06/06/2024
NEWS STORY
The ninth round of the season, the Canadian Grand Prix, takes place this weekend, a fortnight on from Scuderia Ferrari HP's brilliant win in the Monaco Grand Prix, courtesy of Charles Leclerc, who thus joins Gilles Villeneuve, a legendary figure in the history of the Prancing Horse, on six wins with Ferrari.
The Montreal circuit is indeed named after the aforementioned Canadian and is very popular with the drivers. It was built in 1976 on the artificial Ile Notre Dame and is 4.361 kilometres in length. It features a mix of slow corners and high speed sections, with three straights, all of which feature DRS zones, separated by heavy braking chicanes. Even though the ribbon of tarmac is narrow in many sections, there is no lack of overtaking opportunities. The first of these comes going into turn 1, a hard left at the end of the start-finish straight. There are two lines through here as it is effectively part of an "s" corner, so that going round the outside at turn 1 leaves the driver on the inside for turn 2. The most technical section runs from turn 3 to turn 7, where it's hard to follow the car in front, after which there is another passing opportunity at the turn 10 hairpin. Then comes the very long final straight which is the best place to mount an attack, prior to the final chicane before the pit straight and the famous "Wall of Champions", thus named as it has ended the race for many big names including Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button.
The weather often has its say in Montreal, where blistering heat can alternate with torrential downpours, creating unusual track conditions and turning strategy on its head.
Fred Vasseur - Team Principal: Earlier this season, we went to Japan on a wave of enthusiasm following Carlos' win in Australia and now we have that same feeling in Canada off the back of Charles' triumph in his home race in Monaco. Everyone is pumped and prepared to the maximum for this Grand Prix. The Montreal track is very different to the one in the Principality, even if there are still some slow corners. But in general, it's much faster, requires less aerodynamic downforce and there are more opportunities for overtaking. That doesn't mean our approach to the weekend will change in any way. We are moving in the right direction on the technical front, on our strategy calls from the pit wall and in terms of how the team is working as one. Thanks to a lot of hard work, we have managed to further close the gap to the team leading both championships, but the gaps between us, McLaren and Red Bull are very close and so the slightest little detail can make the difference.
Ferrari in Canada
GP contested: 51
Debut: 1967 (C. Amon 6th)
Wins: 12 (23.53%)
Pole positions: 8 (15.69%)
Fastest laps: 9 (17.65%)
Podiums: 36 (23.53%)
Three Questions to Bryan Bozzi, Race Engineer to Charles Leclerc
How would you describe the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit? What sort of car do you need and what must a driver do to be quick in Montreal?
Bryan Bozzi: Montreal has long straights followed by combinations of medium-slow corners. To be competitive you need good straight-line speed, excellent deceleration in the braking zone and good traction for corner exits. As for the drivers, they need to have a lot of confidence when braking to be precise when turning into the corners and then be able to accelerate as quickly as possible on exit. Here, like all street circuits it's important to do a lot of laps in free practice to gain confidence with running between the walls that can catch you out.
You have recently switched from the role of Performance Engineer to that of Race engineer. Can you explain the roles of Race Engineer, Performance Engineer and Driver Coach and how each crew interacts with its driver?
BB: The Race Engineer is responsible for running the car he is given over the race weekend. That includes execution of the run plan for each free practice session and for fine tuning the car set-up. It's the Race Engineer who speaks to the driver over the radio to pass on all information needed during the sessions. The Performance Engineer is responsible for optimising the various controls on the car, such as the balance on the brakes and the differential. By definition the role involves spending a lot of time analysing car balance and working to ensure the car behaves as expected from the simulations. The Driver Coach is focused on improving the driver's actual performance. They analyse video and telemetry from all the cars in the field and suggest what lines the driver should take and any other ideas that might make them quicker. These guys, along with other engineers at the track and back in Maranello, try to optimise the car to extract the last few thousandths of a second of lap time which is often enough to make the difference in Formula 1 as it is now.
How did you find yourself working at Ferrari and what does it mean to you to represent the company in motorsport and specifically in Formula 1?
BB: I am Italo-Danish by birth and I studied at the St George's British International School in Rome, before studying Mechanical Engineering at Bath University. At the time I took part in a Formula Student programme aimed at giving various groups of students the opportunity to design and build a racing car. Then, universities from around the world raced against each other like real racing teams and it was while doing this that I realised I really liked racing and I tried to get a job as an intern at Ferrari, the team everyone wants to work for at some point or other. From then on, things went well and I've been part of Scuderia Ferrari HP for several years now. Representing this company and Italy at the highest level of motorsport is something I am very proud of, especially as I've been given the opportunity to work alongside a driver of the calibre of Charles.
Facts & Figures
3. The main ingredients of poutine, a typical Quebecois dish: fried potatoes, cheddar cheese curds and gravy, the latter made up of flour, chicken stock, water, salt and pepper. There are variants such as Italian poutine, which uses Bolognese sauce instead of the gravy.
5. The number of drivers who took their maiden Formula 1 win at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The first was Gilles himself in 1978 at the wheel of a Ferrari 312 T3. It was Thierry Boutsen's turn in 1989 and then in 1995, Jean Alesi won on his 31st birthday with the Ferrari 412 T2. Montreal was the scene of the first of Lewis Hamilton's 103 wins to date on a weekend also remembered for the horrific accident that befell Robert Kubica, who a year later in Canada secured his only Grand Prix win. The most recent first time winner here is Daniel Ricciardo who did it in 2014.
63. Degrees centigrade below zero recorded on 3 February 1947 in the little village of Snag in the Yukon. It is the lowest temperature ever recorded in Canada and is the same as the average temperature on the planet Mars.
1969. The year in which John Lennon and Yoko Ono held a "bed-in" in Suite 1472 of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in downtown Montreal and, on 1st June, recorded the anti-war song Give Peace a Chance. Today, the room is known as the Lennon Suite and anyone booking a stay there can wear identical pyjamas to those worn by John and Yoko, have the same breakfast-in-bed and get a copy of the song's lyrics when checking-out.
24000. The length in kilometres of the Trans Canada Trail, more generally known as the Great Trail. It's a series of trails that cross the country and is the biggest network of trails in the world. It was established in 1992 and it is maintained through donations from individuals, companies, foundations and government bodies.