FORMULA 1 - 2012

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Alonso tips Massa to maintain Monaco form

Fernando Alonso has tipped his beleaguered teammate Felipe Massa to continue to recover from his career low.

Prior to Monaco, speculation hinted that the Brazilian Massa could be imminently ousted by Ferrari, having struggled so much at the wheel of the F2012.

But in the Principality, where Massa has a home, the 30-year-old seemed to bounce back onto form, quelling for now the calls for him to be dumped.

And Spaniard Alonso, who is unquestionably Ferrari's lead driver, backed his teammate to continue to recover form.

"It's hard to think that Felipe will not get many points, podiums and fight for victories in the second half of the year," he told the EFE news agency at an event in Madrid.

"I have repeated a thousand times that he has the talent to do so.

"It has been an unfortunate start to the year for him for a number of reasons: bad luck, by adapting a little slower than normal to the tyres.

"The results he had were not normal for Felipe," insisted Alonso.

"He has my full support, and the support of the team, to change the situation. Or to change the results, because many times in practice or in qualifying he was very close to me and then something happened.

"Rather than the pure speed or the talent, the change that is needed for Felipe is the results," he insisted.

"In Monaco things seemed to have changed, so hopefully from now on it will be good for him," said Alonso.

In a separate interview with Spanish radio Cadena SER, Alonso was also asked about other drivers.

When asked if it is true that the driver he respects the most is Lewis Hamilton, the Spaniard answered "yes".

Alonso had the same single-word answer when asked if the last two titles were more about Red Bull than they were about Sebastian Vettel.

Finally, when asked if engineers generally have a greater influence than the drivers in today's formula one, Alonso once again answered simply: "Yes."

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Formula 1's greatest drivers. Number 14: Mika Hakkinen

Michael Schumacher says his toughest rival in his first career was Mika Hakkinen, which is quite a compliment from a man who also raced against Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost and lost his final world championship battle to Fernando Alonso.

Schumacher's respect for the famously monosyllabic, but searingly quick, Finn was never better illustrated than after the 2000 Belgian Grand Prix.

Hakkinen won the race thanks to one of the most brilliant overtaking manoeuvres ever seen in Formula 1, passing Schumacher's Ferrari in a stunning display of bravery and audaciousness as they speared either side of a backmarker.

Just as revealing and important, though, was what happened a lap before at the same place.

This time the two men were on their own. Hakkinen was closing fast, and went for the inside, whereupon Schumacher did one of his notorious 'leans' - driving across at the McLaren and keeping going until his rival was left with the choice of backing off, or taking to the grass at 200mph.

Hakkinen backed off, but even so his front wing touched the rear wheel of Schumacher's Ferrari. He was not amused.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eE3gCy5zvM

As the two men pulled up in parc ferme at the end of the race, Hakkinen got out of his car and walked straight over to Schumacher.

A different character would have ranted at the German, perhaps even tried to assault him, as Schumacher himself did to David Coulthard after they collided at the same race two years previously.

Instead, Hakkinen calmly went over the incident with Schumacher, using hand gestures. He has never revealed what he said, but the message was clear - that was out of order; don't ever try it with me again. Schumacher, stony-faced and chastened, merely nodded.

I was in the press conference after that race and was one of several people who tried to get Hakkinen to criticise Schumacher's behaviour. He wouldn't bite.

Which might explain why Schumacher said this to BBC Sport about Hakkinen last year: "Mika Hakkinen was the best opponent in terms of his quality, but the biggest admiration I had for him was we had 100% fight on track but a totally disciplined life off track. We respected each other highly and let each other live quietly."

The intensity of that incident at Spa was heightened by the fact that the two men were locked in a battle for the world championship.

Schumacher ultimately claimed the crown after another titanic battle with Hakkinen - this time at the Japanese Grand Prix at that other great drivers' circuit, Suzuka.

Flat out for the entire race, the two were on a totally different level from anyone else - as Senna and Prost had been in their own battles at the same track a decade before, and Schumacher and Alonso would be six years later.

The careers of both Hakkinen and Schumacher began as the Senna/Prost era was coming to a close. Both made their debuts in 1991, but whereas Schumacher was quickly parachuted into a front-running car at Benetton, Hakkinen spent two years at faltering Lotus, before joining McLaren as test driver in 1993.

Sacrificing a race drive for a test seat seemed an odd move at the time, but McLaren boss Ron Dennis had promised Hakkinen a race at some point in 1993 and he was true to his word.

After a disappointing season, their second driver Michael Andretti was sacked with three races to go, and Hakkinen was given his McLaren debut at the Portuguese Grand Prix as team-mate to Senna. He shocked the sport - not to mention Senna himself - by out-qualifying the great Brazilian.

The race did not go quite as well, nor the final two races of the season, but Hakkinen's potential was plain to see. It took a while to come to fruition, though.

McLaren were entering a difficult period, with uncompetitive cars. The nadir was 1995, in the final race of which Hakkinen's F1 career came close to ending.

A deflating tyre pitched him off the track during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, the car was launched over the kerbs andHakkinen was critically injured in the impact with the wall.

He suffered a fractured skull, internal bleeding and swallowed his tongue, and only an emergency tracheotomy at the side of the track saved his life.

Hakkinen recovered in time for the start of the 1996 season, and the incident solidified the already strong bond between Hakkinen and Dennis.

