2007 Canadian Grand Prix

[Robin]

Actually I have a question, is it me or is the rear alloy wheel different to the front ones on the Ferrari, it appears to be like a hubcap which is level with the wall of the tire, they have been using that for like the last few years and no other team does, what is it and what does it do?

Robin

 

[Muzaffar]

Oh yes!Hamilton has done it!His first ever f1 pole psition! almost .400 faster than Fernando Alonso and .500 faster than Nick Heidfeld.I think this should be a good race tomorrow.The Ferrari looks like they are struggling against the Mclaren.Ferrari must had wish that they were the better team in canada....until Mclaren snatch pole for a front row starting grid.....

 

[m7ammed]

LOL @ Nick kissing the wall ... very good job from ........ congrats to Hamilton , I love it when Alonso looks pissed he doesn't hide it well does he

race should be interesting , seems BMW is have two diffrent stratgies tommorow

 

[Metar]

It was my first-ever F1 qualifying-session which I watched, that was damn intense! I nearly jumped through the roof when Sato set that 9th-place - and then back down when Heidfeld bumped him down. One of the Ferraris set a three-metre long strip of rubber in the pits, and Rosberg engaged 1st gear while the Sauber was still in the air.

BTW, am I the only one who thought the conference looked odd? Alonso was so pale when the others spoke... Almost reminded me of John Cleese. Heidfeld, on the other hand, reminded me of Pete Townshend.


Disclaimer: This was my first session of any car-race ever, so I'm a little excited

 

[darkfinal]

Oh yes!Hamilton has done it!His first ever f1 pole psition! almost .400 faster than Fernando Alonso and .500 faster than Nick Heidfeld.

Only because Alonso did a mistake on Sector 3, when he was going about .050 faster than his teammate.

But anyway, I'm expecting Alonso to overtake Hamilton at the start or during the race. Loooong straights and heavy breaking will make it interesting *grins*

 

[<_Spike_>]

pole is pole, good for Lewis, I think you're underestimating him by thinking Alonso will immediately over take him, he has been immense on starts most of the time.

 

[Muzaffar]

Originally Posted by <_Spike_>
pole is pole, good for Lewis, I think you're underestimating him by thinking Alonso will immediately over take him, he has been immense on starts most of the time.

You know,he's right!Hamilton had the fastest 2nd sector of the whole qualifying session.Just let Hamilton win his first race.Alonso is too overrated.

 

[Lee]

Alonso is too overrated.

He's a Double Champ for a reason.

Good qualifying session, probably the most exciting so far this season. Suprised to see McLaren so far ahead but I have a sneaky suspicsion Ferrari have a wee bit more fuel in their pockets. Heidfeld put in a fantastic showing in Q2 and Q3, a podium could well be on the cards aslong as BMW haven't messed up his strategy yet again..

Ok so after quali my prediction is..

1st: Alonso
2nd: Hamilton
3rd: Massa
4th: Heidfeld
5th: Raikkonen
6th: Webber
7th: Fisichella
8th: Kubica

Looking forward to the race!!

 

[<_Spike_>]

And for that matter what the Ferrari crewman is thinking... notice how he isn't facing Hamilton... but his eyes are directly focused on him... and he isn't exactly smiling...

Hamilton - "What a heap of crap..."

Crewman - "Wish we had him instead of Kimi..."

 

[m7ammed]

from BMW website

"That's a brilliant result - especially after the thrilling Q2. After Nick's lap time was deleted because he had cut the chicane, for him it was all or nothing. He managed this in an impressive way. For Robert it didn't go as well and he finished, beaten by fractions, in eight position. To be honest, this second row was what we hoped to achieve here."

I don't think BMW is showboating ... Nick was faster the ferraris in Q2 .... what do you guys think?

