Canadian Grand Prix Review

The Ile Notre Dame has a habit for either throwing up one of the surprise results of the season, or for utterly conforming to that year's pattern. In 2004, it was the latter, as once again teams fell over themselves in trying to hand Ferrari maximum points. The most obvious being Williams, which finally seemed to hit some form by finishing 2nd and 5th on the road, and which along with Toyota then managed to get themselves disqualified for illegal brake ducts.

Williams have already come out to say that they will not appeal the stewards' decision, and Toyota missed the deadline to protest their exclusion, so now we can make the following comments. Admittedly, Williams' disqualification should not be allowed to take the gloss off another fine win by Schumi and the men in red. Michael was clearly elated with this win, and so he should have been. From 6th on the grid, the third lowest starting position from which Schumacher has ever won, this was a cunning victory for strategy and car conservation.

If what he said at the post-race press conference can be believed - and it did seem to make sense, looking at the practice times - Ferrari knew that the F2004 with its Bridgestones may not have had an edge over the Williams, the Renault or the BAR. In fact, it may even have been slightly behind. So, settling for a two-stop strategy, the team opted to sacrifice grid positions and gamble that, in effect, they could stay within a pit stop's worth of time behind the leading three-stoppers.

However, in Michael's case in particular, he still had to run relatively low in the first stint to give himself the best possible opportunity of leap-frogging any of the three-stoppers who, catching on to what Ferrari was doing, would switch to a two-stopper to nullify Maranello's tactics. In the end, Fernando Alonso was the only one to try that, but a problem at his stop meant it was academic anyway. Ferrari's masterplan was still very much on track after the first round of stops.

But, understandably worried about brake wear on this track renowned for being tough on that component, Michael then slowed to a pace he was comfortable with, which he knew would be enough by keeping an eye on the gaps to his opposition. The end result? After all the stops had finished, Michael was still well ahead of his brother Ralf Schumacher, so much so that he could take the last dozen laps or so at a reduced pace yet again. For a man whose speed is legendary, this was simply a brilliant victory for stealth.

As Michael was doing his best to win at the slowest possible speed, though, his biggest threat seemed to be coming from team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who for the first time in living memory spent the latter half of his second stint monstering Michael and looking as though the World Champion was holding him up. This was because Rubens puts less stress on his machinery and was willing to go at a faster pace. Were they ordered to hold station? Should Michael have been told to let the Brazilian by?

'Team orders' are banned of course, so there was a hint of controversy about all this, but in hindsight that was unfounded. Only if Michael's slowness was letting the win slip away could it possibly have been justified to order Barrichello through. But the German had the race under control; it was up to Rubens to try to pass him. That he couldn't do, plus he was disadvantageously coming in for his second stop first anyway, and he went off on his out-lap. Again, this was Michael in charge whilst not going at maximum speed.

Ralf has traditionally done well at Montreal, but his sudden revival, which included him taking his first pole position and his first podium since France last year - a full 13 races ago - begged the big question "Why?". Why now? Why has it taken so long for him to show even the slightest spark of form? Especially when all the merited bad press about him and his unjustified salary demands should have been a massive impetus for him to show his worth?

That the FW26 might have started working, or that it just happened to be suited to Montreal, is no excuse. Even if the car is not at its best, the driver can be, but Ralf has not. As we have seen before, and as we saw again here, when he is on song he can put the much-touted Juan-Pablo Montoya in the shade. And indeed, while it was a solid drive from the Colombian, it was also disappointingly unspectacular. To give credit where credit's due, Ralf deserved to pick up the eight points this weekend.

Sam Michael has already claimed that the illegal brake ducting gave the FW26s no performance advantage, which then raises incredulous questions of "How?". How could there be such an oversight from such an experienced team? Particularly an oversight which cost the team 13 valuable points, points that would have put them back in the hunt for 2nd in the constructors' championship. Will the FW26 work as well again at Indy? Who knows? One can only say that this is an embarrassing start to Michael's technical directorship of the team.

On the law of averages, the Renaults had to fail at some stage, but preferably not in one of the few races this year where they may have had Ferrari's measure. It is interesting that Renault's retirements this year have all been in events where they could have defeated Ferrari - and in the case of Monaco, probably would have done so even without Michael's retirement. So let us not say that Renault aren't throwing points in Ferrari's direction, either! They just haven't been doing it as well as Williams and McLaren...

By virtue of Ralf's disqualification, Jenson Button picked up his 6th podium in seven races, and his second fortuitous one in a row after having been not quite on the pace. Despite talking up his chances before the weekend, once again he was matched for raw speed by team-mate Takuma Sato, and in the race he was never in with a shot of beating Ralf. Nevertheless his excellent consistency now entrenches him in a very comfortable 3rd in the drivers' championship.

