Which driver is likely to dominate the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix? – Formula 1
The Monaco Grand Prix was by far the most entertaining and dramatic race of the 2011 Formula 1 season so far with a restart and plenty of action all over the field.
Other than that, it was an eye opener for most of the teams as it is the tightest track of the Formula 1 calendar. The grip level of each team’s respective car is put to the ultimate test for a weekend in Monte Carlo.
Tracks like the Albert Park, Sepang and even Circuit de Catalunya have been more of a technology test for the teams as the Drag Reduction System and Kinetic Energy System along with the new tyre compounds introduced by Pirelli played a major role in each
team’s respective performance.
Therefore, both driving skills and technology were required to score the best performance at the first five races while Monte Carlo required sheer driving skills and a good race strategy.
The Red Bull Racing Team once again secured the pole position but struggled to score a good performance in the race as Fernando Alonso finished just tenths behind the race winner Sebastian Vettel’s RB7.
Even at the Spanish Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton finished inches behind the reigning world champion’s race winning car which clearly means that Red Bull are fast but not as reliable as McLaren to say the least.
McLaren have been scoring better performances during the races with consistent fast laps while Red Bull on the other hand, have been a ‘one lap wonder’ benefiting from which, they have been winning races.
Sebastian Vettel has been performing at his best up until without a shadow of a doubt as he has been avoiding all sorts of mistakes. He has the fastest car on the grid and has scored 5 wins and 5 pole positions in 6 races.
His teammate Mark Webber on the other hand, has just one pole position under his 2011 belt which means that the car setup and driving style of the reigning world champion suites the new RB7 better.
Coming to McLaren, the team has scored some pretty good performances and they are the only team to beat Red Bull Racing Team in a race as Lewis Hamilton scored the first and only win for McLaren at the Chinese Grand Prix in April 2011.
Hamilton and his teammate Jenson Button have been struggling to beat Red Bull in the qualifying sessions but since the team is improving its performance, they are getting closer to the current championship leaders in terms of pace.
If McLaren match the pace of the RB7 in qualifying and practice at the Canadian Grand Prix, then both of the team’s drivers have a chance of finally ending Red Bull’s dominance.
Ferrari on the other hand have been improving immensely as well as Fernando Alonso finished in 2nd place at the Monaco Grand Prix while at the Spanish Grand Prix, Alonso was overlapped in the last couple of laps by Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton
despite the fact that he led the race for 20 laps in the beginning.
This means that McLaren and Red Bull respectively have all-rounder cars while Ferrari are pretty good at low downforce tracks like Monte Carlo.
As a result, we can say that Sebastian Vettel is going to dominate the race once again but only if they score a good qualifying performance which is likely to happen. Otherwise, Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton are going to have a tough competition this
weekend with the two Red Bull drivers.
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