Canada GP '04

Finally a real shake up in top grid positions. Too bad Sato looped on the last turn.



1 Ralf Schumacher (GER) Williams 1:12.275
2 Jenson Button (GBR) BAR 1:12.341 +0:00.066
3 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Renault 1:13.023 +0:00.748
4 Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) Williams 1:13.072 +0:00.797
5 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 1:13.308 +0:01.033
6 Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari 1:13.355 +0:01.080
7 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Ferrari 1:13.562 +0:01.287
8 Kimi Räikkönen (FIN) McLaren 1:13.595 +0:01.320
9 David Coulthard (GBR) McLaren 1:13.681 +0:01.406
10 Christian Klien (AUT) Jaguar 1:14.532 +0:02.257
11 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Sauber 1:14.674 +0:02.399
12 Cristiano Da Matta (BRA) Toyota 1:14.851 +0:02.576
13 Olivier Panis (FRA) Toyota 1:14.891 +0:02.616
14 Mark Webber (AUS) Jaguar 1:15.148 +0:02.873
15 Nick Heidfeld (GER) Jordan 1:15.321 +0:03.046
16 Timo Glock (GER) Jordan 1:16.323 +0:04.048
17 Takuma Sato (JPN) BAR 1:17.004 +0:04.729
18 Zsolt Baumgartner (HUN) Minardi 1:17.064 +0:04.789
19 Gianmaria Bruni (ITA) Minardi out
20 Felipe Massa (BRA) Sauber out

Now this is what I'm talking about!

Shame it wont end that way...

Or will it? Hah...

I don't know what happened to Sato exactly but it's a shame.

Half is on pole? At least we all know who the real winner is... :icon16:

Sato had a brilliant first sector, then made a mistake, and then made an even bigger mistake (360) on the exit of the final chicane as he tried to make up for his smaller mistake. Still set a laptime 0.050 faster than Baumgartner :D

GO BUTTON!
:D

Any predictions yet?
I'm hoping for Button to finish high again.
:)

Preferably, with Trulli far behind
:P

Dear Santa -

I want the Mercedes engines to NOT blow up this time. Please, that is all I want. :biggrin:

Great laps by Ralf and Jense. Both of them a whole second ahead of Michael :screwy:

McLaren have also seemingly found some pace, though you'd have to be a brave man to bet on no blow-ups from a Merc engine during the race. Anyway, looks like its gonna be an exciting race.. :cool:

I think mostly the grid reflects fuel strategies more than speed, however I think the Renaults will be tough here.

Dear Santa -

I want the Mercedes engines to NOT blow up this time. Please, that is all I want. :biggrin:

You're not the only one....

One better would be, "not blow up and be fast...."

One step at a time ;)

Bah, was kept away from the computer for most of the race. Speaking of Mclaren. I hear that the team opted to use an older evolution of the engine, the one that was used in Spain and the one that brought both cars to the finish. It did the same this year too, Kimi in 7th and DC in 9th.

And in the meantime, and prepare for a lot of "7"s, Schumacher got his 77th win, his 7th at this track and his 7th of the season, Ralf in second, Rubens in third, then Jenson, JPM, Fisichella, Kimi, and DaMatta bringing the final point to Toyota.

I can only think of two overtaking maneuvres, apart form the one on the first lap, on the track today, one was Rubens on Kimi, and the other one DC on Panis. That's it, the rest was decided in the pits, by strategy or due to DNF-s.

The biggest disapointment was probably Renault - Trulli hardly got to turn one and Alonso retired due to mechanical failure as he was chasing down Ralf. Too bad. Sauber got a well-deserved 3 points, but their other driver, Massa, crashed heavily at the hairpin in the closing stages of the race, but thankfully was OK.

Don't forget, only 1 week break between the Canadian and the US grand prix.

Just when things were starting to look up for Williams:


Williams & Toyota fail brake inspection


MONTREAL -- Williams and Toyota were disqualified from Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix after technical checks on their cars' brake ducts.


"The two Toyotas and two Williams have been excluded," said an International Automobile Federation (FIA) spokeswoman.


Germany's Ralf Schumacher and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya finished second and fifth respectively for Williams while Toyota's Cristiano da Matta was eighth at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit.


The disqualification meant that BAR's Briton Jenson Button now takes third place -- his sixth podium in the last seven races.


