Canada Thoughts - Practice 1 and 2 09/06/2007 It was an interesting day in Montreal, with just a few talking points. It looked as though McLaren had preserved their Monaco advantage until the dying minutes of P2, when Massa suddenly put in a quick one to grab second. Whether that means that Ferrari will be able to get closer in qualifying (Massa was half a second slower than Alonso) remains to be seen, although they seem to be in the habit of getting there when they need to.Fernando Alonso - painting courtesy of Rob IjbemaFor a while Kimi gave us hope that he was finally getting to grips with the Ferrari; he was generally faster than Massa until the last few minutes. But he looks somehow unconvincing in the car and is making too many mistakes. The difference between his performances in an uncompetitive McLaren and a very good Ferrari is inexplicable to me. Is this really the same guy who fought tooth and nail last year, even when the car gave him no real chance? I admit to being baffled.Further down the field there were rays of hope that we were about to see a big reshuffle in the order, but they were dimmed in the end. Fisichella was up near the front and making Heidfeld look a bit silly but the BMW came through at the last. Webber and even Liuzzi threatened to put Adrian Newey's design amongst the big boys but their challenge faded as time wore on. Status quo confirmed, BMW still number three, Renault and Red Bull chasing hard, with Rosberg's Williams entering the fray as well.Honda continue to plod through the midfield, Barrichello especially managing to get the car a little higher - seventh wasn't bad for a car that has been a pig to sort out. Toro Rosso flattered to deceive, ending the session in their accustomed places after spending some time in the top ten, Liuzzi a tenth quicker than Speed. As for Scott's little scuffle with Webber, it looks as though the stewards will sort that one out.Sato deserves a mention for being tenth fastest but Toyota stole the Japanese limelight by being even worse than ever - something we didn't think possible. Front suspension breakages are not the kind of thing to put confidence into the drivers and are also very difficult to fix over the course of a weekend. Heck, I'm even beginning to feel a little sorry for Ralf...Paddock gossip is that Sato has entered the frame as a possible replacement for Ralf if he gets the boot. Apart from the fact that Taku is a Honda man through and through, I really can't see him wanting the Toyota job purely on the grounds of competitiveness. If he can get tenth quickest driving for the smallest team on the grid, why would he be interested in transferring to a team with as many problems as Toyota have? Sure, they have the money and should make a breakthrough any day now; but we've been saying that for years.If Toyota were serious about making their car work, there is only one driver they should be trying to get: Alex Wurz. If he can't sort it out, no-one can. And he already works for the team that will most likely be Toyota's B team in the near future...
Clive
Mad I too am puzzled by Kimi's performance this year? He doesn't seem like the same guy. Kind of like Capirossi in MotoGP on the Ducati this year. He doesn't look like the same guy as last year. Date Added: 09/06/2007
Gone Away I've thought of plenty of explanations and seen more in the forums - but really they don't answer the main question: where has Kimi's fire gone? It's a mystery. Date Added: 09/06/2007
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