Formula 1 – Canadian Grand Prix – Preview and Betting Tips

Formula 1 heads to North America for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montréal. The race is a difficult one to watch live for those on the east coast. Qualifying is on at 3:00 AM on Sunday and the race is at 4:00 AM on Monday. This is the first of two events in North America, with the United States Grand Prix in Texas taking place in November.

The 2011 Canadian Grand Prix was a dramatic affair due to the varying rain conditions. Jenson Button was able to win the race despite making six visits to the pit lane. He was running in last place past half-distance and took the race victory on the final lap. At the time of writing rain is forecast for Saturday, which could result in some surprises in qualifying.

2012 Season Results

Below are the 2012 season results to date. In the six races thus far we’ve had six different race winners, six different fastest lap winners and six different 2nd place finishers. Given that Canada has a reputation for being an unpredictable Grand Prix, what will happen this weekend is anyone’s guess!

Driver and Constructor standings

The driver and constructor standings remain very open. In contrast, at this stage of the championship last year, Vettel had 143 points, 58 more than 2nd placed Lewis Hamilton.

1 Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 76
2 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 73
3 Mark Webber (Red Bull) 73
4 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) 63
5 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 59
6 Kimi Räikkönen (Lotus-Renault) 51
7 Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 45
8 Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Renault) 35
9 Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Renault) 29
10 Sergio Perez (Sauber-Ferrari) 22

In the constructor standings Red Bull have extended their lead over McLaren. All but 10 of Ferrari’s points have been scored by Alonso, who continues to dominate his teammate Massa.

1 Red Bull Racing-Renault 146
2 McLaren-Mercedes 108
3 Ferrari 86
4 Lotus-Renault 86
5 Mercedes 61
6 Williams-Renault 44
7 Sauber-Ferrari 41
8 Force India-Mercedes 28
9 STR-Ferrari 6
10 Caterham-Renault 0
11 Marussia-Cosworth 0
12 HRT-Cosworth 0

Montréal Circuit History

The Canadian Grand Prix has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. Numerous circuits have been used, with the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve hosting the Grand Prix since 1978. The circuit was originally named Circuit Île Notre-Dame but was renamed in honour of Canadian Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve – father of Jacques Villeneuve – following his death in 1982. The Canadian Grand Prix has been on the Formula 1 calendar every year with the exceptions of 1975, 1987 and 2009. In November 2009, Canada reached a settlement with Formula One Administration and signed a five-year contract for the 2010-2014 seasons.

The circuit is located on a man-made island in the St. Lawrence River. One of its best known features is a wall on the outside of the exit of the final chicane before the start/finish straight. In 1999 the wall ended the race of three Formula One World Champions: Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve as well as FIA GT champion Ricardo Zonta. Since then the wall has been nicknamed “The Wall of Champions”. In recent years Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Juan Pablo Montoya, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Kamui Kobayashi have fallen victim to the wall.

The circuit is a mix between a permanent track and a street circuit. Apart from the close walls, one of its other well-known features are the long straights, so good top speeds are important.

Below are the most recent Canadian Grand Prix results. The circuit has been a happy hunting ground for McLaren. In the last four races Hamilton has had three pole positions and two race wins.

Last Year

Sebastian Vettel qualified on pole, just ahead of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Mark Webber qualified 4th while Jenson Button could only manage 7th on the grid.

Raceday was incredibly eventful. Due to wet conditions the race was started behind the safety car. The race commenced on lap four and there was an almost immediate collision between Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber. Webber rejoined in 15th while Hamilton dropped from 5th to 7th. Hamilton and Button then exchanged places a few times before colliding. Hamilton was forced to retire and the safety car was deployed. Button returned to the pits and rejoined on intermediate tyres but a drive through penalty for speeding behind the safety car saw him fall back to 18th.

Once the safety car came in Vettel went about rebuilding his lead and the pack began to spread out. Button, on the intermediate tyres, was lapping much faster than the leaders, which prompted Alonso, Rosberg and Schumacher to pit. This backfired for them as a heavy downpour then hit the circuit, forcing the four drivers on intermediates to pit for wet tyres. The track became too wet for racing so the safety car was again deployed before the race was red flagged for two hours.

