Yes, you read that right: F1 on TV, not "...on SPEED!"  It's that time of year once again, where coverage of the F1 Circus here in the US moves to FOX, though fortunately enough the Legendary Announce Team goes with it.  And where does the coverage go but to Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the home of the Grand Prix of Canada!  Let's take a look at the track map:

Usually the terrain dictates the shape of the track, and nowhere is that more evident than here.  The track is built on a man-made island in the middle of the St Lawrence River, which is narrow at one end and wide at the other.  Most of the circuit is closely bordered by walls, leaving little margin for error anywhere.  Perhaps this is what Felipe Massa was referring to last race when he said that the Canada track was "very similar to Monaco."

Because in no other way is this track similar to Monaco.  It's fast, but also has an incredibly slow hairpin in Epingle (which sounds like a potato chip).  Brakes are at a premium around here, and indeed, this is the only place I've seen the carbon/carbon brakes used in F1 actually explode from overuse.  If there was ever a place on the F1 calendar where a brake change would be appropriate, it'd be here.  Of course, that'd take too much time for the value, so no... and besides, the old brakes would probably end up setting fire to something.

So it's a narrow, fast, dangerous circuit, and one that has traditionally given us a good race.  Here's the scheduled coverage times for the weekend:

FRIDAY
9a - 1030a: P1 streaming
1p - 240p: P2 live on SPEED
SATURDAY
9a - 10a: P3 streaming
12noon - 130p: Quals plausibly live on SPEED
SUNDAY
1230p - 1p: F1 Prerace live on SPEED
1p - 3p: Grand Prix of Canada live on FOX
3p - 330p: F1 Postrace live on SPEED

This is where I'd normally say that F1Update! will be all over the weekend like fleas on a dog, but I can't this time around.  On Sunday I'm attending a surprise birthday party in Chicago.  To get there on time, I'll be leaving right around the time the race starts, and even if I just stay a couple of hours, I won't be getting back until 830pm or so.

So either 1) I get the F1U! up when I do, or 2) I find a volunteer to write it for me.  Whaddya think, any volunteers?

UPDATE:  Forgot to mention... on Monday night, some guy named Seb Vettel is scheduled to be on Late Night With David Letterman.  Supposedly, he'll be driving the impending New Jersey circuit in a regular car with Dave, who is of course a part-owner in the Rahal-Letterman IndyCar team.  Should be good for a chuckle; I'll probably do a write-up on it.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 08:42 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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