some video highlights from last year: http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...722643671&q=f1

hopefull this year will be just as/more exciting.

 

anyone have tickets for the "cheap" grandstands? if so which stand did you pick. i wanted to get 34, but that is sold out now. i'm going to buy one of the other three soon, but don't know which one...either 33 or 22 i think. 31 doesn't seem that great, but i don't know, i've never been in grandstands.
Montreal is a great track, but a poor one for spectators.

 

I've only ever been General Admission, so even **** seats are better than that. Would be nice to sit near one of the big screens

 

yeah, i've been only general admission...i kind of hate not being able to see anything unless you get there at 7 AM, and you can't even see the screens most the time. and it gets worse every year. i figure this year i might as well spend the extra money for stands. convinced my friends also luckily.
all the stands have a screen opposite to them, which is good...
33 is at the s-curve which is nice, but you might be able to see the hairpin from 22...

http://www.grandprix.ca/site_content.html
go to "tickets", it shows the location of the different grand stands.

 

I'm in grandstand 33, and it's a good one. You see them come around the previous right hander at WOT, break hard and accelerate through the left right. If you get this grandstand, try and be near the middle or towards the right (if you are looking at grandstand). That way you can see the previous corner. Here's the view from the seats I had a few years ago. Now we are a bit more left so we can see down the straight:




While I've never sat in it, I hear from friends that Grandstand 31 is actually quite good. The cars are full speed into that complex, and go under a brigde right before they get there under full braking. Over the weekend, I'll guarantee that there are a lot of cars going through the grass infront of you.

Grandstand 22 is a waste of time - Avoid it. You can't see the hairpin at all, and the cars are coming by you at full speed - all on the same line. There is no passing, braking, turning or even different racing lines to watch. Grandstand 31 and 33 are 100X better.

Good luck! Maybe I'll see you there!

 

sweet, thanks for that info Nick, that's exactly what i wanted!
looks like i will be in Grandstand 33 as well

 

Good race today!
This could be one of the best years for F1 in quite some time. At least 3 teams have a chance to seriously contend this year.

I'm just glad that Ferrari is BACK!!! Huge step forward after that miserable last year. MS may not be the quickest driver anymore, but he's still got something left...

 

I enjoyed today's race as well but I did fall asleep during the live feed and then watch the repeat a few hours later. Alonso was very lucky to not get taken out in Massa's spin. And Villenueve looked pretty pissed off at that BMW blowing up.

 

great race today. yup, a few really good teams that are contenders this season. some new drivers to look out for also (Rosberg).
unfortunately i didn't catch qualifying, which i hear is some crazyness, heh. oh well, next race in a few days.

 

bahahahahaha. i just saw Montoya having to pull his car back into pit lane by himself. for some reason i find this really funny.

 

The car was past the white line at the pit exit. That means it's on the track. The mechanics can't touch it there without incurring the wrath of the stewards

Like one of the three crusties on Speed said: "Now that's a race car driver!"

F1, two weekends in a row!! Sweeeeeet!

 

damn i think i might miss qualifying because i will be in an inebriated state tonight. happy st.patricks day.

 

I'm rooting for Williams and Nico Rosberg in particular. The Cosworth was utterly astounding in Bahrain. I love the idea of a medium funded team, private engine and rookie beating up the big boys. Red Bull is looking pretty impressive as well.

I don't know what it is, but I don't like Alonso. Last race I was actually cheering for MS and Ferrari (which I have never done). I quiet enjoyed the fact that Toyota was stuck battling with Torro Rossa.

 

I have no problems with Alonso. He does't talk garbage, whine, complain about his car, or engine, or german teammate that is much better than he ever was, like a few underachievers that will go unnamed.

He doesn't seem like your primadona F1 driver. He just drives and, now that he's in a good car, wins consistently.

Marting Brundle wrote that for pure speed, Alonso and Kimi are probably in a league of their own now (to me, Kimi is probably #1), but that MS can still beat them with slightly better machinery. I would be inclined to believe that.

