Canada: McLaren Excited Over Tougher Weekend

By Sam Cooper
June 2 2007

Named after Gilles Villeneuve, father of 1997 drivers champion Jacques, the Montreal circuit is comprised of long high revving straights and heavy breaking zones, which lead into unforgiving and challenging chicanes, not to forget the wall of champions, which, which in the past has ended many drivers races, even greats like Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher couldn’t survive the wall of champions.

Sadly for current championship leader, and reigning world champion, Fernando Alonso, up until last year, the Spanish driver had struggled at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, his best finish was last year, when he won the race ahead of the faster Ferrari of Michael Schumacher and the McLaren of Kimi Räikkönen, apart from his 2006 race, he has had three retirements in 5 outings, retiring at the Canadian grand Prix will be something that Fernando will want to avoid, if he wants his third world championship.

Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton has never raced at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, but the quick brit should be able to master the circuit, and put on another spectacular performance, and if McLaren can bring out some new parts to their car, Lewis or Fernando, may be able to win, which will be one more step towards championship victory.

Fernando Alonso: 1st in championship

"We have a great momentum in the team right now after such a fantastic result in Monaco, which is a positive way to be going into the North American double-header," said Alonso looking ahead of next week's Grand Prix in Montreal. "There has been no opportunity to test since Monaco; however the team has been pushing hard off track to keep the momentum going."

"Until last year, I hadn't had great results in Canada, so it was fantastic to win there. It is always a tough race, and you see a lot of retirements because you are stressing the whole car with the high speeds and the hard braking zones. The track conditions also change over the race weekend, the grip levels improve as more rubber is laid and the dusty conditions.

"On race day, it is much better than Friday. We have some new packages on the car for Montreal; we are all pushing hard to attack and fight for more race victories. It is a good circuit to race on as there are a number of places you can overtake, which makes it more exciting for the drivers, teams and fans."

Lewis Hamilton: 2nd in championship

"The result in Monaco was great for everyone in the team, it was a dream result considering it was my first year there in a Formula 1 car, and it means we are going to North America at the top of both Championship tables. I cannot wait to get back on track and continue to focus on racing."

"This will be my debut at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, because of the chances there are to pass; it looks like a great track to compete on. It has some very distinctive characteristics, such as the low grip, the long straights, hard braking and so on, so my initial laps will focus on understanding all these and how best to drive the track to get good times. I have completed preparation work with my engineers at the McLaren Technology Centre specific to Canada and the US, and it will be great to finally take to the track here in Montreal."

With a new aerodynamic package, McLaren will be the team who will take the fight to Ferrari for the win at Montreal.