F1-Blog

ITV it seems will not be showing live coverage of the US qualifying session. There was a threat of this for the Canadian GP and the power of people complaining changed that.

Pop along to f1fanatic who have all the details on how to complain. Let's hope the BBC win the rights39;s next time round.

Alonso finishes first in this years Canadian Grand Prix, however the big story is that Kimi Raikkonen made a mistake with 2 laps to go at the hairpin, this allowed Michael Schumacher to overtake and finish the GP in second place.

Kimi however was obviously running short of luck in the GP, as both of his pit stops had problems. A stuck wheel in the first stop waisted around 5 seconds, and the engine shutting down in the second stop lost him time as well.

Top 10 Results

1. F Alonso Renault
2. M Schumacher Ferrari
3. K Raikkonen McLaren
4. G Fisichella Renault
5. F Massa Ferrari
6. J Trulli Toyota
7. N Heildfeld BMW
8. D Coulthard Red Bull
9. J Button Honda
10. S Speed Toro Rosso

Full review to come shortly

The FIA and AMD are holding one of their survey's again. Pop along to the website and submit your survey.

The Canadian grand prix has become synonymous with brake troubles for the teams in the last few years. The problem is that the straights39;s are very fast immediatly followed by very slow corner sections.

Toyota chassis boss Pascal Vasselon says "The contrast between the high-speed sections and slow corner speeds means that the brakes have a very difficult time, It is simply the worst circuit of the season for brakes and so we pay special attention to brake ducts and cooling. I would say that the most important parameter is brake cooling and making sure that we stay precisely in the window, because we know precisely in which window we have to operate the disc. Then, after that, it’s all about wear estimation"

Wear estimation caught the Toyota team and Jarno Trulli short last year when the car very publicly lost all it's breaking ability. This was apparently due to a loss of telemetry from the brake systems, and the team could not advise Jarno of impending temperature issues.

The tyres however should help this years cars slightly, as the loss of V10 power, and the re-introduction of wheel changes will introduce both higher corner speeds (reducing braking input), and the ability to visually inspect and clean the cooling duct's during stops. 

Williams have tried to maximise their chances at this weekends Canadian GP by offering a 'full car upgrade' for it's drivers.

The FW28 gets a completely  new aero package, and the new series 4 Cosworth engine to power it.

"The circuit (Canada) requires a completely different aerodynamic package to the ones we've used for the first part of the season," explains Webber, "which means a low to medium downforce level to help our top speeds." 

The new package includes front and rear wings, diffusers, nose section, as well as additional 'winglets' to aid in stability. 

Honda heads have started to roll with the announcement that Geoff Willis is to be replaced by the current engineering director Shuhei Nakamoto with immediate effect.

Willis has not been placed into another role inside the team adding to rumours that he will have no place in the Japanese Honda team in the future.

Nakamoto is best known for his involvement in the Honda GP Bike devision, where he was involved in the 250, 750 and the current 1000cc RC211V.

For the time being it is being said that Willis will stay at the Brackley team in an effort to maximise the use of the new full size second wind tunnel. 

F1Fanatic are running a great piece entitled 100 greatest F1 Video's.

They certainly have some of the classics there, like the Minardi 2 seater crash and the famous active suspension crash from Gerhard Berger at Estoril.

The FIA are putting an end to at least one part of the Flexi Wing debate.

The FIA are going to amend the rules to force the teams to use a spacer to force the space between the planes of the rear wing. This will guard against the planes 'moving' together to create a different aero profile.

This only tackles the rear wing, and other parts of the aero package on cars has been shown to 'move', these include barge boards and front wings.

These may be tackled by the FIA at a later date.

Personally I do not actually mind the teams using clever aero tweaks, however it should be made clear whether it will be tolerated or not, so the other teams can develop their own versions of the wings. 

Flavio Briatore has said that the team are looking to supply another team with engines.

"We are keen to supply a second team and we have ample capacity at (engine headquarters) Viry to supply it, with homologated engines coming in, supplying a second team has to be the way to go," Flavio Said. "It would offset a lot of the cost. We would be willing to talk to anyone and the engines would be available for a very reasonable price."

So with ProDrive on the possible look out, perhaps they may talk to Renault.

Renault have announced that Giancarlo Fisichella will remain at the F1 team for 2007 at least.

The Official Announcement is over at the Renault site, and does not really include an awful amount of information, but the rumour is that it is just a 1 year extension to his current contract.

Flavio Briatore commented: “We are extremely pleased to continue working with Giancarlo next year. He was an integral part of our championship success last year; he has upped his game significantly for 2006, making the team even stronger; we believe he can do it again for 2007. It is important for Renault to maintain continuity as we move into next year, and Giancarlo’s integration with the team is now perfect. What’s more, his experience with the team over two championship campaigns will be an invaluable asset. We will have ambitious targets for next season, and Giancarlo is capable of achieving them.”

This news was actually expected as Renault did not really want to install two new drivers this year, yes Heiki Kovalenin is very good, and could easily be one of the 'next big things', but the Renault team have lost their 'Ace' and could do with some stability on the team.

All that now needs to be announced is that Kimi has signed for the team and Renault's future would then be bright. They could be the mighty Finnish army.