F1 round 8 - Canada

[DarkPhenix]

Grand Prix of Canada - Preview

"I love Montreal and I am glad that the Canadian GP has kept his well-deserved place on the calendar. Being French, the people make me feel very welcome every year and the whole city gets behind F1, which adds to the atmosphere. The track is not one of the most technically complex, but it is enjoyable to drive nevertheless. It is a real braking circuit and you need a good braking stability and good traction to exit the chicanes very quickly. It is important to be able to change direction quickly and to put the throttle on as early as possible. Success at Montreal comes from the combined package, not one particular thing. Although it is a power circuit, which suits our strong RVX-04 engine, you also need to have the right set-up on the car to keep the grip over the kerbs, like Imola."

Race starting
12:30 (local time)

Time zone
UTC/GMT -5

Official website
www.grandprix.ca

Circuit length
4.361 km

No. of laps
70

Race length
305.270 km

Lap record
1.12.836

Team Talk

Cristiano da Matta - Car 16

"The Canadian Grand Prix is one of my favourites of the year. Everybody in Montreal really gets behind us and the enthusiasm of the fans is exactly what Formula 1 needs. The circuit is also fun to drive and technically demanding, offering drivers and engineers a nice challenge. Engine power and stability under braking are two important areas of performance, but the car also has to ride the kerbs well in order to set a good lap time. Our TF104 should be reasonably well suited to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve; our engine has proven itself to be one of the strongest and most reliable on the grid, but we need to find the car balance to match. I doubt we can finish in the points without benefiting from misfortune ahead of us, but we will continue to do our best and see what we can achieve at the end of the weekend."

Olivier Panis - Car 17

"I really love Montreal. It's one of my favourite grand prix weekends because of its atmosphere. The people are so nice and because everyone stays in the city you can enjoy yourself. It's also one of the rare occasions during the year that I have time to relax for three or four days before the grand prix, and I enjoy that because it gives me valuable time to train. I like Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and I have also had some good results there. Last year, we prepared well for Montreal and the whole team performed quite strongly, which resulted in me scoring my first point of 2003. At last week's Monza test, we worked expressly on Canada and US preparations and we looked reasonably good running Canada downforce levels so we'll be trying to get on the scoreboard this weekend."

Ricardo Zonta - Car 38

"I really like the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. It's a fun city and the track is very enjoyable to drive. There is a very long straight and the midfield is very tight and slow, with a lot of narrow second and third gear corners and high kerbs. That variety makes it quite demanding to set up the car to have a good performance over the whole track. The track is usually dirty on Friday, and quite slow and slippery. It improves a lot as the weekend goes on, meaning you can run with a different balance and less downforce. That makes finding the base set-up even more difficult on Friday, but at least you can still work on tyre characteristics, which are always important."

Tsutomu Tomita - Team Principal


"We are in the middle of a very busy time in the F1 calendar with the next round of back-to-back races upon us already. We have barely had time to get over scoring our first points of the year in Monaco and the disappointment of the Nürburgring, but our full efforts are now focussed on state-side success in Montreal and Indianapolis. First up is the Canadian GP, and whilst I do not expect us to make a huge leap forward compared to other races this season, our target should again be to lay a solid foundation in Friday practice and try to build on that for the remainder of the weekend. We simply have to keep motivated and hope that Toyota reliability will result in a top eight finish on Sunday afternoon."

2003 Flashback

The 2003 Canadian Grand Prix saw the Panasonic Toyota Racing team add another championship point to its tally as Olivier Panis opened his points account of the season with a fine eighth place drive.

Friday morning's practice session was a rain-soaked affair, but underlined Toyota's potential. Panis set the fifth fastest time (1m17.464s) after just 16 laps whilst Cristiano da Matta was eleventh (1m18.559s), completing 24 laps. An inconsistent track made the practice session somewhat inconclusive, however the team was pleased to have a generally trouble-free session.

