Formula One has now reached the town of Montreal where the Canadian Grand Prix is scheduled to be held this weekend. The Canadian Grand Prix has been a consistent feature of the Formula One season since 1967. It was earlier staged in Ontario then Mosport but due to safety concerns in 1978 the Grand Prix permanently moved to its current home in Montreal.

Canadian Grand Prix – Gilles Villeneuve Circuit

The Canadian Grand Prix of 2005 was the most watched Formula One Grand Prix in the world and was also the third most watched sporting event worldwide. Despite this, in 2009 the Canadian Grand Prix was dropped from the Formula One calendar for the first time since 1987 due to disputes in payments between Bernie Ecclestone and the race organisers. However a year late, the Grand Prix returned to Canada in 2010. Last year the Canadian Grand Prix organisers announced that they had signed a 10-year contract with the Formula One management to host Formula One races till the year 2024.

Daniel Riccardo was the winner of the 2014 Canadian GP with Nico Rosberg in second followed by Sebastian Vettel in third. Michael Schumacher has the record for the most number of wins with seven.

Lewis Hamilton was greeted in Montreal with a barrage of questions about his Monaco Grand Prix debacle. Hamilton said that ,” Firstly, I don’t look back, I’m always looking forward so honestly I’ve not thought about the last race for a long time”. Hamilton insisted that he has recouped from the loss of Monaco race saying, “Now its about shaping the future- there are a lots and lots of races to come, lots of improvements that can be made. We’ve got a great team, great car and there is a championship to be won, so that is al I ‘m focused on”. Hamilton further added that he has full trust and confidence in his team and that he has had pretty incredible success together and one race doesn’t dent the solid foundation that both Lewis and the team have built.

Ferrari and Honda are the first manufacturers to use their development token allocation this season. While Ferrari have used up three, Honda has used two. Sebastian Vettel said, “Everyone has the ability to have an upgrade and we decided to have one here. Hopefully it is a step in right direction and brings us a bit closer but yet you cannot expect miracles from one day to another”.

McLaren-Honda who scored their first points of this season at the Monaco Grand Prix with Jenson Button finishing in ninth place are hopeful that weekend at Canada will be more fruitful. Alonso said that the lack of performance and the string of mechanical failures in both cars have been disappointing. “We have a good understanding of what we’re missing at the moment in terms of mechanical grip as well as aerodynamics and the behaviour of the car”, said Alsonso, “Also the reliability is not good. We did use two tokens but they are more for reliability reasons for some of the problems we faced recently”. So Alonso insists that the engine is exactly the same as in Monaco and that there are no major impacts of it to be seen in the Canadian race on Sunday.

Tags: Bernie Ecclestone, Canadian Grand Prix, Daniel Riccardo, F1, Ferrari, Formula One, Gilles Villeneuve Circuit, Honda, Montreal, Motorsport, Motorsports, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel