FORMULA 1 - 2015

[MIKA27]

Jenson Button: Every race a stepping stone to the greater things

Jenson Button says McLaren needs to maintain both short- and long-term goals about its project with Honda now it finally has points next to its name.

Button scored McLaren-Honda's first points since the reforming of their partnership this season in Monte Carlo, though Canada's circuit is likely to once again highlight the team's power unit deficiencies. The team has been making progress at every race but remains a long way off the front of the pack.

"I think Monaco for us at the moment is a standout race because it is low-speed corners - which I think we're stronger in than high-speed corners - but also scoring four points six races in, you've got to take it," Button said. "You've got to enjoy the moment. We're used to winning but we're not winning. So for us to sit there and say 'well it doesn't really mean much unless we're winning', we're going to be depressed for a little while if that's the case!

"So you've got to have stepping stones to greater things. Our main goal is to win a world championship, it's not even just to win races, it's to win the world championship. You've got to have little goals on the way and I think the whole team were very happy with what happened that weekend. Especially Honda, I think it's their first points since 2008 so it's been a while, and I think it did give everyone that little confidence boost."

Honda has spent two development tokens ahead of this race but Button thinks reliability is still as important as performance at this stage.

"With the issues we've had in races, my issues in Bahrain and Fernando's the last two races, we all want performance but you've got to be able to get to the end of the race as well. It's a real balance and a difficult balancing act because we all want to move forward and every race we're asked questions about 'Where are you going to end up? How much quicker are you going to be?' and it's a tricky one trying to balance it all."

Button expects the configuration of Montreal's F1 circuit to make it a more challenging weekend for McLaren.

"A slightly tougher weekend than Monaco. I mean Canada is a great circuit and there's always a lot of action here, it's not a predictable race whatsoever. I think we've just got to get stuck in, get on with our plan and see where we are. Obviously there are long straights here, I think we've made some positive improvements, whether it's enough or not we'll have to wait and see."

[MIKA27]

Daniel Ricciardo hopes to avoid engine penalty in Canada

Daniel Ricciardo hopes to get through the Canadian Grand Prix without requiring an engine change and triggering a grid penalty.

Ricciardo and Red Bull team-mate Daniil Kvyat have both used four internal combustion engines, with a 10-place grid penalty awaiting either once they move onto a fifth component. The Monaco Grand Prix did not place a particular strain on engines but Ricciardo is confident his unchanged Renault power unit can survive the demands of Montreal's power circuit.

"The plan is I race the same engine as Monaco," Ricciardo said. "I can't speak for Danny [Kvyat] to be honest but for me, as far as I know, we're trying to get through this race without any penalties. We're going to try and do our normal programme. For this race on the calculations the engine should survive, I don't think we're over-pushing it if we do a full weekend with it so we're going to keep going now."

"Obviously when we do eventually have to put in the engine and put in the penalty we want to make sure the engine is as updated as possible so when we do take a penalty we have a better spec as well."

After the team's best result of the season in Monaco, where he finished fifth behind Kvyat, Ricciardo expects a return to normality in Canada.

When asked if a podium was an optimistic thought, he replied: "It's optimistic if everything runs as it should. Mercedes and Ferrari are still too far in front - I heard they had some engine updates this weekend which scares me a little bit. In the perfect world I think they'll be too far in front.

"We had a few little bits and pieces there but nothing which was a game-changer, so I think [Monaco] was more track-specific. We've got some more bits and bobs here this weekend. This track isn't going to suit us as much with the straights and that, hopefully we can hang in there. Williams will be quick again here so hopefully try and battle them properly now but yeah, Monaco was track-specific."

The Australian is returning to the scene of his maiden F1 triumph last year, where he benefitted from Mercedes misfortune up front to seal the victory. Recalling his victory and the aftermath, Ricciardo joked: "I explored the mini bar a little bit! It's cool, very cool to be back here. It brings back memories I'll never forget."

[MIKA27]

Manor reveals sponsor deal with Airbnb

Manor will feature a prominent sponsor on its car for the first time in 2015 at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix after announcing a deal with popular online accommodation hosting website 'Airbnb'.

The team has run its cars without any substantial decals throughout this year, but ahead of the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, it announced Airbnb as part of a 'challenger partnership'.

Described as a 'community driven hospitality company', Airbnb has grown in recent years to become one of the largest hosting sites for accommodation in the world, allowing users to host or stay in predominantely private homes across the globe.

It is a business strategy that team owner Stephen Fitzpatrick thinks resonates with Manor.

“The Manor Marussia F1 Team is effectively a start-up. Of course, Formula 1 is an unusual start-up environment to operate in, but our challenges are the same as many other early stage technology companies. Airbnb is a phenomenal success story of a company that has completely reinvented an industry.

“We are delighted to announce this partnership with the world's leading community driven hospitality company. We are two likeminded brands who are committed to innovation and discovery and have ambitions to positively and proactively impact our respective industries.”