Italy's Giancarlo Fisichella for Sauber moved up to fourth place, with McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard fifth and sixth in a windfall for the struggling team who had scored just five points before Sunday.


Germany's Timo Glock picked up two points for Jordan on his race debut as a stand-in for Italian Giorgio Pantano while team mate Nick Heidfeld moved up to eighth.


Williams technical director Sam Michael said his team would not appeal.


"The front brake ducts of Ralf and Juan Pablo's cars are not in accordance with the regulations," he said. "It was a mistake and it was unintentional.


"There was no performance gain and no gain for brake cooling because the inlet area was not bigger. However the ducts are not in compliance with the technical regulations. Therefore we accept the FIA's decision."


The FIA said the air ducts for cooling the front brakes, at a circuit known for heavy brake wear, did not comply with the dimensional requirements.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Naughty naughty.

Wow. Bad news for Ralf.

Ouch! Wonder how the Williams' ducts were not in comliance since they were not bigger.


Panasonic Toyota Racing's TF104 race cars have both been disqualified from today's Canadian Grand Prix after the front brake ducts were found not to conform to the FIA technical regulations.

Mike Gascoyne, Technical Director Chassis
"Unfortunately, the front brake ducts on our cars were found to be illegal after today's Canadian Grand Prix. We presented a case to the Stewards of the Meeting, attributing the cause to a stack-up of manufacturing tolerances, stating that even with this, the brake ducts were still within a generally accepted tolerance level. The Stewards of the Meeting decided not to accept this case and whilst we are disappointed to lose our hard-fought eighth and tenth places, we have to accept their decision. It is Toyota's policy to always run cars that conform to all regulations. (sorry, can't help but smirk here :grinno:- Alex) This is simply a regrettable and unforeseen issue that led to no competitive advantage."

John Howett, President
"After an internal discussion with the relevant personnel, we intended to appeal against the disqualification imposed by the Stewards of the Meeting, however we were unable to meet the FIA appeal deadline. I must stress that the alleged technical infringement resulted in absolutely no increase in our performance level during today's race. The brake ducts on our race cars were still within a generally accepted tolerance level. We reluctantly accept this unpleasant penalty and must now look to next week's grand prix in Indianapolis."

It is Toyota's policy to always run cars that conform to all regulations.

So, how do they explain the little 'slip up' at TTE on the Celica which got them excluded from the WRC for 2 years?
They even admitted to exploiting a loophole then, and their 'stack up of tolerances' sounds feeble to me.
As an engineer that deals with tolerances every day, it would take some seriously wide open tolerances to push them outside the regulations.

That's what made me smirk :D Guess Mike has an excuse though, he wasn't part of Toyota back then.

Here are the regulations concerning brake ducts:

11.4 Air ducts:
Air ducts for the purpose of cooling the front and rear brakes shall not protrude beyond:
- a plane parallel to the ground situated at a distance of 160mm above the horizontal centre line of the wheel;
- a plane parallel to the ground situated at a distance of 160mm below the horizontal centre line of the wheel;
- a vertical plane parallel to the inner face of the wheel rim and displaced from it by 120mm toward the centre line of the car.
Furthermore, when viewed from the side the ducts must not protrude forwards beyond the periphery of the tyre or backwards beyond the wheel rim.

An interesting question is why the stewards allowed the cars in the race. I thought they were checked thoroughly after qualifying, and since minimal changes are allowed after qualifying, the cars were illegal already on Saturday. Weird. Unless the post-race scrutineering is more thorough, but why would it be?

Inexcusable for a team of Williams experience.

Inexcusable for a team of Williams experience.

Why inexcuseable? Mistakes happen all the time when people are involved. I'm sure it was just that, an honest mistake, and Williams are an honest team willing to accept their mistake.

Can't really trust Toyota since the inlet restrictor incident...

I just feel that Williams have more braking issues than almost anyone in recent years, they were likely aware of every minute aspect of the rules.

I'm not going to outright accuse them of cheating because mistakes are made, but just find it peculiar due to their recent brake history.

I just feel that Williams have more braking issues than almost anyone in recent years, they were likely aware of every minute aspect of the rules.

I'm not going to outright accuse them of cheating because mistakes are made, but just find it peculiar due to their recent brake history.
:1:

still, bad luck for Ralf...



Im thinking of going to Spa for the GP in August... Have any of you guys been as im trying to figure out which tickets to book!!!

thanks for any advice