2012 Canadian Grand Prix - 3rd Practice

Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in an extremely tight practice session. Fernando Alonso came second, but only 0.006 seconds behind Vettel. The time gaps don't increase much further down the grid either. Massa in sixth was only 0.3 seconds behind Sebastian,wile the top 15 was separated by 1 second.

Practice Results
Pos - Driver - Team - Rank
1 - Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - 1
2 - Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 5
3 - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - 3
4 - Mark Webber - Red Bull - 2
5 - Pastor Maldonado - Williams - 18
6 - Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 7
7 - Michael Schumacher - Mercedes - 8
8 - Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 24
9 - Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus - 16
10 - Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 21
11 - Paul di Resta - Force India - 12
12 - Sergio Perez - Sauber - 15
13 - Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber - 9
14 - Bruno Senna - Williams - 23
15 - Jenson Button - McLaren - 4
16 - Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso - 28
17 - Vitaly Petrov - Caterham - 13
18 - Heikki Kovalainen - Caterham - 20
19 - Pedro De La Rosa - HRT - 30
20 - Timo Glock - Marussia - 26
21 - Narain Karthikeyan - HRT - 33
22 - Charles Pic - Marussia - 38
23 - Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 6
24 - Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 29

2012 Canadian Grand Prix - Free Practice 1 & 2

Lewis Hamilton looked in top form, as he posted the fastest times in both of Fridays Free Practice Sessions. He outshone teammate Button, who had car issues, and only managed to complete a total of 26 laps. The Ferrari's shone, with Massa & Alonso not far behind Lewis.

Free Practice 1
Pos - Driver - Team - Rank
1 - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - 3
2 - Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - 1
3 - Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 6
4 - Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 5
5 - Mark Webber - Red Bull - 2
6 - Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 21
7 - Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber - 9
8 - Sergio Perez - Sauber - 15
9 - Michael Schumacher - Mercedes - 8
10 - Jenson Button - McLaren - 4
11 - Paul Di Resta - Force India - 12
12 - Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 7
13 - Pastor Maldonado - Williams - 18
14 - Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 24
15 - Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus - 16
16 - Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 29
17 - Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso - 28
18 - Vitaly Petrov - Caterham - 13
19 - Heikki Kovalainen - Caterham - 20
20 - Pedro De La Rosa - HRT - 30
21 - Bruno Senna - Williams - 23
22 - Narain Karthikeyan - HRT - 33
23 - Timo Glock - Marussia - 26
24 - Charles Pic - Marussia -


Free Practice 2
Pos - Driver - Team - Rank
1 - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - 3
2 - Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 5
3 - Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 7
4 - Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - 1
5 - Paul Di Resta - Force India - 12
6 - Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber - 9
7 - Michael Schumacher - Mercedes - 8
8 - Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 21
9 - Jenson Button - McLaren - 4
10 - Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 6
11 - Sergio Perez - Sauber - 15
12 - Mark Webber - Red Bull - 2
13 - Pastor Maldonado - Williams - 18
14 - Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 24
15 - Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus - 16
16 - Heikki Kovalainen - Caterham - 20
17 - Bruno Senna - Williams - 23
18 - Vitaly Petrov - Caterham - 13
19 - Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 106
20 - Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso - 110
21 - Pedro de la Rosa - HRT - 85.5
22 - Timo Glock - Marussia - 202.5
23 - Narain Karthikeyan - HRT - 33
24 - Charles Pic - Marussia - Marussia - 38

2012 Canadian Grand Prix - Preview

2012 Canadian Grand Prix
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal



2.71 Miles per Lap
189.7 Miles
13 Corners
70 Laps



Last 5 Winners
2011 : Jenson Button - McLaren
2010 : Lewis Hamilton - McLaren
2008 : Robert Kubica - BMW Sauber
2007 : Lewis Hamilton - McLaren
2006 : Fernando Alonso - Renault

Track Stats
Most Wins : Michael Schumacher - 7
Most Podiums : Michael Schumacher - 12

Driver Stats

• Red Bull have never won the Canadian Grand Prix.
• Fernando Alonso is still looking for his 20th Fastest Lap.
• Before last years Canadian GP, it was guaranteed that Sebastian Vettel would lead the Drivers Title after the race, This year, any six drivers (Alonso, Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Rosberg, Raikkonen) can lead the Championship after the race.

