Driving a Formula One car at high speed is a challenge at the best of times but when the weather keeps throwing curves at you it can even give a world champion fits.
Sebastian Vettel, the 26-year-old German racer who’s won the drivers’ title the last three years, captured the pole position for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Canada during time trials on Saturday but acknowledged afterward that the on-again, off-again rain that fell during the three-round, knockout qualifying session put all of his skills to the test.
Vettel’s pole-winning time of one minute and 25.425 seconds, which translates into a speed of 183.782 km/h, was one of the slowest of the official timed sessions recorded on Friday and Saturday.
It was significantly faster, however - by F1 standards - than second-place qualifyer Lewis Hamilton, who turned a lap of 1:25:512, just a tick faster than third-place finisher Valtteri Bottas' 1:25:897.
Vettel was not alone in feeling challenged. Both defending race winner Hamilton and surprising rookie Bottas also said the inclement weather made driving the powerful cars more difficult.
It must have done that, because one of the surprises of the session was the elimination from final qualifying of 2011 race winner Jenson Button of McLaren-Mercedes, who usually excels when there’s precipitation.
And Romain Grosjean, who finished third in both practice sessions Friday, was knocked out of qualifying in the first go-‘round, which was a blow to his Lotus-Renault employers as well as his future as a driver for that team.
Among the more successful drivers Saturday were Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, the winner of the last Grand Prix at Monaco two weeks ago, who qualified to start fourth and Vettel’s teammate, Mark Webber, who will start fifth.
The rest of the top ten: Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, who led the second practice session Friday, qualified sixth; Jean-Eric Vergne of Scuderia Toro-Rosso will start seventh; Adrian Sutil of Force India-Mercedes, eighth; everybody’s favourite Kimi Raikkonen, ninth for Lotus, and Daniel Ricciardo, tenth for Toro-Rosso.
Vettel said the conditions were “very, very tricky,” adding that although he was optimistic that he’d do well in the Grand Prix, “I don’t know if there’s anybody who can give a precise forecast for every corner.”
This was in reference to the last 10 minutes of qualifying when one part of the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve track was wet, complete with rain falling, while on other parts of the 4.361-km circuit there was a dry line.
“But no matter the conditions,” said the Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver who once again is leading the world championship standings, “we should be in good shape for the race.”
Hamilton, who won this race in 2007 and 2010 as well as last year, said he’s looking forward to challenging for his fourth win on Sunday.
“It’s good to be on the front row again,” said the Mercedes driver, “but I am a little disappointed with my last lap,” explaining that the track was really slippery and he missed a turn.
“Tomorrow should be a good opportunity. The car felt great yesterday (Friday) in the dry so we’ll keep our fingers crossed that the rain stays away for the race and hopefully we can give Seb a run for his money.”
Bottas, on the other hand, gave his Williams-Renault employers their best qualifying result in 2013 and he’d be just as happy if the rain continued Sunday.
Explaining that his race car doesn’t behave as well when the track is dry, he said that “some rain would help us like it did in the qualifying. It’s been so difficult, the first six races for us, and this will be a nice boost for the team. We really got everything right today.”
The only serious incident of the qualifying session came when Felipe Massa lost control of his Ferrari and went sideways into a barrier between corners three and four – normally a sharp right-left turn.
Massa wasn’t hurt – he’ll start 16th Sunday – but the accident was eerily reminiscent of a crash he had at Monaco two weeks ago. There, he went sideways into a barrier exactly the same way and he hit on the same side, suffering bruises.
In a separate development, the news agency QMI reported Saturday that a tentative agreement had been reached to extend the contract between Formula One, the city of Montreal and the provincial and federal governments that is scheduled to end next year.
The new contract would run for 10 years and be worth a total of just under half a billion dollars, QMI said.
According to the news agency, the deal starting in 2015 and to run through 2024 would mean the three government partners would pony up $45 million a year, split exactly three ways.
Race organizers would neither confirm or deny the report.