Kubica doesn't seem to be comfortable with the car

 

[Muzaffar]

well it the situation where the team always favor one driver instead of another.Just look at Renault,Red Bull,Toyota,Super Aguri,and Bmw.One driver on the team will always perform better the the other driver.David Coulthard's car had brake problems but how did Mark Webber get into the top 10? And why Fisichella outperformed Kovalainen?Same car,different setup,different results.(and the fact one driver is maybe better than the other driver)

 

[m7ammed]

well it the situation where the team always favor one driver instead of another.Just look at Renault,Red Bull,Toyota,Super Aguri,and Bmw.One driver on the team will always perform better the the other driver.David Coulthard's car had brake problems but how did Mark Webber get into the top 10? And why Fisichella outperformed Kovalainen?Same car,different setup,different results.(and the fact one driver is maybe better than the other driver)

I don't think its that I think its just a combo of luck and driving style, Hekki only can blame him self .... why would a team not want both driver to do well , the more points the drivers score the more money the team gets .... so I see no reason for them to favor one over the other it just doesn't make sense

 

[Brett]

For all of those wanting to know about the shields on the Ferrari rear brakes, here is some information, straight from Formula1.com.

Ferrari 248 F1 Rim Shields



Ferrari first introduced these at Imola, to help extract the heat generated by the rear brakes. The lip of the shield separates the hot airflow from the rim walls, helping to stabilise tyre pressure by limiting the effect of the brake heat. In Turkey the concept is pushed further, with a wider lip section reducing the size of the central air vent. This improves air extraction still further by decreasing turbulence generated by airflow close to the wheel. It is also slightly imprves aerodynamic efficiency in this area.


Ferrari F2007 - Rear Wheelnut Extension



Last season, Ferrari adopted shields to cover the rear wheels rims. These additions meant the mechanics could only access the wheels with their wheel guns through a small central hole. To improve the timing and precision of this operation, the F2007 has been fitted with a wheel nut extension, which enables the mechanics to fit the wheels gun onto the nut more easily. This modification has already improved the timings of the team's pit stops.

Ferrari F2007 - Modified Rim Shields



As discussed previously, brake fade is a problem in Monaco. Less grip from the 2007 tyres forces brake bias rearwards, and cooling the rear brakes is difficult. To avoid problems in the 78 lap race, Ferrari modified their rear wheels' rim shields, giving them wide vents to allow the heat generated under braking to dissipate more efficiently. The vents lessen aerodynamic efficiency by adding drag, but this is of little consequence on the slow speed Monto Carlo circuit.


Hopefully, this will will clear up the questions about the rim shields on the rear wheels of the Ferrari.

 

[darkfinal]

You know,he's right!Hamilton had the fastest 2nd sector of the whole qualifying session.Just let Hamilton win his first race.Alonso is too overrated.

You sound like if you were british, not malaysian

And nope, Hamilton didn't have the Q3's fastest 2nd sector (which is what counts). They both did a 21.1 S1 (but Alonso's was marked as magenta during the Live Timing, so he was subtly faster), and Hamilton did a 24.2 S2 in front of Alonso's 24.1 S2. And what's more important, Hamilton got the pole doing a relatively slow S3, so if Alonso had taken the last turn calmly, even loosing 0.2 on his best personal S3 time he would have taken the pole.

With that I'm NOT saying Hamilton doesn't deserve the Pole position, he did an awesome job there, as well as Alonso doesn't deserve it (for commiting such an stupid error - which honestly surprised me). But considering the long straight behind the last U turn, which has brought lots of overtaking during the last races here, and that they both drive as fast as each other - Alonso WILL try to overtake him there, sooner or later. And if he does, I'm expecting Hamilton's payback too But I can see the spaniard winning the fight. Until Ron Dennis tells them both to slow down.

Either that, or they'll crash in the first turn. Senna-Prost like. I'd LOVE to see that, even if I'm Alonso's fan

 

[Robin]

For all of those wanting to know about the shields on the Ferrari rear brakes, here is some information, straight from Formula1.com.

Thanks for explaining what they are, I remember when I saw them I thought I was seeing things as no other team uses them.... however im sure they limited the ventilation to the brakes eventhough its to help get the air out, I dont see any swept blades on them (like for example the slr's turbine alloys).....

