The 2017 Season

[Penfold]

Toffee Van Door didn't exactly cover himself in glory either, and nor did Perez....

[Chrill]

To sum it up, the tougher cars are actually tough to drive in Monaco. Not even Lewis managed it all too well, eventually finishing behind even a Toro Rosso!

[Penfold]

I was impressed by just how poor old Hammy was on Saturday.

Baku has some narrow sections to look forward to....

[Matt]

After Hamilton made his crack about how IndyCar drivers must not be very good if Alonso could qualify 5th, Tony Kanaan responded at the post-race banquet by saying that Hamilton raced against one car last year and finished second. 

[Chrill]

After Hamilton made his crack about how IndyCar drivers must not be very good if Alonso could qualify 5th, Tony Kanaan responded at the post-race banquet by saying that Hamilton raced against one car last year and finished second. 

BOOM!

While I believe that Hamilton does carry a bit of a valid point, the fact is Alonso drove one of the best cars (if not the best. It won!!). Still, Alonso is not any old F1 driver either. Would Hamilton have qualified P5? Maybe not. Does Hamilton have the guts to attempt the Indy? Surely not.

[Matt]

Kubica completed 115 laps of testing in the 2012-spec Renault today. Now rumors are flying that he could replace Palmer. I find it hard to believe, but there are some things beyond just the testing laps today that suggest it could be possible. First, if I'm not mistaken, he just returned to circuit racing in the last year, maybe less? Since then he has been testing progressively faster cars, with Formula E, WEC prototypes, and now F1. He signed for a WEC team but dropped out before the first race, and tested for Formula E but hasn't pursued it. Either he felt he still wasn't physically able, which doesn't make a lot of sense given that he now tested an F1 car, or he thought he had a better opportunity. Like F1.

I still feel like it's a longshot, but Kubica was one of the best drivers of his generation and it would be great to see him return. It's easy to forget about him given how many years it's been since his injury, but he's a top driver.

[Chrill]

I just came to discuss Kubica. Matt beat me to it. Noice!

Yeah, 115 laps in a "contemporary"ish F1 car is not bad at all. Sure, the 2017 cars are even more powerful and even more demanding. Still, he completed 115 laps. That's a double race distance. Like Matt said, Kubica has gone from F3 to Formula E to WEC to F1. That's not something he did for fun alone. He's clearly testing his limits. The Valencia circuit contains both fast sweeping and slow tight corners, in both directions. Clearly he navigated them over 100 times in one day.

Palmer being removed has been touted as a possibility for a while now. Kubica in? It would be absurd. I mean, he's old now. He hasn't raced in 6 or something years. That is a VERY long time. Would he just become a new Maldonado? It's possible. Would he still be able to compete on every circuit? It's not necessarily the case.

But come on, we needs us some Bobby K in F1!

[Matt]

He's not actually that old though. He's 32. That's the older part of the grid, but there's still plenty of good years left for drivers who are 32. Hamilton is 32.

[Chrill]

And Hamilton is on his penultimate season

[Penfold]

Could be a few showers knocking around on Sunday: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/06/08/rain-forecast-for-race-day-in-montreal/

Edit: Rain got held up and will now arrive on Monday.  Hot & sunny for the race... should be good for Ferrari.

[Penfold]

Entertaining race in Canada.  Pity that Max retired, and also that he clipped Vettel... made it all too easy for Mercedes.  Loved the Force India inter-team battle, and of course Seb's recovery drive - in particular his ballsy move on Ocon.

Must get round to doing the driver ratings whilst race is still fairly fresh in my mind.

[Chrill]

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12478/10921988/monisha-kaltenborn-leaves-sauber-as-swiss-teams-struggles-continue
Monisha Kaltenborn leaves Sauber, with no apparent team principal lined up to replace her. We'll see who is in charge in Azerbaijan, and certainly who comes to lead the team over the course of this season. Is Honda switching its allegiance to Sauber proper? Are they becoming the new Japanese works team? Or, is the Longbow Finance money gone and Monisha simply knows when its time to go?

EDIT: Or is there truth to a rumour I am hearing of Longbow wanting to give Ericsson number 1 status in the team over Wehrlein, and Kaltenborn disagreeing with it? She is apparently not on board with the Honda engine decision either, so she might simply be leaving (or maybe is forced to leave) due to her ideas not aligning with the team.

[Chrill]

What a race in Baku. Wow. Lance Stroll scored a podium, and was only one TENTH from securing P2. So close.

Bottas fought from one lap down to take P2. Hamilton brake tested Vettel, Vettel then deliberately crashed into Hamilton. In my opinion, strange that both men were permitted to finish the race. Vettel should definitely have been disqualified, and Hamilton perhaps too.

Shame to see Massa DNFing when genuinely in the run for victory. I think he could have given Ricciardo a run for it, had he not retired. I think Kimi would have won it, had he not got damaged by that Force India squabble. Also, Force India messed up their chances for a double podium today. Shame, all of it. The only ones who stayed out of trouble all race was Stroll, Magnussen, Alonso, and the two Saubers.

[Chrill]

Ricciardo's divebomb on 2-3 cars into turn 1 at restart (what was that, two Williams cars and one more?) was amazing. Possible contender for overtake of the season.

[Penfold]

Only because you didn't see Vettel's move on Ocon in Montreal.  Not only was it far ballsier given what a crash could mean in the Championship fight, but there was a fantastic multi-lap build up to it as well.

As for Baku... tremendous.  Would've enjoyed it even more if either my no. 2 (Massa) or weekly pick (Perez) had made it to the finish.