The 1998 Canadian Grand Prix
Montreal, 5th-7th June

Sunday - Race

Johnny's comments:

"After I bent a trackrod in the accident with Jean and Wurz, I thought for a while I wouldn't be racing at all today! I began the restart from the pits, and it says everything that I was up to 13th at the end of the lap. But my car was slow on the straight and I really struggled to pass Rosset and Nakano. Magnussen was also very quick on the straight, but slow on the corners. I could have stayed behind him, but it's my job to try and pass. When I did, I spun at the hairpin as the back just slid round on me. I'd been unhappy with the quality of the down-changes, and maybe that was a contributory factor. Though I didn't stall I couldn't get a gear to restart, so that was it, race over."

Jean Alesi's comments:

"The trick at starts is to know when you have achieved enough, not to be greedy and try to pass too many people. There are some younger drivers who do not seem to understand this! I made a good first start, but then the next thing I knew was Wurz's Benetton rolling across the top of me. I made another good start the second time, but then Irvine moved across and his wheel hit my nose and took it off. Then I felt another bump and suddenly I had Trulli sitting on top of me. Each time there was nothing that I could do, and that makes it all the more frustrating because this was the sort of race to have taken points from."

Peter Sauber's comments:

"I'm sure you will pardon me, but I don't want to say anything about our race today."

Johnny's race

Johnny had a torrid time in Montreal. When the race started, there was a almighty pile up at Turn 1 when Alex Wurz tried to squeeze past Jean Alesi just as several other cars were travelling in formation into the chicane. Result? Pandemonium, with Wurz, Alesi, Trulli and Johnny all mired in the gravel, and the race red-flagged. As Alesi ran back to the pits, Johnny ambled along in no great rush waving to the crowd. It was obvious to all who was the beneficiary of the single spare Sauber at Montreal.

Louise Goodman of ITV again managed to grab a quick word from Johnny as he returned to the pits:

LG: Johnny, tell me about the first corner again.

JH: It was just... erm... obviously with Wurz hitting Jean, bouncing over him and I was trying to go round the outside and everyone went off into the gravel and I got taken off.

LG: Johnny's rushed off to get back into his car. They think it will be fixable.

It was. Whilst Louise looked on, Johnny's mechanics frantically worked to repair the slight suspension damage to his Sauber. They did a magnificent job, but Johnny had to take the restart from the pitlane, in 22nd position.

Unbelievably, similar chaos reigned at the first chicane on the restart. Alesi went out with Trulli's Prost parked almost on his head and, this time, without recourse to another spare Sauber. Several others were permanently sidelined and, by dint of that attrition and some splendid overtaking through the field, Johnny was soon into the top 10. But it didn't last. Johnny's race ended on lap 18 with his car marooned on the edge of the gravel trap at the hairpin after he spun.

Race results:

1 M Schumacher, Ferrari: 1hr 40:57.355
2 Fisichella, Benetton-Playlife: +16.662s
3 Irvine, Ferrari: +1:00.058
4 Wurz, Benetton-Playlife: +1:03.232
5 Barrichello, Stewart-Ford: +1:21.512
6 Magnussen, Stewart-Ford: +1lap

Louise Goodman from ITV interviews Johnny on the grid

LG: Standing by jovial Johnny, tell me about your weekend so far; you've not been so jovial yesterday?

JH: Again I had another problematic morning session which ruined the qualifying which is annoying because I have had so many this year. They just keep happening and we have just got to stop them happening because it will make the qualifying so much easier for me.

LG: Tell me about the first corner. Is it a tricky one?

JH: It's OK. It's a normal left hand turn so it's not too bad. The problem is that it does bottleneck down very slightly but you can try and go round the outside but then people try and cut you up before the hairpin. It can be quite a tricky corner.

LG: The other thing that everyone has been talking about is the brakes. Just how marginal are they? Are they going to give you problems by the end of the race?

JH: We seem to be OK. We had some brakes yesterday and we changed for this morning and we actually have a much better wear rate. I think we're actually quite fine. That was this morning and the race is always different.

LG: Good Luck for the race and, by the way, the second corner goes to the right. (Sickly grin from JH)

Saturday - Qualifying

Johnny's comments:

"Yet again I lost a lot of time with a mechanical problem this morning, and that meant going into qualifying still trying to hone set-up. That always sets you back. The middle section of the lap gave me the biggest problem, because the car was still moving around too much whenever I tried to push really hard. I'm frustrated, because I know it could have been better here."

