yet?

      1. Not yet, but all indications lead to Pirelli, as Michelin has already given up due to time frame and for the fact there will not be a competitive environment (single supplier deal)

        1. If thats true about Pirelli/Michelin I think it’s a great pity. I have fond memories of racing Minis on Cinturato’s ( just for fun, in those now far off days ) but not to have the considerable nous of Michelin back in F1 is a great loss as far as I’m concerned.

          But then again, until quite recently Bridgestone were seen as a bit second best for F1 by a lot of people, and yet I think their recent performances ( acting within the parameters set by FIA/FoTA ) has been first class. Sorry now, to see them go.

        2. pirelli arent going to be as competitive as the bridgestone this year combining all the regulation changes and the pirellis inexperience 2011 may be what we were expecting for 2010 (2010 isnt over and it is getting exciting but you know what i mean)

    3. What does everyone think about Blue Flags? Should the FIA get rid of them?

      1. Rob Gallagher
        18th June 2010, 10:59

        I think that the FIA should get rid of them. However what happens if a rookie or say a driver in a car with a Ferrari engine took out a McLaren in a championship deciding race while he was trying to overtake, and it was not the overtaking car’s fault that the crash happend.
        I think there’s just too much controvesy that could occur if blue flags were abbandoned.

        1. I think that don’t need to take the blue flags away due to safety issue, & also what Rob Gallagher said is right.

          1. I think they should not get rid of them, but they could be a bit more restrained in showing them.

            I read (on this site?) a quote from Sutil “the blue flags didn’t do much for me, as I was shown them for an entire lap while battling for position” more or less. Well, that is just stupidly useless, isn’t it?

      2. blue flag should mean “don’t attempt to block the car behind from overtaking”, not “move off the track to let everyone past”

        they should warn back markers to stay out of the way, but not get out of the way, if that make sense :)

    4. Keith could you have a place on the site where there is a league table of all race average ratings????

        1. F1Fanatic readers sure like British drivers and teams. That’s not a judgement. Clearly an examination of the ratings as a whole shows that F1Fanatic readers like races with:
          1. Unexpected Outcomes
          2. On Track Drama
          3. Good Racing
          4. Good performances by British teams and drivers.

          The top 10 in Keith’s link:

          Brazil 2008 – Hamilton clinches WDC
          2010 Canada – Hamilton wins in McLaren 1-2
          2010 Australia – Button wins for McLaren
          2010 China – Button wins for McLaren
          2009 Brazil – Button clinches WDC, Brawn clinches Constructors Championship
          2008 Monaco – Hamilton wins for McLaren
          2008 Britain – Hamilton wins for McLaren
          2008 Italy – Vettel and Toro Rosso’s maiden win, Hamilton charges from 15th to 7th and passes Raikkonen on track
          2010 Turkey – Hamilton wins in McLaren 1-2
          2009 Australia – Button wins for Brawn GP, Brawn is for real

          1. i fail to see any pattern :)

          2. And just so you know, I’m a Button and Hamilton fan, and also a McLaren fan.

            I started watching at the beginning of 2006 and at the front of pack I rooted for Ferrari over Renault (my mistake). I adopted Honda and Jenson Button as my favored drivers because of the underdog position and the potential upside.

            In 2007, I was wowed by Hamilton and grew to dislike Alonso because of his diva-like behavior. I feel Ferrari had team orders instructing Massa to allow Raikkonen past for the win and WDC in Brazil. Nothing good to say about Honda here.

            In 2008, Alonso earned my appreciation as he drove the hell out of what seemed to be a very bad Renault. Hamilton continued to impress, I rooted for him all year at the front the pack while hoping for Honda and Button to improve. Kubica and Vettel put in impressive efforts and made their way onto my drivers I’m fond of list.

            In 2009, despair. No Honda when they had so much potential for this year after focusing on the car since the halfway point last year. In comes Brawn GP. Button is winning, and winning, and winning. Hmmm… is it just the car? Now he can’t win, must have been the car and now the pressure. Button is smooth and consistent, builds an early lead no one can overcome, and doesn’t whine like a diva when things don’t go his way. He wins and deserves WDC.

