The key factors to Canadian race

The ING Renault F1 Team’s Executive Director of Engineering, Pat Symonds, talks about the areas where particular attention is required during this afternoon's Canadian Grand Prix at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit.

"I think it’ll be a difficult race as is often the case in Montreal."

"Tyres, of course. Bridgestone has brought soft and super soft compounds and it’ll be difficult to manage them in the race. It’ll be the same thing for all the teams. As you know we have to use each compound at least once during the grand prix. The super soft tyres will have great difficulty lasting half of the race, and that means that a one-stop strategy would be pretty risky. The graining that everybody has suffered from since the start of the weekend also makes life difficult, even with the soft tyre. So let’s bet on a majority of 2 stop strategies."

"The other risks are linked to the specific nature of the Montreal circuit. Reliability is always a problem here and the engine and brakes suffer enormously. Driver errors are frequent and this leads to numerous contacts with the guardrail. Thus, the probability of the safety car being brought out is very high. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more retirements than has been the case since the start of the season."

"Giancarlo was very quick on Friday, and on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, two mistakes in qualifying cost him two places on the grid. Nevertheless, we know that his rhythm in the race will probably be consistent and quick. For Heikki, it’ll be a very difficult grand prix and he’ll just have to fight all the way."