Length: 4.361 km
Number of Laps: 70 (305.270 Km)
Best Lap: J-P. Montoya - 1'15''960 (2002, BMW Williams)
Record Pole: J-P. Montoya - 1'12''836 (2002, BMW Williams)
2002 Pole: J-P. Montoya - 1'12''836 (Williams)
2002 Podium: M. Schumacher - D. Coulthard - R. Barrichello

Qualifying for the GP of Canada took place under dry conditions Saturday and the results were interesting. For the 2nd race in a row Ralf Schumacher took the pole with a time of 1m15.529s. Teammate Montoya wasn’t able to top Ralf’s time, but did manage 2nd spot on the grid. The BMW/Michelin combination is working well this weekend.

The unusual nature of the qualifying order due to Friday wet session had drivers finding themselves in 7th spot briefly as the process completed itself. Men like Firman, Wilson, Button plus a few others posted what appeared to be good times just to be displaced when the more dominant teams made their runs.

Michael Schumacher who was the 2nd to last of the qualifiers managed to take the 3rd grid position for Sculderia Ferrari in what I believe will be his return to the drivers’ points lead. My optimism is due to Kimi Raikkonen’s off during his attempt and the resulting last grid position for the Finn. Rubens Barrichello who’s stunning performances during practice managed 5th for his Ferrari, but I would not discount his chances for the race one bit.

Alonso in the Renault is the meat in the Ferrari sandwich as he seems to back in form. Mark Webber in the Jaguar again shows his prowess by starting 6th. Olivia Panis in the Toyota showed impressive determination after dreadful practice sessions and starts 7th. The 2nd Renault of Trulli starts from 8th. Da Matta also improved in his Toyota with a 9th place effort.

Frentzen put in a decent effort by qualifying his Sauber 10th. Coulthard was luckier than Raikkonen and starts 11th in the McLaren. Heidfeld moves away from 12th spot ahead of the 2nd Jaguar of Pizzonia in 13th. BAR’s Villeneuve starts 14th just ahead of Jos Verstappen in the Minardi with his best start of the year in 15th.

The Jordan of Fisichella starts 16th with BAR’s Button 17th after an error during his run. 18th place belongs to Justin Wilson in the 2nd Minardi and the last car to post a time is Firman in the 2nd Jordan, 19th.

As previously mentioned Kimi Raikkonen‘s off might see him start from pit lane with a new fuel strategy as he will certainly has his work cut out for him retaining his drivers’ point lead.

Weather is supposed to be good and I believe we have an exciting race to look forward to. Brakes and tires should be the topics of the day.

Report by: Tony Moffett