The persistent wet weather dictated the outcome of the first qualifying session at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Panis secured a top ten qualifying slot after a trouble-free flying lap resulted in 10th place for the Frenchman. Da Matta, on the other hand, was not content with his 16th position after the increasingly heavy rain led to poor levels of grip on the track.

After a buoyant Friday, Saturday morning practice was troublesome for the team with both drivers having incidents during the sessions. Neither Panis nor Da Matta managed any significant running in the dry second session and were 19th and 20th respectively.

The all-important grid - determining qualifying hour marked a return to initial form as the team achieved its best ever combined qualifying result. Panis and Da Matta posted the 7th and 9th fastest times, securing the team's first two-car top ten result of the year to date and a personal best for Da Matta.

Solid work paid dividends come Sunday afternoon as Frenchman Panis finished the 70-lap Canadian Grand Prix in 8th place, scoring his own debut point of the year. After challenging for points for most of the race, Da Matta retired just six laps before the end from eighth position after a suspected suspension problem.

What the drivers said

Olivier Panis "I think this eighth place is a very good result for the team because everybody has done a fantastic job this weekend. I am a little bit disappointed for Cristiano because he drove a strong race, but this is my first championship point of the season and for me it is now the first step. The car went very well throughout the weekend and, from here, we need to continue to build on the car's performance for the second half of the season - starting from the next race at the Nürburgring."

Cristiano da Matta "I am very disappointed. I don't know what happened really. Something just wasn't right with the car's suspension at the exit of the chicane and I simply couldn't continue. Everyone did a great job and everything was running normally until the end. At least we can take one point home as a team - I think we deserved it after our combined team performance. The car was handling reasonably well in the race and I think we were running as quickly as we could have, so to miss out on certain points like that so close to the end is extremely annoying."

Race Schedule

11 June , 2004
11:00 - 12:00 Practice Session 1
14:00 - 15:00 Practice Session 2

12 June , 2004
09:00 - 09:45 Practice Session 3
10:15 - 11:00 Practice Session 4
12:00 - Qualifying 1
13:00 - Qualifying 2

13 June , 2004
12:30 - Race

http://www.formula1.com/race/circuitmap/721.html

PS: I will post some pics tomorrow... ;)

[Matra et Alpine]

Friday practice live timing up on http://www.formula1.com/race/livetiming/popup/721.html

NOW :)

[Matra et Alpine]

not looking good :( Ferrari a second a lap faster and McLaren's only doing a handful of laps :(

[cp01ae]

Forza Ferrari, but I think BAR will do well.

[Matra et Alpine]

Forza Ferrari, but I think BAR will do well.
Davidson has it up there with Barrichello !!!!
GO anthony :)

[stratos]

i think i knhow who will win :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ... my question now is : Whats the driver that montoya go to "hit" ? :D :D :D

[cp01ae]

Montoya isn't too bad, I think Ralf is worse, will he hit a BAR? A Ferrari? Possibly his team-mate? Which way is the wind blowing? Serriously though, I think BAR will be able to challenge Ferrari in the next few races, they are improving consistantly, especially Sato. Unfotunately for him he's having some engine trouble, but I think he will reach the podium at least once this season. Button will taste victory, if not this week, then mabey next, but it will happen this season. McLaren might have a shiny new and improved car, but they are using the same lousy engine, so they will be off for a while. Williams would probably be a bit more competetive if the team-mates could get it together and race the other cars and not worry about eachother. It looks as though it might be the last season on a decent team for either of them. Renault has been on the pace sometimes, but in the last race they were just keeping quite in the fourth and fifth positions, they seem to be good, but lack the consistancy of Ferrari or even BAR.

Well, thats just my personal oppinions and observations, please feel free to comment and discuss them. :)

[Ferrari Tifosi]

Today practice started in Montreal for this weekend's Grand Prix. After the second practice Sato is fastest, with Alonso second and M. Schumacher third. Once again Sato is going fast, hopefully on Sunday his engine will hold up. Hopefully BAR can get their first win this weekend.