Airbnb will continue to be visible on the car and on the team kit for the remainder of the 2015 season.

[MIKA27]

Rosberg predicts more tyre warm-up issues

Nico Rosberg says he expects the Canadian Grand Prix to pose issues with tyre warm up during qualifying and the race following several complaints in Monaco.

As was the case at the previous round, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve race will see Pirelli offer the super-soft tyre, but having come into criticism in Monaco for their firmness and the subsequent difficulty in getting heat into them, Rosberg believes it will be a similar problem in Canada.

“Tyre warm-up will be an issue here,” he said. “The super-soft is a bit harder than last year, so that makes it a little bit more challenging than last year in qualifying, so it will be on the edge and the temperature is not supposed to be too hot. It is going to be a challenge for me.”

“This weekend is quite unique because you go to a completely different car to Monaco, so it takes time to get used to it. You go out and it is like driving a completely different car… it has less downforce, you have to brake earlier, I have less grip out of the corners

Reflecting on a run of form that has seen him win the last two races to close the gap of Lewis Hamilton to just ten points, Rosberg is keen to keep up the form.

“I have a positive experience behind me and that helps. That is how I am going into this weekend and I am good to go. It went well for me last year, it was one of my best races in the year, so good memories.”

[MIKA27]

Renault: We must be realistic in Canada

Renault's director of operations Remi Taffin has played down the chances of the French manufacturer engineering a surprise at the Canadian Grand Prix and says Renault must be 'realistic' with its expectations.

The engine supplier to Red Bull and Toro Rosso has come under heavy scrutiny in 2015 after multiple failures while also playing catch up to the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari.

Despite some solid results in Barcelona and Monaco, Taffin admits the Canadian Grand Prix will be a much trickier event due to the long, high-speed straights and the demands placed on the Power Units.

“We are realistic ahead of this race,” Taffin said. “We've put in a great deal of work on reliability and have improved our record in the last two races, but we know that Montreal will be tough for us performance-wise.

“Knowing that power is critical, we have to try to repeat our Monaco approach, which was to optimise each sector individually. We are getting there, and hope we can be closer yet again in Montreal.”

However, the French manufacturer can take confidence from last year's race when Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo recorded his maiden Formula 1 Grand Prix victory and in the process broke the Mercedes dominance. Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg both suffered engine troubles midway through the race in Canada, enabling Ricciardo to fight back and take the win.

Taffin says delivering power smoothly from the Renault engine will be key if its teams are to enjoy more success at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

“The straights are long so the driver needs strong acceleration, ideally reaching top speed towards the end of the straight,” he explained. “The corners are tight and low speed, so the driver needs the power quickly to flick the car in and out of the chicanes, but smoothly through the hairpins.

“Giving the driver the power when he needs it is one of the key challenges of the weekend and we have worked particularly hard with the teams to develop engine maps and settings to this end.”

Taffin added the Canadian Grand Prix is one of the toughest races to get right due to the heavy demands put on a number of components on the Power Units.

“The Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve also puts the internals under intense pressure. Over half of the track is taken at full throttle, with two long straights, and the heavy braking points at the end of those straights put the ICE under extreme load.

“Even the energy recovery systems will feel the pressure in Canada with the numerous heavy braking points and straights, so overall it's a very difficult race to get right.”

[MIKA27]

Wolff warns against further complacency

Toto Wolff has warned his Mercedes team against further complacency after its pitstop error saw Lewis Hamilton cruelly denied victory at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Wolff, head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, has called the post-Monaco scrutiny 'tough to swallow' but insists his team has learnt from the mistake and is ready to draw a line under the well-publicised incident at the Canadian Grand Prix.

“Monaco has been tough for all of us to swallow. You can never afford to drop points and this was a reminder that any error can prove costly,” Wolff explained. “However, we must also remember how far we have come to be disappointed with a P1 and P3 finish in Monaco.

“We take it on the chin as a team, learn from our mistakes and now look ahead to the next race in Canada. But there is no room for complacency, with our rivals ready and waiting to jump on any opportunity.”

Looking ahead to the Canada, Mercedes is set to bring new Power Units to Montreal for both of its drivers and Wolff says getting the W06 Hybrid set up correctly will be vital for a successful race weekend.

Last year Hamilton was forced to retire from the race while battling for the lead with his team-mate Nico Rosberg. Both Mercedes cars suffered almost simultaneous MGU-K failures halfway through the race which saw the pair rapidly lose power and put a huge strain on the rear brakes. Hamilton retired due to brake failure on lap 48, while Rosberg nursed his car to second place behind Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.

“It's a circuit that is tough on the car so good preparation will be crucial,” he said. “We saw Nico produce one of the drives of the season there last year and Lewis has an exceptional record in Montreal, so we know we can rely on them to do the job.

“There is still a long way to go this season and many points to be won.”

