Who is fast in Montreal ?: Ideal route for Schumacher

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Bahrain as a gauge for Montreal

Bahrain is a very good indicator for the seventh round of the World Championship. There, too, traction and braking stability counted. Sebastian Vettel won ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean. But there are also differences. The track in Bahrain is absolutely flat and it has at least a few quick corners. Montreal is the classic stop-and-go. On a wavy surface. If you want to be quick in the chicanes, you have to go over the curbs. And the cars are sent out on the track with less downforce than in Bahrain. After Monza, Spa and Montreal are number two on the scale for minimal downforce.

So who is the best for the route on the Ile de Notre Dame? The Red Bull RB8 is good at braking and accelerating. But he lacks top speed. That hurts more in Montreal than in Bahrain. On the other hand, due to the lack of fast corners, it will be easier for Red Bull to achieve optimal ground clearance. You don't have to look for the best compromise like in Monte Carlo. Sebastian Vettel had to experience painfully how narrow the line of voting is. A few millimeters too little clearance from the ground and his Red Bull jumped over the curbs like 'a billy goat'.

The Mercedes AMGW03 also feels comfortable in stop-and-go, and it lies down too still at top speed in the front field. His deficits in fast corners are negligible in Montreal. Michael Schumacher therefore has a good chance of expanding his record collection on the track that has already given him seven victories. The 69th pole position and the 92nd GP victory are no pipe dream. Schumacher was always strong in Canada. Last year he got his best result of the season here in fourth place.

The fear for the tires has decreased. The latest measures on the car have made the Silver Arrow less sensitive to temperature fluctuations. The asphalt temperature dropped in Monte Carloduring the race by ten degrees. That would have been bad news for the Mercedes in the first races of the year. The greater the temperature fluctuations, the greater the risk of the tires falling out of their working window under constant load. The new carbon transmission and the modified cooling of the rear brakes have given the engineers more freedom when setting up the vehicle. The weight savings in the rear relieve the rubber rollers, the more efficient brake cooling reduces the heat that radiates from the rims onto the tires. That can be a wild card in Montreal. With six full brakes, the course is the toughest test for the brakes. Brembo has calculated that the drivers are on the brakes for almost ten seconds per lap. That corresponds to 14 percent of the lap time.

Insider tip Williams and Sauber

Williams and Sauber can again play the role of Playing favorite fright. When the drivers keep their seven senses together. The Williams FW34 and the Sauber C31 have excellent traction, and they are stable on the brakes too. 'We have improved a lot, especially on the brakes. That was still a problem at the beginning of the season,' says Sauber. The Ferrari F2012 has also become an all-rounder. Top speed and traction are still not world champion, but at least at a level that Fernando Alonso can drive into the top 5. A win would be a surprise. However, Alonso announced the second of three expansion stages for Canada. Obviously you can trust the wind tunnel again.

Lotus was strong in Bahrain, but recently in Monaco was only average. Was it really only because of the low temperatures in Monte Carlo or is the black car not able to cope with the softer tire compounds? The 'soft' and 'supersoft' tire types are also used in Montreal. Actually, Pirelli's super glue ought to cope with the warming up problem of the Lotus, but the last Grand Prix suggested the opposite. At Kimi Raikkonen the super soft tires collapsed earlier than at the competition. Lotus prays for heat before every race. That helps the tire problem. The call could be heard in Montreal. The weather forecasters predict summer temperatures. When it comes to top speed, Lotus doesn't have to fear anyone. Raikkonen and Grosjean are regularly in the top field. In the end, the best strategy could decide in the race. Usually Montreal is a two-stop race. One or the other may even gamble with just one tire change. But on Sunday not only the tires dictate the tactics. The GP Canada is a guarantee certificate for SafetyCar phases. There was at least one neutralization in ten of the last 15 Grand Prix. The SafetyCar has been deployed a total of 25 times since 1997, six of them last year alone.