New Motorsport Week article: Greg Moore - the lost F1 legend?

By RickDikeman - Own work, CC0, https://commons.
wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59452146

Yesterday was an important, and sad, day in motorsport. As it marked 20 years since the his untimely passing of Canadian up-and-coming driver Greg Moore.

He certainly would have become a legend in US single-seater racing, and his future might even have been in Formula 1.

Five wins and five poles in four Champ Car seasons, and a best final championship position therein of fifth, don't support this. But you know what they say about lies, damned lies and statistics.

For Motorsport Week I look back at the lost legend. You can have a read about why Moore was so special here: https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/25042

New Motorsport Week article: F1’s curious history of the first finisher not finishing first

By Martin Lee - https://www.flickr.com/photos/kartingnord/
17196205826/in/photostream/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://
commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45664772

A race is a simple concept. You get to the end before anyone else, you win. Right?

Well, this being Formula 1, things aren't necessarily that simple. Herein, as Sebastian Vettel just found out in the Canadian Grand Prix, the first finisher doesn't always finish first. Such a shift has happened a good few times before, and for a good few reasons.

In my latest for Motorsport Week I look through the other times in F1 history this has happened.

You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/23221

1995 Canadian Grand Prix review for Motor Sport Magazine

Rick Dikeman. Modified by historicair 21:08, 22 May 2007
 (UTC) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]

My latest classic grand prix retro review for Motor Sport Magazine's website has landed. This time it's for the forthcoming Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, and I've looked back at the 1995 race when there was not a dry eye in the house.

As, for once, things came right for the ever-unlucky Jean Alesi, and he ensured that he would not share the inauspicious fate of Chris Amon of a skilled driver who somehow never won a Formula 1 grand prix.

And Alesi could hardly have done it in a more fitting place.

You can have a read of my take on the evocative 1995 Montreal race here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/history/f1/its-over-alesis-drought-ends-1995-canadian-f1-grand-prix

Plus you can check out my previous classic grand prix articles for Motor Sport via this link.

Latest historic articles on AutoClassics - Mika Hakkinen and the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix

By Rick Dikeman [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/
fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], from Wikimedia Commons

Just drawing your gaze towards my latest weekly historic motorsport articles published on AutoClassics.

First off with Mika Hakkinen's 50th birthday coming up at the end of this week for the Motorsport Images slideshow article I looked back at some of the best moments from the double world champion's F1 career, accompanied with some typically stunning photography. Check it out here: https://www.autoclassics.com/posts/reviews/mika-hakkinen-best-f1-moments

F1's first use of the safety car was earlier than you might think. And was chaotic. I therefore spoke to those who were there - Jackie Oliver and Howden Ganley - about the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix, which took place 45 years ago last weekend. You can have a read of the very strange story here: https://www.autoclassics.com/posts/reviews/f1-safety-car-first-use

New Motorsport Week article: The rights and wrongs of flag gate

Photo: Octane Photography

Perhaps it reflected that precious little else happened to keep us distracted last Sunday at Montreal, but you'll likely need to be a cave dweller to not be aware that in the Canadian Grand Prix the chequered flag was waved early.

As an error in F1 it's far from unprecedented, but this time it had one heck of a fallout.

For Motorsport Week I therefore stick my oar into 'flag gate' - and look at its many rights and wrongs, some of which extended far beyond a flag being waved a bit too soon.

You can check out my take here: https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/18617

Motor Verso F1 2018 Season Summary - Canadian Grand Prix review

Photo: Octane Photography

The Motor Verso F1 2018 summary is duly updated with my take on Montreal's Canadian Grand Prix last Sunday and its many implications.

And as ever there's much else added besides for your amusement - the best of F1 video, great photos and an ever-crystallising full season race-by-race review by little old me.

Check it out here: https://www.motorverso.com/2018-f1-summary/

Do check out the Motor Verso site too; you'll find motoring news, car reviews and features - the team on the site carry out week-long test drives of the latest cars - as well as photos and videos of the machines.

Canadian GP Report - Righting the past's wrongs

In this one, the sense of the past was conspicuous.

