Sidepodcast

Today’s race in Canada is likely to be dominated by talk of asphalt or rather the lack of it. Yesterday during qualifying it appeared that, like in previous years, the track was breaking apart under the force of the F1 cars. However this time around it was happening a whole day earlier and that can only spell trouble.

Repairs have been made to turn 10, but will it be enough? And what of the rest of the circuit? At best, if the fixes hold together a single line will form meaning overtaking will be impossible, at worst we could see multiple interventions by the safety car.

The weather is playing it’s part in Montreal too. Rain was predicted for later this afternoon, but at the moment the island is bathed in bright sunshine. An especially humid afternoon could easily play just as much havoc as a wet one. If we aren’t talking about the road, we’ll be looking at the tyres.

There is some racing going on this afternoon too. Hamilton made pole by a massive margin being the only guy able to break into the 17’s. Behind him is Kubica who’s on the dirty side of the grid and has yet to make a decent start all year, he’s followed by Räikkönen. Massa, Kovalainen and Heidfeld all appear to be on different strategies to their teammates, starting as they do 6th, 7th and 8th.

As an aside, Christine’s wearing her lucky Honda shirt today, and god knows Jenson will need that and more this afternoon starting as he does at the back along with both Toro Rosso’s.

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Today’s earlier practice session left us more confused than ever regarding the state of play for today’s qualifying. Nico Rosberg topped the times at the end of the hour, but his time was less competitive than we were expecting.

Vettel’s untimely brush with the wall prevented anyone getting their final fast laps in, and we’re left to ponder what might be this afternoon. The Ferrari’s undoubtedly have the pace, but McLaren and BMW will look to be snapping at their diffusers for the rest of the afternoon.

Farther back, we have STR with two cars in need of repair and Renault having to look at one of theirs. Jenson and Honda on the other hand must be wondering how they ended up behind everyone bar Sutil.

Either way, it looks like we’re in for a dry qualifying this afternoon. The sun is beating down on the circuit and the clouds appear to have dissipated for the duration.

We’ll be watching ITV’s qualifying coverage, and full race build up, which is available online. Don’t forget official live timing on f1.com too. We’ve wholeheartedly given up with the BBC this week.

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The third and final Formula 1 practice session is upon us in Canada and the weather in Montreal is lovely. Our local weatherman F1 Wolf informed us earlier that it was blue skies all around and the AccuWeather radar suggests little will be changing any time soon.

As for the teams, well there’s a lot of work to get through for some of them. Honda, in particular, appeared to be out of sorts in both of yesterday’s sessions, whilst Renault will have been scratching their heads last night, trying to figure out where it all went so very wrong.

At the front it’s still unclear who has the advantage, and with three teams in the running for pole position this afternoon, the next 60 minutes will be crucial for each of them.

As it’s Fp3, we’ll be following live timing online, and as ITV won’t be covering this session, it’s TVlizer streaming for us today.

BBC coverage appears to be a lottery as to whether or not they’ll bother to do any commentary, the schedule says they will, but it also said that yesterday!

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The first practice of the day saw the big guns sitting out most of the session, preferring no running to any wet running. Meanwhile, some of the smaller teams did a lot more leg work, with both of the Toyota’s running round and round almost continuously.

The rain played a minor role this morning and it looks set to sit out of the limelight for the remainder of the F1 day. What we learnt when the track finally dried out was the Ferrari’s were fast, but McLaren and especially BMW were very close behind.

It looks as though F1’s third fastest team have taken a conscious change of strategy at this track. Having spent the early part of the season building up to race day, BMW well and truly laid the gauntlet this morning. Watching their progress throughout FP2 will be especially interesting.

Free Practice 2 begins at 2pm local time (7pm in the UK). As before we’re following Formula 1’s timing machine in the sky as well as watching ITV’s online (and slightly delayed) video coverage. For some reason BBC 5Live have decided not to grace us with their presence on a Friday evening.

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For the second time this year, all our focus is directed at the meteorology sites, because the big story in Canada, just like in Monaco, is rain.

Will it, won’t it and if it does for how long and when? They’re pretty much all the key questions this early on in the Grand Prix weekend. F1Wolf is on the ground at the Montreal track and he commented earlier that the rain stopped 90 minutes before the start of today’s first session and sunshine is expected for the rest of the day.

You can keep an eye on the AccuWeather radar for more rainfall predictions during the weekend.

As for the racing, it’ll be nice for the focus to finally return to the track. It’s too close to call between the top teams going into today’s running, while further back the tight midfield pack shows no signs of a clear leader. In changeable conditions last time out, we witnessed a number of the smaller teams punching above their weight, so they’ll likely be relishing this coming weekend too.

The first of two 90 minute sessions begins at 10am local time (3pm BST), and we’ll be watching ITV’s live stream and following Bernie’s fruit machine. Well I say we, but I really mean I, as Christine’s running around like a blow-fly at the moment. If you’re around, please shout and help me stifle the loneliness.

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• Length: 06:33 
• Size: 75.9 MB 
• File: track7.m4v 
• Transcript: track7.pdf 
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Formula One takes an early breather from its European tour and heads across the Atlantic to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. Following swiftly on from the lottery that was the Monaco weekend, Sidepodcast takes a look at what this year’s sole North American race has to offer.

Last years event was the scene of one of motorsports most spectacular accidents, when Robert Kubica bounced off of a Toyota, a kerb and two concrete walls. Safety improvements have been made this year to prevent similar incidents, so join Christine on a hot lap of the track to make sure you’re up to speed with the changes for 2008, and everything else you need to know about racing in Canada.

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Is it a bit too soon to be discussing the Canadian GP already? I do hope not because I’ve just dug up a fab little video associated with the next stop on the calendar, and if I don’t link to it now, I’ll lose it again.

The clip below takes you on a short trip around the circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but the difference here is you get to experience it from the air, through the eyes of a remote controlled aircraft. Filming apparently took place a fortnight before the 2006 race, so you can see that most of the trackside furniture is in place, while sections of public road have been roped off.

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