Participating: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes), Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Felipe Massa (Ferrari).

Q. A question to all of you first of all. Looking back to Canada, your thoughts on that race, what you learned and your feelings after the race.

Kimi Raikkonen: Not much to say, really. I didn’t score any points, so it was a bit of a bad weekend but those come sometimes.
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Despite considerable doubt over its place on the F1 calendar in recent months, it would appear that the future of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne has been saved. In a surprising turnaround, it seems a deal has been struck that will keep both Melbourne and the Australian Grand Prix on the Formula 1 calendar for at least the next seven years.
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The F1 Stupid Move of the Week Is…

… in the category of Canadian Grand Prix done wrong… the envelope please?

The winner is…. Lewis Hamilton!!!

Congratulations!

More later, I’m too busy watching the NASCAR event.

Current World Champion Kimi Raikkonen seems a bit upset over the racing conditions provided by his Canadian hosts for this weekends Canadian Grand Prix.

“The car has been good all weekend and was even very good this morning then you go into qualifying and it is quite a joke with the circuit,” said Raikkonen.
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Friday’s Weather: Damp track in the morning, dry in the afternoon. Air 17-21°C, track 17-26°C Toyota’s Best Canadian GP qualifying: 4th Jarno Trulli 2006 Toyota’s Best Canadian GP race result: 6th Ralf Schumacher 2005, Jarno Trulli 2006 Take Note: Given that brakes and braking stability are key performance areas in Montreal, the TF108 will feature an evolution of its braking system for this weekend’s race.

Jarno Trulli (Car 11, Chassis TF108-05)
Summary: A full day of running in difficult, changeable track conditions
P1 14th Best Lap Time: 1m 19.568s (+2.015s) Laps: 31
P2 10th Best Lap Time: 1m 17.068s (+1.316s) Laps: 46

“Our day of testing at Paul Ricard in preparation for this race was washed out so we had a lot to learn from today’s practice sessions. This was another difficult day because the track was green and there was very low grip. That meant I was fighting a lot to control the car and to get the most out of the tyres.

In general we have quite a lot of work to do to improve the balance before qualifying. It’s hard to say how we can get on this weekend. The role of the tyres will be important because we had graining last year which had a big impact on the performance. We’ve had some difficult races lately so we could do with a return to form here.”

Timo Glock (Car 12, Chassis TF108-06)
Summary: Busy day of work ended prematurely after contact with the wall in the second session
P1 13th Best Lap Time: 1m 19.346s (+1.793s) Laps: 28
P2 15th Best Lap Time: 1m 17.549s (+1.797s) Laps: 31

“The first practice session went okay and we were able to carry out useful work in the changing conditions. But in the second practice I just could not find a balance and the car was really difficult to drive.

I put a wheel into the wall with half an hour to go and that was it for the day. Still, my races here in Montreal have gone well for me so far. I scored points here on my F1 debut in 2004 and I came second here in Champ Cars. So I have good memories from this track and I remain hopeful we can come away from this weekend with a strong performance.”

Dieter Gass, Chief Engineer Race and Test; “That was not an easy Friday practice for us. There was very little grip out there today and the rain obviously didn’t help at the very beginning. It took quite some time to get grip on the track and we saw a lot of cars spinning, ours included. Still, we made some good progress with our programme.

It’s a pity that Timo had to stop when he slightly touched the wall. But we’ve collected some very good information from both drivers - especially Jarno, who completed the session - on set-up and tyres. There are still some balance issues to be sorted out overnight but overall it was not too bad.”

Panasonic Toyota Racing, featuring… Reality Check: Getting Ahead with Simulation Today may have been the first time the TF108 has run on with the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in real life, but not in the virtual world of simulation at Panasonic Toyota Racing. Even before arriving in Canada the engineers already had a bank of information about the car’s behaviour at the track from an array of sophisticated simulation techniques including the wind tunnel, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and engine test benches.

For this track, riding the kerbs is key and the team has simulated the car’s behavior on a seven-post rig specifically set up to replicate the demands of the Montreal track. A full-sized TF108 is placed on a hydraulically-powered rig, using data from previous seasons to shake and shudder the car exactly as if it was driving over the bumps and kerbs of the Ile Notre-Dame.

This gives engineers an indication of what works with suspension and damper settings. Nonetheless, the set-up has to be finalized on track, as Senior General Manager Chassis Pascal Vasselon says; “Simulation faces natural limitations and it is essential to know them. It won’t tell you everything but you can expect it to give direction.”

Technorati Tags: Gilles Villeneuve Circuit, Ralf Schumacher, Jarno Trulli, Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal, Timo Glock, Formula One, Sports, F1 Rage!

Many people that are directly involved with auto racing, or those of us that snipe from the sidelines, hold certain cars with more affection than others.

In my case one of my dream cars, one of many I should note, was just about anything that had a yellow and black Prancing Horse pinned to its flanks.

Note the past tense “was.”

Max “The Littlest Perv” Mosley, the president of motor sport’s world governing body FIA, has received backing from Toyota Motorsport and the Ferrari Formula One team after his vote of confidence in the wake of a sex scandal.

“I am happy that Max Mosley has been re-elected as FIA president. He has done an excellent job for Formula One these last few years. In the future, it will be entirely down to him if and when he stands down,” - Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo.

Screw you, you’ve just lost a potential customer thanks to your “U-Turn” even if one that was only in a dream state.

My recent decision to take delivery of a brand spanking new Mitsu Pajero is looking mighty prescient as well.

“Toyota Motorsport accepts the decision. Now that FIA members have expressed their point of view, we hope the world of motorsport will not be disturbed by the scandal, controversy or negative publicity. “We also understand the position of the major national federations,” issued by some anonymous knucklehead at Toyota.

Technorati Tags: Formula One, Auto racing, Max Mosley, FIA, Motorsport, Sports, Mosley Scandal, F1 Rage!

With just three days to go before members of the FIA cast a vote of confidence on FIA[sco] President, Max Mosley, FOM chief and long time confidant of The Littlest Perv, Bernie Ecclestone, has added his voice to many others on the subject and called for Mosley to step down voluntarily from his role as head of the FIA before he is officially made to do so.
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I admit, I was a week early in predicting this problem would rear it’s ugly heard. I had a feeling teams would feel the pinch of stretched resources because of the 2009 rules just after the Turkish GP.

I missed it by this much: Renault’s director of engineering Pat Symonds is feeling the squeeze, or at least admitting to feeling it now.
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