[Ferrari Tifosi]

I just noticed that they got rid of the chicane at the beginning of the course, have y'all noticed this too?

[cp01ae]

The track is unchanged from last year.

[Matra et Alpine]

I've merged the 2 Canada F1 threads into this one and moved it to racing forum ( and renamed it slightly :) )

[Ferrari Tifosi]

The track is unchanged from last year.

Oh, my mistake.

[cp01ae]

No problem :)

[Coventrysucks]

McLaren might have a shiny new and improved car, but they are using the same lousy engine, so they will be off for a while.

No new McLaren untill they come back to Europe, France at the earliest.

They do have a new rear wing, and new pistons (the parts that have been causing grief).

So hopefully they will be able to carry the performace of Nurburgring with a race finish.
:)

[Homem de Gelo]

If today's times and results are to be taken seriously, again it seems as if Ferrari and BAR will be sharing the honours and leading the way. Schumacher set the quickest time of the day with Sato close behind him. Raikkonen and Alonso also set some good times, but I doubt they'll be able to follow the Ferrari and BAR pair during the entire race. Not to mention that both of them have biggest and most urgent concerns, Alonso should be worried about not letting Trullli beat him yet again and Raikkonen has to worry about his car's reliability, although that isn't really his entire responsability.

[Matra et Alpine]

Davidson has it up there with Barrichello !!!!
GO anthony :)
oh, damn, I'm gettig as bad as Murray :)

http://www.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/30316_2.gif

[DarkPhenix]

Panasonic Toyota Racing enjoyed a positive opening day in Canada as the Grand Prix circus crossed the Atlantic for back-to-back races on consecutive weekends in Montreal and Indianapolis. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, named after the late legendary French-Canadian driver who won this race in front of his home crowd in 1978, is the first real low downforce venue on the 2004 calendar and prospects look good for the Toyota team. Ricardo Zonta (1m14.871s), Cristiano da Matta (1m15.146s) and Olivier Panis (1m15.538s) finished the two Friday free practice sessions in seventh, eighth and 13th positions respectively. Zonta achieved his strong showing despite suffering from the effects of flu and was pleased with progress made throughout the day.

"We made some damper changes and improved the car quite a lot over the kerbs where we had some problems in the first session," he explained. "We also found good traction and I managed to do a lot of good tyre comparison work. I felt that I could have improved the car even more if I'd had time. At the end of the day I think that perhaps there was another 0.3s to be found."

Da Matta added: "This is a tough track on brakes and engines and it is important to be able to ride the kerbs well. That has been something that has hurt us in the past but I think that when you go to medium or low downforce tracks, it is easier to improve the problems. The aerodynamic influence is less important. I was not very happy with the car in the first session but we made some good improvements and the second session ran very smoothly."

Panis, meanwhile, was least happy of the three drivers: "You have to feel that you have a stable car underneath you in order to be able to attack the lap here in Canada, and I have to say that my TF104 wasn't giving me the utmost confidence today. The traffic was also bad again and some drivers really do have to realise that cars have mirrors!"

It was very close at the top of the combined time Montreal time sheets, with Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro's Michael Schumacher setting the pace with a lap in 1m14.013s, ahead of Takuma Sato's Lucky Strike BAR Honda on 1m14.086s. Rubens Barrichello (1m14.291s) was third quickest with the second Ferrari, ahead of Fernando Alonso's Mild Seven Renault (1m14.426s), Anthony Davidson's BAR Honda (1m14.519s) and Kimi Raikkonen's West McLaren Mercedes (1m14.581s).

Cristiano da Matta (Car 16, Chassis TF104/04)

First Session Classification: 12th, 13 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m16.475s (+2.462s)
Second Session Classification: 7th, 30 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m15.146s (+1.060s)

"I was very disappointed with the car in the first practice session this morning, but we modified a few things on the set-up during the break. The second session ran very smoothly and looking at the final results, it was probably our most successful practice of the season so far, especially with the fuel load we were carrying today. Tomorrow will be the key indicator though, because it seems to be a bit of a strange classification with a mix-up all the way through the field. It was a good start for us, but let's not get too excited right now. We just have to keep working and see what happens."