 

I'd throw in a caveat that Montoya can at times beat them both. The problem is that he can't seem to do it with any consistancy. eg. Last season we saw him stink through the first 1/2-2/3rds, but then take it to Kimi in the second half. MS seems to have lost a little bit of his edge, but I think he can still challange Alonso/Kimi.

 

JMP looked disinterested again this weekend.
Kimi has not luck whatsoever. That guy must be close to complete frustration.

I'm glad Ferrari finally didn't use team orders to give MS that extra point like they usually do. Massa beat him fair and square. I guess the whole 'flex wing' thing has caused them enough scrutiny, they don't need any more.

Good to see Fisi take points away from Alonso

 

I think Alonso was told to lay back since he was lapping faster than Fisi in the later laps and then just backed off. Can't wait for the Aussie GP.

 

Good race for sure. I wasn't able to watch it live, so i actually downloaded it off bit torrent, haha.
I prefer the ITV commentary w/ Brundle anyways!

my thoughts so far:
-Renault pretty much doing what they were last year; their strength is in overall performance
- Mclaren looked a lot better than when it actually got to the race. Bad luck for Kimi, but who knows what is going on with Montoya
- Ferrari is looking solid still; good drivers and a good car, they just have to improve on pace a bit; i think they have the best aero-package though, but that is under review by FIA
- Honda still can't seem to find it's way past the little details to have good overall performance; a good job this weekend, but Rubens really has to step it up; they have a really good engine
- Willams: best engine on the grid i think; engine failure on Rosberg's car seems like just pushing that used engine a bit too much; they still don't have the Chassis that the front runners have
- Sauber-BMW has a good chassis this year but still is working out reliability; drivers look pretty decent though
- Toyota still trying to figure out what to do with all that money they have or what??
- Sato came 14 in the SA Honda...i don't know what that is saying but once they get a chassis that isn't 2 years old they might actually be able to contend for points.

 

Really? I have grown to hate that coverage. Even if you ignore the second rate TSN aspect of the coverage and focus strictly on the ITV commentary I can't stand it any more. Martin Brundle has turned into an *** who judges everyone on the grid except Michael Schumacher. Every race he throws in comments like "Well, he should have just passed him by now" or "Those aren't the actions of a championship driver". As if he it is just that easy and he is speaking from his own vast experience of winning races and championships!
And Louise Goodman's interviews aren't exactly "In Depth" either:
"Tell us what happened Jenson.."
"The engine blew up on the main straight".
"Bad luck Jens."

I have to say that I really enjoy the SPEED coverage. The back and forth between Hobbs (driver) and Matchet (mechanic) is great, and you have Varsha to keep them on track. I like how Matchett gets quite technical about the cars and now that they have Mic'd Peter Windsor in the pit lane before the race, the coverage is complete. Way better than ITV in my opinion, but to each their own.

I agree that the season is shaping up nicely. I just cant wait to see a true McLaren Renault battle. When I heard that Cosworth was supplying williams this year, I thought they had pulled off a major deal. Who builds better V8's than Cosworth? But everyone surrounding F1 seemed to think it was a bad move. I'm glad to see that I was right! I like Nico Rosberg, and hope he continues to drive well. I saw him drive in a championship round of shifter karts a few years back, and have been kind of following him since.

 

You'll be glad to know that Brundle dissed Schumacher at the end of the race last weekend, too. Since he's now gotten beat by Alonso and Massa.

 

LOL great, so now he's bitching about everyone on the grid!

 

haha, yeah. well i wasn't really being entirely serious about the ITV commentary. the SPEED coverage is what i usually watch, rather than TSN. just sometimes they make stupid comments, and the ITV commentary isn't very detailed but seems to convey the basic facts better. they had Brundle go out in a V8 Holden supercar and run the track, that was kind of fun. i don't know, i've only watched it twice, heh.
most likely i will continue to watch SPEED live coverage when i can.

 

My ultimate commentary team would be Brundle, Matchett, and of course, Murray. Given the choice between speed and ITV however, I choose ITV.