Sato's big-hearted attitude and his speed have made him one of the top half-dozen drivers this year, but his constant stream of over-driving errors is preventing him from converting efforts into results. Here there were more spins in qualifying and the race, followed by yet another engine failure. Surely it's not just coincidence. By throwing his car around, Taku must be putting too much strain on his machinery. BAR would do well to work with their rough diamond on this, in order to achieve his deserved points return.

Breathing much relief, though, must surely be McLaren. With Kimi Raikkonen promoted to 5th despite a problematic race including what may have been gear selection problems and a close (but correct) drive-through penalty call for crossing the white line on pit exit, and David Coulthard up three spots to 6th after being punted at the start and even finishing behind Cristiano da Matta's disqualified Toyota, the black and silvers finally broke into double-digits on the manufacturers' table.

However, what is unquestionably clear is that reliability, which they are starting to achieve, is coming at the cost of speed. McLaren may have been 'best of the rest' behind the Ferraris, Williams, Renaults and BARs, but the speed margin seems to be so sizeable that even the MP4/19B may only just tack them onto the back of those four teams. Only time will tell. Still, the double-points bonus puts them back within striking distance of salvaging 5th in the constructors' championship.

Having said that, they still remain three points behind Sauber, after yet another sterling effort from Giancarlo Fisichella that will see him classified 4th regardless of any Toyota appeal. Fisi's record in Canada is simply outstanding, and once again, on the two-stop strategy which he is making such good use of in recent times, he looked a certainty for points. Currently, he can't be doing much more to put himself in the reckoning, even if only as an outsider, for a top drive next year.

Felipe Massa continued to make little impression, and another troubled weekend ended with his massive head-on shunt into the wall after a suspected loose rear wheel. He may have cut the Sato-esque over-driving out of his repertoire, but that has been at the expense of his speed. He had been able to match Fisichella at the start of the season, but now he is being left behind. At this rate, not only will be no longer be wanted by Ferrari after this year, but he may not be wanted by Sauber either.

At any rate, test driver Timo Glock stepped in, qualified 16th, a respectable gap behind team-mate Nick Heidfeld, passed the experienced German on the first stops after Heidfeld ran over his refueller, then held his nerve to stay in front of Heidfeld. Finish 11th on the road, get bumped up to 7th, score two points on debut, job done. Admirable stuff. Perhaps, if the hitherto disappointing Pantano can't sort out his problems, Eddie Jordan will put Glock in car 19 on a permanent basis, and with good reason too.

However, Jordan should seriously contemplate sacking his lollipop man, or at least give him some time on the bench. It is true that a pit stop is an ultra-high pressure environment, but to let the driver out as soon as the tyres have been changed, while the refuelling is still so obviously taking place, is an unforgivable act of recklessness. Thankfully, the refueller escaped without serious injury, but one suspects that the lollipop man is now well and truly off his Christmas card list.

Needless to say, Jordan's double points-haul was a lucky bonus, but Jaguar will be cringing at the thought. This race was nothing short of a disaster for the green machine, and it has all but sealed their fate of losing Mark Webber to another team for next season. The R5 was simply not particularly competitive all weekend, and, in what has been a less-than-outstanding season, lead man Webber then over-drove in qualifying and only started from a lowly 14th.

REJECT OF THE RACE
Christian Klien
Spent more time off-road than on-track

In trying to round the stricken McLaren, he then banged into his team-mate, giving Webber a puncture, and in the ensuing melee the Australian sustained race-ending suspension damage. Klien then proceeded to go off the road at least on two other occasions, and also put himself as well as Glock into a spin when he tried to pass the Jordan late in the race. It wasn't the first time Klien has driven like a hyperactive puppy (Bahrain comes to mind), but this was exceptionally costly.

Put it this way: both Jaguars started in front of both Jordans on the grid. Klien effectively knocked out his team-mate, and then his numerous excursions and the unscheduled pit stops they caused saw him drop behind both yellow cars at the end, and even when promoted four places he only ends up 9th, out of the points. In effect, Klien blew two or three priceless points for his team, maybe more. Without doubt, a clear winner of the 'Reject of the Race' award.

Nevertheless, both creditably ran on the fringes of the points throughout the race, instead of their usual trick of falling down the field, although neither driver currently seems to be demonstrating the kind of spark which Toyota might be looking for to help them take the next step forward. In what could be a volatile driver market over the next few months, simply being solid may not be enough. Panis is probably nearing the end of his career anyway, but da Matta's place in F1 could well be under serious threat.

Which only leaves Minardi, and their woes continue. Once again, the never-ending saga of finances means that the car remains Neanderthal and unreliable; the drivers lack experience and confidence and are equally under-performing. Gianmaria Bruni once again retired, and is starting to be matched and even beaten by Zsolt Baumgartner, who seems to be commendably improving his speed race by race. It goes without saying, that is very bad news for the Italian rookie's standing.