Olivier Panis (Car 17, Chassis TF104/03)

First Session Classification: 10th, 14 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m15.997s (+1.984s)
Second Session Classification: 13th, 28 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m15.538s (+1.452s)

"Unfortunately the Grand Prix weekend did not start in such a positive way for me and I am not so happy with the two practice sessions. All day I was not really confident with my car. Additionally I was held up by traffic. I think that there are some drivers on the grid who should use their mirrors more often in order to avoid traffic problems. Tonight we have still some work ahead of us. We need to check the data carefully to find a good set-up compromise for tomorrow."

Ricardo Zonta (Car 38, Chassis TF104/07)

First Session Classification: 4th, 23 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m14.952s (+0.939s)
Second Session Classification: 6th, 33 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m14.871s (+0.785s)

"We made good progress between the first and second sessions. We found a tyre that performs quite well over one lap and also consistently for the race. The lap time that I achieved over the long run was encouraging. I have been suffering from flu this week and I occasionally felt a bit bad in the car during the session today, so to see the positive end result of our efforts is very rewarding. We improved the braking a lot from one session to the next, and also how the car handles the kerbs, which is important at Montreal. Overall, it has been a strong first day."

Mike Gascoyne - Technical Director Chassis

"A useful first day of running without any major problems. We carried out our normal programme including tyre evaluations. In general the balance of the car is reasonably good although Olivier is a little less happy than the other two drivers. Overall the TF104 looks quite competitive, perhaps the most competitive that it has looked so far this year. We now have to analyse the data to see which of the two types of tyre we will choose for the rest of the weekend."

Grand Prix of Canada - Practice Session 1

Pos. Driver Team Time Gap Laps kph
1 M. Schumacher Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:14.013 15 212.119
2 R. Barrichello Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:14.291 0.278 13 211.325
3 A. Davidson Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:14.519 0.506 19 210.679
4 R. Zonta Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:14.952 0.939 23 209.462
5 J. Trulli Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:15.428 1.415 11 208.140
6 F. Alonso Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:15.606 1.593 14 207.650
7 J. Button Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:15.905 1.892 10 206.832
8 J. Montoya BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:15.928 1.915 13 206.769
9 R. Schumacher BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:15.948 1.935 12 206.715
10 O. Panis Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:15.997 1.984 14 206.581
11 G. Fisichella Sauber Petronas 1:16.240 2.227 12 205.923
12 C. da Matta Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:16.475 2.462 13 205.290
13 K. Raikkonen West McLaren Mercedes 1:16.570 2.557 7 205.035
14 T. Sato Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:16.655 2.642 13 204.808
15 M. Webber Jaguar Racing 1:16.820 2.807 7 204.368
16 D. Coulthard West McLaren Mercedes 1:16.947 2.934 8 204.031
17 N. Heidfeld Jordan Ford 1:17.135 3.122 17 203.534
18 F. Massa Sauber Petronas 1:17.447 3.434 6 202.714
19 T. Glock Jordan Ford 1:17.890 3.877 27 201.561
20 C. Klien Jaguar Racing 1:18.463 4.450 23 200.089
21 G. Bruni Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:18.828 4.815 16 199.162
22 Z. Baumgartner Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:18.959 4.946 19 198.832
23 B. Leinders Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1
24 B. Wirdheim Jaguar Racing 3