One problem promoter Francois Dumontier faces in the short term is a request from F1 that the paddock be brought up to Formula One standards, something that could cost several millions of dollars.
Since 1978, when the race was moved here from Mosport after Toronto city council turned it down, the paddock has been squeezed between the circuit and the Olympic Rowing Basin and "suites" have never been much more than a bunch of Dickie Moore construction shacks covered with aluminum siding.
That will have to change and perhaps even before any contract extension. Dumontier could be forced into fixing the paddock as a sign of good faith in advance of any new contract.
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Sebastian Vettel won the pole for the Canadian Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton and surprising Williams rookie Voltteri Bottas.
It is Vettel's third consecutive pole position at Montreal.
The rest of the top ten:
Rosberg, Webber, Alonso, Vergne, Sutil, Raikkonin and Ricciardo.
There is a bit of Spa-Francorchamps going on here. The race in the Belgian forest is notorious for being wet on one side of the circuit and dry on the other.
So it is here in Montreal. The side of the track closest to the city is wet and there is actually rain falling while on the other side, where the track i closest to the rowing basin, there is a dry line visible.
Vettel is fastest at the moment.
Jenson Button and Sergio Perez, both of McLaren's drivers, were eliminated from qualifying in Q2.
In the dying seconds, Button failed to get across the start/finish line in time to record a flying lap.
Hamilton and Webber were fastest, follwed by Vettel and the surprising Valttgeri Bottas in the Williams.
Felipe Massa crashes. Red flag displayed with two minutes left in Q2.
The driver is unhurt. The crash at turn 3 was eerily reminiscent of his crash two weeks ago in Monaco.
With five minutes remaining in the second session, both Jenson Button and Felipe Massa are outside the top ten.
Serious rain is now falling. Whoever said 20 per cent chance of rain (hello! Environment Canada) should have their head read.
Di Resta, Pic, Grosjean, Bianchi, Chilton and Van der Garde out after Q1
The cars and drivers are all over the place out there. Even Alonso was off the track.
The cars and drivers are all over the place out there. Even Alonso was off the track.
Vettel, Rosberg, Webber, Hamilton and Hulkenberg the top five.
Cars are on the track as qualifying begins.
You would think, with the threat of rain (a light drizzle has started) that everyone
would be out there to get a time down before it really gets wet. But no - Alonso and Vettel, for instance, were slow to go out.
Max Chilton spun at the hairpin in the Marussia. No surprise but it shows how damp the track really is.
Formula One Grand Prix qualifying is pretty straightforward.
At 1 o'clock, all 22 cars entered can go out on the circuit and attempt to set a fast time. They have 15 minutes to do it. At the finish of that first session, the slowest six are eliminated and will start the Grand Prix Sunday from positions 17 through 22.
The survivors then get 20 minutes to set another fast time. At the conclusion, six more cars are eliminated but will be assigned their starting spots based on their speed.
The surviving 10 cars then have 10 minutes to set the fastest time possible in order to win the pole or to start close to the front of the pack.
At one time, qualifying would last an hour and all the cars would be on track and at some point they would post a "flyer" and the times recorded would determine the grid. Then they went to single-car qualifying: everybody got to put down one flying lap. This knockout format seems to be the most successful of all the ones tried.
As is the case in every sport and much of political life these days, the media follow the action on television. More than 200 journalists from around the world have been accredited for this event. You can see them above, hard at work during qualifying.
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The news agency QMI is reporting that a tentative deal has been reached to extend the contract between Formula One, the city of Montreal and the provincial and federal governments.
The deal would run for 10 years and be worth a total of - wait for it - nearly half a billion dollars.
According to the news agency, the deal starting in 2015 and to run through 2024 would mean the three government partners would pony up $45 million a year, split exactly three ways.
I'm not saying there isn't a deal, or that one isn't close. But $45 million a year for a car race is ridiculous.