[MIKA27]

HOW THE WILLIAMS FORMULA 1 TEAM USES A SIMULATOR TO DO THEIR TESTING

This is quite an interesting video, with Felipe Massa taking you inside the Williams factory and explaining how big a part the F1 simulator plays in setting up a race car. There are some particularly good behind the scenes shots.

“It is important for the set up changes and for developing the car with new parts, that we are going to use in the next race,” says Massa. “You can try everything you are going to try on the track on the simulator; every set up change, every aerodynamic change, how much a new rear wing is going to give you.”

Massa explains that he goes to the Williams factory after every race to debrief the previous race and to test for the next race on the simulator. Also important is to work on the simulator before visiting a new circuit, like Mexico City later this year.

Although not every driver at a grass roots level has access to a simulator like the one in Williams, there are plenty of commercial simulator companies, operating on a pay as you play basis.

The video was produced by SAFE IS FAST – a free Online Driver Development program for aspiring drivers providing video tutorials as well as direct advice from today’s top racers and industry experts.

[MIKA27]

F1 driving is now like being an aeroplane pilot - Fernando Alonso

McLaren's Fernando Alonso has likened the challenge of driving a modern day Formula 1 car to that of a aeroplane pilot.

Carlos Sainz Jr said after the Monaco Grand Prix that while he agreed with claims F1 was no longer as physically demanding as it once was, the mental challenge was now "horrible".

Double world champion Alonso says the role of a driver in this era is more focused on making the package work efficiently rather than pushing the limit.

"You have to control everything in the best and most efficient way, that's your challenge," said Alonso, when asked by AUTOSPORT how he judged the level of F1 driving challenge.

"It is probably like an aeroplane pilot - they just have to control that everything is working fine.

"It's now difficult to push the limit because if you push at the limit something will go into a less efficient mode and that will affect the total laptime.

"You just need to make sure everything is at 100 per cent, but not yourself."

Alonso added he "probably" agreed with Sainz's assessment.

"A lot of communication going on with the team and a lot of steering wheel changes to make sure everything is running efficiently.

"Even the laptime, if you lose half a second for five laps because you're not pushing, maybe it's not even a bad idea because your tyres will be perfect condition for the coming laps and you'll gain one second per lap afterwards.

"This kind of driving is a little bit strange."

When asked if that had made driving frustrating, Alonso added: "A lot, yes."

[MIKA27]

Button warns Verstappen over Grosjean 'braketest' crash remarks

Jenson Button says he was surprised to hear Max Verstappen imply Romain Grosjean braketested him in Monaco and warned the Formula 1 rookie to be careful with remarks to journalists.

Verstappen has been given a five-place grid penalty for the Canadian Grand Prix after a high-speed collision in which he clipped the rear of Grosjean's Lotus and crashed heavily at Sainte Devote.

Williams rival Felipe Massa described the 17-year-old's driving as "pretty dangerous", adding that "experience counts in Formula 1".

While Button refused to blame a lack of experience for the incident, he did suggest Verstappen should be more mindful over how he reacts.

"He's obviously inexperienced, it's easy to go and jump on the bandwagon with that," said the McLaren driver.

"I think, the thing is, you've got to be very careful with what you do say in the press.

"To point the finger at someone and say that they braketested you, that's serious.

"I don't think that happens in motorsport these days, we're all grown-ups and we don't do things like that in Formula 1."

In the wake of the Monaco crash, Verstappen suggested Grosjean had triggered it by braking unexpectedly early - a charge Lotus refuted.

"I braked in the same spot like the lap before but he clearly braked 10-15 metres earlier," said Verstappen at the time.

"When it is that close, you have no room. He caught me by surprise.

"I realised at the moment he braked, but by then it is too late because you don't expect someone to brake that early."

When asked if he was disappointed with Verstappen's insinuation, Button said: "It was a surprise, yes.

"Obviously emotions run high in this sport, but looking at the talent that we have in the sport, we're all very intelligent guys.

"We know the dangers of this sport and we'd never do anything like that."

MIKA: I have no doubt father Jos is pulling his son's strings and influencing such comments.

[davidsan]

I agree MIKA, he's getting a lot of coaching - I think he holds a lot of promise as a driver but the political game is a whole other animal.

I feel he should have just copped it on the chin and moved on.

Luckily it's a long weekend on the East coast which makes these hellish qualitfying and race times for the Canadian GP bearable, just barely.

[OZCUBAN]

Button warns Verstappen over Grosjean 'braketest' crash remarks

Jenson Button says he was surprised to hear Max Verstappen imply Romain Grosjean braketested him in Monaco and warned the Formula 1 rookie to be careful with remarks to journalists.

Verstappen has been given a five-place grid penalty for the Canadian Grand Prix after a high-speed collision in which he clipped the rear of Grosjean's Lotus and crashed heavily at Sainte Devote.

Williams rival Felipe Massa described the 17-year-old's driving as "pretty dangerous", adding that "experience counts in Formula 1".