In a special place for Ferrari Sebastian Vettel took the win
Photo: Octane Photography

Sebastian Vettel took Canadian Grand Prix victory for Ferrari, astonishingly the Italian team's first win in Canada since 2004. And the previous day he had taken its first pole here since 2001.

All this was done on the 40th anniversary of F1's first Montreal visit which then was won by local hero and archetypal Ferrari pilot Gilles Villeneuve, after whom the circuit is named. The four decade milestone was marked on the track's 'Salut Gilles' etching on the start line as well as by son Jacques taking that 1978 Ferrari on a demonstration lap before the race. Judging by the crowd's response to Vettel's win there remains plenty of Scuderia loyalty here.

"The Canadian tifosi, I think they have been waiting long enough for Ferrari to do well here," Vettel noted afterwards. "Forty years after Gilles won his Grand Prix here, I think it's great to show that Ferrari is still alive, that Ferrari is still there, winning races. I'm just extremely proud to become part of that story."

New AutoClassics article - How Montreal has established itself as a Formula 1 favourite

Photo: alessio mazzocco/CC

We all know that Montreal's Circuit Giles Villeneuve, host of the Canadian Grand Prix, is an F1 favourite.

And for AutoClassics, marking the 40th anniversary year of F1's first visit to the track in 1978, I spoke to Mario Andretti, Derek Daly, Alastair Caldwell and the designer of the Montreal circuit Roger Peart to find out the fascinating tale of how the Montreal venue host first established itself as such.

For example, did you know that we would never have had a Grand Prix in Montreal had it not been for the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team?

Find out how, and more, via this link: https://www.autoclassics.com/posts/reviews/Canadian%20grand-prix-formula-1-favourite

Canadian GP Betting Preview - Isle of Lewis?

Races at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve around Montreal's Ile Notre Dame are synonymous with madcap action and results that are hard to predict. Since 2000 not much more than one race in three here has been won from pole. While as usual in 2018 a coherent case can be made in advance for - and against - the prospects of each of the big three teams of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

Montreal wins usually mean one person in particular
Photo: Octane Photography

But on another level a Montreal race is a straightforward call. As Lewis Hamilton has won here six times including the last three. He is very much a local specialist - bravery on the brakes and hustling a car through chicanes with no room for error is just his thing. He tends to beam throughout his Canadian visits.

There is the question of whether Mercedes can master the three softest tyre compounds this weekend as it very much didn't in Monaco, but on the other hand it came to Montreal 12 months ago under a similar cloud and in the event took a comfortable 1-2.

And luckily these sort of doubts mean Hamilton's odds to prevail are a bit longer than they might have been - 7/5 for him to win and 13/8 for the pole both look good.

Montreal Preview - In the spirit of Gilles

If you're looking for an adjective to sum up the F1 fraternity - participants and observers alike - then 'quarrelsome' may be near the top of your list.

Inimitable Montreal
Photo: Octane Photography

It applies to views on the venues too. But there is one on which there is close to unanimity and in the positive - the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. The latest visit to which is this weekend.

There are many reasons for its popularity. Madcap action is a positive expectation here. The layout ensures plenty of overtaking. The nearby walls can and frequently have punished errors. It even has its own 'Wall of Champions' which as the name suggests has ensnared the best. It is a place that rewards the brave.

Safety cars and carbon shards are a common feature, and these also have turned many-a Montreal race onto its head. Outcomes here are not so easy to predict - since the turn of the millennium only a little over one Montreal race in three has been won from pole.

Firstpost Video - Canadian Grand Prix Review

Here's the latest Firstpost Video Grand Prix Review.

Mithila and Kunal from the Inside Line F1 Podcast look at last weekend's Canadian Grand Prix. They talk about Mercedes's post-Monaco bounce back, Sebastian Vettel's comeback, the Force India pace and soap opera, Romain Grosjean, Fernando Alonso and other Montreal matters. You can watch below:

Canadian Grand Prix review for Motor Verso - Great expectations

Photo: Octane Photography

Most of the expectations in advance of the Canadian weekend, and race, were in the event confounded. Perhaps appropriate given Montreal races are known for being off the wall (metaphorically and sometimes literally).

Yes Mercedes bounced back at a track that was thought to be the sort it struggled on, and claimed a one-two. And of the pair local specialist Lewis Hamilton was on another level. But equally Ferrari isn't relenting, and the quality of Sebastian Vettel's recovery drive underlined the point.