By the end of 1997, McLaren had a competitive car, and Dennis already knew that an even better one was in the pipeline for the following year.

Dennis did not want his best driver to go into the new season still without a win, so when Coulthard was leading Hakkinen in the closing stages of the final race of 1997, Dennis ordered the Scot to hand victory to his team-mate.

Coulthard was furious, although he kept his counsel, as he did when it happened again in the opening race of 1998, which McLaren did indeed start with a massive car advantage.

The victory set Hakkinen up for his first title, which he won despite a determined fightback from Schumacher and Ferrari.

Hakkinen won again in 1999, although both he and McLaren made hard work of it, a series of team and driver errors giving Schumacher's team-mate Eddie Irvine a chance of the title after Ferrari's number one broke his leg in a crash at the British Grand Prix.

Hakkinen very nearly made it three in a row in 2000, but losing that championship to Schumacher was the beginning of the end.

His wife Erja had given birth to a son and, although only 32, Hakkinen was beginning to weigh the risks of F1 more carefully.

A heavy crash following suspension failure in the opening race of 2001 convinced him the time was right to stop. At Dennis's insistence, Hakkinen's retirement at the end of the season was announced as a sabbatical, but there was to be no going back.

Hakkinen was a famously taciturn character out of the car, giving virtually nothing away to the media.

He would take a lengthy pause before questions, and then say virtually nothing of consequence, giving the impression of being a bit dim.

In fact, it was a construct devised by a man who was much more intelligent than he let on to ensure he had the minimum of distractions behind the wheel.

In the end, it didn't matter how little he said, Hakkinen was the ultimate exponent of letting your driving do the talking.

When he finally got into a competitive car, he took 20 wins and 26 pole positions from his final 67 grands prix. He was, it is clear, one of the fastest drivers F1 has ever seen.

MIKA: Hakkinen is a personal hero for me and I had always selfishly hoped he would have returned to F1 but as we all know, that was not meant to be. I had a chance to meet him twice, once in Melbourne and the other at the German Grand Prix.

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Vettel Schumacher Coulthard Joking in Canada F1 Grand Prix 2011

A little humour leading up to the 2012 Canadian GP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwoyvNMvJ70

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Grosjean keen to go the distance

Romain Grosjean is determined to translate his strong qualifying showings into points finishes after a string of retirements.

The Frenchman has made it onto the first five rows of the grid at every race this season, even snapping up a place on the second row in Australia, Spain and Monaco. However, he has failed to finish in half of the season's races, including last time out in Monaco where he crashed on the opening lap.

"Up until the race itself the Monaco Grand Prix weekend though was very promising. We had strong pace all weekend, even if qualifying wasn't quite as good as it might have been. It certainly could have been worse, but we were slightly disappointed with qualifying in fifth," he told Lotus' official website.

"The race itself was very short for me. I didn't get the greatest start, and it's so crowded off the line in Monaco that sometimes there just isn't enough room. In this case there wasn't and my race ended.

"It took me a couple of days to get rid of my disappointment from Monaco. It was such an early exit and it was my home race where I really wanted to go well in front of all the fans. We had the car to be able to be challenge for a strong result. Everyone knows this, but that's motor racing sometimes. After a difficult day like that you want to jump straight back into the car and have a proper race! Let's hope that is the case in Canada and we can show what we are capable of!"

Heading to Canada for the first time, Grosjean admits that it's a circuit that he will have to be cautious at.

"It will be my first time in Canada so it's another new experience for me this year," he explained.

"Obviously this means it's also going to be my first time driving the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. I'm looking forward to it because it's a track which many drivers have told me they like. It's also a track which can bite you, and we've seen that over the years with the champions' wall. Even though I'm not a F1 champion, I'll be giving that part of the track some respect!"

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is not the first track that Grosjean has had to come to terms with for the first time and thus far he has adapted fairly quickly.

"Over the last few years I seem to have always been learning new circuits so I guess I must have a pretty good approach to it!" he explained.

"This season it helps that the E20 is such a forgiving car and we have a very good baseline setup which means we can quickly look at refining it and finding more pace rather than trying to compensate for any chassis imbalance or difficult handling characteristics from the car. I work very closely with the team and my engineers to understand all the requirements of a new circuit, and there are always aspects of one track which can be likened to another. Ultimately, you just have to get out there and drive fast."

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One DRS zone in Canada

There will be just one DRS zone at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit this weekend rather than the two which were in place last year.

The two zones in 2011 where at the beginning of Turn 10 and then at the start-finish straight.

However, the second zone has been scrapped as it was deemed too easy to overtake on the straight with DRS in use.

As a result, the only zone will run from Turn 10 until the breaking zone for Turn 13. It has also been shortened by 50 meters and is now 600 meters long.

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Tyres to have a big influence in Canada?

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery believes that tyres could play a big role at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Many have been critical of the Pirelli tyres this season, asserting that they are turning the sport into a lottery. Hembery rejected such suggestions last week, insisting that tyres are not the only factor that have contributed to six different drivers winning the opening six races of the season.

However, looking ahead to this weekend's race in Montreal, Hembery admits that tyre performance could have a big influence on proceedings.

"Tyres have traditionally played a very important role in this race, especially if it rains. We saw how being on the right tyre at the right time enabled Jenson Button to win the Canadian Grand Prix last year even after six visits to the pit lane," he said.

