Rosberg quickest as Vettel hits the champions’ wall
2011 Canadian GP first practice
Nico Rosberg set the pace in the first practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix.
But he had to abandon his final run in the session when he began to experience burning in the car.
Other drivers found the circuit a considerable challenge as the little-used track proved very dusty. The slippery surface caught out several drivers – including the world champion.
Sebastian Vettel lost the rear of his car at the final chicane and slithered helplessly into the wall, smashing the front-right corner of the car. The Wall of Champions claimed another victim.
Many other drivers went off the track during the session including Nick Heidfeld, who pirouetted on his way out of the Senna hairpin.
Paul di Resta locked his brakes at the L’Epingle hairpin and took to the run-off there.
The Ferraris led the way early on, with Fernando Alonso heading the times for much of the second half of the session.
Lewis Hamilton had been quickest up to that point but suffered a technical problem relating to the steering wheel which confined him to the garage halfway through the session.
He was able to join the track later in the session. Team mate Jenson Button also hit trouble with a faulty Drag Reduction System.
Michael Schumacher ended the session third fastest ahead of Felipe Massa and the two McLarens.
2011 Canadian Grand Prix
- Technical review: 2011 Canadian Grand Prix
- 2011 Canadian Grand Prix: complete race weekend review
- Vote for your Canadian GP driver of the weekend
- McLaren: Button makes amends for collision with stunning win
- Red Bull: Vettel finally cracks under pressure
- Ferrari: Alonso rues ‘bad luck’ after retiring
- Mercedes: Schumacher misses out on podium
- Sauber: Kobayashi slips from second to seventh
- Renault: Heidfeld crash leaves Petrov fifth
- Williams: Barrichello in points, Maldonado crashes
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley) said on 10th June 2011, 16:37
Perhaps Jenson was right in predicting Mercedes to be quick here.
But the crash won’t have affected Vettel. I remember Turkey all too well.
Icthyes (@icthyes) said on 10th June 2011, 16:45
I think their habit of eating tyres will cost them though. Remember how bad they were in Monaco?
BasCB (@bascb) said on 10th June 2011, 16:49
Yeah, I think it would be a bit like Alonso in Spain. Fast for part of the race, but horrebly slow in others.
Klaas said on 10th June 2011, 18:01
Don’t think so. In Barcelona they were forced to use the super-hard compound that didn’t work at all for Ferrari, here they use soft tyres which suit their car.
Atticus said on 10th June 2011, 16:50
That leaves Ferrari as a serious contender.
It would though… Rain is coming and Ferrari certainly wouldn’t want it when they finally seem to be competitive.
If it is raining during Q and the race, all of this is going to be a mess and kind of a Russian roulette. Ferrari won’t make its slight advantage count – if they really have it.
Sad.
Klaas said on 10th June 2011, 18:07
I can’t see why Ferrari wouldn’t want some rain. It worked fine for them in Korea. I actually think a wet race is their only chance of winning (for now at least).
zecks said on 10th June 2011, 16:54
yes but did anyone else see the marshall fall over straight after the crash? What the hell was that all about?
MemroableC said on 10th June 2011, 16:59
he failed at jumping the barrier
Nick F said on 10th June 2011, 17:56
You fall when your distracted or stressed. He was very intent on running to Vettel’s aid. His brain stopped thinking about what his feet were doing for a moment and bam! He seemed to be OK though as far as I could tell.
Actually I was a bit worried for him because he lay on the ground for a bit. I was imagining another car coming along and flattening him.
Steph (@) said on 10th June 2011, 17:00
It’ll hurt Seb to an extent just like Turkey as he was immediately on the backfoot. He recoeverd well in Turkey but that might not be the case here when this should be one of their weakest tracks.
infy (@infy) said on 10th June 2011, 17:37
Its a damage recovery weekend for RB. Their car is not drag efficient and their engine is not the best. So they are already going into this weekend taking a conservative approach in order to minimize the point damage they should receive.
Nick F said on 10th June 2011, 18:00
It may not be the end of the world. They were all running on a tyre they won’t be using (accept for Vettel), and there could be rain which means they may totally change the setup anyway. Also the track was in a state it won’t be in for the rest of the weekend. I think the penalty will come if they miss all the 2nd session as well.
Lex said on 10th June 2011, 16:39
quick constant time from both Ferrari drivers and they havent used the option tire yet. RBR seem to be struggling on the straights and Mclaren left me blank…
Timi said on 10th June 2011, 16:41
I’m not sure about alonso but massa did use the option
Todfod (@todfod) said on 10th June 2011, 16:49
I think both used the option tyre. Mclaren didn’t use their option tyre, and looked really strong on the hard compound.
Ian said on 10th June 2011, 17:15
Pirelli are using soft and super soft here at Canada (as per Monaco). Soft are Yellow and Super soft are Red. No one used the Super soft tyres during FP1 (Red). All teams started using a Medium compound supplied by Pirelli for testing for upcoming Valenica race. These means they could all go yet even quicker when using super soft tyres !!
Nick F said on 10th June 2011, 18:02
Button used the soft (yellow). David Croft just didn’t see that when he was commentating on it.
I wish they would have a solid band of colour on the tyres at all times and then on the timing sheet add the tyre colour as part of the graphics.
supernicebob (@supernicebob) said on 10th June 2011, 16:56
Pretty sure they said on the radio that when the two Ferraris were fastest they had been out on the options. More tyre info sure would be nice but I’m guessing it’s not available?
