Auto Motor und Sport this week cited GPS evidence in reporting that the Williams and the Sauber feature the most aerodynamically effective cars, based on data from Barcelona’s demanding turns 3 and 9.

At Monaco, Sauber’s Sergio Perez recorded not only the fastest lap of the race, but he was the quickest circulating car “for long periods”, according to team boss Peter Sauber.

Journalist Michael Schmidt said: “With Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel or Lewis Hamilton in the cockpit, Williams or Sauber would probably be leading the championship.”

Red Bull’s Marko responded: “They have good cars, but no one knows why. They are not as highly bred as a Red Bull and McLaren, but apparently easy to drive and understand. In the present situation, anything is possible.”

Source: GMM, Image: Red Bull Content Pool

How are you approaching the Canadian Grand Prix?
Romain Grosjean: It will be my first time in Canada so it’s another new experience for me this year. 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 Formula One champion, I’ll be giving that part of the track some respect!

How do you bounce back from a disappointing Monaco Grand Prix?
RG: Up until the race itself the Monaco Grand Prix [looked] 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. 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. 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!

How did you feel when you joined the engineers whilst the race was still running?
RG: For sure it was frustrating. In fact, 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.

You don’t seem to have had too much difficulty coming to terms with new circuits this year. Is there any secret to this?
RG: 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! 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.

What do you know about the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve?
RG: It’s a street circuit and normally I enjoy street circuits – I was right on the pace in Monaco. I enjoy the sensation of being close to the walls. There are really long straights and some big braking moments. The track surface can also present challenges as we’ve seen in other seasons, so it will be interesting to see what the grip level is like for myself. Finally, the weather in Montreal can be quite changeable, as we saw last year. I’m sure it’ll be a challenging and exciting Grand Prix.

Does Canada present any particular challenges being a long haul amidst the European season?
RG: I arrive on Monday to beat the jet lag. Sometimes that challenge in itself and getting decent sleep can be as hard to solve as finding the right setup for the car! I’m looking forward to discovering more of Montreal, learning the track, and hopefully getting some good sleep at the right time too!

Source: Lotus F1 Team, Image: Lotus  F1/LAT Photographic

Pirelli will bring the same nomination as for Monaco – P Zero Red supersoft and P Zero Yellow soft – but they will be used in a very different way, as Montreal is much faster and gives greater tyre degradation. So there will definitely be scope for a lot of strategy, with teams having the possibility to be quite inventive in their approach. The rear tyres in particular have plenty of work to do in Montreal, due to the heavy traction demands, so looking after those will be crucial.

Williams F1 Team is now fully prepared to take head on another grand prix and they fly to Canada with this thoughts:

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: On the back of a mixed weekend in Monaco the whole team is looking to demonstrate further improvement in Montreal, with the aim of getting both cars home in the points. Montreal is a great race and usually full of drama with a very low pit lane loss which pushes the strategy towards having more stops. The high likelihood of a safety car deployment adds to this drama. The track layout is very hard on brakes and one must also ensure that the aerodynamic package has an appropriately high efficiency target. Pirelli bring to Montreal the same tyre compounds used in Monaco, namely the soft and super soft tyres. Weather wise we are expecting ambient temperatures into the high 20Cs with corresponding track temperatures in the high 30Cs, although there is a chance of rain throughout running.

Pastor Maldonado: We have been working very hard to improve the performance of the car and I can feel it getting better all the time. I am therefore hoping for a strong finish in Canada, a circuit which I really enjoy. It has a nice combination of corners with very high speed straights followed by slow speed chicanes, and the feeling of speed is increased by the closeness of the walls. There is a big DRS effect on the straights as well so we should see some overtaking this week.

Bruno Senna: Canada is one of the most challenging tracks of the season. It is a combination of a street circuit and a normal fixed circuit with a mixture of very fast, long straights and tight slow corners with heavy braking. It is also important to have as much track time as possible before the weekend to learn the track surface because it can evolve quickly. Our car is looking competitive at this stage of the season so hopefully we can show good pace here.