"That race was far from typical though, so we've not yet had experience of running the supersoft in Canada under normal conditions.

"The practice sessions will be vital for the teams to understand how exactly it works on full tanks in particular. We think we will see several different strategies at work, with teams likely to split their strategies in order to cover every possibility."

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'Special' wing for HRT

Having recorded their best showing of the season in Monaco, HRT are bringing a little something extra to Canada as they look to consolidate their position.

Narain Karthikeyan came home in 15th place at the principality, and despite being two laps down at the end, the team were happy to see the Indian driver go the distance.

On the back of this momentum, HRT head to Canada looking for a repeat of last season's performance where they notched up their best ever result, a 13th place from Vitantonio Liuzzi.

While Liuzzi was helped by the chaos that ensued from the heavy rain, the Spanish outfit have something extra in their arsenal as they attempt to repeat the feat.

"Our weakest point is quick corners and there aren't many here. Our biggest handicap could be not having KERS, but we've brought a special rear wing for this circuit which we hope will make us more competitive," explained team boss Luis Perez-Sala.

"We're bringing a new low-downforce rear wing, specially designed for Canada, and intending on continuing with the progress shown in Monaco. After retiring in Monaco, I'm even hungrier to achieve a good result in Canada," added Pedro de la Rosa.

MIKA:

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Fernando Alonso says Montreal will be 'crucial indicator' for Ferrari's title bid

Fernando Alonso believes this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix could reveal whether Ferrari will be competitive enough to sustain its world championship challenge for the rest of the 2012 Formula 1 season.

Alonso currently holds a three-point lead over Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in the standings despite Ferrari having started the season a long way off the pace following a troubled winter build-up. The Spaniard won the wet Malaysian GP, and also took podium finishes in Spain and Monaco.

Ferrari has admitted that traction and top speed were among its early weak points, and as both are essential for Montreal pace, Alonso thinks this weekend will reveal whether the F2012 has improved sufficiently.

"I think we have improved the car in these areas since the beginning of the season and Canada will be a good test in this respect," he said.

"Hopefully this weekend we will see a competitive Ferrari and that will be very important for us, not just for this race but also for the rest of the season."

Alonso said his current expectation was that Ferrari would be encouraged by its Montreal form.

"It's hard to say in advance, as this season has been so unpredictable with ups and downs for everyone over the course of six races," he said. "However, I don't see any reason why Ferrari should not be competitive in Canada, fighting for the top places come the end of the race."

The double world champion added that he was not letting his current points lead deceive him, as he still believes Ferrari has ground to make up on-track.

"Leading the championship is only the beginning, it's a starting point, because the ultimate target is leading the championship after the final race in Brazil in November," said Alonso.

"It's a long championship and the first six races brought us enough points to be in the lead, but we are well aware that we have to improve.

"We need to make the car faster, working hard, while making no mistakes and finding consistency, which is not the easiest thing to do in this championship."

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HOW THE F1 TEAMS WILL APPROACH THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX:

Montreal is always one of the most interesting races of the season from a strategy point of view. With a very high likelihood of safety cars, a low grip surface and very easy overtaking, it is always an entertaining race.

This year the performance of the unpredicatable Pirelli tyres will be a decisive factor as will the effect of the adjustable DRS wing. Last year in Montreal there were two DRS zones, but this year to make it less easy, there is just one – on the long back straight – and it’s 100 metres shorter than last year.

Montreal has several long straights linked with chicanes and a hairpin. There are no high-speed corners to speak of. Good traction out of slow corners is essential as is good straight-line speed and a car that is good over the kerbs.

Montreal is an unusual circuit in that it is a road circuit based on an island and is only used for racing twice a year. The track is very dirty at the start of the weekend and improves dramatically as the weekend goes on, although the grip level remains low. So the strategists have to predict what the tyres are going to do in the race, based on data, which is a moving target.

Track characteristics

Montreal – 4.36 kilometers.

Race distance – 70 laps = 305 kilometers. 12 corners in total. A circuit made up of straights, chicanes and a hairpin

Aerodynamic setup – Medium downforce.

Top speed 326km/h (with Drag Reduction System active on rear wing) – 316km/h without.

Full throttle – 67% of the lap (quite high). 15 seconds unbroken full throttle on main straight.

Total fuel needed for race distance – 142 kilos (average/high).

Fuel consumption – 2.0kg per lap (average/high)

Time spent braking: 17% of lap (high). 7 braking zones. Brake wear- Very High.

Loss time for a Pit stop = 11.2 seconds (very fast)

Total time needed for pit stop: 15.2 seconds.

Fuel effect (cost in lap time per 10kg of fuel carried): 0.28 seconds (low)

Form Guide

The Canadian Grand Prix is the seventh round of the 2012 FIA F1 World Championship.

Qualifying is less important at Montreal than many other circuits, because overtaking is easy and this also has a big bearing on race strategy, pushing teams towards more stops rather than less.

However the statistics for this season show that the car which leads on the opening lap is likely to win the race; this has happened in four of the five dry races to date. This is because it is beneficial to the tyres to drive in clear air rather than following another car. They last longer and perform better, by a significant margin.

The circuit’s characteristics should suit the Mercedes and Lotus cars in particular. If it’s cold, then the Mercedes will have the edge, if it’s hot it will be the Lotus.

