formula 1
Finally a Live Race on FOX: Canadian Grand Prix Preview
This week, Formula 1 teams left Europe and headed to the historic Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Formula 1 first raced here in 1967, and 42 Grand Prix have been raced there since then.
We head into this weekend with the strong possibility to have a seventh different winner in seven races. Michael Schumacher has won seven times at the Canadian Grand Prix, and since he was unable to capitalize on posting the fastest qualifying time in Monaco two weeks ago, he should be anxious to show the world he’s still got the edge. He also has the advantage that this year the Mercedes engines have shown a distinct advantage in straight-line speed.
But Lotus may also be a strong contender to put one of their drivers on the top step of the podium this weekend. They have consistently shown good performance this year, but have yet to put it all together into a winning package.
Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean have between them been on the front two rows of the starting grid five times already — they have three podiums — and they have set the fastest race laps at two Grand Prixs. Last weekend, Grosjean crashed out in the first corner right off the starting grid and has only completed three of the six races this year. So he will be looking for redemption and a chance to show that he can put the great car that the Lotus team has provided him on the podium.
Kimi has been quick at times, but seems to have trouble when he gets held up in traffic. So perhaps the team would do well to make use of the now legal team orders, its not a pretty game but it can work if played right, and Lotus needs some points if they hope to stay in contention with the front runners.
Of course we could also see our first repeat winner of the year; all of the drivers are so competitive it makes it almost impossible to predict who will come out on top. Alonso, Vettel, Nico and many others have been in great form and all have cars that are performing very well.
It’s amazing to think we have already had six different winners, but there is still a chance to have some more new winners this year. I can’t remember another season like this in modern Formula 1 history.
The weather often plays an important role in shaping the outcome of the race at the Canadian Grand Prix, this should increase the chance that we will see a seventh winner. Last year’s Grand Prix was officially the longest Grand Prix ever due to a mid-race rain delay. So it should be an interesting and exciting weekend.
Another distinct advantage of this Grand Prix for the Americas viewers is that we don’t have to be up at strange hours to watch it live since Montreal is within a couple hours of all our time zones. And we can watch it live on FOX, a great opportunity for those that are new to the sport or don’t have Speed TV to watch a race. It will air at 1 p.m. Eastern time.
Closer to home, it’s been an exciting week with the release of official pricing by Circuit of the Americas for the Formula 1 Grand Prix, as well as the addition of the American Le Mans series.
It has certainly inspired confidence in the project now that we have three different race series officially announced at Circuit of the Americas. If you haven’t seen it yet, I would recommend watching the video of the digital version of Circuit of the Americas that was released this week.