While Button refused to blame a lack of experience for the incident, he did suggest Verstappen should be more mindful over how he reacts.

"He's obviously inexperienced, it's easy to go and jump on the bandwagon with that," said the McLaren driver.

"I think, the thing is, you've got to be very careful with what you do say in the press.

"To point the finger at someone and say that they braketested you, that's serious.

"I don't think that happens in motorsport these days, we're all grown-ups and we don't do things like that in Formula 1."

In the wake of the Monaco crash, Verstappen suggested Grosjean had triggered it by braking unexpectedly early - a charge Lotus refuted.

"I braked in the same spot like the lap before but he clearly braked 10-15 metres earlier," said Verstappen at the time.

"When it is that close, you have no room. He caught me by surprise.

"I realised at the moment he braked, but by then it is too late because you don't expect someone to brake that early."

When asked if he was disappointed with Verstappen's insinuation, Button said: "It was a surprise, yes.

"Obviously emotions run high in this sport, but looking at the talent that we have in the sport, we're all very intelligent guys.

"We know the dangers of this sport and we'd never do anything like that."

MIKA: I have no doubt father Jos is pulling his son's strings and influencing such comments.

I agree MIKA, he's getting a lot of coaching - I think he holds a lot of promise as a driver but the political game is a whole other animal.

I feel he should have just copped it on the chin and moved on.

Luckily it's a long weekend on the East coast which makes these hellish qualitfying and race times for the Canadian GP bearable, just barely.

I agree guys, yes coaching by a guy who achieved nothing in f-1

[MIKA27]

MONTREAL QUALIFYING: HAMILTON BEATS ROSBERG TO POLE

Defending champion and series leader Lewis Hamilton bounced back to his best on Saturday to claim pole position ahead of his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.

The two-time champion recovered from two days of erratic form in practice to produce a smooth and fast demonstration of single lap speed and a best lap in one minute and 14.393 seconds.

That lifted him 0.309 seconds clear of Rosberg with in third and fourth Finnish duo Kimi Raikkonen in a Ferrari and Valtteri Bottas of Williams.

“That was a rubbish end to qualifying” said Rosberg.

On a day of surprises, two world champions failed to progress from Q1 – Briton Jenson Button of McLaren, who suffered an engine failure in the morning, and Raikkonen’s teammate Sebastian Vettel, who suffered electronic problems and wound up in 16th place.

Two weeks on from Mercedes’ Monaco fiasco, Hamilton’s lap was nearly half a second faster than last year’s pole lap by Rosberg at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, one of the 30-year-old Briton’s favourite tracks where he is seeking a fourth win.

His pole success was his sixth in seven races this year, the 44th of his career and his fourth in Canada where he won his maiden Formula One race in 2007.

He needs only one more pole to level with four-time champion Vettel in the record books.

Romain Grosjean was fifth fastest for Lotus ahead of his teammate Pastor Maldonado, Nico Hulkenberg of Force India and the two Red Bulls of Russian Daniil Kvyat and Australian Daniel Ricciardo.

Mexican Sergio Perez was 10th quickest for Force India.

In dry conditions under a blue sky, Q1 began with the two Mercedes men dicing for fastest time as Hamilton, at last, appeared to be finding a rhythm, albeit with a few scary moments.

Rosberg wound up second-quickest behind a rapid Grosjean, by just 0.060 seconds, and only 0.002 ahead of Hamilton, while, at the back of the field, Vettel unexpectedly failed to progress from Q1.

Button was already out, following an engine failure in his McLaren in the morning’s final free practice session.

Vettel qualified 16th in his Ferrari, ahead of Felipe Massa, who was a surprise 17th for Williams, Spaniard Roberto Merhi and his Manor Marussia teammate Will Stevens. Button was 20th and last.

Their grid positions, however, were likely to differ from their qualifying results because of the penalties variously given to other drivers for accidents and engine changes.

Vettel’s flop was explained as due to a failure of the Ferrari energy recovery system. His reaction was pithy and profane, resulting in two sentences of bleeps on the BBC’s television feed.

Later, he explained: “As soon as we went out for the first run, we didn’t have the power. We tried everything to get it back, but we couldn’t.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with the engine, it is more on the electronic side.”

After all his earlier travails, it was Hamilton who seized the initiative in Q2 with a strunning lap in 1:14.661, the best of the weekend.

Rosberg was 0.012 behind him and the pair were more than half a second clear of the rest. Grosjean wound up third.

Despite a bold effort, the Toro Rossos of rookies Carlos Sainz and Dutch teenager Max Verstappen missed the cut for the top ten shootout in 11th and 12th along with the Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

They sandwiched 14th placed two-time champion Fernando Alonso in his McLaren.

Verstappen had earlier been handed a 10-place grid penalty for fitting his fifth engine of the year, that adding to a five-place penalty dished out for his part in a collision with Grosjean at Monaco.