Meanwhile the Ferrari has always been strong in Montreal and works well on the combination of soft and supersoft tyres. But so far this year their car has been weaker than its rivals on straight-line speed. However some updates are promised for this weekend, which may help that. The Ferrari is good in traction and works well on the super soft Pirelli which is the likely qualifying and first stint tyre this weekend.

Red Bull has come into form since Bahrain with two wins from three races.

Historically this has not been one of Red Bull’s strongest circuits; downforce isn’t a major factor here.

McLaren has been fast in qualifying but less good in the race recently.

As far as drivers’ form is concerned; Michael Schumacher is the king of Montreal, having won the race seven times. It is also one of Lewis Hamilton’s strongest tracks – he has won there twice. Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen have all won the race.

Weather Forecast

Being coastal and set on a seaway, Montreal can experience extremes of weather for the race; it can be very hot and humid, but also cold and wet. This will have a huge bearing on the tyres. In the week preceding the event, there were temperatures of 15 degrees on one day and 28 degrees on another. It is the most extreme circuit location for temperature variations.

Likely tyre performance and other considerations

Pirelli tyre choice for Montreal: Prime tyre is Soft (yellow markings) and Option tyre is Super Soft (red markings)

This is the same tyre choice as Monaco, where the performance of the tyres surprised many people. Both the soft and super soft ran for longer than expected making it a one stop strategy race.

The key to making the super soft last is to limit wheel spin with the rear tyres. This happens when the drivers accelerate out of the low speed corners. Strangely with the Pirellis the drivers find it more difficult to feel wheel spin and as traction control is banned in F1, it’s a delicate thing to control.

The difference between the two tyres is estimated to be around 0.8 secs to 1 second per lap in qualifying trim.

The temperatures will be the key to the weekend. Hot conditions will force the teams to change the tyres more frequently.

Race Strategy: Number and likely timing of pit stops

At Montreal this weekend the key to strategy will be to plan your fastest race from lights to flag. Because of the ease of passing, track position is less important than at many other venues. The most important thing is to qualify well and run your fastest race and see where that puts you at the end, because you will not have problems overtaking. Running in clear air as much of the race as possible is key, so if a car doesn’t qualify as well as expected, we may see the team try and aggressive strategy to keep the driver in clear air.

But as the track is constantly improving and getting faster, it is unlikely that the strategists will have enough data by the start of the race to know for certain which is the better of the two tyres to be on. It will be based on reacting to what others are doing quickly. This should make it one of the most interesting as well as action-packed races of the season.

The pit lane at Montreal is short and therefore pit stops are very fast at around 18.7 seconds. This pushes strategists to consider making more stops.

A three-stop strategy is marginally faster than two stops (roughly half a position, according to models). One stop would mean that the car was ahead of the two and three stoppers at their final stops, but they would easily be able to pass the one stopper in the closing stages on his worn tyres. However a safety car would swing things towards the one stopper.

Chance of a safety car

The chances of a safety car at Montreal are very high at 67%. There is an average of 0.8 safety cars per race. Seven of the last ten Canadian Grands Prix have featured a safety car.

This is because, with the track lined with walls and several blind corners, there are frequent accidents and the conditions for the marshals when clearing an accident are dangerous.

Recent start performance

The run to the first corner in Montreal is short and there have been many first corner incidents over the years. But it is also a first corner where there are many lines and making up places is possible.

In the last dry race here in 2010, for example, only the front four cars ended the first lap in the same position in which they started!

As far as 2012 start performance is concerned drivers have gained (+) or lost (-) places off the start line this season, on aggregate, as follows –

Gained:


+23 Massa

+19 Kovalainen

+18 Glock

+14 Alonso

+8 Perez ***

+12 Raikkonen

+9 Senna

+8 Maldonado****

+7 Pic

+5 Schumacher*

+6 Kobayashi****

+5 Hamilton, Vergne

+ 4 Di Resta , Karthikeyan

+ 2 
 Vettel

+1 Button, Rosberg

Held position: Petrov

Lost:

-1 Grosjean** ****

-3 De la Rosa ****

- 4 Hulkenberg

- 7 Webber

-10 Ricciardo

* Senna, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg were all involved in accidents on 1st lap in Australia

** Schumacher and Grosjean collided on Lap 1 in Malaysia, Senna and Perez pitted for wet tyres on opening lap

***Perez punctured on lap 1 in Spain and went to back of field

**** Eliminated by or involved in first lap accident in Monaco

Pit Stop League Table

Of course good strategy planning also requires good pit stop execution by the mechanics and we have seen tyre stops carried out in less than two and a half seconds by F1 teams. Here again Ferrari leads the way consistently this year.

It is also clear that the field has significantly closed up in pit stops. The top four teams fastest stops were within 4/10ths of a second of each other in Spain. It shows how much work has gone on in this area.

The league table below shows the order of the pit crews based on their fastest time in the Monaco Grand Prix, from the car entering the pit lane to leaving it. The positions from previous race are in brackets.

Worth noting is that Marussia did a faster stop than many established teams and Mercedes reclaimed the top spot after Ferrari had topped the table in recent races.