Jean Alesi's comments:

"I said yesterday I would be happy to qualify in the Top 10, but I am a little surprised because the car still has too much understeer. I lost my chance to improve on my last run when I pushed too hard and the understeer increased, but on the positive side the new engine which we ran today is a lot better. It is stronger at the top end, and the driveability has improved."

Peter Sauber's comments:

"If you look at how close the gaps are you can get a little bit angry about not qualifying higher, but we shouldn't be unfair concerning either the drivers of the cars. There are some very good teams who came here with heavily revised cars, yet we have maintained a competitive level of performance in comparison with them."

Qualifying times:

Friday - Practice

Johnny's comments:

"I had a problem with a long brake pedal this morning, which lost me a bit of time, and I experimented with the prime and option tyres before following Jean's lead and going to the options for the afternoon. I also tried the revised suspension geometry this afternoon. The car wasn't bad, but my big problem was getting temperature into the tyres; we didn't get enough and the car was nervous under braking, and understeered, as a result.

"On my last run I had a scare when the front wing fell off on the pit straight and tucked under the car. The nose lifted for a moment but came back down when I backed off the throttle. I nearly hit the pit wall, but in the end it was okay."

Jean Alesi's comments:

"We made a step forward during our recent testing at Monza, when we tried a revised rear suspension geometry. I ran this all day today, and I am pleased with the balance and performance of the car. I will be very happy to qualify in the Top 10 tomorrow."

Times from first practice:

1 Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes - 1:19.613
2 M Schumacher, Ferrari - 1:19.999
3 Alesi, Sauber-Petronas- 1:20.252
4 Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes - 1:20.316
5 Fisichella, Benetton-Playlife - 1:20.480
6 Frentzen, Williams-Mecachrome- 1:20.622
7 Irvine, Ferrari - 1:20.821
8 Barrichello, Stewart-Ford - 1.20.937
9 Hill, Jordan-Honda - 1:21.069
10 Panis, Prost-Peugeot - 1:221.191
11 Herbert, Sauber-Petronas - 1:21.239
12 Wurz, Benetton-Playlife - 1:21.274

Weather: heavy rain, air max. 19°, track max. 19°C

Pre-race comments

Johnny on the Montreal circuit (Autosport 4th June):

Montreal is not a particularly difficult circuit to learn, but it's a very, very, hard one to actually go quickly on. It's quite a technical track, really quite strange in some. There's a lot of slow stuff leading on to fast straights. If you don't have a very good balance or good traction, then you lose a massive amount of time. It's also a power circuit to a large extent; the more you have, the less wing you can run and so on.

I hope we will have a new qualifying engine for Canada [Autosport confirmed elsewhere that Sauber would have the new engine]. They may also have found some other things to give us more power. We've got to wait and see if it makes a difference; until we actually drive it, we won't really know what we're going to get. Generally, tough, it could be one of the more difficult races for Sauber.

It looks like it's going to be quite a difficult year for Goodyear, although we don't seem to have a problem with blisters like we had last year in Spain and Canada. I would think that McLaren, and maybe Benetton if they get it right, are going to be quite good. The Ferrari seems fairly driveable, and maybe Michael can do OK. McLaren has a much more complete package at the moment, and I think it will show more in Canada than Monaco.

The most important part of the track is the section between Turns 3 and 100, with the three chicanes on to straights. The first is quite a tricky one. You're going up, then, as you turn, it's flat until you hit the kerb, and then it starts to go down sharply. You try and use the kerbs, but it's difficult because the car bounces around a lot. At the exit, there's a barrier right next to the track, so you can't use the kerbs unless you're very confident with the car.

The next right kink, where Panis crashed last year, will probably still be flat. You brake for the next chicane on a bump which upsets the car. The exit is important as it leads on to the first of the longer straights, although it's actually a long right hander. You then brake under the bridge for the right-handed chicane - it's the bumpiest part of the track, and upsets the car very much. You'll probably see a lot of locking of brakes there this year.

With thanks to Autosport

Every effort is made to ensure factual accuracy but
no responsibility is accepted for this information
Photos by kind permission of Sauber
Last updated 8th June 1998