That would mean the federal government, which has about zero credibility at the moment, would be staking a large part of its political future on a decision to give $15 million a year to Bernie Ecclestone and his jet-setting friends.
Which means the financial figure is very likely a figment of somebody's imagination, or wish list.
If you read down a little further, I discuss the reasons why Montreal wants to keep this race and the struggle it would put up if it was ever suggested that it wouldn't continue.
But $45 million a year?
Meantime, the clouds over Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve are low and chances of rain - or drizzle at the least - during qualifying are increasing almost by the second.
This could be really interesting.
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Mark Webber went out in the final few minutes of the shortened, 30-minute, final practice session before qualifying for the Grand Prix of Canada and turned the fastest lap of the session: one minute, 17.815 seconds.
Adrian Sutil in a Force India-Mercedes finished just behind the Infiniti Red Bull driver, with Lewis Hamilton in third place in a Mercedes. Fernando Alonso, who was fastest in the second session Friday, was fourth in his Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel fifth for Red Bull.
Nico Rosberg was next in his Mercedes, followed by Paul di Resta (Force India), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Jenson Button (McLaren) and Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault). Romain Grosjean finished 11th in his Lotus, which represents quite a drop from his performance Friday when he ran third in both practice sessions.
Qualifying will start promptly at 1 p.m. It's hard to pick a favourite, since all three practice sessions ended with a different driver atop the standings. But the fact that Hamilton is shooting for yet another victory here in Canada - a win would be his fourth at Montreal - and has been swift in practice would seem to give him an edge. And as Hamilton goes, so would go his teammate, Rosberg.
Having said that, Vettel has won the last three poles at this race and so can't be counted out. that his teammate Webber led the final practice before qualifying could be a signal that the Red Bulls are dialed in.
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Despite the awful weather - and it is awful; chilly and drizzly as compared to a year ago, which was swell - there are hardly any empty seats here at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.
Montrealers and tourists alike love their Formula One racing and will turn out to watch it in any kind of weather.
Now, I am on record as saying one of the few ways to save this race is to move it to Toronto and include a new track layout in the eventual renovation of Ontario Place and the Canadian National Exhibition grounds. Casino or no casino, sooner or later that will happen and a Yas Marina-type project would be perfect for a Grand Prix.
As well, Toronto is the financial capital of the country and a title sponsor could be attracted, which is something the Canadian GP at Montreal has been lacking in recent years.
But that's when I'm in Toronto. I get to Montreal and I see the full seats at the circuit and the packed restaurants downtown and the news reports that say all the hotels are at 97 per cent capacity (rooms that normally go for $200, say, are $600 a night over the Grand Prix weekend and I realize that Montreal will never let this thing go. They couldn't afford to, and one way or another (if it comes down to money to bring the circus to town), they will find it.
Ergo, I expect F1 and Montreal will come to an agreement to extend the contract that will end in 2014. Francois Dumontier, who took over from Normand Legault as Grand Prix race supremo at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, is quoted in the Montreal Gazette as saying he wants a 10-year deal. He won't get that but he could get another five and that would be good news indeed.
One problem Dumontier faces in the short term is a request (some would say it's a demand) that the paddock be brought up to Formula One standards. Since 1978, when the race came here from Mosport, the paddock has been squeezed between the circuit and the Olympic rowing basin and "suites" have been not much more than a bunch of Dickie Moore construction shacks with aluminum siding attached.
That will have to change - and even before a contract extension. Dumontier might be forced into fixing the paddock as a sign of good faith in advance of any new contract.
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What was initially billed as a slight delay in order to fix a barrier at Turn 11 here at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve has turned into a somewhat lengthy delay.
Four cars - four, count 'em, four - in the Ferrari
Challenge support series
spun into the Armco just past the main hairpin
at almost the same place. What a coincidence.
Organizers now say the final practice will start at 10:30 and last for only 30 minutes. The teams will have a lot to learn in a very short time as qualifying is scheduled for 1 p.m.