Weather
Friday : Sunny & Hot, with slight chance of thunderstorms
Saturday : Sunny & Hot, with slight chance of thunderstorms
Sunday : Sunny & Hot, with slight chance of thunderstorms

Last Time
Jenson Button gave on of his finest performances in a f1 car, with great drive to victory. On a drying track, he overtook Sebastian Vettel on the last lap, in one of the best final laps in the history of F1.  Michael Schumacher also had a good race, taking fourth, after being in the battle for second. Added that, to his "Pole" in Monaco, he could be a good bet for at least a Podium, and maybe a win?

This Time
Well, could we possibly have a seventh different winner in our seventh race. It's possible. We are still waiting for Lewis Hamilton to win, then there is Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean & Michael Schumacher. Felipe Massa also had a great Monaco GP, and then there is Sergio Perez and Bruno Senna, either of which could win. One thing that is certain, is that the race should not be bore-fest. Last year, it was the best race of the year, and we have had some good races even further back. Robert Kubica got his first win here, after Hamilton & Raikkonen collided in the pits.

Ranking - 27th May

Here are the new rankings after the mammoth Monaco GP. Fernando Alonso has gained on Jenson Button, with only 8.5 points between the two of them. Kamui Kobayashi has also moved up to ninth. Bruno Senna, Paul Di Resta, & Sergio Perez were also big gainers.

Rank - Driver - Points - Pre Rank
1 - Sebastian Vettel - 3680.5 - 1
2 - Mark Webber - 2569 - 2
3 - Lewis Hamilton - 2279 - 3
4 - Jenson Button - 2028 - 4
5 - Fernando Alonso - 2020.5 - 5
6 - Nico Rosberg - 1074 - 6
7 - Felipe Massa - 947 - 7
8 - Michael Schumacher - 609 - 8
9 - Kamui Kobayashi - 559 - 10
10 - Rubens Barrichello - 557 - 9
11 - Adrian Sutil - 532.5 - 11
12 - Paul DiResta - 457 - 13
13 - Vitaly Petrov - 456 - 12
14 - Jaime Alguersuari - 402.5 - 14
15 - Sergio Perez - 395 - 18
16 - Kimi Raikkonen - 380 - 16
17 - Sebastian Buemi - 370.5 - 15
18 - Pastor Maldonado - 359 - 17
19 - Robert Kubica - 326.5 - 19
20 - Heikki Kovalainen - 303.5 - 20
21 - Nico Hulkenberg - 253.5 - 22
22 - Nick Heidfeld - 243 - 21
23 - Bruno Senna - 232 - 25
24 - Romain Grosjean - 224 - 24
25 - Jarno Trulli - 211.5 - 23
26 - Timo Glock - 202.5 - 26
27 - Vitantonio Liuzzi - 155 - 27
28 - Daniel Ricciardo - 110 - 28
29 - Jean-Eric Vergne - 106 - 29
30 - Pedro De La Rosa - 85.5 - 30
31 - Jerome D'Ambrosio - 72 - 32
32 - Giancarlo Fisichella - 71 - 31
33 - Kazuki Nakajima - 44 - 33
33 - Narain Karthikeyan - 44 - 34
35 - Lucas Di Grassi - 29.5 - 35
36 - Karun Chandhok - 23 - 36
37 - Sakon Yamamoto - 18 - 37
38 - Charles Pic - 16 - 38
39 - Nelson Piquet Jnr - 15.5 - 39
40 - Luca Badoer - 5.5 - 41
41 - Sebastian Bourdais - 1.5 - 40
42 - Christian Klien - 1 - 42

2012 Monaco Grand Prix - Race

Mark Webber won an enthralling Monaco GP, beating of competition from Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton & Felipe Massa, who all finished within 6 seconds of each other.