            2010. I relish the battle with Button and Hamilton. My opinion, Hamilton is the better “racer” able to charge through the field as needed. Button is the better “race manager” able to make good decisions and manage the car for the long run. Hamilton whines on occassion, Button DNFs at no fault of his own and just says “things happen.” If not for that he’d likely be leading the standings. I love watching Hamilton and root for him but I admire Button and want him to win.
            Fernando went to the dark side and while I admire his and Massa’s talents, I’ve got no love for Montezemolo’s Ferrari.

          3. The sample only covers 2008, 2009 and 2010 to date. The first two championships were won by British drivers and teams and the third is currently led by a British driver and team.

            Therefore it would be hard for the list not to include a large number of races where British drivers and teams did well.

            Which is why if you look at the bottom ten races you find seven wins for British teams and five wins for British drivers.

            Were F1 Fanatic readers in thrall at Jenson Button romping away with the championship lead in the first half last year? No, they were bored with a series of increasingly predictable races.

            Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 Chinese Grand Prix win which put him within touching distance of the world championship? According to F1 Fanatic readers it was the second-least exciting race in the last three seasons.

            I think those top ten races are probably the most exciting ones we have seen since the start of 2008 and I think the success of British drivers and teams has had little to no effect on these polls.

            1. Good and fair points Keith.

              There will always be some bias based on team and driver preference. Which might make the difference between a 10 and a 9.

            2. very good point. If alonso had won the canadian gp in the final laps i may have even rated the race higher than I did anyway.

            3. damonsmedley
              19th June 2010, 15:32

              I agree with everything here – but I can not see how Canada was better than Australia. I think this year has been fantastic apart from Bahrain, but my favourite so far would have to be Melbourne.

              This season has been great for providing excitement at races that had previously not held anything that remotely resembled an exciting race. Lets hope Valencia, like Turkey and China, continues this trend and provides us with another example.

              I am really looking forward to Silverstone! I hope that by the end of the year there is a race that scores higher than 9.00 amongst F1Fanatics!

    5. The Canadian GP was probably one of the best race I have seen in my 10 years F1 career.I think the race was good as Keith pointed out that many factors acted against the drivers & helped the fans to enjoy the race.
      I don’t think that we will see a good race in Valencia as that track have seen hardly any overtaking in it’s two years, but I think we may see Montreal type of racing in places like Siverstone, Spa, Monza & Interlagos.

      1. damonsmedley
        19th June 2010, 15:36

        Valencia could be exciting though. If the year continues as it is, Valencia in fact will be exciting. Turkey and China had previously only held bland races but 2010 has proved them worthy of the time and effort in staging a race. Bring on Valencia! Let it be another great race.

    6. I think that the harder tyre should be designed to last half race distance and the softer only a quarter. That way we will have at least two pit stops and some may require three.

    7. I think it’s ashame that people vote races as 1’s. When I voted the race a 9 (not 10 because if a race is better than Canada I can’t vote 11!) there was about 20 people who had voted 1’s through to just 3. I know people have their own opinions but come on. Did you not see the race!

      1. Just ignore them, otherwise they’ll keep on doing it. Clearly it didn’t really affect the data

      2. There might be a case for throwing out the aberrant data. Although I’m not always in favour of such measures, there’s a strong case in most analysis for throwing out rogue results. It seems to me if a small percentage vote 6 or more points away from the median vote, throwing out the 1 and sometimes 2 point votes would be discarding those who are either not F1 fans or just vote any race ‘their driver/team’ didn’t win down to some ridiculous score.

        1. it would only make sense to discard such results if (for example) there would be a peak at say 3 with 100 or 200 votes. Or having a vote of “0” or something over 10.
          That would change the results and in measuring is often discarded as being related to measurement errors.

      3. If you are asked to rate something out of 10, then rate it out of 10. Don’t give it a 9 because some other race may be better. You are being asked to rate ONE race. The other races do not matter.

        Bearing the above logic in mind ALL data is wrong because the gen-pub cannot follow simple instructions. The folk that vote 1 need to be counted as their ‘logic’ is a flawed as yours.

        They gave Mr Bolt a GOLD medal (10) not a silver (9) because sometime in the future someone will be faster/better.

        1. I see what you’re saying, but I voted 9, despite thinking it was the best race since Interlagos 2008, precisely because I’ve big hopes we’ll see even better races still this year – and how am I going to reward them then?! Stupid logic, I know.

          1. I agree with you David. I think I gave it a 9. For a 10 I’d like to see even more passing for the lead.
            But it was a great race.