Grand Prix of Canada - Practice Session 2

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps Gap kph
1 T. Sato Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:14.086 20 211.910
2 F. Alonso Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:14.426 0.340 29 210.942
3 M. Schumacher Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:14.535 0.449 26 210.633
4 K. Raikkonen West McLaren Mercedes 1:14.581 0.495 19 210.504
5 R. Barrichello Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:14.705 0.619 31 210.154
6 R. Zonta Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:14.871 0.785 33 209.688
7 C. da Matta Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:15.146 1.060 30 208.921
8 J. Button Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:15.152 1.066 21 208.904
9 D. Coulthard West McLaren Mercedes 1:15.164 1.078 19 208.871
10 G. Fisichella Sauber Petronas 1:15.293 1.207 28 208.513
11 J. Trulli Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:15.492 1.406 17 207.963
12 A. Davidson Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:15.513 1.427 21 207.905
13 O. Panis Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:15.538 1.452 28 207.837
14 R. Schumacher BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:15.803 1.717 22 207.110
15 M. Webber Jaguar Racing 1:15.926 1.840 14 206.775
16 F. Massa Sauber Petronas 1:16.119 2.033 25 206.250
17 G. Bruni Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:16.235 2.149 22 205.936
18 N. Heidfeld Jordan Ford 1:16.508 2.422 23 205.202
19 T. Glock Jordan Ford 1:16.524 2.438 28 205.159
20 J. Montoya BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:16.564 2.478 6 205.051
21 C. Klien Jaguar Racing 1:16.815 2.729 27 204.381
22 Z. Baumgartner Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:16.981 2.895 17 203.941
23 B. Leinders Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:17.697 3.611 23 202.061
24 B. Wirdheim Jaguar Racing 1:19.260 5.174 18 198.077

[Matra et Alpine]

Live qualifying at http://www.formula1.com/race/livetiming/721.html and the Renaults were looking fast this morning :)

[byronleehk]

I'm watching the qualifying right now and Schume is not on pole, he's currently 3rd on the grid....more cars to run!!

[byronleehk]

Button 1st and Schume 5th :eek:

both BAR Hondas made it 1 & 2. Will be an interesting race tomorrow :D

[Ferrari Tifosi]

Qualifying Results

1. Ralf Schumacher
2. Button
3. Trulli
4. Montoya
5. Alonso
6. M. Schumacher
7. Barrichello
8. Raikkonen
9. Coulthard
10. Klien
11. Fisichella
12. de Matta
13. Panis
14. Webber
15. Heidfeld
16. Glock
17. Sato
18. Baumgartner
19. Massa
20. Bruni

[NAZCA C2]

It's surprising to have no red cars on the front row. Should be a decent race.

[Homem de Gelo]

What I said at another forum about the Ferraris:


Both Ferraris made some visible mistakes that cost them time, I guess it was simply a matter of who lost less time with the mistakes.

There were so many drivers missing and bouncing off kerbs today, they were either trying too had, a la Sato, or simply had a very hard time to tame their cars with heavy fuel loads. But this is great, because now we can expect a great race, with the Ferraris charging from behind and Schumacher having to do more than simply wait for the pit-stops to pass one single car. Sato will somehow find a way to grab attention again tomorrow, but it better be for his driving than for his Mansell like moments.

Here's to hope, this really can be a fantastic race.

And what I said about Ferrari exploiting yellow flags:


I think the exploiting the yellow flags means to go out heavier and stay out longer.

With the cars so tightly palked in the beginning and the walls so close, any incident can pull out the safety car and then those who were lighter won't be able to do some flying laps and open significant gaps compared to the heavier ones. At the same time, the heavier ones can use the saftey car to save fuel and effectively adopt a two stop strategy, and then gain at least 20 seconds from not pitting an extra time. I don't know about McLaren, but I think both Ferrari's are on the limit between the 2 and 3 stop strategies, and they will only know for sure once the race begins. Fisichella, and now Massa, seem to be going for a 2 stopper, no matter what happens.

Schumacher won easily in 2002 exactly because he was heavier and the yellow flag suited his strategy perfectly.