Mark took the lead from the start, while chaos ensued behind. Romain Grosjean and Michael Schumacher got too friendly with each other. Romain caught Michael, and the touch was enough to spin the Frenchman. The cars around him reacted very quickly, ensuring there was no pile-up. However, some had to escape down the Pit-Lane Exit, while others went around the outside of the beached Lotus, and lost several places. Sebastian Vettel was the biggest gainer, jumping up to sixth, while others like Jenson Button failed to climb at all.With debris on the track, the safety car was called out for three laps, while the Lotus was removed. When the racing continued, Mark pulled out his lead over Nico Rosberg, who had managed to hold onto third. Lewis Hamilton was trying to stay as close as possible, while Alonso seemed to be holding up teammate Felipe Massa.

Throughout the race, there was a constant threat of rain. Drivers were continuously being told that rain was not far away, and it appeared that the race would be decided by the rain, and when the drivers decided to pit. The main decision the teams had to make was whether wait for said rain to appear, or to pit, allowing the driver to not slow down, in order to save their tyres. In the end, no rain materialized, allowing the drivers to continue on the strategies. It was Rosberg who pitted first, which failed to work for him, as Mark managed to pit, and return to the track in front of the Mercedes. However, behind Lewis' early pit-stop worked against him, as a blistering in-lap from Fernando Alonso ensured he jumped his former teammate, and by some distance. After the majority of drivers had pitted, it was Sebastian Vettel who lead, due to his lack of a pit-stop. He lead team mate Webber, the Rosberg, Alonso, Hamilton, Massa.

Once in the lead, Vettel set about extending his lead, to possibly keep his lead after a visit to the pits, or at least return as high as possible. He job seemed to be made easier by Mark Webber, who appeared to be holding up the cars behind him, helping Seb to pull out in front. Mark seemed to ensure that his teammate was kept at arms-length, as he hoped of returning back to 1st place, after Vettel had pitted. The other question, was who long the drivers could last on their tyres. With less degradation than people were possibly expecting, and with that possibility of rain, tyre saving was going to be vitally important.

After nearly 50 laps on the "harder" of the 2 tyres, Vettel pitted. He was unable to beat Webber or Rosberg, but he did manage to squeeze just in front of Lewis Hamilton to take fourth place. As it stood, it was Webber, Rosberg, Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton and Massa, who were all separated by about 10 seconds. It was set to be shoot-out for victory between six drivers. All 6 drivers were ridiculously close; but, time gaps did appear, and disappear. For a few laps, Rosberg & Webber seemed to have broken away slightly, only for them to be reeled back in. It became even tighter when they had to lap a back-marker, with little more than a papers width between the cars. The tension was built even more with rain. After over an hour of saying it was just around the corner, it was finally here, but it still wasn't listening to the team radios. At Rascas, it started to spit, but that seemed all. The first to blink was not one of the front-runners, but Jean-Eric Verge who was sitting in seventh. He went into the pits for Intermediate tyres, assuming that the weather would get worse. It did not. Some umbrellas did come out in the stands, but it never got hard enough for wet weather tyres.

This ensured Mark had a slightly easier job to take victory. Even though he was being hounded by 5 determined drivers behind him, Webber ensured he drove to victory. His win makes it 6 different winners in the last 6 different races. It also completes a hat-trick of Red Bull victories at Monte Carlo. Nico Rosberg finished second, with Fernando Alonso taking the final spot on the podium. Sebastian Vettel took fourth, after starting in ninth, while Lewis Hamilton went the other way, going from third to fifth. Felipe Massa finished in a solid sixth, only 6.1 seconds behind winner Webber.