          2. Read what you are asked to do… ‘Mark THIS race out of 10’. You simply mark each race in isolation. Do not think of any other race. Then mark the race.

            If not then First race on the calendar will always be marked low, because future races MIGHT be better. This is the reason public votes are meaningless.

            I’d hate for you (and others) to judge gymnastics, no body would ever get a 10, even if they were flawless. And why can’t 2 or more races score the same?

            1. Don’t take it so seriously Tiomkin! My not giving it an extra 1 is totally outweighed by the people giving it just 1 – presumably because Hamilton won or Alonso etc. didn’t! Anyhow, you’re defying logic: you can’t give a race a mark without some parameter – which here has to be other races you’ve seen, not ‘a perfectly executed routine’, how could F1 ever be that?! (Don’t answer Max.) The best races are mixes of brilliance and chaotic imperfection.

            2. The instruction also says 10 = perfect. Great race? yes. Perfect? I don’t think it reached that description.

              The other issue is how we all rank it is relative. I would argue that the average over the year should be somewhere around 5 (and on that basis a score of 8 or above would be fair for this race) but very few races rank below 5 as Keith’s graph shows. This is partly due to the fact that we are all F1 Fanatics and therefore to us an ‘average’ race is actually quite exciting and so we score an average race well over 5.

              BUT

              With the large sample size and the likelihood that it is the same voters most races and we each apply our own methodology consistently then, while the actual numerical value doesn’t really tell us much, the relative value of different races should still be a fair reflection of how good the race was.

      4. Might be that people voted ‘1’ or even ‘0’ thinking this was the best ranking, not the highest score. This would seem to mean they didn’t or couldn’t read the poll question.

        Or maybe they’re just bitter Ferrari fans, mad at those awful slow cars. Get any votes from the ferrari.it domain, Keith?

    8. Robert McKay
      18th June 2010, 11:07

      “What made Canada a cracker was not just that the tyres didn’t last as long as usual, but that their performance was so unpredictable.”

      I think this is a big factor.

      Anything that the teams struggle to predict will enhance the racing.

      The teams have almost got too smart for the good of the sport and being able to simulate everything to within an inch of its life almost makes the race just one more simulation.

      The more factors we can incorporate into the sport that are difficult to predict and simulate, the better, I think.

      Perhaps it would be the case that even marginal tyres, over the course of a season, will eventually be understood and that element of unpredictability will fall away.

    9. I think this race was better than 2008 Brazil. Everyone only remebers Hamilton on the last lap, the rest of the race was quite normal.

      1. Maybe, but that single lap made that GP one of the best of all time for me. Even today I still find it incredible

        1. Ned is 100% right about that. You also have to factor in the fact that it was a championship decider at the end of a long, hard, exciting, topsey turvey season. When you add all those up, it makes it one of the best races…well… ever.

        2. Yeah I still remember how much bad I felt for Hamilton when he crossed the line it as he lose the Championship the same venue a year before but it took sometime to realize that he won the championship then I felt bad for Massa as he cried. F1 is cruel, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”

          1. I just feel it’s unfair to judge Brazil a better race just because it was a championship decider.

            Imagine if the Canadian race was at the end of the year and the pass Button made on Alonso was for the championship, we would be talking about it forever.

            I don’t think it’s right that because Hamilton’s last lap was for the championship that the race as an individual was better.

            But that’s just my view.

            1. Well if Australia 2010 was the last race of the season it would be rated as a 10 as well. The fact that Brazil was rated highly is completely justified.

      2. ” Everyone only remebers Hamilton on the last lap, the rest of the race was quite normal.”

        Actually, I quite enjoyed some of what went on before. Trulli going off, Nakajima forcing DC into a slightly earlier than expected retirement and Vettel’s race strategy was fascinating. I thought it was a better than average race esp with the changing conditions but sure that last lap made it special.

    10. Best race since Brazil 2008? I don’t think so.

      There are just too many Britons voting here. Without Alonso’s bad luck it would have been different.

      1. Well it is “F1Fanatic.co.UK”… so there is always going to be a bit of a “pro-Britain” spin on things, despite the fact that Keith and the regulars on this site are the most neutral and well versed F1 nuts anywhere on the web.

