The annual trip to Canada and the United States is one of the highlights of my F1 year. Montreal is a great city and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on the Ile Notre Dame is one of the most spectacular in the calendar. Indianapolis is another interesting city and if you like motor racing history (I do!) the famous oval on 16th. Street is always worth visiting. Only one week separates the Canadian and the United States Grand Prix, and most years I stay in North America between the two races. Having three “free” days in North America is nice and a few years ago I went to New York for a couple days. I have also been to Niagara Falls and Watkins Glen between Montreal and Indianapolis and this year I will visit another city which has hosted the US Grand Prix: From Montreal I will fly to Las Vegas, where the United States Grand Prix was held on the parking lot (!) behind the Caesars Palace hotel in 1981-82.


But first - the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, where Panasonic Toyota Racing will aim to bounce back after a disappointing Monaco circuit. I believe the TF107 should be better suited for the low downforce set-up required on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, so both Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher could score points in Canada.

This year´s event will mark the 39th. Canadian Grand Prix with the first held at Mosport Park near Toronto in 1967. Mont Tremblant hosted the race in 1968 and 70 and then it was back to Mosport Park until 1977. That was the year a certain Gilles Villeneuve (from Berthierville some 150 kms north om Montreal) made his debut in F1. The spectacular Gilles went on to become one of the most popular drivers in F1 history and from 1978 onwards Montreal hosted the Canadian Grand Prix on the Ile Notre Dame. When Villeneuve was killed during practice for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix, the circuit was named after him and today - even after Gilles´ son Jacques has left F1 - the race on Ile Notre Dame attracts one of the biggest crowds in the World Championship.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is one of the few remaining power tracks in the calendar where top speeds can reach close to 330 km/h. It consists of long straights interspersed with slow chicanes, where imposing kerbs make a fluid rhythm hard to maintain. The long straights means that some 60% of the lap is spent on full throttle and the cars are usually set-up for low downforce, which means they are often spectacular when the tyres fight for grip in the corners. The “stop-and-go” layout also means the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is harder on the brakes than any other circuit in the calendar (brake temperatures will reach in excess of 1000 degrees C!) and traction is vital when the cars enter the straights after the slow corners.

In short, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is one of the most interesting tracks in F1 - I will be back with my first report after Friday´s practice session!

Welcome to the Canadian Grand Prix and welcome to Montreal - one of the most popular cities on the “F1 Tour”!

As I have told you before, the FIA organise a number of official press conferences during a Grand Prix weekend. It all kicks off the day before official practice begins (that is usually Thursday), when up to five drivers and/or team members are invited (ordered!) to take part. After the first practice day, another handful of drivers/team members attend another press conference and on Saturday and Sunday we have the top three from qualifying and the race. You may have seen these conferences, which takes place almost immediately after the chequered flag on TV, but you only see the “unilateral” part, where a FIA appointed journalist asks the question. After this “TV show”, the drivers move to the media centre for a longer session, where the print media can ask questions.

Here in Montreal. the drivers invited for the pre-practice press conference yesterday were Jenson Button, Giancarlo Fisichella, Alexander Wurz and Panasonic Toyota Racing´s Ralf Schumacher. Just how serious these press conferences are was underlined last afternoon, when the FIA issued an official “warning” to all team managers. “The stewards have received a report from the FIA Formula One Press Delegate that, once again, drivers have arrived late for a Press Conference. The most recent tardy miscreants are Ralf Schumacher and Alexander Wurz each of whom arrived late for this morning´s 11:00am Press Conference”, the letter said.

“To avoid the necessity to consider application of penalties for breach of the regulations would all competitors please ensure that if asked to attend a Press Conference they arrive in good time,” were the final words of the letter.

When Ralf finally arrived he was asked about the season so far.
The first few races were quite good but it seems to have gone backwards; when was he expecting to go forwards again?

“Well, hopefully here, we will see. It comes with the development as well but in Monaco it was obviously a big struggle in qualifying which I hope won’t be the case here,” Ralf said. “It’s difficult to tell because we don’t really know where we are at the moment. We can, if everything runs well, fight with the teams like Honda, Renault and Red Bull but we have to wait and see,” he went on.

As I mentioned in one of my diaries from the Monaco Grand Prix, Ralf´s current contract with Panasonic Toyota Racing ends after this season. This prompted a journalist to ask if this was a worrying time for Ralf?

“Well, I think there is a lot of talk due to the results I’ve had recently and I think that’s only normal but you don’t need to worry about me!” he answered.

Ralf was then asked about his brother. Has Ralf´s life changed after he is no longer competing with Michael Schumacher ?

“Not necessarily,” Ralf replied. “Because I don’t think I have been competing with him at the track for the last five years or four anyway! But privately, yes, some lonely dinners, that’s all.”

That was the news from Thursday´s press conference. The news from today´s practice session was not so good, as Jarno Trulli suffered damage to his front suspension in the afternoon session, which saw him classified 18th, with Ralf just behind him.

Qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve here in Montreal saw Lewis Hamilton tale pole position. He will start tomorrow´s race with team-mate Fernando Alonso alongside him on the front row while Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen will be on the second row. The Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher were 10th. and 18th. fastest in qualifying.

Eagle-eyed TV viewers - or spectators here in Montreal - may have spotted something new on the Panasonic Toyota number 12 during practice: Yes - Jarno Trulli has a new helmet. Again!

This time Jarno is honouring his friend Danilo di Luca, who recently won the legendary Giro d´Italia cycling race. The “Giro” 2007 started on May 12 and ended last week on June 3 after 21 stages. Jarno actually went to Milan to watch the final stage and support his childhood hero di Luca score his greatest win so far.

Jarno is a great cycling fan and much of his training takes place on his bike in the hills around his hometown Pescara, where di Luca was also born. When I visited Jarno in Pescara a couple of years ago I also had a chance to go up into the hills and it was easy to see why Jarno likes to train here - the area is so spectacular and beautiful.

The helmet Jarno is wearing here in Montreal shows di Luca in his pink jersey (while the leader wears yellow in the Tour de France, it is pink in the Giro d´Italia). The helmet also has the words “Grande Danilo” and is Jarno´s way of thanking his friend for some great memories - both at that final stage in Milan a few days ago and from the many training sessions they have shared in the saddle.

The Danilo di Luca helmet is the second “special edition” from Jarno in less then 12 months: In the French Grand Prix last year he had a special helmet celebrating Italy´s win in the soccer World Cup.

But this time is not just a special design for the helmet: According to the F1 paddock newspaper, The Red Bulletin, Jarno is also trying to organise a test for Danilo di Luca in his Toyota. Yes - if Jarno´s plans come to fruition, the Giro d`Italia winner may switch from two wheels to four sometime in the future!

Jarno´s pink helmet has been a great success here in Montreal but it has also created a little confusion: When I first saw the number 12 Panasonic Toyota on the track yesterday, I was convinced third driver Franc Montagny was behind the wheel. A large part of Franc´s helmet is pink, and it took a few laps of careful monitoring to realise it was NOT the Frenchman driving.

It was just Jarno with his new hat!

A dramatic Canadian Grand Prix here in Montreal saw Lewis Hamilton take his first Grand Prix win with Nick Heidfeld and Alexander Wurz second and third.

It has been a difficult weekend for Panasonic Toyota Racing. The front suspension problems experienced by Jarno Trulli on Friday affected the whole weekend, but at the chequered flag Ralf Schumacher took a fine eighth place while Jarno spun out shortly before the end

Panasonic Toyota Racing press officer Fernanda Villas-Boas explained to me that the suspension problems were caused by the special set-up required for the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. A new set-up solved the problem, but just to be on the safe side, both Jarno and Ralf were asked to avoid the high kerbs in Turn 8 where the problem occurred on Friday.

It was unfortunate for Panasonic Toyota Racing to encounter problems like this, but in a sport as extreme and competitive as Formula 1, it was not the first and probably also not the last time parts has broken. On top of my head, I can remember a couple of similar occasions: In 2002 Minardi had problems with their front wing and withdrew from the Spanish Grand Prix and at the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix, Sauber withdrew because their rear wings broke in practice.

But let´s end this difficult Grand Prix weekend on a positive note. The paddock newspaper “Red Bulletin” has a “Love and Hate” column at every race where different F1 people talk about what they like and definitely don´t like. Here in Montreal it was Toyota Motorsport president John Howett´s turn, and here is a couple of the things he love:

“First - my family. I have been married to my Belgian wife Veronique for 26 years. We have two girls, Alexandra (22) and Julia (24). Alexandra is studying Russian and English and Julia is studying Spanish and German,” he tells the Bulletin.

Also on John´s “love list” is...horse riding. “When you jump, steady the horse on landing and then unleash the power - it is a phenomenal feeling - more exciting than driving a fast car.”

On John´s “hate list” we find “middle-lane drivers” in first place. “These people drive me mad. I think they are dangerous. I can´t understand why people are penalised for driving quickly while people who hog the middle lane aren´t. That´s illogical to me.”

In second place comes “bureaucracy”: “I can´t stand people who always say no. To me, the answer should always be “yes”. People think Toyota is bureaucratic because it is big, but the reason the company is successful is because we believe that everything is possible. That is my philosophy too,” John tells the Red Bulletin

And then one more thing from John´s “love list”: Live music. “I really enjoy concerts and my first concert was the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park in 1968,” he says.

This brings these Canadian Grand Prix diaries to a nice conclusion: In the sixties, the Stones competed strongly with the Beatles - and tomorrow morning I am off to Las Vegas to see Cirque du Soleil´s latest show “Love” which is based on Beatles´ songs!