Race Results
Pos - Driver - Team - Rank
1 - Mark Webber - Red Bull - 2
2 - Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 6
3 - Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 5
4 - Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - 1
5 - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - 3
6 - Felipe Massa -Ferrari - 7
7 - Paul DiResta - Force India - 13
8 - Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 22
9 - Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus - 16
10 - Bruno Senna - Williams - 25
11 - Sergio Perez - Sauber -  18
12 - Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 29
13 - Heikki Kovalainen - Caterham - 20
14 - Timo Glock - Marussia - 26
15 - Narain Karthikeyan - HRT - 34
16 - Jenson Button - McLaren - 4
R - Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 24
R - Pastor Maldonado - Williams - 17
R - Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber - 10
R - Michael Schumacher - Mercedes - 8
R - Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso -28
R - Charles Pic - Marussia - 38
R - Vitaly Petrov - Caterham - 12
R - Pedro De La Rosa - HRT - 30

2012 Monaco Grand Prix - Qualifying

Michael Schumacher set the fastest time, but will have to start in sixth place for tomorrow's grand prix after a five-place grid penalty.

The German veteran took Pole Position in a dramtic close to qualifying at Monte Carlo. We only just pipped Mark Webber to 1st, after the Aussie had appeared to have won Pole by himself. However, after setting the fastest time of anybody in the middle sector, Michael ensured he got his first "Pole" since his return, nearly three years ago. But, Michael will have to start from sixth tomorrow, after he was given a five-place grid penalty, due  his collision with Bruno Senna during the Spanish GP. So, it will be the Red Bull of Mark Webber who will start the race tomorrow, ahead of Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton & Romain Grosjean.

Further down, Alonso just managed to out-qualify teammate Massa, after the Brazilian set the fastest time during Q2. Unfortunatly, Felipe went slower in Q3, resulting in him being placed behind present teammate Fernando, and former teammate Schumacher (after his penalty).

Sebastian Vettel failed to impress at Monaco. He needed the Super Soft tyres to ensure passage from Q1, and that the ensusured he did not have enough tyres to produce a good enough time in Q3. In the end, the current World Champion decided against setting a lap time at all. He will start in 9th tomorrow, one behind friend Kimi Raikkonen, and two ahead of Jenson Button. The 2009 World Champion really struggled for pace, and was not really in with a shout of making the final section of qualifying. JB qualified 13th, but was promoted to 12th, due Pastor Maldonado's 10 place grid penalty, which was a result of a incident during FP3 with Sergio Perez.

The young Mexican will start from the very back tomorrow, due to an incident at the very beginning of qualifying. His stearing seem to break, and he collided with the barriers, damaging the suspension, and pulling of a wheel. Unable to bring the car back to the pits, Qualifying was momenterally Red Flagged, while the Sauber was moved. Sergio was taken to Hospital for mandatory checks, but he should be fine to race tomorrow.

The Grid For Tomorrow's Race

Pos - Driver - Team - Rank
1 - Mark Webber - Red Bull - 2
2 - Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 6
3 - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - 3
4 - Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 24
5 - Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 5
6 - Michael Schumacher - Mercedes - 8*
7 -  Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 7
8 - Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus - 18
9 - Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - 1
10 - Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 22
11 - Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber - 10
12 - Jenson Button - McLaren -4
13 - Bruno Senna - Williams - 25
14 - Paul Di Resta - Force India - 13
15 - Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso - 28
16 - Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 29
17 - Heikki Kovalainen - Caterham - 20
18 - Vitaly Petrov - Caterham - 12
19 - Pastor Maldonado - Williams - 17**
20 - Timo Glock - Marussia - 26
21 - Pedro De La Rosa - HRT - 30
22 - Charles Pic -Marussia - 38
23 - Narain Karthikeyan - HRT - 34
24 - Sergio Perez - Sauber -18

* After 5-Place Grid Penalty
** After 10-Place Grid Penalty