        1. True GM, I don’t just understand those Alonos fans who think he deserved a win in Canada. I thought he should be happy Vettel had gearbox problems, if not, he will be lavishing in 6th as Webber would have overtaken him too.

      2. So if Alonso had won it won it would have been the best race ever.

        While some may have given it a higher rating due to the McLaren 1-2 some also gave it a low rating because of who won. I believe most people on this site gave an honest rating based on the quality of the race not on the result.

      3. I think it’s unfair to suggest that just because people are of a certain nationality they’re not capable of judging whether a race was entertaining from an objective point of view.

        If you look at the full list of how races had been rated up to the Turkish Grand Prix I think you’ll find the correlation between who won and what rating was given is weak to non-existent:

        https://www.racefans.net/2010/06/02/a-brilliant-race-in-turkey-shows-f1-is-on-the-right-track-making-f1-better/

        1. could you update this graph with canada 2010 included pls?

      4. Robert McKay
        18th June 2010, 12:34

        Without Alonso’s bad luck it would still have been a brilliant race.

        1. Never a true-er word has been spoken!

          As I’ve said on many occasions here before, the reason we have such good debate on F1F is because we are all F1 fans at heart, and we almost always manage to put our personal driver and team preferences aside to participate in a constructive debate in which we all win. I think the only reason that there is a strong British spin to the best races as voted by F1F readers is becase Britons have done well during the period in which the vote has been in operation. Nothing sinister at all…

        2. And it would have been an even better one if Massa had been up there mixing it up with the front runners, it’s a shame Liuzzi and MSC kept him from getting to the front.

      5. Fred made his own luck.

    11. note how those top four are all Mclaren wins…

      1. Perhaps Mclaren win all the exciting races……

      2. Well Red Bull have been dominant on pace, so they just cruising to the win or double win might be nice viewing for us fanatics, it can hardly be called exiting.
        So when McLaren won the races where they outsmarted/outlasted/outlucked Red Bull in difficult and changing conditions are destined to be more exiting and better races.
        Bahrain was just to much of a start-finish bore fest with the only exitement being it was the first race of the year and Vettel’s car giving up close to the finish.

      3. I seem to remember a Ferrari won at Brazil in 2008 (but I know what you mean!)

        1. oh yeah, we seem to overlook the fact Massa won that one. lol

    12. I made this exact point about the tyres in the article after the race. The race in Canada proved that tyres are the problem.

      It doesn’t matter how much downforce you have if you can’t use the grip it creates. This is exactly why Mark Webber, in one of the slowest cars on the grid in a straight line, overtook Jenson Button, who has the fastest car in a straight line, down a very short straight. It was simply down to Buttons tyres being completely shagged.

      I agree with anybody who says they need to bring marginal tyres that don’t last as long to the race.

      I would also add that they make it so the full supply of tyres they have for the weekend will only just cover them in all the sessions. This is one of the things that also dictated the race to make MS so slow at the end as he had no choice but to do it on softs as he had run out of hards.

      1. Maybe they should hold off until the first Friday practice of 2011 before announcing the new tyre supplier ;)

    13. So Bridgestone have realised what a lot of us said at the start of the season – that tyres that give performance bonus but need changed more often make better racing. I never bought the idea that tyres going off was always bad publicity for Bridgestone, as those who are gaining places rapidly on new tyres are also on Bridgestone.

    14. Geordie Porker
      18th June 2010, 11:56

      Hmmm… Firstly I agree that it was one of the best races I’ve ever seen. Not sure whether Brazil ’08 was better or not, but I definitely enjoyed them both.

      So, to the point of ‘too many Britons voting here’ – any individual fan will enjoy a race for a different reason. I won’t hide the fact that I am enjoying seeing MSC struggle. And the same partizan reason is why I never really enjoyed any of his race wins. Silly of me? Probably, but still true.

      So, to those of you who think it is unreasonable that British F1 fans enjoy races more when British drivers win / do well, I suggest you move to an F1 forum hosted in the country where your favourite driver hails from!