1. Mercedes 24.874 (1),

2. Ferrari 24.993 (3)

3. Red Bull 25.079 (1)

4. McLaren 25.219

5. Toro Rosso 25.335 (6)

6. Marussia 25.567 (12)

7. Force India 25.642 (4)

8. Sauber 25.666 (9)

9. Caterham 26.066 (10)

10. Lotus 26.380 (8)

11 Williams 26.410 (7)

12. HRT 27.306 (11)

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Alonso: Canada will reveal all

Fernando Alonso believes that Ferrari's performance in Canada will be an indicator as to whether or not they will challenge for the remainder of the season.

In a result few would have expected, Alonso's consistency sees him lead the Championship after six races, despite Ferrari often being off the pace and openly stating their unhappiness with the F2012, particularly in the early stages of the season.

The Spaniard admits that it is quite an achievement to be at the front of the pack at this stage, but that this is not when being at the top really matters.

"Leading the championship is only the beginning, it's a starting point, because the ultimate target is leading the championship after the final race in Brazil in November," Alonso toldFerrari's official website.

"It's a long championship and the first six races brought us enough points to be in the lead, but we are well aware that we have to improve. We need to make the car faster, working hard, while making no mistakes and finding consistency, which is not the easiest thing to do in this championship."

Ferrari head to Canada having made some improvements to the F2012, and Alonso believes that how the car performs in Montreal will not only be important for the race but that it will also lay down a marker for where the team stands for the remainder of the season.

"I think we have improved the car in these areas since the beginning of the season and Canada will be a good test in this respect," he explained.

"Hopefully this weekend we will see a competitive Ferrari and that will be very important for us, not just for this race but also for the rest of the season."

With six different winners coming from the first six races, predicting the outcome of the next race is a bit of a lottery, but Alonso sees no reason why it can't be Ferrari who lead the way.

"It's hard to say in advance, as this season has been so unpredictable with ups and downs for everyone over the course of six races," asserted the former World Champion.

"However, I don't see any reason why Ferrari should not be competitive in Canada, fighting for the top places come the end of the race. Winning races is not easy, neither is finishing on the podium, but the important thing is to score points and find a good level of consistency."

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Donnelly joins Canadian stewards' panel

Former F1 driver Martin Donnelly will be on the stewards' panel for this weekend's Canadian GP, acting as the drivers representative.

Donnelly, who raced in Formula One made his grand prix debut with the Arrows team at the 1989 French GP, replacing Derek Warwick.

Qualifying 14th and finishing P12, he was offered a drive with Lotus for the 1990 season where he started 12 races with a best finish of seventh.

However, a huge accident in practice for the Spanish GP, the result of a suspension failure, put an end to his F1 career.

The Ulsterman recovered sufficiently to race in national events and now runs the Donnelly Track Academy in Norfolk.

This weekend, though, Donnelly will return to Formula One, acting as the drivers' representative at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The 47-year-old filled the role at last year's Korean GP.

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Silverstone seeking more say

Silverstone has joined other circuits in wanting a bigger say in 'negotiations over the future of the sport', reports The Telegraph.

With circuits paying millions to host grands prix and governments having to cover the short-fall, the owners and organisers of the venue want a greater say in what goes on in Formula One.

At present the teams have the Concorde Agreement which allows them a voice, however, the circuits have nothing.

But, in a bid to gain a voice of their own, the circuits have joined forces to form the Formula One Promoters Association (FOPA).

"We have historically lacked a co-ordinated voice and the Formula One Promoters Association gives us the opportunity to have that. There are a number of matters of common interest and I think it is important that those are voiced," said Silverstone's chairman, Neil England.

Meanwhile, Ron Walker, the chairman of the Australian GP and now also the new chairman of FOPA, added that circuits can "use the association to lodge their proxies to vote on major issues affecting the sport."

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COTA announces ticket prices for USGP

The Circuit of the Americas has announced its ticket prices for the United States Grand Prix, which returns to the calendar for the first time since 2007.

The organisers have held off publishing ticket prices until now, opting to instead push the sale of premium seat licenses.

Tickets go on sale on June 10th with the cheapest, three-day general admission passes, priced at $159 (£103). Tickets include shuttle buses from three central locations within Austin as the organisers look to reduce site traffic due to the single-lane access roads which are yet to be widened.

Grandstand tickets start at an affordable $269 (£175) for three-day access. Compare that to Silverstone's cheapest three-day ticket which is $351 (£228) or Australia which comes in at $324 (£210).

The grandstand tickets vary on price depending on where you choose to sit, with the most expensive areas located at turn 12, costing $499 (£324).

Main grandstand, turn one and turn 15 seats are reserved for those who have purchased seat licenses.

Check out the below guide to see each individual cost (click to enlarge image).

Further ticketing information can be found here:

COTA

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F1 PROMOTERS JOIN FORCES TO CREATE AN UMBERELLA GROUP:

Formula 1 has a significant new umbrella body to represent the interests of a key group of stakeholders after the sport’s circuits came together to form the Formula One Promoters Association (FOPA).

A report in today’s The Independent revealed details of the creation of FOPA, with the various race venues having joined forces last month to create a company registered in Geneva, Switzerland and chaired by Australian GP chief Ron Walker. Silverstone, the home of the British GP, is part of the new body and its chairman Neil England told the newspaper that such an organisation was not only overdue, but had common interests to air going forward.