Rémi Taffin, Head of Renault Sport F1 Track Operations: Canada is a completely different track to Monaco and also unique in itself. The long straights demand good top end power but the heavy braking zones of the hairpin and chicane need effective engine braking and good pick up on the exit, so it’s rightly called an ‘engine breaker’ because the engine doesn’t get any respite at all. The challenge is to find the right balance between delivering maximum performance and maintaining 100% reliability, just like at Spa and Monza where the risks have to justify the gains.

Source: Williams F1 Team / LAT Photographic

While Maldonado confounded his critics by winning from pole in Barcelona, Brazilian Senna has failed to similarly shine in 2012, scoring half as many points so far at the wheel of the sister Williams. But Senna, 28, denied that he must win in order to save his race seat, amid speculation Williams is keen to promote its reserve driver Valtteri Bottas.

"I know that I don’t need to win this year," Senna is quoted by Globo Esporte. "I have to have consistency, to score regularly, and have races that show a lot of potential. "To win in formula one, everything has to be right: the car has to be fast, you have to be in the right position, using the tyres correctly and the strategy working out for you. "All those variables are difficult to put together, and everybody in the team knows that," he insisted. "They are giving me the chance to learn this year so that next year I can be expected to be in a position to win a race," said Senna.

According to Globo, Senna pointed out that the fact he is sitting out most Friday morning sessions in deference to Bottas is affecting his ability to fully understand Pirelli’s tyres. He said the effect of that lack of running was most obvious in Barcelona, where Maldonado won. "Pastor has been able to learn very well about the condition of his tyres. This all comes with experience and it’s not something you can skip over," said Senna.

Meanwhile, when asked about a likely title winner in 2012, Senna said it has rarely been more difficult to predict the outcome of the world championship. "In my opinion, the fastest car is the Lotus, but they’re not always getting it into the right window," he said, referring to his former team that was in 2011 known as Renault.

Source: GMM, Image: Williams F1/LAT Photographic

In all the previous races Massa had endured a wretched campaign, picking up just two points from the first five grands prix.

After failing miserably to break into the top 10 in qualifying, at one stage Massa appeared poised to line up on the grid ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso.

The Brazilian ultimately started seventh, two places behind the championship-leading Spaniard who finished third, with Massa three seconds adrift in sixth. This was a huge improvement in performance by Massa, who will now need to continue building if he is to have any hope of retaining his seat for next year. For now, Domenicali is happy enough as he said:

“I think he had a great weekend, a weekend he deserved after coming under a lot pressure.

He had a great qualifying, and although you can say he could have been a little better in Q3, we need to look at the bigger picture. He also then had a great race. He was a little unlucky because he could have been out in front of Lewis for a fraction, but he was there in the first six cars which were very close.

The fact he was there is for me the best thing. I’m sure this this will be a turning point of his season because he needs it.”

With Ferrari 60 points adrift of Red Bull in the constructors’ championship, and 22 behind McLaren, Domenicali needs Massa to continue to produce strong results if they are to have any hope of landing the team title.

Domenicali added: “It was a great boost for him because at the end of the day everyone is unhappy when he is performing in a difficult moment. Him performing is something we need for the constructors’ championship, for the team, so I am really expecting a good Felipe up to the end.”

Source: Dailymail.co.uk, Image: Ferrari

Button has suggested the unpredictability of the current Formula One season could soon start to lose its allure for the fans.

History was made in Monaco on Sunday when Mark Webber took the chequered flag, which meant that – for the first time in the sport’s 62 years – the opening six races yielded six different winners.

The 32-year-old wondered whether fans will question the apparent randomness, saying: "Clearly everyone is excited about so many different winners, which initially was great for the fans and great for the sport. But there will come a time when the fans will say, ‘So anyone can win a grand prix, everyone can lose a grand prix like that?’ (snaps his fingers)."

