Cars
Formula One - 2007 Montreal Grand Prix
I attended the Montreal Formula Grand Prix this past summer. I'd been once before in 1993, sitting at the far hairpin infield. This time I was with a group of friends right along the front straight. It would prove to be a very strange event. How so? Read on:
Click
here to see a large panoramic shot of the view from our seats.
Saturday: Qualifying
We were directly across from Ferrari's pit garage, with McLaren to the left and Renault to the right. Pathetic that the FIA has resorted to pit-lane strategy as a substitute for racing. Given that fact though, this was the view to have.
Poor ING. Who wouldn't have jumped at the chance to sponsor Renault after 2 championship-winning seasons in a row. To get an idea how poorly they were doing up to that point in the 2007 season, one only need walk past their souvenir booth there at the track. Not a soul around, in stark contrast to the mobs around every other team's booth. ING: Investments Not Guaranteed
Ferrari needed all the encouragement it could get. McLaren was in top form and even BMW's Heidfeld squeaked into third on the grid to leave Kimi in fourth and Masa fifth.
Interesting to see the rumble strips up close. Somewhat severe for cars with almost no ground clearance and stiff suspensions.
Sunday: Race
Who could have predicted Sato taking on Alonso? I won't jump on Takuma here...David Hobbs hasn't left anything to say!
Kimi was ecstatic and he wanted the whole world to know it.
Glad I got a shot of SS while I had the chance. Poor Scott. I don't know if he rushed into F1 too quickly, just didn't get enough support from his team, or a combination of both.
This would turn out to be the fastest Jenson went all day.
1 New text message received: report to souvenir booth after race for your shift. thx
Alex Wurz?! What's
he doing here?!
Lewis Hamilton's first pole position.
The madness that is the pre-race grid.
Jean Todt, Masa, and Kimi.
The semi-retired Michael Schumacher.
The race begins but there really wasn't anything visible from our seats...except for Button's Honda. Insert 'eco-friendly powerplant' joke here.
Button's long walk through the pits.
A shroud of mourning?
Hamilton races in for his first pit stop...
...
...and mere seconds later he's off.
SC = Safety Car = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. There were four safety car periods throughout this race, throwing everyone's pitstop strategies into disarray.
Masa's first pit stop and the red army descends. I count 32 directly involved in the stop, plus a couple engineers in the background. Mouse over the photo.
Talk about cutting it close. Massa isn't even finished when Kimi pulls up.
There was a helicopter hovering over the track with a movie advertisement banner hanging beneath it. Right as images of Robert Kubica's BMW slamming into a wall appear on the jumbotron, the banner falls off the chopper and it freefalls into a distant parking lot. Strange.
Kubica's accident (taking flight right in front of where I was seated while attending the '93 race):
This was sad to see. Both Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella left the pits under a red light and were immediately disqualified.
Alex Wurz?! What's he doing here?!
Heidfeld apparently ran out of gas on the parade lap and was pushed to park ferme, Jenson-style.
First pole position. First victory. I'm glad I was there to see it.
Between Anthony Davidson hitting a
beaver groundhog on track (I kid you not), Kubica's massive flying shunt at 186 mph, Sato re-passing Alonso, Wurz finishing on the podium, four safety car periods, and only 12 of the 22 cars finishing, it was a strange one. Could have been weirder - there could have been some overtaking for the lead on-track.
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