“We have historically lacked a co-ordinated voice and the Formula One Promoters Association gives us the opportunity to have that,” he said. “There are a number of matters of common interest and I think it is important that those are voiced.”

The move is likely to prove significant: Circuit promoter fees account for 33.6% of F1′s total turnover of $1.22 bn, which is 1.6% more than the sport gets from TV and broadcast contracts. It is also seen as one of the key areas of growth for F1 revenues in future. With F1′s powerbrokers working towards the signing of a new Concorde Agreement of the end of the season, and a flotation of part of the business planned at some point this year, the next few months are key ones for the future direction of the sport.

Bernie Ecclestone has always famously driven a hard bargain with circuit promoters, no more so than during the drawn-out saga over the future of the British GP a couple of years ago, but meanwhile today Silverstone has underlined its continued importance to the sport and success of its event by announcing that fewer than 5,000 tickets remain available for next month’s race.

A limited number of three-day tickets can still be purchased for general admission areas and grandstands, with just over 1,000 grandstand tickets available for race-day only. Silverstone has increased its capacity by 3,500 for this year’s race and are now expecting the July 6-8 event to sell out in advance. Fans still interested in tickets can visit the Silverstone website.

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Brawn hints Mercedes wants Schumacher to stay

Ross Brawn has given the clearest sign yet that Mercedes would like to keep Michael Schumacher on board beyond his 2012 contract.

It has been an odd season so far for the 43-year-old: more competitive than the past two years but caught up in incidents, penalties and bad luck and with only 2 points on the board.

It has revved up speculation about the great German's future, but so far neither side has been willing to talk about it.

"We need to analyse the start of the season very carefully," team boss Brawn told Germany's Sport Bild.

"We have not reached our goals with Michael. It was not about the car and Michael being too slow, it's just been a few unfortunate circumstances coming together."

The Briton hinted that Schumacher's future is in his hands.

"After his accident in Barcelona, Michael was very unhappy, but after qualifying in Monaco he was very happy," Brawn smiled.

"I think basically the positive feelings outweight the negative this season."

He indicated that Mercedes is convinced of Schumacher's talent and value.

"With the pole position, Michael showed what he is still capable of, so there is no reason for us to not want to continue with him."

Brawn said therefore that, later this season, "if we achieve our goals together with him, he like us will probably be interested in going on".

"If we all feel that it is right to continue, it will happen," he insisted.

If Schumacher does, however, decide to return to retirement, there is speculation Paul di Resta is at the front of the queue.

"We have no real plan B," insisted Brawn, "although one or two people have asked us about our situation for 2013."

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Haug tips Vettel to hit back at Webber

Was Monaco the turning point in Sebastian Vettel's so-far meteoric F1 career?

"Not at all," Mercedes' Norbert Haug told the German news agency DPA on Wednesday.

Almost two weeks ago in the famous Principality, it was Vettel's teammate Mark Webber who broke through with victory, meaning the Red Bull duo is now level-pegging in the championship.

They are just 3 points from Fernando Alonso's lead.

So does Webber's new form represent the turning poing for Vettel?

"Sebastian did not win two world championships by fluke," Haug insisted.

Haug is also hoping lucky seven is on Mercedes' side in Canada this weekend.

Like Webber, Michael Schumacher is also enjoying a new run of form, having secured the first pole of his F1 comeback in Monaco.

Luck, however, has not been on his side in 2012, delivering him just 2 points so far.

That's where lucky seven comes in. If he wins this year, 43-year-old Schumacher would be the unprecedented seventh different winner of the seventh race in a world championship calendar.

The great German has won seven titles, seven grands prix in Montreal, and he even carries the number on his silver racer.

"The characteristics of the circuit should suit us, and we are counting on our car performing well there," said Schumacher.

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More surgery as Kubica's F1 return bid continues

Robert Kubica underwent surgery on Tuesday as the former BMW and Renault driver continues his bid to return to formula one.

Reports recently suggested the 27-year-old Pole, who was seriously injured in a rally crash early last year, would almost certainly never return to F1.

But reports in Italy on Tuesday said Kubica has been testing in a formula one driving simulator.

On the basis of those tests, he underwent orthopaedic surgery in a Verona hospital in an operation performed by Ruggero Testoni.

ANSA news agency said the surgery, which was completed successfully, involved the insertion of prostheses in order to restore mobility to Kubica's right elbow.

"Now he can turn the steering wheel completely. Before, he was unable to turn his palm down and was forced to take a hand off the wheel to perform left hand curves," Dr Testoni said.

"The operation was preceded by a series of simulator tests for a formula one car," he added.

Kubica, who lives in Tuscany, will reportedly return to Verona frequently for hand function physiotherapy.

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Villeneuve critical of unpredictable tyres and daddy's boy drivers

Jacques Villeneuve has hit out at the current state of Formula 1, ranging from the unpredictable nature of the recent results, the Pirelli tyres and the 'childish' drivers.

The 1997 world champion made his comments ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, named after his late father.

The 41-year-old isn't a fan of the current spectacle which has seen a record six different winners in the opening six races, describing it as 'too unpredictable'.

"I am not a huge, huge fan right now," he said. "It is too unpredictable on the tyre front. There is very little the drivers can do, the tyres just suddenly disappear and that doesn’t seem to be to the level that F1 should be at. It should be more gradual.

