Canadian GP - A tough race for brakes and engine

By Lorenzo Gotti
June 9 2002

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The Canadian Grand Prix is near the top of the list for being tough on the cars, especially as far as brakes and engine are concerned. This is down to the nature of the track layout with fast straights leading into slow corners, multiplied by a factor of seventy laps. That’s one more than last year, because of the changes to the track, which have reduced its length to 4361 metres. The brakes can become critical and more than once, we have seen here in Montreal a driver forced to retire or at least ease his pace visibly, to cope with brake problems.

Engines take more of a strain than usual as they run at maximum revs for much of the circuit. Apart from the high rpm, another engine related factor to consider is fuel consumption, given that the most usual strategy here is to only refuel once. In theory, those who stop later should have the advantage, but this only applies if there is not much to chose between the performance levels of the cars. Someone could chose to start with a light fuel load, trying to get the edge over the opposition, also taking advantage of the fact that the reduction in weight is kinder to the brakes.

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