F1 TEAMS GEAR UP FOR THIS WEEKEND’S RACE
Williams team’s 18-year-old Lance Stroll prepares to make his hometown debut
The Canadian Grand Prix festivities in Montreal got into full swing Thursday morning with a grand entrance by Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel for a Shell Canada event downtown.
Vettel arrived at 9 a.m. not in a fancy car, but riding his bike along de Maisonneuve Blvd. for an onstage interview with TSN’s Kate Beirness on the corner of Crescent St.
Thankfully, Vettel was wearing a helmet, because riding a bike in this city — especially when the Grand Prix is in town — might be even more dangerous than driving a Formula One car on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Vettel arrived almost incognito, with a black, long-sleeved shirt over his bright red Ferrari one. But he probably would have blended into the crowd even better in his team gear in what was a sea of red for the event promoting Ferrari and its longtime partnership with Shell gasoline.
Crescent St. was already closed to traffic with workers setting up for the annual Festival Grand Prix that will continue all weekend. By noon the street was packed with pedestrians and the party had begun on a gorgeous, sunny day with temperatures around 28 C.
A beautiful way to begin the long Grand Prix weekend, the unofficial start to summer in Montreal.
“I just look forward to the weekend,” Vettel said, now wearing his red Ferrari shirt. “The weather’s great, which might change, I don’t know? It doesn’t matter. It’s always a great experience here. The people are very excited, the whole city is excited to have Formula One in town and that’s really what we feel.”
The Environment Canada forecast is calling for 24 C Friday and a 40 per cent chance of showers with F1 practice sessions slated for 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday’s forecast, when F1 qualifying is set for 1 p.m., looks beautiful with sunny skies and 25 C, but there’s a 60 per cent chance of showers Sunday for the 2 p.m. race with a temperature of 30 C.
But as we all know in this city — especially this year — weather forecasts can change quickly.
Vettel is the main man in F1 heading into the Canadian Grand Prix, sitting on top of the drivers’ standings with a 25-point lead over Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes. But the main man in Montreal will be Lance Stroll, the 18-year-old F1 rookie with the Williams team who will make his hometown debut and is still looking for his first points in the drivers’ standings after six races.
A tour through the Williams garage at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve later in the day Thursday put into perspective just how much work goes into getting these cars and drivers ready for a Grand Prix. Members of the Williams team started arriving in town Sunday and spent Monday and Tuesday putting together the garages for its two cars, driven by Stroll and teammate Felipe Massa.
Wednesday and Thursday were spent building the cars, which are stripped down after each race. On Thursday afternoon, a team of engineers were sitting in front of a long bank of screens analyzing computer data from previous races from the Williams cars, which each have more than 200 sensors built in that are connected to an electronic controller that instantly feeds data to the computers in the back of the garage. It’s high-tech stuff.
But one of the most impressive things is how clean the garage is where the Williams cars were being meticulously put together piece by piece. The mechanics and engineers could probably eat lunch off the floor.
During the morning event downtown, Vettel answered questions that had been submitted by Ferrari fans and one asked: “If you could race in any other era, what would it be?”
“I think every era had its specialties,” Vettel responded. “I used to say the ’70s, because the cars were very raw and Formula One was very raw. I think the ’90s, mid-’90s, when the cars were still more raw than today with less technology.”
Then he added: “I’m very happy with this era. Cars are as fast as they’ve ever been.”
Vettel said that depending on the track, F1 cars are completing laps between two and four seconds quicker than last year with better acceleration and stopping power along with more downforce and bigger, wider tires that help in the corners. Vettel added that he likes Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where he finished second last year behind Hamilton.
“It’s a nice track,” he said. “It’s different. There’s a lot of stop and go, chicanes. But it’s quite rough. Walls close to the track so not a lot of room for error. And it has a nice rhythm. You cross the line and you want to go again. So it’s really a nice place and I’m looking forward to it.”
After wrapping up his interviews, Vettel put his black shirt back on, strapped up his helmet and got back on his bike, riding away and blending into the city.
It was a cool way to start things off.