2013 Canadian GP: Ferrari Preview

Things have not gone well for Scuderia Ferrari in the past two weeks. Firstly, Massa’s twin car crashes at Monaco and then the tyre test controversy. Fortunately, Ferrari have found their way out of both the situations. Massa had been provided with a new chassis for the Canadian GP and FIA had cleared the Italian manufacturer of any wrong doings in the tyre test it had undergone with Pirelli.

Currently Ferrari are placed second in the Constructor’s Championship table with 123 points, 41 points behind table topper and rival Red Bull. Bad luck has been haunting the Ferrari this season, first with Alonso at the Malaysian Grand Prix when he crashed at the back of Vettel’s car and retired and then with Felipe Massa crashing into a corner due to a failed suspension at Monaco.

Alonso, who has 78 points to his name, 29 points behind Vettel is currently placed third in the driver’s championship.But he believes it’s only a matter of time when the tide will turn in his team’s favour.

“What is a little bit out of normality at the moment is the points that Sebastian has scored in these six races,”

“We need to try to finish in front of him. Unlucky races will come to everyone and will come to him as well. It came to [Lotus's] Kimi [Raikkonen] in Monaco with the accident and we are very close, only five points behind him.”

Alonso believes that Vettel also has some bad luck due.

“It will come to Sebastian and in that race we need to maximize it,” said Alonso.

His record at Gilles Villeneuve is not great with only two podiums in ten attempts. A winner in 2006 driving for Renault and third place in 2010 driving for Ferrari. The Spaniard is however desperate to turn the tables around this weekend at Montreal. “In Monaco, we didn’t score so many points so we need four or five consecutive races on the podium or close to the podium to recover some of the points we have missed,” he said. “This weekend, we must score good points.”

Felipe Massa will be entering Montreal with a fresh new chassis. He had a rough race at Monaco and will be seeking for improved results this weekend. Massa’s record at Gilles Villeneuve is not impressive either, failing to achieve podium position in his last ten attempts. Currently he has 45 points to his name, 33 behind his team mate and 62 behind the table topper.

With the track at the Montreal favouring excessive tyre wear and degradation, teams with better pit stop strategy will have better chances of a podium finish. And also the track being abrasive, it offers more speed and less grip, thus burdening the tyre during cornering.

Going into the race, Mercedes with its impressive show in the last 4 races has certainly gained the upper hand for the race. McLaren has an impressive record at this venue but the season has not gone their way. So a little can be expected out of them. Red Bull’s dominance cant’ be taken out of the picture.

Ferrari had last been in the podium finish at the Montreal during the 2004 season. With 13 Grand Prix wins at this venue, the Italy car maker will hope for change of things this weekend.