Damon said on 10th June 2011, 16:40
1’15.591 x 107% = 1’20.882
Narain Karthikeyan’s 1’20.839 indicates it might get tough for him. Liuzzi’s HRT looks “well on pace” though.
MemroableC said on 10th June 2011, 16:42
Beat me to the 107, but yes they are cutting it a bit close but there just going to get faster, we shall see
Troid91 (@troid91) said on 10th June 2011, 16:41
Hope Massa do well here. We need old Massa to comeback. Schumacher as well.
Fixy (@fixy) said on 10th June 2011, 16:45
It would be nice to see Ferrari and Mercedes battling: Nico in search of his first win, Michael in search of his 92nd win and his first since his comeback, Felipe in search of his 12th win and hhis first since Brazil 2008, Fernando in search of his 27th win, and his first of 2011.
Klaas said on 10th June 2011, 18:52
Yeah, that would be nice. But in reality it will be Vettel cruising to his 16th win.
Timi said on 10th June 2011, 16:42
Conspiracy! Vetted crashed there on purpose…
Haha
MethylONE (@methylone) said on 10th June 2011, 16:51
I heard from another site that the F1 ratings are down so they’ve ‘encouraged’ Red Bull to make it more interesting.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 10th June 2011, 22:22
Rubbish!
If anything, by most peoples standards, they’re making it less interesting!
BBT said on 10th June 2011, 16:43
Anyone got the speeds through the speed traps?
I missed all of FP1 got home for the last ten minutes but the red button wasn’t working :-(
dim23 (@dim23) said on 10th June 2011, 17:24
Here’s the top 5 teams speeds, Renault again impressive top speed have.
1. Vitaly PetroV 329.1
11. Sebastian Vettel 320.1
13. Felipe Massa 319.7
19. Michael Schumacher 317.6
23. Lewis Hamilton 315.5
Adam said on 10th June 2011, 17:50
Expect more to come from the Mclarens when DRS is online.
RonPennis said on 10th June 2011, 16:45
Did anyone see the marshal fall over on the BBC onboard feed. Take a look at the BBC highlights.
Funniest thing ive seen all day!
MemroableC said on 10th June 2011, 16:48
his friends are going to be making fun of him for that for a long time im sure
AmirAnuar (@amiranuar) said on 10th June 2011, 16:59
any link???
Ian said on 10th June 2011, 17:17
will probably have to wait until BBC I.Player show it…..But i’m sure it will be on Twitter soon.
RonPennis said on 10th June 2011, 17:28
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/13731713.stm
Sooo Funny
RonPennis said on 10th June 2011, 17:33
its at 19 seconds by the way…
dj said on 10th June 2011, 17:40
Speedtv com has posted it…
Young One said on 10th June 2011, 16:49
It was a hard fall for the poor marshall. I hope it doesn’t leave him with arthiritis in his knee joints.
Rits said on 10th June 2011, 18:22
A fall doesn’t give you arthritis out of nowhere! :o Its mostly genetic..
BasCB (@bascb) said on 10th June 2011, 16:50
Vettel lost his cool and Nico Rosberg was hot on it today!
Steph (@) said on 10th June 2011, 17:01
Lol! :)
Nick F said on 10th June 2011, 18:05
All the people spinning were on the softs I think. Could be a crazy race if they go off and there is just no grip.
Rits said on 10th June 2011, 18:24
It’ll improve a lot over the weekend as the rubber starts to get laid (no pun intended!). The tyre situation will only get clearer by FP3. But yes, you could never rule out the bizarre at Montreal..
Catalina ;) said on 10th June 2011, 16:52
Well, heres hoping for the Mercedes guys. And also for Mac. Not too sure about Renault, the car hasn’t been up there with my expectations, although I want Kubica to unlock its potential if he races this season.
cheers :)
Todfod (@todfod) said on 10th June 2011, 16:57
Judging by the semi indicative FP1 results, Mclaren look strong and Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes seem to be running similar pace. But then again.. its only FP1
Hatebreeder (@hatebreeder) said on 10th June 2011, 17:25
there’s a .6 sec difference betn pole n 2nd place. That’s a huge gap. I just hope there isnt a rbr on pole at the end of FP3.
rfs (@rfs) said on 10th June 2011, 17:06
How long were the tyres lasting today?
Barry said on 10th June 2011, 17:54
Keith,
I’m wondering if it possible for your site to keep the adverts, but get rid of them automatically starting with the sound blaring. It’s making it difficult to enjoy your otherwise exemplory site.
I mean no offense to you personally.
I also was wondering if it possuible to post web fed links at the top of your “live” page so to make it much easier to open the web casts.
Thanks,
Barry
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 10th June 2011, 18:01
Please send details of the ads via the contact form and I’ll look into it.
BBT said on 10th June 2011, 18:03
Just watched the highlights from last year on the BBC, I’d forgot what a great race it was. Hope we get some more of that this weekend.
Rits said on 10th June 2011, 18:28
Montreal last year was arguably the best race of the season. Imo, its only been equalled by this year’s Chinese GP thus far. Lets see, just a day to go :)
Rits said on 10th June 2011, 18:31
This year’s Monaco could well have been judged into the list of all-time classics if not for the darned restart. FIA anyone?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 10th June 2011, 18:14
Comment from BBT moved here
BBT said on 10th June 2011, 18:31
Just so I know, why was my post moved? I like to post in the most appropriate place.