After Lewis Hamilton finally opened up his account in the principality of Monaco, the Formula One circus heads across the Atlantic into North America for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
Nico Rosberg will be hoping to resume his race-winning streak after his embarrassing collision with Hamilton 2 races ago and his woes in Monaco which saw him drop like a stone and get robbed of a 6th place by fellow German Nico Hulkenberg right at the finish line.
As the American leg of the season begins, here is all you need to know about the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Red Bull have established themselves as a threat and Ferrari are not too far behind either.
The Circuit
The circuit is 2.714 miles/4.3653 km long, originally called Ile Notre-Dame Circuit. It was built in 1978 and has been a mainstay in the Formula One calendar for a long time.
It was renamed Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after the Canadian racer died in 1982. Going on a flying lap of the circuit, the car tanks down the straight and brakes hard for the first corner, a left handed turn and immediately spills onto a right handed hairpin called Virage Senna. A few kinks to negotiate before a right-left sequence of Turns 3 and 4.
A fast right hander called Turn 5 and hard on the anchors again for a left-right sequence of Turns 6 and 7. A short straight and a right-left sequence of Turns 8 and 9, very important to nail the exit from Turn 9 or you could end up in the wall. Onto the back straight and brake hard for The Hairpin (L’Epingle) at Turn 10, it’s advisable not to go in too deep into the corner.
The track opens up onto the long, long straight with a kink at Turn 11 which is usually taken full throttle this is the fastest part of the circuit and grinding almost to a halt at Turns 12 and 13.
It is also extremely important to get the exit out of Turn 13 perfect because lying in wait on the outside of the corner is “The Wall Of Champions”. The story behind the dreaded Wall of Champions is very interesting. In the 1999 race the wall claimed the cars of Damon Hill, Ricardo Zonta, Jacques Villeneuve and even Michael Schumacher.
In later races the wall served a stark reminder of its notoriey when 2009 world champion Jenson Button and 4-time world champion Sebastian Vettel also fell prey to the wall. so the question is “Who will The Wall claim next?”
Tire Allocations for Canada:
As seen above, most teams are heavily reliant on the Ultrasoft tires – with two teams opting to avoid the Supersoft tires entirely.
Live Timings Information:
Canada:
Friday 10th June: FP1 10:00am-11:30am, FP2 14:00pm-15:30pm
Saturday 11th June: FP3 10:00am-11:00am, QP 13:00pm-14:00pm
Sunday 12th June: Race 14:00pm
UK
Friday 10th June: FP1 15:00pm-16:30pm, FP2 19:00pm-20:30pm
Saturday 11th June: FP3 15:00pm-16:00pm, QP 18:00pm-19:00pm
Sunday 12th June: Race 19:00pm
India
Friday 10th June: FP1 19:30pm-21:00pm, FP2 23:30pm-1:00am
Saturday 11th June: FP3 19:30pm-20:30pm, QP 22:30pm-23:30pm
Sunday 12th June: Race 23:30pm
Weekend Fix:
Canada:- TSN
UK:- BBC, Sky Sports
India:- Star Sports 4, Star Sports 4 HD