So not all expectations were confounded.

Here's my review of the Canadian GP action for Motor Verso: http://www.motorverso.com/canadian-gp-2017-report-great-expectations/

Do check out the Motor Verso site too; you'll find motoring news, car reviews and features - the team on the site carry out week-long test drives of the latest cars - as well as photos and videos of the machines.

Canadian GP Report - A walk in the park

Apparently Mercedes's calculations in advance called it a dead heat. There was, we expected, to be nothing between Merc and Ferrari in this one.

Lewis Hamilton won in a race of one
Photo: Octane Photography

We should have known though that things are rarely that simple in Montreal. The bald facts are that in the Canadian Grand Prix Merc took an imperious one-two. And of its driver pairing Lewis Hamilton made good on his local specialist status by existing in another race, to the point that the TV director appeared to disregard him. Lewis's engineer, not just because of the Ile Notre Dame surroundings, called it a "walk in the park".

It was made so from the off. Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari usually is to be feared from the launch but today it wasn't stellar and from second he was mugged at turn one by a racy Valtteri Bottas (who looked for a nanosecond that he might spear his Mercedes team mate) and a racier Max Verstappen, who came from nowhere to sweep around the outside to take second place. Seb thus was fourth and already the race had gone a long way to be framed.

Montreal Qualifying - The empire strikes back

It could hardly have been in a less appropriate place. But in usually-madcap Montreal, normality returned.

Lewis Hamilton - and Mercedes - struck
back in Montreal's qualifying
Photo: Octane Photography

It was the sort of track that had been tripping previously-imperious Mercedes in 2017 - low grip; slow turns; softest tyre compounds. But the silver team might be learning at last.

Practice running suggested it was at least in the game this time; unlike in Monaco its pace didn't evaporate as the weekend went on. And in qualifying the story got more familiar, with the Mercs growing in potency as the hour went on.

And Lewis Hamilton - who'd especially struggled in the circumstances outlined - claimed pole position by acing the Montreal track. That last bit being something altogether more usual. Ever the showman he saved by far his best for last too.

Canadian GP Betting Preview - Value with Vettel

Pride comes before a fall, as my mother likes to say.

There are plenty of reasons to think Sebastian Vettel
 will lead again this weekend
Photo: Octane Photography

After starting to crow last time about how this betting preview column was developing rather a charmed existence, in Monaco it had a car crash. But for a few reasons, Canada this weekend could be a good place for a bounce back.

A few themes have developed in 2017 F1. Ferrari is good everywhere. Mercedes is not good on low grip tracks that are made up mainly of slow corners, as well as on softer tyre compounds. See Russia and Monaco. And in Montreal it'll face pretty much exactly the same again.

Therefore the smart money could be on Sebastian Vettel, and he's not even odds on for the Canadian pole and win. He can be backed at 21/10 for the former and 8/5 for the latter, and both appear great value.

Inside Line F1 Podcast - Indy vs. F1, Settle This The Boxing Way

There's Lewis Hamilton on one side and ALL the Indy drivers on the other. They're at a war of words, thanks to Hamilton questioning the level of talent competing in the American open-wheel single-seater series. How do we settle this? Let's have the world's best racers challenge each other, boxing style. A fully blown PR event, racer vs. racer - in a single-make car, anyone like this idea?

In this week's episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Mithila and Kunal talk about the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix, a possible reunion between Alonso-Renault, Red Bull Racing's silly caravan racing video and if like the Indy Car Championship, should Formula 1 publicise driver earnings for each race too? There's just so much both the series can learn from each other.

Finally, which driver will crash into the Wall of Champions? And with a 25 points deficit, Canada is definitely going to see some 'HAMmer Time'!

Subscribe to the Inside Line F1 Podcast on iTunes and audioBoom for your weekly dose of Formula 1 humour.

Tune in!

(Season 2017, Episode 21)

Montreal Preview - In the spirit of Gilles

You've probably noticed by now that the folks in and around F1 don't always agree on everything. Or on much at all.

The Montreal weekend has an inimitable quality
Photo: Octane Photography

And that applies absolutely to its venues. Yet there are a few on which there is nevertheless close to unanimity. One is that the annual visit to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix, the latest of which is this weekend, is one to relish.