"It is always fun to see an underdog beat the establishment but it is something that happens once in a while. Now it seems to be almost a constant.

"Teams and drivers that may be mediocre or average will end up running at the front because suddenly it turns around and there is nothing that the good teams or drivers can do. It is not logical, the best should win."

Villeneuve turned his attention to the current crop of young drivers who he described as 'daddy's boys' who have paid their way into the sport, resulting in a lack of respect for other drivers.

"They all think it's a video game and it's not. It is very, very dangerous and it's tough," he continued.

"When you see Bruno Senna in Barcelona, he is not in the same race, he is going appallingly slow and he is blocking guys who are fighting for the points. That is just not intelligent driving for starters.

"I think in the years when F1 was dangerous, 20 or 30 years ago, the risk of dying was very high so the drivers just didn’t do that to each other. There was that extra respect, there was common sense and also there was a bunch of drivers who worked hard to get into racing.

"They weren't racers at 12 years old being told all their life that the financing was there in place for them to race, they had to sweat for it, they weren’t little daddy’s boys like you have now basically.

"So they are driving F1 and they are still children, they are still babies and they are kept like that."

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So old Jaques means he would have made it to F1 without being the son of a legend...?

Yes and also he mentions that drivers of today are reckless and have no regard for other drivers.

Hmm.. JV WAS one of THE MOST RECKLESS drivers ever in the sport which is why he was fast because he didnt care...

[riazp]

Yes and also he mentions that drivers of today are reckless and have no regard for other drivers.

Hmm.. JV WAS one of THE MOST RECKLESS drivers ever in the sport which is why he was fast because he didnt care...

Agreed, but it made for some entertaining races, the battles between JV/schumi and Hakinnen/schumi were oh so epic

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Agreed, but it made for some entertaining races, the battles between JV/schumi and Hakinnen/schumi were oh so epic

Absolutely and I don't think any fan would complain but it really is funny to read JV mention such, talk about calling the kettle black!

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MCLAREN CONFIDENT MP4-27 STILL QUICK ENOUGH TO WIN:

McLaren’s MP4-27 retains the underlying pace that it showed right at the start of the season, according to the team’s managing director Jonathan Neale, who believes both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will be contention to win this weekend if the team cracks the Pirelli tyre conundrum around the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve.

From suggestions that the Woking outfit could dominate the opening phase of the year following a one-three at the Australia season-opener, the team heads into this weekend’s Montreal race looking to bounce back from a series of races when a combination of operational mistakes and disappointing race pace have meant neither of their drivers have finished on the podium since China in April.

But speaking in a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in with journalists on Thursday morning, Neale remained convinced that race-winning performance was still very much in the car, particularly with updates coming on stream, and it was all about rediscovering some consistency.

“The car definitely has the pace and the upgrades are coming through thick and fast,” he said. “But it is very tight. You’re only looking at a tenth or two and you can move a lot of places during qualifying. And we’ve seen Jenson being very unlucky, or not quite getting the car into the right spot with his engineering team during the last two races. On the one hand that makes it very exciting for everyone who’s a fan of the sport watching the races. If you’re a managing director of a Formula 1 team it’s a different game altogether!

“We’ve got to be much more consistent and I’m confident the pace is there in the car and we continue to push hard with our upgrade packages.” He went on to add: “Both drivers have got a car underneath them that can win this race if we can get the tyres consistently into the sweet spot.”

Button’s form has been particularly affected by difficulties in getting the best out of Pirelli’s tyres but Neale insisted “we’re not that far away and I’m confident that he can” rediscover a more consistently stable car throughout a race weekend. He also pointed out that the team’s much-maligned pit-stop record this season, which has coast Hamilton plenty points in particular, was improving race-by-race.

“Of course any operational mistake is costly in Formula 1,” he acknowledged. “When you make an operational mistake at the front of the grid having put the car on pole position that’s incredibly painful, and our Bahrain pit stop wasn’t spectacular. But if anybody is actually doing the math and charting where are the quickest stop times coming from on pit stops you’ll see that ours are consistently improving and will improve again during the course of this weekend if our plans to fruition. Also on our launches, we’ve been consistently one of the best cars off the grid.”

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HAMILTON SETS THE PACE IN MONTREAL:

Lewis Hamilton looks like the man to beat in Montreal this weekend after setting the fastest time in practice for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix. The McLaren driver has yet to win a race this season, despite being the fastest man on numerous occasions in qualifying. He is bidding to be the seventh different race winner this season.

The weekend looks set to be very competitive as both Ferraris were in the top three followed by Red Bull, Force India, Sauber and Mercedes. Lotus again focussed on the long runs and have yet to show their hand. The top 12 cars were separated by just 6/10ths of a second.

"Today has been positive," said Hamilton. "But it's definitely going to be tight this weekend – not just for qualifying, but for the race, too. Even though the Option tyre was a little quicker, I preferred running on the Prime tyre."

Alonso was just five hundredths of a second behind Hamilton, but the Mercedes cars are expected to be the main challenge to Hamilton for pole position.

The rain stayed away in the afternoon while the cars were on track, but barely 10 minutes after the session ended it fell.

Hamilton set his time on the first flying lap on supersoft tyres, which was 2/10ths faster than his best on the soft tyre. However he did not set his fastest first sector on that lap, but rather on his third lap. He had to do the majority of the set-up and research work for McLaren as team mate Jenson Button lost most of the day to technical problems.