      For my part – Keith, great article (as usual). You’re right, we need more unpredictability in the races. Maybe we need to look to a smaller tyre supplier next year – one who’s never heard of Quality Assurance?! ;-)

    15. Guilherme Teixeira
      18th June 2010, 11:57

      And there were people thinking on introducing two mandatory pitstops, short-cuts, reverse grids, etc…

      Just show how quickly F1 leaders can jump to silly conclusions about how to ‘spice up the show’. I’ve been following F1 for 13 years now and I’ve never seen a season so unpredictable and exciting as this one. See, even the Spanish Grand Prix wasn’t thaaaat boring! When was the last time we saw three cars battling for the lead? Or the first four cars within three seconds of each other for 40 laps? For that, we must thank the refueling ban. This was the best idea the technical working group/FOTA/FIA had in ages!

      About Bridgestone, I don’t think bringing super-soft rubber on all next races will be of much difference. The scenario we had last sunday was much more down to the slippery track rather the tyres itself.

      Maybe we could have an even better race at Monza this year, with the low-downforce setup and fast-graining super-softs… anyone knows how hard Monza is on the tyres?

    16. I am curious and exited about the next race (looking forward to Valencia, didn’t happen after the first one!). First we might be seeing some changes of the team ranking on speed. Also some potential for suprises during the race with that (Ferrari having better downforce but being harder on the tyres maybe).
      But the tyres will be pretty much behaving according to predictions. Maybe if the race turns out to be a lot colder than the last years, have some really green track to start with, it might offer interesting choices on the tyres.

      I think Keith gets to the point (as well as from the Sutil quote), the tyres themselves are only part of of what makes it interesting.

    17. Why not a bigger gap between the soft and hard tyres?
      Super soft and the hardest compound for a weekend… but probably all teams would have the same strategy :)

      1. Robert McKay
        18th June 2010, 12:40

        I know what you’re gettin at but the interesting thing about Canada was that the harder tyre was also wearing dreadfully quickly.

        On that basis I’d say “bring the super soft and soft”. Although that might be a bit extreme…but would surely generate more than just one tyre stop.

    18. Prisoner Monkeys
      18th June 2010, 12:45

      But the super-soft tyres were also used at the Bahrain Grand Prix – which was as dreary a race I’ve ever seen. They can’t be the only reason why Sunday’s race was so good.

      They’re not, but Bridgestone figure that if they might help make the races more exciting, they’re worth a try.

      1. Yes, definitely worth a try, especially if they take those tires to races that are normally on harder compounds, that might make it a bit less clear how they will perform.

        I think Bahrain was so dreary because everyone was being too careful with the tires.

        A bit like almost every 1st match of the FIFA World Cup showed teams that were afraid to lose that 1st match, causing most of those matches to be rather bad. (Sorry for the soccer reference here).

        1. Prisoner Monkeys
          18th June 2010, 14:31

          Actually, with the Australia-Germany match in mind, football is the perfect analogy. After Australia did really well in 2006, I think a lot of people were expecting them to actually beat Germany, one of the most disciplined and highest-rated teams in the entire world. We were lucky to get away with a 4-0 loss. Afterwards, there was a lot of public outcry in Australia, with people questioning the coach’s tactics, the team’s commitment and so on.

          In the same way, the 2010 rules were hyped up and people were expecting big things, unaware that the race was at Desertistan and that nothing exciting has ever happened there before. When the race disappointed, there were people questioning the rules and calling for immeiate overhauls to the entire playbook.

          Unlike the Socceroos, though, Formula 1’s rules actually stood a chance.

          1. With those Germans being as good as they are and still lose from Serbia 0:1, what would that compare to?
            Looks a little bit like the way our F1 championship is evolving with turns of form right around the corner!

      2. I think it’s great that after much criticism of Bridgestone wanting a two-compound gap to “make the tyres interesting” and for bringing tyres to races that simply last too long (criticism I myself have engaged in, particularly on the latter), they’re making a push against their current policy to try and improve the racing.

        Hats off to you, Bridgestone (thought not one of the podium caps, not just yet ;-))

    19. “But an unpredictable track surface, and a circuit configuration that both reduced the harmful affects of turbulence on a chasing car and increased the chance of the leaders catching traffic also contributed to the great race we saw on Sunday.”

      Not forgetting the fact that the grandstands were full of F1 fanatics, and not oil-money dignitaries.

    20. Brazilian Grand Prix when BRITISH driver Lewis Hamilton won the championship in the most dramatic way possible. No wonder why the voters on fanatic.co.UK(!!!) voted on that race. Brazilian people think different on their best race (maybe Donington 1993 or Hockenehim 2000???)