Thanks and +rep

 

[Bram Turismo]

BMW definitly showed its pace today and Mclaren owned Ferrari at every single piece of the track there. Congrats Lewis, I hope he can finish it off tomorrow 👍

Another good quali for RBR, let's hope Webber won't have a failure, again. Trulli did good as well, he really shows how much better he's doing than Ralf...18th 👎

 

[<_Spike_>]

I'll admit I'll have to see the qualifying (not shown here until...well now...) but I'm sure that the time sheets speak for themselves truthfully on the cars

Either that, or they'll crash in the first turn. Senna-Prost like. I'd LOVE to see that, even if I'm Alonso's fan

I'd hate that to happen lol, being a McLaren fan more than anything else I'd just stop watching the race it'd be pointless for me


With this rule of not wishing drivers to crash, can we still take guesses on the first car into Champions Wall? XD

 

[Brett]

Thanks for explaining what they are, I remember when I saw them I thought I was seeing things as no other team uses them.... however im sure they limited the ventilation to the brakes eventhough its to help get the air out, I dont see any swept blades on them (like for example the slr's turbine alloys).....

Thanks and +rep

Renault has also used them earlier this year. I do not know if they are still using them though, as I have not really been paying all that much attention to it. Tomorrow during race, I will take the time to look for them.

Here a picture Renault's rim shields as used in Malaysia, again straight from Formula1.com.

 

[Lee]

I'll admit I'll have to see the qualifying (not shown here until...well now...)

It was on ITV4 live at Half 5 in the evening.

 

[Aquendwato]

With this rule of not wishing drivers to crash, can we still take guesses on the first car into Champions Wall? XD

We don't WANT them to, we just think they will.

Coulthard, Sato, or Albers.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

We don't WANT them to, we just think they will.

Coulthard, Sato, or Albers.

Kovalainen.

 

[<_Spike_>]

It was on ITV4 live at Half 5 in the evening.

I don't have ITV4 so it's a bit pointless for me that tidbit

 

[Blake]

For reference, VashTheStampede, Renault do use those wheel sheilds. You can see them flying off in this picture.

Also Torro Rosso used them last season after Ferrari adopted them.

Meanwhile, back to the matter at hand. McLaren were simply dominant, it was impressive. By the sounds of it Alonso might let Hamilton take this one, because he already seems to have conceded that he doesn&#8217;t have much to gain by trying to push Hamilton: &#8220;I obviously want to win but also I'm not going to win the Championship this weekend so will be sensible.&#8221;

EDIT: Ron Dennis says &#8220;We are absolutely even handed as we try to show all the time and we&#8217;ll show that again tomorrow.&#8221; Make of that what you will.

Ferrari seem to be suggesting they&#8217;re heavier than McLaren, but I think they&#8217;re just a little shocked that they&#8217;re not competitive with them.

Nick did a great job, and it will be interesting to see the battle between him and the Ferrari&#8217;s at the start of the race. Both of the cars seem suited to high-speed circuits (another reason why I find Ferrari&#8217;s lack of pace here quite astonishing), so hopefully we can see some passing for podium positions this weekend.

Mark Webber also rates a mention. His qualifying performance has been awesome this season. Doing really well almost every weekend. He just needs to pray his car holds together.

Should be an interesting race.

1. Hamilton
2. Alonso
3. R&#228;ikk&#246;nen
4. Heidfeld
5. Massa
6. Kubica
7. Fisichella
8. Rosberg

 

[Aquendwato]

How they managed to get that patched up in 10 minutes is beyond me. I supposed they might've actually used the T-Car.

 

[<_Spike_>]

|I'm just surprised it didn't smash up the suspension more

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

I vote Ralf to be the first into the Wall of Champions.

 

[Blake]

How they managed to get that patched up in 10 minutes is beyond me. I supposed they might've actually used the T-Car.

No, they didn&#8217;t use the T-Car. The T-Car has a different engine in it, so they have to put the old engine in the T-Car so they don&#8217;t get an engine penalty. Heikki already had an engine penalty, so another would have put him at the back of the grid (not that his first one didn&#8217;t, as it turned out).

|I'm just surprised it didn't smash up the suspension more

Yeah, that was a big hit. It&#8217;s incredible that the suspension wasn&#8217;t damaged. In the end I think the only parts of the car that were damaged were the wheel (easily replaced), the rear wing (takes a few minutes, but can still be replaced quickly), and the floor (not so easily replaced ). Pretty good for such a huge hit.

 

[daan]

I vote Ralf to be the first into the Wall of Champions.

They'll have to change the wall's name if Ralf hits it.

 

[Blake]

They'll have to change the wall's name if Ralf hits it.

Ahaha! Oh my, you&#8217;re on fire today.

 

[MagpieRacer]

I doubt Ralph will make it that far..I see Alonso or MAssa ending up in it..