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Canadian GP talking points

Does the Mercedes have a weakness that can be exploited this weekend in Montreal? Will Williams show Monaco was a one-off nightmare?

Lewis Hamilton trudges away from the Monaco podium
Image: Lewis Hamilton trudges away from the Monaco podium

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton

Will Lewis still listen to Mercedes?

The answer was as empathic and succinct as the question was inevitable.

"Yes," replied Lewis Hamilton when asked in the post-Monaco press conference whether he would have '100 per cent confidence in the team's strategy decisions in the future'.

In defeat, such a traumatic and undeserved defeat, Hamilton can never have won over so many of his critics. He shook the hand of Nico Rosberg, he attempted to take some of the blame, and he never once wavered from the party line that mistakes happen. Which they do. But Hamilton wouldn't be human if he doesn't experience a flicker of doubt on the next occasion when Mercedes break radio silence with an emergency transmission.

Hamilton certainly acted like the ‘team leader’ he has vowed to become in the wake of his Monaco defeat. But staying mute is not exactly synonymous with leadership, a reality which underscores the likelihood of greater meddling in team strategy from the world champion for reasons both positive and sceptical in the future. If so, the temptation will be to depict his input as an expression of mistrust. But judging by events in Monaco, and the process which resulted in such a cataclysmic misjudgement, Hamilton’s input may be just what Mercedes need. A little less data obsession, a little more racer’s common-sense may be just the tonic. 

This is, after all, a team that can occasionally appear to lack a little common sense on the pitwall. As the next segment discusses, Mercedes may possess a mechanical weakness. But Monaco also revealed another chink in their armour, a shortcoming that was already visible this year when they lost out to Ferrari in Malaysia, namely that they are not adept at thinking on their feet.

More from Canadian Gp 2015

According to Paddy Lowe, the response to the team’s collective brainfade in Monaco has been overdone. The mistake, says Lowe, was merely “a single error made in a split second based on incorrect data” and can be forgiven on account of the team “getting them right more than most”. Perhaps, but in the words of the guests on this week’s edition of the Midweek Report, this was a "baffling, basic strategic error" which was immediately identified as a mistake by the rest of the pitlane from the moment it began to unfold. Just to be sure, Hamilton would be wise to double-check in future. 

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Does the Mercedes have a weakness that can be exploited this weekend?

Trying to find a weakness in Mercedes’ W06 is a bit like trying to find one in the Death Star. Actually, for the purposes of this rather half-baked analogy, that should be the partially re-built, but still bigger, better and supposedly more impregnable Death Star from Return of the Jedi. But it had a weakness all the same and went boom at the end, just as the original did.

Twelve months ago, both Mercedes W05's went boom at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. More specifically, they suffered ERS failures, although Nico Rosberg was able to soldier on and finish a fine second. In contrast, Lewis Hamilton had to retire his car after the knock-on loss of engine braking caused its rear discs to overheat.

Rosberg suffered another ERS failure in last season’s Abu Dhabi double, but since then the reliability of the W06 has appeared even more bullet-proof than that of its predecessor. Which, you’d think, is how it should be; how Toto Wolff likes it and how Darth Vader would’ve wanted it a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Yet there are still signs of weakness. In Bahrain, both Hamilton and Rosberg suffered brake problems after Mercedes opted for better aerodynamic performance over cooling capability. The reason they did this was a fear that Ferrari’s pace was also getting too hot to handle and Kimi Raikkonen almost - but not quite - came good on that occasion.

Since then, Ferrari’s form has been up and down, although Sebastian Vettel was clearly much closer to the Silver Arrows in the Monaco GP than he was in Spain. Moreover, if the radio traffic was anything to go by, brake temperatures remained a concern for Mercedes in the Principality.