There are many reasons for this. Gripping drama and madcap action are positive expectations at this race. The layout ensures plenty of overtaking opportunities. The nearby walls at the parkland track can and frequently have punished even small errors. It even has its own 'Wall of Champions' which as its name suggests has ensnared a few of the best.

It is a place that rewards the brave. The track with the nearby walls cited is made up essentially of straights separately by chicanes and a hairpin. Pivoting and hustling the car through the chicanes, being bold on the brakes and shaving the forbidding concrete at great speed are what's needed.

Inside Line F1 Podcast - Paddock Conspiring To Crown Lewis Hamilton World Champion Again?

Lewis Hamilton may have won in Canada, but it was the second time this season he was gifted a victory. First by Red Bull Racing and now by Ferrari – it seems like the entire paddock is conspiring to have Lewis Hamilton as World Champion again! Pity Justin Bieber wasn’t around to celebrate with Lewis on the podium.

Max Verstappen or Carlos Sainz Jr. - which future World Champion had a better race in Canada? And Kimi Raikkonen could learn a trick or two from Verstappen's brilliant defence over Nico Rosberg's charges in Canada. What’s common between a Formula 1 race and the Amber Lounge bar menu? We tell you.

Speaking of conspiracies, Daniel Ricciardo had a slow pit-stop again (and we are not surprised). Should he jump ship to Ferrari? Given his recent slump, is it game over for Nico Rosberg this season already? His four consecutive race wins seem too far away.

Formula 1 pitches its tent in Baku this weekend for the European Grand Prix. We tell you what to look out for and the best seats in the stands. We also pray it's an exciting race, because they say it'll be around for ten long years.

Tune in!

(Season 2016, Episode 20)

Canadian Grand Prix review for Motor Verso - Montreal Momentum For Lewis

The theme of wildlife was everywhere in Montreal, and not just with Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel's playful jibing afterwards on the subject of seagulls...

Photo: Octane Photography

Appropriately to the place too there was a lot of Groundhog Day about the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. Not least that for the second race in a row it was a tight and intense battle for the win between two drivers in fine form; that again Lewis was the one to win out, in so doing tearing another shred from his team mate's title lead; and again Lewis was aided by his foe's team getting things wrong. But even over and above these the echoes of the recent past were far from over.

I give my take on it all in my latest Motor Verso race review. You can have a browse here: http://www.motorverso.com/canadian-gp-2016-review-montreal-momentum-lewis/

Do check out the Motor Verso site too; you'll find motoring news, car reviews and features - the team on the site carry out week-long test drives of the latest cars - as well as photos and videos of the machines.

Canadian GP Report - That nagging sense of familiarity

Some metaphors just refuse to quit. We said yesterday that in the Canadian Grand Prix's qualifying session, on an island known for groundhogs it was Groundhog Day. And the day after contained a few more goings-on with an unmistakable nag of familiarity about them. Just like last time out in Monaco a few things went Lewis Hamilton's way in the Montreal race. But just like last time out he put in a consistent and fast, largely flawless, drive to take advantage. Just like last time out he won the day.

For the second race in a row Lewis Hamilton won out
Photo: Octane Photography

The upshot of all of this is that his championship deficit to his team mate and antagonist Nico Rosberg, a towering 43 points just over a fortnight ago, has been slashed to nine. He does have probable engine penalties to come, but his sudden sense of momentum is undeniable. As is the accompanying, and about as sudden, sense that you wouldn't now stake much against him bagging another drivers' championship this campaign.

And the latest part of this swing came about in familiar style too, as also just like in Monaco Nico had a difficult day in traffic, and was consigned to tiddler points only. And it was related again to ceding a place to Lewis, though this time it was not so willing as it had been in the Principality.

The parallels were far from done. In another echo with at least one previous round Sebastian Vettel's launch from the second row today was stunning, his Ferrari vaulting past the front row Mercedes duo in a blink to lead. This left the Merc pair side-by-side going into turn 1, Lewis on the inside. Lewis took a shallow parabola in the turn, and after a slight touch Nico who had been seeking to stick it out on his outside was forced off, a little like at Austin's first turn last season.