[Ferrari Tifosi]

Montoya isn't too bad, I think Ralf is worse, will he hit a BAR? A Ferrari? Possibly his team-mate? Which way is the wind blowing? Serriously though, I think BAR will be able to challenge Ferrari in the next few races, they are improving consistantly, especially Sato. Unfotunately for him he's having some engine trouble, but I think he will reach the podium at least once this season. Button will taste victory, if not this week, then mabey next, but it will happen this season. McLaren might have a shiny new and improved car, but they are using the same lousy engine, so they will be off for a while. Williams would probably be a bit more competetive if the team-mates could get it together and race the other cars and not worry about eachother. It looks as though it might be the last season on a decent team for either of them. Renault has been on the pace sometimes, but in the last race they were just keeping quite in the fourth and fifth positions, they seem to be good, but lack the consistancy of Ferrari or even BAR.

Well, thats just my personal oppinions and observations, please feel free to comment and discuss them. :)

About your comment on McLarens new car and the engine situation. Remember that chassis problems can cause engine problems. McLaren's tight chassis package could have caused cooling problems, which I believe caused their first failures. Also a chassis that is flexing too much will also flex the engine since it is directly connected to the chassis and is a stressed member of the vehicle. So basically chassis improvements can maybe solve engine problems.

[Matra et Alpine]

Also a chassis that is flexing too much will also flex the engine since it is directly connected to the chassis and is a stressed member of the vehicle. So basically chassis improvements can maybe solve engine problems.
It's actually the other way on engine stress.
A too rigid chass imparts ALL the twist in a peak force to the engine.
A flexing chassis actually lessons the shock impact to the stressed body of the engine. It also reduces the peak by storing energy in the chassis which unwinds later.

[Ferrari Tifosi]

It's actually the other way on engine stress.
A too rigid chass imparts ALL the twist in a peak force to the engine.
A flexing chassis actually lessons the shock impact to the stressed body of the engine. It also reduces the peak by storing energy in the chassis which unwinds later.

I understand what you are saying, but it seems that too much chassis flex would result in the engine flexing as well.

[NAZCA C2]

Dang! Earlier in the week I predicted the Michael would place first, Rubens second and Button third. I was close but Ralf had to screw up the order. F1 needs to do something to make F1 more exciting and less predictable. F1 at this point does'nt even deserve to have fans. F1 needs to go back to slick tires, reduce costs, get rid of driver aids, race on real racetracks, and then maybe F1 will be watchable.

[Matra et Alpine]

I understand what you are saying, but it seems that too much chassis flex would result in the engine flexing as well.
Well the engine can only flex as much as it is designed to - and that is ZERO :)
An engine doesn't know if a chassis is flexing :) It can only experience the forces caused by the road surface through the wheels. If a chassis flexes then it absorbs some of the force and spreads it out, but it's still fundamentally the same force on the engine. If you wajnt to discuss more, stick up a thread and we can go through race chassis forces and design.

[DasModell]

nice win for Schumacher.. good race for Ralf . and was nice to see rubens so happy after a third place .. :) :)

[Coventrysucks]

I started to watch it, but then the ITV team thought that the football was more interesting, so I watched the end of the cricket.

I then switched back over to see the start of the race, watched a few laps, got bored and cut the grass instead.

I then saw the end of the race and wasn't surprised.
I really am bored with F1 this year.
It used to be interesting, but now the adverts are likely to produce more drama and excitement.

:rolleyes:

[DasModell]

Williams and Toyota DSQ :(

[NAZCA C2]

Both of the Toyota and Williams cars have been disqualified from the Canadian GP! So my prediction that Michael would win, Rubens would place second and Button third came true after all.

http://www.formula1.com/race/news/1734/721.html

[Homem de Gelo]

I'm suprised, but I confess I'm very happy because it has mad ethings better for McLaren. After such a hard year with so many frustrations, this has become McLaren's best race in what was supposed to be a circuit that didn't suit them at all.

However, I do feel a bit sad for Da Matta and Ralf Schumacher, who drove their socks off today.

[Homem de Gelo]

Darn, Schumacher always gets things to work his way.