QUALIFYING TIMES

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:14.393

2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1:14.702

3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:15.014

4. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Mercedes 1:15.102

5. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus – Mercedes 1:15.194

6. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus – Mercedes 1:15.329

7. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India – Mercedes 1:15.614

8. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) RedBull – Renault 1:16.079

9. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) RedBull – Renault 1:16.114

10. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India – Mercedes 1:16.338

– – – – – – – – – –

11. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso – Renault 1:16.042

12. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Toro Rosso – Renault 1:16.245

13. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber – Ferrari 1:16.262

14. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 1:16.276

15. Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber – Ferrari 1:16.620

– – – – – – – – – –

16. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 1:17.344

17. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams-Mercedes 1:17.886

18. Roberto Merhi (Spain) Marussia – Ferrari 1:19.133

19. Will Stevens (Britain) Marussia – Ferrari 1:19.157

ns. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren

[MIKA27]

VETTEL SLAPPED WITH FIVE PLACE PENALTY IN CANADA

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was handed a five-place grid penalty at the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday for overtaking while red warning flags were displayed in a disrupted final practice.

The demotion will send Vettel even further down the grid after an engine problem in qualifying had left him languishing in 15th place.

He would have been 16th but Dutch 17-year-old Max Verstappen, who qualified 12th, had a 15-place penalty — five places as a result of a Monaco Grand Prix crash and a further 10 for exceeding his season’s allocation of four engines. Verstappen also has a 10-second penalty to be taken at his first pitstop.

Vettel, a four times world champion with Red Bull, was also handed three penalty points for passing Roberto Merhi’s Manor after the session had been stopped because Jenson Button’s McLaren had been left stranded on the track.

His Finnish team mate Kimi Raikkonen starts third on the grid. Ferrari have not won in Montreal, at a circuit named after their late great Gilles Villeneuve, since Michael Schumacher in 2004 but had hoped to close the gap on Mercedes after performance upgrades on their engine.

Vettel, who has been on the podium in five of his first six races for Ferrari and won in Malaysia, had earlier told reporters he believed he could still have a good race on Sunday.

“We had a problem where we couldn’t get full power,” he said of qualifying. “Obviously we were losing a lot on the straights, which is a shame.

“We have a quick car so we should be able to make up a lot of ground,” added the German.

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BUSY TIME FOR HULKENBERG JUGGLING F1 AND LE MANS

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg is putting himself through an endurance challenge in more ways than one as he prepares for his Le Mans 24 Hours debut next week in between Formula One commitments.

The German, who was on track for Canadian Grand Prix practice at a cloudy Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Friday, arrived in Montreal fresh from testing with Porsche at Le Mans a week after the Monaco Grand Prix.

As soon as Sunday’s Formula One race is over, he will fly back to France for scrutineering at Le Mans on Monday.

“Then I have a whole week there. Practice starts on Wednesday, with the first qualifying session on Wednesday evening,” he said.

“The race starts on Saturday afternoon and then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday I’ll have three days of recovery somewhere — at home or somewhere else — and then Austria (for the Grand Prix at Spielberg).”

Hulkenberg is a rarity in the modern sport, a throwback to a more distant past when Formula One drivers would happily compete in both grands prix and sportscar events without contractual restraints.

Although the French race is now protected on the calendar from any clash with Formula One, drivers have generally waited until their grand prix careers are over before taking part.

Australian Mark Webber, previously with Red Bull in F1 and now also with Porsche, is just one of several ex-Formula One drivers racing at Le Mans.

Hulkenberg will be the only active F1 driver there, in a race that is all about team work rather than the obsession of beating one’s team mate, and he was looking forward to it.

“To enter this world is actually a nice change. I don’t struggle to live in it,” said the German, who has never previously attended the race and only saw the track for the first time last week.

“There are a lot of straights there, which is resting time. Obviously you have to overtake some cars but driving in a straight line is not so difficult and demanding,” he added.

“But I’m sure when you have your triple stint on the car, or whatever, it’s demanding — especially at night. I just look forward to the experience there.

“I think I am going to be so pumped up when I jump in that car at night, and the adrenaline is pumping, that I don’t think I will suffer issues with feeling tired.”

[MIKA27]

MORE POWER IN LATEST HONDA UPGRADE CLAIMS BOULLIER

McLaren F1 team bossEric Boullier has confirmed that Honda’s Canada upgrade is delivering more power.

Earlier, McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button both warned that despite Honda having traded in some FIA performance ‘tokens’, the Montreal upgrade is in fact more about reliability and efficiency than “raw power”.

ButBoullier told Marca: “Yes, there is a horse power gain, but I cannot say more.”

In short, it appears McLaren is keeping the ball low at present, after all the early hype of the high-profile reunion with Honda led only to the disastrous first months at the back of the field.