McLaren star Button acknowledges these are exciting times for F1, even if he is finding it a struggle after collecting just two points from the last three grands prix.

Button, now trailing Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso by 31 points in the standings, said: "Fernando is leading because he has been more consistent than other people. Whether he is in the best car or not no-one is ever going to know, but the consistency is there.

"He is obviously doing a great job – the car is working well – whereas there aren’t many other drivers that have had that consistency."

He added: "I think they’re (fans) finding it a little bit strange now. I don’t know, but hopefully a pattern will emerge after the next couple of races and we’ll understand the teams and drivers we need to beat to win the championship."

The best car/driver combination is seemingly no longer applicable, and instead it is about who can best figure out how the Pirelli tyres work on any given weekend. That would appear to be damaging for the sport, but McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh firmly disagrees with that stance.

Whitmarsh said: "It’s an enthralling sport at the moment. A few years ago people were talking about processional races, and the fact they were so predictable. Well, we certainly don’t have a predictable season. I think an unpredictable race and an unpredictable season is what fans want.

"Right now the championship is anyone’s to play for. We, Lewis (Hamilton) and Jenson can win it, and after six races that is good for the sport. If people now say this randomness is unattractive then that is a 180 to what people felt a few years ago."

Source:  The Press Association, Image: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

Alonso is just one of the six race winners after the opening six races of the season, but despite a difficult start for Ferrari the Spaniard is now leading the drivers’ standings by 3 points.

“Alonso’s lead … yes, he will take the championship this year,” Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat quoted Caterham driver Kovalainen as saying. “Whatever the special circumstances or the weather conditions, there is always a common variable, and that is Alonso being somewhere at the front,” he said.

At the same time, Kovalainen agreed that the balance of power is proving otherwise impossible to predict. “A good example is Monaco,” said the Finn, “where McLaren is usually in charge, but suddenly they are average and Jenson Button was having to pass me. “If the tyres aren’t working for you, it’s finished,” said Kovalainen.

Mika Salo, a former Ferrari and Sauber driver, also tipped Alonso to add a third title to his tally this year. “Their car has improved considerably,” he told the broadcaster MTV3, “and now even Massa is able to drive it well. “The Red Bull guys (Vettel and Webber) are pretty close to Alonso in the championship,” added Salo, “but in the long run they are fighting each other for points. “Alonso has a teammate that will not take his points in the same way.”

The dark horse, meanwhile, could be Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, despite his 17-point deficit. In the last four races, no rival has scored more points than the Shanghai winner. “This shows that we are fairly consistent,” said the German, “and that the future looks pretty good for us.”

Source: GMM, Image: Caterham F1 Team/LAT Photographic

This year the big news in the championship is the U.S. grand prix that will be held at still under construction Circuit of Americas. The U.S. Formula 1 fans have one more reason to be happy since in 2013 is possible to be introduced yet another Grand Prix in New Jersey which in principle will be held sometime in June. But the expansion does not end here since Argentina also showed interest in having its own GP which is possible to be introduced in 2013 and will replace Korea.

According to a newspaper in Spain the Grand Prix of Mexico could return to F1 calendar next year. The race would be held at the Hermanos Rodrigues circuit, the same circuit that hosted Mexico’s last F1 race back in 1992. The article that has appeared in Marca also says that GP has a huge backup from the Sergio Perez sponsors including: Telmex, Interprotección, Tequila Cuervo and Minister of Tourism of Mexico.

According to the writer all preliminary agreements have been made and Mexico is ready to receive Formula 1 in 2013. The race will be scheduled to take place somewhere in mid season next year.

The final negotiations for the GP should start right after the presidential elections are over, on July 1st. Some works are required to be done to the track and they will also start after the elections and all should be finished just in time to join the celebration of the Canadian GP next year.