      1. Robert McKay
        18th June 2010, 14:10

        But, crucially, none of those races happened since Brazil 2008.

      2. I think “in the most dramatic way possible” has rather more to do with it than “British”.

        The make-up of the site’s readership has nothing to do with the domain suffix. Although the British contingent is the largest single user base, less than a third of F1 Fanatic users over the past month have accessed it from Britain.

        And, as I said to Rod, I don’t agree that just because a person is of a certain nationality they’re necessarily going to vote a certain way:

        https://www.racefans.net/2010/06/18/canadian-grand-prix-was-best-race-since-brazil-2008-f1-fanatic-readers-say/comment-page-1/#comment-387412

        Finally, if you don’t think Brazil 2008 was the most exciting race of the last three seasons, which one was?

        1. Australia 2008 or maybe Singapore and Fuji 2008

          1. Singapore 2008? The one that was fixed? You’re joking, surely?

            1. I am :P
              But I still not understand how a driver can be so stupid to put himself to the wall

          2. I think i was more shocked by Singapore 2008 than thinking about an excellent race.
            It was new, there were spectacular pitstop mistakes and Renaul won, but from the start it was a little bit suspect.

            A very interesting race for sure, but I would not call it the greatest race in years even before the scam came to light.

        2. Spa 2008
          Okay, McLaren/Hamilton/British win! But for me the battle between Kimi and Lewis just outweighed Interlagos in sheer intensity, though the whole of the Brazil 2008 race was on edge and ended thrillingly.

          1. Kind of, forgot momentarily that FIA gave it to Massa!

    21. Now, ain’t that the truth!!!

    22. Jelle van der Meer
      18th June 2010, 14:52

      Again people jumping to hasty conclusions based on 1 race – as Keith mentioned Bahrain had same tyres and was boring. Bridgestone should go back to 2009 concept of bigger difference between the 2 compounds

      Can we just recognize that Canada is an absolutely fantastic track and that Bernie should no longer have the dictator position he has to decide where we race.

      Also amazed that Bernie has a vote in the decision which tyre manufacturer is choosen but the teams do not. The teams need to work with it, pay them => FIA and FOM should stay out of that decision – it should be teams only decision.

      1. Jelle van der Meer
        18th June 2010, 14:54

        Oh, is it just me or is it a little bit suspicious that Bridgestone wants to start using more of softest compound – the compound where their long term partner Ferrari is performing best on?

      2. I suppose that is because in the current deal the FOM is responsible for the tyres and has to pay (he does not have to pay currently, which is one of the reasons for Bridgestone leaving) and make sure the tyres get to the races (currently payed for by Bridgestone as well). So it is pretty normal that FOM is involved.
        I read in a comment from Joe Saward, that Bernie and the teams have actually already signed a letter of intent with Pirelli and now wait only for the FIA to let Todt give up on bringing Michelin in and ratify the deal.

    23. Sure tyres played an issue is such a great race, but can we give the Circuit itself some credit here?

      The Gilles Villeneuve track isn’t some convoluted Tilke-drome with excessive chicanes. It’s a proper classic circuit with close barriers and limited run-off space.

      It’s a wonderful track and if some of the other classic circuits (Spa, Silverstone, Monza) lead to as much interesting racing we’re in for an even bigger treat of a season as the summer rolls along.

      1. The F Duct (@)
        18th June 2010, 16:20

        Agreed :)
        If this new Silverstone gets it right it’s going to be magic, we also have Korea GP which could be an excellant Tilke surprise, like Istanbul Park is.

        1. Exactly, credit where credit is due. I can’t remember a single race from Montreal that wasn’t exciting or memorable in some way, and that has to be in large part down to the circuit. All the more reason why it must never be dropped off the calendar again.

    24. If Bridgestone brought their two similar compounds to a race, ie Supersoft/Soft or Medium/Hard, wouldn’t we then see the varied tyre strategies that the rules were originally aiming for?

      1. I think we’d be more likely to, under the refuelling ban, yes. And more so if they dropped some of the other restrictions on tyre use.

    25. The F Duct (@)
      18th June 2010, 16:17

      I don’t understand how China this year is rated so good, Turkey was much better, I mean a classic yet it didn’t go down as well with fellow viewers.

