Preview - Canadian Grand Prix

The 39th Canadian Grand Prix is the venue for the seventh round of the 2008 championship. This weekend is the 30th anniversary of the Grand Prix being held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. Lets take a look at the events of last year and the details of what to expect this year.

Last Years Race
The McLarens of Hamilton and Alonso lined up in on the first row with Heidfeld in third and Raikkonen in fourth. Kimi had a poor start and was quickly passed by his teammate, Felipe Massa. Alonso has a lock up from second and goes strait on a turn one. Hiedfeld moves up to second, whilst Raikkonen is taken again by Nico Rosberg. Jenson Button stalled on the grid. Mark Webber spins whilst taking Robert Kubica and Scott Speed retires after flying up the back of Alexander Wurz. Alonso again goes off a turn one giving his position to Massa. Adrain Suitil hit the barriers at Turn 8 and the safety car came out. Both Massa and Fisichella ignore the red light at the end of the pit lane and drive through. Kubica waits patiently, but too patiently and gets taken by Jarno Trulli when the green light come back on. Robert Kubica tries to take Trulli but gets it wrong and launches into the air. He slams against the barriers with high force and flips back across the track. Its a big accident and Kubica is helped out of the car and into an ambulance. He was unhurt but missed the next race. The safety car returns to the pit lane after Kubica's accident for the second time. Alonso and Rosberg are given 10 second stop-go penalties for entering the pit lane whilst it was closed. Fisichella and Massa are black flagged for leaving the pit lane under the red flag. They are disqualified. Luizzi brings out the safety car for the fourth time after hitting the wall of champions. Takuma Sato gets the better of Ralf Schumacher, but hes not done and overtakes Fernando Alonso on the strait. He takes sixth. Lewis Hamilton wins the race with Heidfeld second, Wurz third, Kovalainen, Raikkonen and Sato in fourth, fifth and sixth.

Information

• Official Name: 2008 Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada
• Date: 6-8 June 2008
• Round: 7
• Circuit: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
• Location: Montreal
• F1 Race Number: 792
• Grand Prix Number: 39
• First Race: 1967
• Laps: 70
• Lap Distance: 2.70 Miles (4.36km)
• Lap Record: 1:13.622, R.Barrichello

Preparations and Predictions
As the half-way point of the season approaches, the championship is starting to close up. Ferrari will be hoping to continue their qualifying pace and push themselves further ahead. McLaren will want to build on their win at Monaco to make some space between them and BMW. Lewis Hamilton will also be looking for a win only after winning his first race here last year. BMW will also be looking for their first win, as mentioned in this post, they came close in Monaco and after a strong performance last year, this is the Grand Prix where they will want the breakthrough. With the top three teams all determined for a win, Montreal should be hosting a competitive race.

News
Due to my disability to stay in the country, or have any internet access over the week, I'm afraid that this post was written too early to share any pre-race related news.