Honda chief Yasuhisa Arai said this week that a podium in 2015 remains the goal, but McLaren’s engineer director Matt Morris commented on Friday: “Wouldn’t it be great to get on the podium? I think that’s a long way off.”

Spaniard Alonso said the team is in fact working to improve one step at a time, “We are missing eight tenths or one second to reach the fifth or sixth position, which is where we hope to be soon.”

“Mercedes is in another world,” added Alonso, “but there is another little group that we want to reach.”

[MIKA27]

JOS VERSTAPPEN TELLS MASSA TO SHUT IT AND WORRY ABOUT HIS OWN FUTURE

Max Verstappen’s volatile father Jos has hit back hard at Felipe Massa.

Two weeks ago and then again in Canada, Brazilian driver Massa criticised 17-year-old rookie Verstappen following his heavy crash in Monaco.

Toro Rosso rookie Verstappen already hit back at Massa on Friday, indicating the 34-year-old was hypocritical given his similar crash in Montreal a year ago.

Now, Max’s father Jos says: “It’s typical Massa.”

“He is always whining about someone else,” Verstappen snr, who even raced against Massa towards the end of his own F1 career last decade, added.

Jos, nicknamed ‘The Boss’ during his racing career, continued in a column for De Telegraaf newspaper: “I think he (Massa) should be more worried about his own place.

“He is 34 years old now and had his day in Formula 1. In that sense I think Massa’s age is a bigger issue than Max’s,” Verstappen charged.

MIKA: I often think Massa often says too much but in this instance, he has every right.

I have no idea what capacity Jos can claim to have any expertise as an advisor to his son as looking at his statistics, they are not overly encouraging; Further more, he was often called Jos the Boss not for his skill on track but the controversy he causes off the track. Even attempted murder.

Jos Verstappen:

Races: 107 (106 starts)

Wins: 0

Podiums: 2

Career Points: 17

Felipe Massa:

Races: 219 (216 Starts)

Wins: 11

Podiums: 39

Career Points: 989

[MIKA27]

SAUBER NOT HAPPY WITH FERRARI SUPPLY REVEALS NASR

Sauber is “not happy” with its F1 power unit situation in Canada, according to the team’s rookie driver Felipe Nasr.

Team boss and co-owner Monisha Kaltenborn has had to deny speculation in Montreal that Sauber is not running Ferrari’s new engine upgrade this weekend for financial reasons.

Rather, she said it was a strategic move. But Sauber rookie has indicated the Hinwil based team in fact had no choice.

“The team is not happy,” he is quoted by UOL Esporte. “Monisha has said that everything we receive should be in the form of equality. It’s not my question to be talking about it.”

“The update should arrive for our team in Spa,” the 22-year-old Brazilian driver said.

[MIKA27]

Hamilton hails 'special' 44th pole

Lewis Hamilton has praised his Mercedes team for "regrouping and pulling together" to help him to secure the 44th pole position of his career ahead of Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix.

Coming into this weekend's race, paddock talk was dominated by Merc's strategy blunder in Monaco which cost Hamilton victory with Nico Rosberg going on to claim the win.

Hamilton, though, has responded in the best possible fashion as he topped the timesheets in both sessions on Friday, but he had problems in FP3 on Saturday morning following a crash in the wet in FP2.

However, he put all that to one side in qualifying to beat Rosberg to pole, which was the 44th of his career.

"It really is [quite special]. I feel amazing today," he said. "It wasn't the easiest of days and FP3 was actually quite tough as I didn't actually get any completed laps, which was mostly my fault. So I went into qualifying a bit blind as to what the set-up would be.

"But yeah, I won my first grand prix here in 2007 and that was incredibly special so to be back here and to finally get another pole here, and it being the 44th, is very, very special for me.

"Once again an amazing job from the team, regrouping, pulling together to help keep me and Nico up here is really and on the front row is a great job."

Hamilton, though, didn't really produce the perfect lap, but his time of 1:14.393 was enough to see off the challenge of Rosberg.

"The first lap was pretty good, but could have been better," he said. "The next lap started off bad, but was then good in the middle sector.

"There was good time in the car and I'm very happy with it. It was definitely tough out there with these tyres as it was hard for everyone to switch on, but I enjoyed it."

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Button predicts difficult race day

Jenson Button admits he doesn't expect make much progress from the back of the grid at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The McLaren driver failed to take part in qualifying on Saturday after his MP4-30 suffered an ERS failure during Free Practice 3. Since he is likely to change his engine, he is set to incur an additional penalty.

"It is a tough one. Initially, it was an electronic issue and that caused a problem with the ICE," he said. "The guys are doing a great job of taking the car apart and putting it back together, so I will have a good car for tomorrow, but I didn't qualify, I don't know where I am starting from or how much of a penalty I have..."

Although Circuit Gilles Villeneuve offers many overtaking opportunities, Button fears he might not pass too many cars come race day.