    26. Spa 2008 would also for me be next in line, after the title decider in Brazil. The battle between Lewis and Kimi will remain with me for a long time. Those on board shots of Lewis making his move on Kimi, had me yelling and on the edge of my seat, only to be spoiled by a decision made by the FIA’s Alan Donnelly, a henchman for Max Mosley.

      2010 Canadian GP….Sebastian Buemi is to be congratulated for leading his first F1 race in a STR.

      1. If the Spa result had stood without the stewards’ interference I’m sure it would have rated much higher. But giving the win to someone who was never in contention for the lead was never going to go down well, regardless of who had been in which car.

    27. Hmm!

      Brazil 2008?

      Wasn’t that the one where Timo Glock stopped for a tea break half way round the last lap?

    28. Aside from the pro-British bias I feel these ratings might also very much be affected by comparisons to the last race. Like if you have 3 very boring races in a row, one peppered with mild excitement might get a much higher rating than it really deserves.

    29. Andrew White
      18th June 2010, 21:42

      I don’t think that the high proportion of McLaren wins at the top is much to do with British bias, it’s just that McLaren win in a more interesting way than, say, Red Bull or Ferrari. For example, in 2008, Barcelona, Valencia, France and Malaysia were Ferrari wins and were generally boring with little overtaking. The McLaren wins were in races like Monaco and Britain (wet), Australia (just mad) and Germany (turned around by a safety car, passing for the lead). Exceptions to the rule like China and Brazil that year were starkly represented in the results.

      In 2010 it’s a similar story; McLaren won the two wet races, as well as Turkey and Canada which had action at the front. Monaco and Barcelona were a bit boring (RBR wins), Bahrain was terrible (Ferrari win) and Malaysia was made exciting by McLaren and Ferrari qualifying at the back while Red Bull won from the front.

    30. Canada would have been great if the winner had been decided on track. Just when the Hamilton/Alonso fight was getting really good, however, Hamilton passed Alonso in the pit stops and that was that.

      It’s a sad indictment of F1 when the second best race in 3 seasons didn’t even feature an on-track fight for the lead!

      1. Hamilton passed Webber when he was leading, and it isn’t much of a stretch to call his overtake on Alonso earlier in the race a pass for the lead either. That’s two more passes for the lead than you’ll get in most F1 races!

    31. This was an amazing race on all accounts… I was fortunate enough for this to be my first GP I was able to attend.. where do I go from there?… lol… I was overlooking Senna Corner and it was thrilling watching the over takes… seeing Alonzo and Hamilton leaving the pits side by side coming right at me was amazing… I’m just glad that Alonzo had the inside line.. :) I’ve been an F1 fan for many years and now the bug to see it live is the size of a sand beetle!!
      I plan of it being a yearly adventure for sure.. :)

    32. Resurface all the tracks w/ the Canadian compound! That might go some way to make tire performance more marginal.

    33. this was a crazy race !

    34. Since we’ve moved on to bias, I think its worth noting a simple reason why so many of the great races involved L. Hamilton and his team. He has an astonishing podium strike-rate (31 out of 60 races). The odds of him being in the middle of a great scrap since then are much higher than for other current greats like Alonso, Button, Massa. He also tends to generate a healthy frisson through brilliant driving, cringe-worthy mistakes, and sometimes both. Look at Hockenheim or Brazil—he makes it interesting even when its not necessary.

      Anyway, why is it so important that Keith constantly show that he has no bias? Different views are what the comments are for; Keith has his own view. If it’s pro-English, and it may be, then bully for him. This is not public media.

      Re: Canada, let me say I was not too amused by the fact that tires determined the race. The tires were not “unpredictable” to me. It was obvious how long options would last, it was obvious that there would be two stops becuase the primes were also too soft. The fact that certain teams, RBR and Mercedes, didn’t get it, made it interesting, yes. But the way the tires made the race was that the drivers had to preserve them like, wait for it, fuel. This reminded me of one of those old CART oval races where the racing is done as much with the mixture knob as the steering wheel. Or more like a Group C race where there was a maximum volume of fuel allowed. There was not great division of skill in regards to maintaining the tires; they had to pussy-foot around most of the time to make the schedule. I want to see the drivers going all out at some point in the race. Refueling ban racing is much like the old way, but with quicker pit stops.

      It still gets a 9 because when have you seen 3 WDCs dicing during a race?

    Comments are closed.