Mexico had 15 Grands Prix. The first was held in 1963 over a period of 8 years until 1970 and returned 16 years later in 1986. Last Formula 1 GP celebrated in Mexico was back in 1992 with Michael Schumacher on its podium.

Source: Marca

Because he managed to finish ahead of Vettel and Hamilton, Alonso is now the sole leader in the driver’s championship with a 3 points advantage over Sebastian Vettel and Monaco grand prix winner Mark Webber.

Although there is still a long way to go in this year’s title race, Hamilton reckons Alonso could be the one to beat.

“He is the dark horse and he’s driving for the dark horse” told Lewis to The Telegraph. “I’m not surprised. He is a two-time World Champion and probably the best driver here.”

Hamilton’s comments come on the wake of Alonso’s own praise of the McLaren driver, who he believes is the favourite to take this year’s title.

“We are looking to November and it is Hamilton we want to be close to. It is impossible to predict how the season will evolve, but I would hardly believe it will stay like this.

“Still, if i can tip one driver, I would pick him because he’s the only one who can make a difference even with a car that is not a winner.” told Alonso to the BBC.

Source: Live Sports 24, Image: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

With this result, Fernando heads the Drivers’ classification, while Felipe moves up to fourteenth. In the classification for Constructors, the Scuderia is now third, equal on points with Lotus. Both Ferrari men made a single pit stop, Fernando on lap 30 and Felipe on lap 31, switching from the Pirelli Supersofts used in the first stint to the Softs on which they ended the race. Fernando’s podium finish brings the Ferrari total at this race to 48.

Fernando Alonso: “I’m very happy with the way things have gone this weekend. We leave Monaco heading the Championship: if I’d been offered that after the Mugello test at the beginning of the month, I’d have signed for it there and then, but if I’d been told that after Melbourne, I would never have believed it! In Australia we started twelfth, then in the last two races we have jumped onto the podium and we are first in the classification. This result has to be further motivation to push even harder on the development of the F2012. We knew the start would be crucial. I got away very well and I almost got alongside Grosjean and Hamilton: the Frenchman and I touched and, for a moment, I was scared the car was damaged. On this track overtaking is almost impossible and being in someone’s slipstream causes temperature problems, both for the engine and the tyres.

So, you cannot always be on the attack of those ahead, trying instead to manage the situation and push flat out only at the moments that count, such as the pit stops and that’s what I did. Could I have also got past Rosberg and Webber if I’d stayed out on track a bit longer? Maybe, but at that moment it was the right choice to make. I was definitely very quick with a clear track ahead of me. Towards the end, I was a bit worried about Vettel who was on the Supersoft, but luckily I could defend my position comfortably.

Then I hoped the rain would come, because I think that could have given me a chance of winning, however, in the last five or six laps I thought it was over, partly because at every corner there might have been a surprise lying in wait. In Barcelona, a track with a lot of fast corners, we went well and this track is a law unto itself, so let’s see what the situation is in Canada, but certainly we hope to be able to confirm at this track too the progress we have seen at the last two Grands Prix. Finally, I dedicate this podium to all the victims and their families of the earthquake that hit the Emilia region last week.”

Felipe Massa: “It was a good race. I felt comfortable with the car right from the start of Thursday’s free practice. I had the right feeling and it was much easier to drive than at the previous races. Maybe it depends on the nature of the track or the set-up and we definitely need to analyse everything carefully to see what we can learn from this weekend. All things considered, I could have brought home a better result, but I am happy nevertheless. It was a very difficult race and very close and I was able to match the pace of the leaders. I am only sorry I was unable to do a few laps with a clear track ahead of me when the tyres were still competitive.

The start was very good and also the tyre degradation, especially on the Soft compound was minimal. A driver always wants to do the maximum so I can’t be delighted with sixth place, however these are important points. I really hope my championship has turned around and that, from now on, I can always be in the fight for the top places, as was the case here in Monaco. Now we go to Montreal, which is a different type of track to this one, because you need a good top speed but, in fact it’s not that different in terms of the set-up required.”