Hamilton was the fastest in the morning session, edging out Nico Rosberg. Twice a winner at this track, where he scored his first victory in 2007, Hamilton looked in his element in the McLaren, pushing the car close to the walls.

Bruno Senna went into the "wall of champions", damaging the car quite significantly and bringing out the red flag, stopping the session after 50 minutes. The stoppage cost the teams 13 minutes of track time, as the clock kept ticking. Senna was on a supersoft tyre run and took too much speed into the final chicane.

But there was tremendous frustration for Jenson Button, who lost a lot of time with what started out as an oil leak, which meant that he did only 12 laps in the morning and lost most of the second session, as he needed a gearbox change. He managed to do 14 laps in the final part of the session to set ninth fastest time.

Also in bad shape – although he did get out sooner in the second session than Button – was Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen, who had a significant accident at the Turn 8/98 chicane. Alonso had a spin there in the afternoon session.

The Saubers looked competitive, with strong lap times and good straight line speed; Kobayashi was clocked at 320km/h through the speed trap, right up there among the fastest.

Both Ferrari drivers went with the new specification exhausts. Interestingly Alonso found an improvement on the third lap on his supersoft tyres.

"We managed to do everything properly," said Felipe Massa. "I think we can be happy with the fact that the updates we have brought here worked, even if it's hard to give an instant assessment of how much of an improvement they have produced."

There was a worrying moment in the morning when an HRT mechanic was caught by a car during pit stop practice, but he has only bruising according to the team.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has said that he has no problem with the outcome of the FIA clarification over the holes in its floor which has led them to change it for this race onwards,

"It's the right way to have dealt with the issue," he said. "In terms of the effect it will have on car performance, firstly we didn't plan to run it here [in Canada] anyway, plus it doesn't only affect Red Bull Racing. There were a couple of other cars that were running similar concepts."

CANADIAN GRAND PRIX, Montreal, Friday Practice

1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m15.259s 43 Laps

2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m15.313s + 0.054 36

3. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m15.410s + 0.151 39

4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m15.531s + 0.272 44

5. Paul di Resta Force India 1m15.544s + 0.285 32

6. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1m15.651s + 0.392 37

7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m15.697s + 0.438 32

8. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1m15.799s + 0.540 39

9. Jenson Button McLaren 1m15.812s + 0.553 14

10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m15.878s + 0.619 40

11. Sergio Perez Sauber 1m15.898s + 0.639 38

12. Mark Webber Red Bull 1m15.907s + 0.648 41

13. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1m15.987s + 0.728 39

14. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1m16.360s + 1.101 29

15. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m16.562s + 1.303 33

16. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1m16.981s + 1.722 24

17. Bruno Senna Williams 1m17.022s + 1.763 22

18. Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1m17.075s + 1.816 41

19. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1m17.124s + 1.865 41

20. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m17.716s + 2.457 34

21. Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1m18.908s + 3.649 27

22. Timo Glock Marussia 1m19.084s + 3.825 40

23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1m19.378s + 4.119 21

24. Charles Pic Marussia 1m19.902s + 4.643 18

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Vettel warned over Senna incident

Sebastian Vettel was handed a warning by the Montreal stewards for his part in a practice incident with Bruno Senna on Friday morning.

Approaching the final chicane at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Senna was seen waving his fist at Vettel after the reigning World Champion pushed him wide as he dived down the inside.

Almost immediately word came down from race control that the stewards would look into the incident after practice.

Vettel, though, escaped punishment and was instead handed a warning by the Canadian Grand Prix stewards.

The German went on to finish the day fourth on the timesheets with a 1:15.531, which put him 0.272s down on Friday's pace-setter Lewis Hamilton.

"We ran the super soft tyres this morning thinking there would be rain this afternoon; in the end it didn't come but you never know in advance," said Vettel.

"I think we had a good day; we got decent laps and even with the different approach in terms of when we ran the tyres, I think we can be happy.

"Let's see what we can do tomorrow.

"It's a great track here, there are a lot of stop and starts, braking, chicanes and quick changes in direction but it's good fun - it's part of this track, there are bumps, so it's wild and rough, but it's fun."

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Frustrated Senna: It was a big shunt

Bruno Senna says he will be back on track on Saturday with a version of Williams new rear wing after crashing heavily in Friday's second practice.

Senna brought out the red flags on Friday afternoon when the Brazilian lost control through the final chicane and slammed backwards into the 'Wall of Champions'.

The impact sent his FW34 spinning around and he again hit the wall with the front right of the car.

The accident caused severe damage to the car including writing off the new rear wing, which features a notable curve, that Williams were running this weekend.

Senna, though, says he will have another one on his car for Saturday's final practice.

"It was a big shunt," he told Sky Sports.

"Of course I was a bit frustrated; I never got a clear lap and pushed too hard.

"This is the 'Wall of Champions' for a reason; everybody seems to have an issue with that wall.

"Unfortunately it's a big shunt so there's a lot of damage to the car, but these guys are great; they're going to get it sort it and we're going to be back on track tomorrow.

"It was a very unfortunate crash where you crash with the rear first and then with the front but they have plenty of spares and we're going to be back in shape tomorrow."

He added: "We do have another new rear wing to use."