[DarkPhenix]

Panasonic Toyota Racing's Cristiano da Matta scored another championship point for the team in the Canadian Grand Prix with a well-judged drive into eighth position. Montreal is always a race of attrition in which drivers have to take care of their brakes throughout. Two-stop strategies mean that the car carries a heavier fuel load and that increases the stress on the brakes and means that the driver has to race with mechanical sympathy in mind. Three-stop strategies alleviate some of the braking problems but run that risk of a driver getting trapped behind slower cars.

"It was a tough race," Da Matta explained, "and while it is good to score a point, again I think we might have been able to do better if it had not been for some problems with blue flags. I had to let people by all the time and it really broke my rhythm and meant that I could not string a series of decent laps together. I know you have to respect the guys at the front of the race, but I really think we had potential to be challenging Fisichella and Raikkonen for sixth place."

For Olivier Panis, the first corner scramble, which is so often a feature of the Canadian Grand Prix, meant that his qualifying work was undone.

"A Jaguar crashed in front of me and I had to come off the throttle," he explained. "I lost time negotiating some of the other cars involved and then I had more bad luck later in the race. Takuma Sato spun right in front of me at the Hairpin and then I had more problems with some of the back markers. The positive element is that Cristiano proved we have the ability to score points and I will be pushing hard to do just that in my 150th race, at Indianapolis, in a week's time."

The race was won by Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro's Michael Schumacher, who used a two-stop strategy to overcome the three stops made by his brother Ralf. In doing so Michael set yet another record - the first man ever to win the same Grand Prix seven times! Schumacher Junior, who took pole position, had to be content with second place for the BMW Williams F1 Team. Rubens Barrichello made it a Ferrari 1-3, with Jenson Button fourth for Lucky Strike BAR Honda, then Juan Pablo Montoya in the second BMW Williams and Giancarlo Fisichella's Sauber Petronas. Kimi Raikkonen finished seventh for West McLaren Mercedes, while Da Matta completed the points scorers.

Technical Director, Chassis, Mike Gascoyne, said: "We qualified with quite a lot of fuel on board, especially Olivier, who went as far as lap 21 before stopping, but unfortunately the first corner problems certainly did him no favours, although both our drivers avoided any contact. It is always pleasing to get cars to the finish in Montreal and good news for the team that Cristiano was able to score another point."

The Formula 1 teams are now faced with packing up quickly and heading straight to Indianapolis for the US Grand Prix in just seven days time. It is part of a hectic summer schedule that presents the challenge of six races in eight weeks!

Cristiano da Matta (Car 16, Chassis TF104/04)

Classification: 8th, +1 lap (from race winner)
Grid: 12th

"It was a tough race, but satisfying to take one point away with us today. Again, though, I feel we have been let down from an even better result because of more trouble with the blue flags. The final stint was ridiculous. I was letting people past all the time and I was barely able put any proper laps together. I believe we had the ability to fight with Fisichella and Raikkonen for sixth place, but the situation with flags during the race stopped us. I know we cannot ruin the race of the guys in front, but we also have points to fight for. Anyway, one point is certainly better than zero and we will see what happens in Indianapolis next weekend."

Olivier Panis (Car 17, Chassis TF104/03, T-car TF104/07)

Classification: 10th, +1 lap (from race winner)
Grid: 13th

"I got a good start, but the Jaguar crashed just in front of me and I had to back off, which left me in ninth place. The strategy we had for my car could have worked, but unfortunately all of my efforts were hampered by the first incident, where I lost time moving around the cars, as well as by some slow backmarkers. Sato also went off right in front of me, which was additional time lost. I did my best to bring the car home and Cristiano's one point is positive for the team. I am looking forward to Indianapolis for my 150th race, where I will push for points, because we have proved today that we have the ability to score them."

Tsutomu Tomita - Team Principal

"It was a good race for Toyota today with both cars finishing in the top ten. We are getting everything out of the car and we can celebrate another championship point with Cristiano's eighth place, which is great news. We qualified with a fair amount of fuel and opted for the correct race strategy. It played into our hands at the start, where Cristiano and Olivier did well to miss the accident. Both drivers did a good job to get to the flag in a hard race. We now head to Indianapolis, where I hope we can repeat the same level of performance we have shown this weekend."