"It is a pity, but these things happen," he said. "Hopefully, we can have a fun race tomorrow, but I don't think I will be overtaking many cars. It'll be a tough day but we'll do the best we can.

"I think we need to look at the penalties first, but threatening anyone other than the Manors is going to be difficult."

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Kimi: Okay but not ideal

Third may be his best qualifying display of this season but Kimi Raikkonen says it is still "not ideal" as Ferrari want to be at the front.

Qualifying has been Raikkonen's Achilles heel this season as his Saturday afternoons have often left him with a lot of work to do on a Sunday.

This time around in Canada, though, it was a very different story as he was best of the rest.

The 2007 World Champion posted a 1:15.014 to claim third place on the grid behind the Mercedes pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

"Obviously we will see that tomorrow," he said when asked about his strategy for the race.

"Overall the weekend has been pretty good and things have been as smooth as can be with the conditions here.

"It was a bit disappointing for the team that one car had an issue but you know tomorrow is the race.

"Usually we are a bit stronger there and we have to make a good start and go from there and see what comes out.

"So far it has been pretty ok but not ideal still. We want to be in the front but this is better."

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Williams F1 team pinpoints Felipe Massa's problem

Felipe Massa's Canadian Grand Prix qualifying power loss was down to a fixing within the wastegate of the Mercedes engine failing, says Williams Formula 1 team performance chief Rob Smedley.

Massa complained of a lack of power during the first part of qualifying in Montreal and could not progress into Q2.

The Brazilian ended up 17th fastest, while his team-mate Valtteri Bottas completed what he described as his "best lap of the weekend" to qualify fourth.

Smedley said: "It was a fixing within the wastegate mechanism of the turbocharger that failed, so it will be changed for tomorrow.

"It effectively meant in very simple terms he just didn't have any power.

"It was very difficult to charge the battery as well from the hybrid system from the MGU-H.

"So effectively we were just missing lots of power and couldn't do anything about it."

Smedley does not think Mercedes had had this problem before and added the team plans to replace the part without taking a penalty as per the regulations.

"We're replacing like for like and we're replacing it for reliability reasons," he said.

"Clearly we can do that under parc ferme, as long as we get permission from the FIA that's allowed under parc ferme and that will give us no further ramifications."

Massa added: "These things can happen, when there is a technical problem you cannot do anything.

"We just change what needs to be changed and tomorrow is another day.

"It was going to be a good qualifying for us, the car was competitive, maybe we could have both cars in the top five but we just have one.

"But overtaking is possible and I hope we can do many tomorrow."

WILLIAMS NEEDS TO BE 'REACTIVE'

Williams's low-risk strategy has paid off this season, with the team consistently collecting points to sit third in the constructors' championship.

But with teams having very little long-run data for Montreal because rain and red flags limited running in practice, being reactive will be key in Sunday's race.

Bottas said Williams must be ready to change its approach should the situation warrant it.

"I think we need to be open-minded," said Bottas. "We need to be ready to react to what tyre works how, we need to be reactive tomorrow.

"I would think if there is no big threat from behind, we are ready to take some risks and try something different if it is possible.

"We need to be clever to take all points available, but if we see no massive challenge behind, I'm sure as a team we are hungry for better results than what we had so far this season."

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Mercedes' Nico Rosberg rues mistake over 'bad tyres'

Mercedes Formula 1 driver Nico Rosberg says a judgement call regarding "a bad set" of tyres in Canadian Grand Prix qualifying cost him a shot at pole position.

Rosberg will start second on the grid at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve behind Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton who claimed the 44th pole of his career, and sixth in seven races this season.

Rosberg finished three tenths of a second behind Hamilton on times set in their first run in Q3 and surprisingly neither man improved on their second outing.

Hamilton suffered an oversteer moment at Turn 2 that cost him a couple of tenths and from which he failed to recover.

Rosberg, though, made changes to his set-up in between runs that were not needed after debating a call from the pits regarding the initial set of Pirelli super-softs.

"There was a lack of grip on the rear on the set of tyres at the start of Q3," said Rosberg.

"I had to adapt the car, so I took some front wing off, and things like that, but for the last set the grip was back to normal and I then had too much understeer as I had adapted to the first set. So that really put me off there.

"They have now confirmed they [the tyres] were a bad set. It was a call I had to make to change the set-up.

"It's amazing how things go. Tiny things in the end make such a big difference and it got me.

"Everything just has to come together to get pole in F1 and it's such a fine line."

After a disrupted final practice session, which included two red flags, Hamilton was just relieved it all came together in qualifying.

The reigning champion propped up the timesheet at the end of practice three after failing to get in a single clean lap due to the stoppages and errors.

But come qualifying Hamilton ultimately came out on top, despite his wobble in the second run in Q3.

"It wasn't the easiest of days," said Hamilton.

"P3 was actually quite tough. I didn't complete any laps - mostly my fault - so I was going into qualifying a bit blind really as to where the set-up would be.