Assuming Ferrari are Mercedes’ nearest challengers again this weekend, it could be that the world champions have a sufficient performance advantage not to roll the dice like they did in Bahrain. Then again, the Scuderia look set to use an upgraded engine this weekend; and with soft and supersoft tyres to be used once more, their superior tyre management across a full race distance may again help keep Mercedes in check.

This is a race that, more than most, tends to produce a surprise or two and heavy brake wear - on a track mainly comprising long straights and chicanes - tends to be a factor. So if Mercedes really are more marginal than most in this regard, might this weekend’s race give their rivals a way in like it did last year?

MW

Honda and Ferrari spend engine tokens – but will it make a difference?

Ahead of this weekend’s race Ferrari and Honda have become the first manufacturers to carry out in-season development work on their engines. Having already made major progress over the winter, dramatically closing the deficit to pacesetters Mercedes, the Scuderia have spent a further three tokens ahead of one of the most power-hungry races of the season.

Ferrari haven’t confirmed what areas they have upgraded, or indeed if the new engines will be used in Canada, but it would seem logical to assume they will run the new unit. That in theory should allow them to put more pressure on Mercedes at a track where both Silver Arrows cars had brake problems last year after an ERS failure. As stated above, brake temperatures were an issue in Monaco on Lewis Hamilton's car. It's thus crucial Ferrari are close to Mercedes in Montreal to force the world champions to push hard in the race, rather than being able to control the pace and temperatures from the front.

For Honda, any progress would be welcome and McLaren have revealed they have been working hard on reliability ahead of the race. Only once this season have both cars made the chequered flag and retirement in Monaco cost Fernando Alonso a likely points finish.

Monte Carlo allowed McLaren-Honda to look competitive with less of an emphasis on engine power, but Canada’s long straights will leave them a sitting duck to cars with better power units - particularly into the final chicane. Eric Boullier has admitted "the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve doesn't play to our car’s strengths" while a less than positive Button told Sky Sports F1 McLaren will have to "make this thing as slippery as we can".

Having spent just two of their tokens it is unlikely that the Honda upgrade will see a major leap forward in performance, but at this stage anything is a welcome boost for Fernando and Jenson.

WE

Felipe Massa

Will Williams re-emerge as the third force?

Just when you thought F1's pecking order was set in stone for 2015, along came the Monaco GP. Okay, nothing much changed at the very front of proceedings - Mercedes still held a comfortable enough advantage over Ferrari - but behind the top two there was a wholesale shuffling of the order. Mercedes-powered Williams, shoe-ins for fifth and sixth places in the early rounds, plummeted all the way to the bottom-end of the midfield, with the relatively underpowered Red Bull, Toro Rosso and McLaren teams all moving forward in their place. "Dismal," was how Pat Symonds bluntly described the Grove team's weekend. He certainly wasn't wrong.

Of course, the risk in drawing conclusions from the results of Monaco is that, rather like the glittering Principality itself, the circuit is not in keeping with the rest of the calendar. Omnipresent barriers aside, any comparison between the tight and twisty streets to Montreal's point-and-squirt Circuit Gilles Villeneuve are remote with this weekend’s challenge placing one of the biggest premiums of the year on engine power. Given they have access to what remains F1’s premier engine, and low-drag conditions are usually where their car thrives, Williams should therefore be able to show Monaco was a miserable one-off, with the FW37 also equipped with what Rob Smedley has described as “really healthy” aero updates.

But if Williams do slip back into their pre-Monaco groove, how will the rest of the pack filter in behind? The conventional thinking is that Red Bull-Renault, third-fastest two weeks ago, will be the biggest losers, although that was usually the thinking during their title-winning years and the team have actually triumphed on F1’s last two visits to Montreal. Lotus, Mercedes’ newest engine customer, certainly have their eyes trained on the former champions though and their car’s inherent power advantage could be complemented by their own suite of aerodynamic updates for the E23. Add in the potential for some more flair - and fireworks - from Toro Rosso’s eye-catching rookies, and the other Canadian GP should be quite the battle.

JG

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