The race restarted under the safety car, at which time Button was running in 10th position. Schumacher pitted quickly for intermediate tyres, and as a result of his superior lap times most other drivers opted to come into the pits. The resulting pit stop queues caused Petrov and Alonso to drop positions as they waited behind their respective teammates. Alonso had contact with Button as he rejoined the race, which caused Alonso to retire and Button to return to the pits with a punctured tyre. The safety car was once again deployed.

Upon the race restart Vettel again went about rebuilding his lead. Webber and Button improved their positions by pitting earlier than others for slicks. After everyone else pitted, and due to various mistakes from di Resta, Massa and Kobayashi, Webber and Button were running 3rd and 4th, respectively at this stage.

The safety car was again deployed after Heidfeld ran into the back of Kobayashi. With ten laps remaining the safety car came in and Vettel built a three second lead over 2nd placed Schumacher. Webber made a number of attempts to pass Schumacher, but he lost momentum after one attempt which enabled Button to overtake him. Button quickly overtook Schumacher and began chasing down Vettel. With one lap remaining he was one second behind the German. Vettel then made a mistake on Turn 6 which enabled Button to overtake for the race victory. Vettel finished 2nd and Webber managed to overtake Schumacher for 3rd.

Impressions from the 2012 season thus far, plus other titbits

The circuit features a number of long straights so drivers need good top speeds to be competitive. They will be running with less downforce than they would other races. Force India driver Paul di Resta has said “the car feels quite different and a bit loose without all the downforce. It always takes a few laps to get used to things again.”

Red Bull look set to change their controversial floor design. Questions surfaced over the legality of the holes in their car’s rear floor in Monaco. The FIA will consider enclosed holes in the floor illegal from the Montréal race onwards.

Pirelli have made the soft and super-soft tyres available for this race. Due to the low average speeds in Monaco the drivers were able to make their super-soft tyres last for long runs. This won’t be the case in Montréal, which is more demanding on tyres due to heavy breaking and the track surface.

Remi Taffin, head of Renault Sport F1 track operations has said “the long straights demand good top end power but the heavy braking zones of the hairpin and chicane need effective engine braking and good pick up on the exit, so it’s rightly called an ‘engine breaker’ because the engine doesn’t get any respite at all. The challenge is to find the right balance between delivering maximum performance and maintaining 100% reliability, just like at Spa and Monza where the risks have to justify the gains.”

Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen has said “qualifying is important, but not essential to get a good result as there are a few places to overtake. To do well in Canada the car needs to be good under braking because it’s very tough on brakes at this circuit. It’s also a circuit with different track surfaces and sometimes the surface itself can change over the course of the race weekend. This is interesting as it means different grip levels, so another challenge there.”

Canadian Grand Prix organisers have opted for a shorter, single-DRS zone instead of the double-zone used last year.

Canadian Grand Prix Preview

In contrast to Monaco two weeks ago, qualifying position isn’t everything in Canada. Only three of the past ten winners qualified on pole position. Michael Schumacher won from 6th on the grid in 2004, while Räikkönen and Button won the race from 7th on the grid in 2005 and 2011, respectively.

Canadian Grand Prix Betting

Below are the latest race odds (subject to change):

Given he hasn’t finished higher than 3rd on the podium this year, Hamilton looks a touch short at 4.00 odds to win the race. Having said that he has won two races in Canada already.

Once again I will hold off on qualifying and race betting until I’ve seen the practice results. Form hasn’t seemed to translate from one race to another this season. This year is all about who can get the most out of their tyres in local conditions. One interesting trend is that in the last four races this season, the pole winner has gone on to win the race.

Raikkonen predicts the safety car will come out as it has a persistent history of doing so in Canada. Seven of the last ten races have featured safety car deployments. Betfair often provides a market on whether the safety car will come out closer to the race, so keep an eye out for that market.