"So to get another pole here, and it be the 44th [to match his car number] that's very, very special for me.

"Again an amazing job by the team, regrouping, pulling together to help keep me and Nico on the front row for them."

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Grosjean thinks pit mix-up cost Lotus shot at third

Romain Grosjean says his pitlane race with Lotus Formula 1 team-mate Pastor Maldonado hindered his chances of challenging for third place on the grid for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Lotus released both drivers from their garages at the same time for their final runs in Q3, leading to a brief race between the two to the pitlane exit.

Grosjean eventually fell in behind Maldonado, but failed to improve on his final Q3 run and slipped behind the Williams of Valtteri Bottas in the final classification.

Given there was less than two tenths of a second covering Kimi Raikkonen's third-placed Ferrari, Bottas, and the Lotus, Grosjean reckoned better preparation for that final run might have made the difference.

"It was just a misunderstanding between the two timing going out of the garage," explained Grosjean, when asked about the incident.

"It didn't help the preparation of the last lap.

"I thought I could take the slipstream from Pastor but I was too far [away] at the start of the lap.

"Not the ideal way of starting the last lap in Q3, but I think the track was probably a bit slower at the end so I don't think there's much we could have done.

"[With] perfect preparation, perfection slipstream - because you can easily gain a tenth on the back straight - I could have probably been P3.

"It's better to be on the clean side of the grid here - P5 is better than P4 - but coming here five and six is already a very good result."

Grosjean said Lotus's improved form in Canada, where both cars qualified in the top six for the first time this season, suggests the team has made good progress in finding the correct wing levels for high-speed, low-downforce circuits.

"Coming here you never know how it's going to work with the wing level you bring here, but it seems to work very well, so it's positive for Austria, for Spa, for Russia, wherever else we'll use that drag level," Grosjean added.

"To be fair the pace we've shown since FP1 has been representative.

"We were P3 this morning, P1 in Q1, I had the perfect lap in Q2, which allowed me to be P3, and the last run was probably a bit hurt by preparation, but generally our pace has been good all weekend."

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Daniel Ricciardo says struggling Red Bull F1 team lost

Daniel Ricciardo says the Red Bull Formula 1 team is lost and its upgrades have not worked, after another difficult qualifying session at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Last year's Montreal F1 winner Ricciardo was only ninth in qualifying, one place behind team-mate Daniil Kvyat.

"In Q1 and Q2 we did a build-up lap and then a push, but it felt like it was taking too much out of the tyre, so we said by Q3 it should be OK for the first lap," said Ricciardo.

"But it was nowhere, I couldn't get it, and it just wasn't ready.

"We just can't seem to get a sweet spot, which brings out the frustrations.

"The last few races we've had updates, but to be honest they haven't really done anything for us.

"I don't think we really know what we need right now or where to find it.

"We are trying but we are not getting much in return.

"We probably need to take a step back and look somewhere else or try and see if there is something fundamental we are missing.

"Obviously on the power side we know where that is, but on the chassis side there's something there which we can't grab onto which we had last year."

Ricciardo recalled that he had been frustrated after qualifying in Montreal a year ago and still went on to win, though he doubts his Sunday will bring much cheer this time.

"I remember sitting here at this table a year ago, being about as pissed off as I am now, so maybe it means something. I don't know," said Ricciardo, who started sixth in 2014.

"I was furious with qualifying last year, I was filthy with myself."

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Carlos Sainz Jr expects Toro Rosso's worst race of '15

Carlos Sainz Jr feels the Canadian Grand Prix will be Toro Rosso's hardest race of the 2015 Formula 1 season.

Sainz starts 11th at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, but with the Renault engine in his Toro Rosso lacking performance, he is fully expecting the race to be "very tricky".

"We obviously have a power deficit that makes it very difficult to overtake and very easy to be overtaken here," said Sainz.

"Also with the lack of downforce we are running on the car it is not ideal for tyre degradation, so I expect the toughest race of the season.

"Everything says points will be more difficult than ever, but we're going to fight for it.

We're going to try something clever, something different, and let's see what we can do."

VERSTAPPEN COUNTING ON (Brake testing ) SAFETY CAR

Team-mate Max Verstappen starts at the back of the grid due to his cumulation of penalties.

Verstappen went into qualifying knowing he faced a drop of 15 places, taking a five-position hit for being at fault for a crash with Romain Grosjean in the Monaco Grand Prix, and the further 10 for taking a fifth engine for this season.

With Verstappen qualifying 12th and only able to drop eight places, the remainder of the penalty will be a 10-second stop/go during the race.

"I will just deal with it and try to make the best of it," said Verstappen.

"Now I will also have a 10-second penalty, so it means I'm going to have to do some overtaking.

"Hopefully a safety car will help us a bit, so we will try and see we what can do from there. Anything is possible.

"It will be hard to overtake on the straights, but hopefully the race pace will be good so we can get close."