Source: Ferrari, Images: Ferrari

It was an incredible day for the team and at some point during the race it seemed very possible that Sebastian Vettel will make it two times in a row but instead it was Red Bull team who made three times in row with Mark Webber passing the finish line to take his second Monaco victory.

Here is what the key members of the team had to say shortly after the race:

MARK WEBBER: “An incredible day; this place gives you such amazing memories. There were different parts of the race where I had to be incredibly focused and make sure we really capitalised on the positioning we had. A good friend of mine sent me a text message this morning and said ‘You’re in charge, you’re in front and in charge’ and we were, but you can get bitten here very quickly. There were a few key stages around the stops that were interesting. Sebastian had his tyres very hot and was quick at that point and I couldn’t get mine going, but once he pitted I reverted my attention back to Nico and just looked after the rears until the end of the race. Then the rain came, which around here is very, very tough. But we had composure and experience and great team work on the pit wall. It’s a tough nut to crack this race, but we did it again. I had both hands on it today and I wasn’t going to let go.”

SEBASTIAN VETTEL: “It would have been nice to have been on the podium today. I think the speed was there, but in the end we had the same strategy as the leaders, just the other way round. It was quite difficult as we  were on older tyres, but we had some good laps and we gained roughly around eight seconds, so that was strong. After that I was in traffic and it’s difficult to pass in Monaco, as I showed last year and Mark showed this year. We were hoping some of the leaders would be forced to do two stops, but unfortunately Kimi made quite a big gap behind me, so the leaders had clean air after their first stop. That helped them and it made it more difficult for us, but we started ninth and considering it’s hard to pass here, then to gain five places was a good day. It’s definitely good for Mark to win here and also for the team to get their third Monaco win in a row – it’s impressive.”

CHRISTIAN HORNER, Team Principal: “It’s a fantastic result for the team to achieve a third consecutive victory in Monte Carlo. Mark drove an immaculate race and after a very clean get away, he controlled the race from the front. We weren’t sure if it was going to be a one or two-stop strategy heading into the race, but Mark did such a good job on the soft tyre that he bought the option to make a one-stop really work and delivered the pace when he needed to. Despite some heart stopping moments in the last few laps, he controlled his pace fantastically well and never looked under threat. With Sebastian, after a good start he was in a high speed train in sixth place until all the soft runners pitted and then he
had his window of opportunity to put in some really competitive lap times on the worn hard tyre and that, together with a fantastic pit stop today, enabled him to jump both Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton. So first and fourth is a great team result, it’s great to achieve a result like this, especially when all our partners are here in the Principality. All the races carry the same amount of points, but some are that little bit more special to win.”

Source: Red Bull, Images: Red Bull Content Pool/Getty Images

In addition to that he received another five places drop after the team decided to change his gearbox. Starting 23rd Maldonado’s weekend came to an crashing end when he hit Pedro de la Rosa and then retired.

“I’m really disappointed with the weekend. It’s been difficult after FP3, but this is racing, sometimes it’s good and sometimes not. I think we need to turn the page and look forward to the next race.

“I’ve just been talking with the engineers about the next race and trying to not do the same mistakes we made here, especially with the car and trying to improve on the technical side.

“I think we are getting more competitive, we will still be near the top, and I think there is great confidence with the car and with my people now, and i”m looking forward to being strong again in Canada.”

Also the young Venezuelan is adamant that one bad weekend won’t shatter his new found confidence.

“I think that the best thing now is that I am very confident, I’m very confident with the car and I’m very confident with the team and I’ve gained that just by working” he said.

After a mixed feelings weekend at Williams now everyone’s is looking forward for Canada with a renews hope for a better result.

Source: Sport News 24, Image: Williams/LAT