F1 Canada 2011

It is a testament to the talent in Formula 1 that, even after a deathly dull two hour rain delay, it still produced what was easily the most exciting race of the season to date.

Button's win was a thing of beauty. He had been through the pit lane six times for five stops stops and one penalty. One of those stops put him in last place. His speed in the last few laps, on a drying track, was just stunning.

Button is known to be a very precise driver which enabled him to avoid the damp patches and go faster and faster each lap. He pushed Vettel very hard until the latter went off the racing line and almost spun. It's the first time this season Vettel has actually been pressured into making a mistake.

Granted, it was a small one. Vettel still finished second. He and Redbull still have a commanding lead in the points. However, it reminds us that there are better drivers than Vettel. What the other drivers lack is a car that can compete with the Redbull under normal conditions. Lets not kid ourselves: the rain definitely played a part in the outcome this time.

If Ferrari or McLaren can get ahead in the development race, Vettel and Redbull's lead in the points will not last long.

F1 Canada 2010

It was great race! There were incidents galore, wheel to wheel to racing, and some real honest to goodness passing. Surprisingly, there was no safety car which was very unusual for the Canadian Grand Prix. Credit for the great racing goes to the tires which were marginal for the track conditions.

For the moment Maclaren have gained the upper hand over Redbull. Hamilton put in an amazing qualifying lap which finally broke Rebull's stranglehold on poll position. Webber and Vettel had to settle for second and third place on the grid. Button who only managed to qualify fifth, acknowledged that Hamilton's qualifying lap was untouchable.

Redbull's Achilles heel as always, was reliability. Webber required a gearbox change which cost a five place grid penalty. Vettel also had a gearbox problem,during the race and had to nurse the car to a fourth place finish.

Neither the prime (hard) nor the option (soft) tire were very durable on the resurfaced track, which made tire choice very difficult. For the first time this season, there was a split in tire strategy, with Maclaren choosing to qualify and start on the option tire. The problem was the option tire lasted only about six laps, instead of the expected ten.

Redbull's decision to put their cars an opposite tire strategy after the first pit stop, might have worked if they had reversed which car got the soft tire. Vettel received soft tires but his mechanical problems prevented him from taking advantage the tires. Webber needed the soft tire when he was leading the race to build up a cushion. Hindsight and all that...

Hamilton and Alonso almost collided in pits when Maclaren released Hamilton a little too early. They actually raced side-by-side down the pit exit until Hamilton finally conceded to Alonso. I was very surprised that the incident escaped investigation by the stewards.

Schumacher has a very scruffy weekend. He only qualified thirteenth. In the race, he had several close calls with a number of other drivers. It's obvious that Schumacher hasn't lost his killer instinct but it also looked unnecessarily aggressive. Frankly, I'm surprised that only the incident with Massa was investigated, which was the lesser incident compare to the one with Kubica in my opinion.

F1 Returns To Montreal

It is a sign of the times that Bernie Ecclestone got less than he was asking for the 2009 race last year. That alone would put a smile on my face. Ecclestone doesn't back down very often.

It is great to have a Canadian Grand Prix back on the calender for 2010 at least. Hopefully they'll make the five year deal as well. Now if only we had a Canadian driver as well, or maybe even a Canadian team! That would be cool. OK, maybe I'm getting too ambitious.

The only annoying thing is, I still won't see the race live. Oh well, you can't have everything.