Grand Prix of Canada - Race

Pos. Driver Team Laps Time Gap Kph Best Lap
1 M. Schumacher Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 70 1:28:24.803 - 207.165 1:13.630 18
2 R. Schumacher BMW WilliamsF1 Team 70 1:28:25.865 1.062 207.123 1:14.040 70
3 R. Barrichello Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 70 1:28:29.911 5.108 206.966 1:13.622 68
4 J. Button Lucky Strike BAR Honda 70 1:28:45.212 20.409 206.371 1:14.245 68
5 J. Montoya BMW WilliamsF1 Team 70 1:28:46.003 21.200 206.340 1:14.295 69
6 G. Fisichella Sauber Petronas 69 1:28:44.952 1 LAP 203.433 1:15.078 47
7 K. Raikkonen West McLaren Mercedes 69 1:29:05.165 1 LAP 202.663 1:14.752 44
8 C. da Matta Panasonic Toyota Racing 69 1:29:09.640 1 LAP 202.494 1:15.652 39
9 D. Coulthard West McLaren Mercedes 69 1:29:11.637 1 LAP 202.418 1:15.478 55
10 O. Panis Panasonic Toyota Racing 69 1:29:31.939 1 LAP 201.653 1:16.045 23
11 T.Glock Jordan Ford 68 1:29:10.219 2 LAPS 199.538 1:16.300 42
12 N. Heidfeld Jordan Ford 68 1:29:10.556 2 LAPS 199.525 1:15.890 18
13 C. Klien Jaguar Racing 67 1:29:03.252 3 LAPS 196.860 1:15.731 45
14 Z. Baumgartner Wilux Minardi Cosworth 66 1:29:25.857 4 LAPS 193.104 1:17.516 64

Not Classified
F. Massa Sauber Petronas 62 1:21:22.534 DNF 199.358 1:15.560 25
T. Sato Lucky Strike BAR Honda 48 1:02:23.327 DNF 201.313 1:15.076 25
F. Alonso Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 44 55:39.873 DNF 206.826 1:14.179 41
G. Bruni Wilux Minardi Cosworth 30 40:41.192 DNF 192.933 1:18.025 25
M. Webber Jaguar Racing 6 9:26.577 DNF 166.257 1:16.739 6
J. Trulli Mild Seven Renault F1 Team DNF

Driver's Championship Points

Pos Driver Team Points
1 M. Schumacher Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 70
2 R. Barrichello Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 52
3 J. Button Lucky Strike BAR Honda 43
4 J. Trulli Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 36
5 J. Montoya BMW Williams F1 Team 28
6 F. Alonoso Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 25
7 R. Schumacher BMW Williams F1 Team 20
8 T. Sato Lucky Strike BAR Honda 8
9 G. Fisichella Sauber Petronas 8
10 F. Massa Sauber Petronas 5
11 C. da Matta Panasonic Toyota Racing 4
12 D. Coulthard West McLaren Mercedes 4
13 K. Raikkonen West McLaren Mercedes 3
14 M. Webber Jaguar Racing 3
15 N. Heidfeld Jordan Ford 2
16 O. Panis Panasonic Toyota Racing 1
17 Z. Baumgartner Wilux Minardi Cosworth 0
18 C. Klien Jaguar Racing 0
19 T. Glock Jordan Ford 0
20 G. Pantano Jordan Ford 0
21 G. Bruni Wilux Minardi Cosworth 0

Constructor's Championship Points

Pos Team Points
1 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 122
2 Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 61
3 Lucky Strike BAR Honda 51
4 BMW Williams F1 Team 48
5 Sauber Petronas 13
6 West McLaren Mercedes 7
7 Panasonic Toyota Racing 5
8 Jaguar Racing 3
9 Jordan Ford 2
10 Wilux Minardi Cosworth 0