Formula 2012 Seventh Heaven: The Contenders

Mark Webber’s victory on the streets of Monte Carlo marked a truly momentous occasion in F1 history. Never in the past had six different drivers won the opening six races of a F1 season. Who would have predicted a certain Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado to romp home Barcelona in an unheralded but resurgent Williams. Who would have entertained the thought of Fernando Alonso persevering an out-of-breath prancing horse to a race win in Malaysia. Very few would have put their money on Nico Rosberg to take his underachieving Mercedes to the first position in Shanghai. But such has been the story of the 2012 season thus far.

The drivers’ line-up this year has been a perfect combination of youth and experience. The seasoned campaigners include the likes of Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso etc. and the young minds of Maldonado, Perez, and Romain Grosjean etc. have together given motorsports fans six stunning race weekends full of breathtaking maneuvers, wheel-to-wheel racing, sprinkled with the odd controversies and race accidents. But the real question doing the rounds in F1 paddocks and media across the world is whether Canada will see a seventh different driver take the chequered flag. We look at the contenders for the race who are capable of making it a scintillating seven out of seven for the season.

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton is a phenomenon waiting to recur. The 2008 world champion’s genius has been completely overshadowed by that of Sebastien Vettel in the last 2 seasons, despite Hamilton showing patches of brilliance in the McLaren cockpit. As far as this season is concerned, luck seems to have deserted the Englishman. Inspite of qualifying in P1 in the opening two rounds, Hamilton’s best finish on Sunday has been P3, a result he obtained in all of the opening 3 races. What followed were a series of disasters, a P2 grid position in Bahrain was undone by a couple of costly errors by his crew during pitstops. In the next race, he had to start from the back of the grid despite taking pole position in qualifying.

The island circuit has been a personal favorite for Hamilton ever since he burst onto the F1 scene. It was witness to Lewis’s first every F1 race victory in 2007, which he followed up with a pole in ’08 and another win in ’10. It’ll not be a surprise if he breaks his ’12 deadlock in Montreal in what will be his first race triumph since the Abu Dhabi GP last season. Watch out for his McLaren over the course of the weekend.

Michael Schumacher

Having turned back the clock in Monaco a couple of weeks ago, the German legend will be hoping to carry on the momentum to a circuit which he had made his own during his golden years in Formula One. A vintage drive saw Schumi grab pole out of nowhere in Monte Carlo, only to be penalized for a racing error in the previous race. It was a disappointing race for Schumacher in the end and his humungous fan-base was left wondering what could have been.

Schumacher absolutely adores this track, his record seven wins here being a perfect testament. Although he is languishing in P18 in the drivers’ table, a tenth place finish being his best result so far in a season which includes four retirements out of six races. But given his track record and glimpses of class in Monaco, the German should not be taken lightly come this weekend.

Kimi Raikkonen

When Kimi announced his decision to return to F1 with Lotus this season, fans across the world rejoiced the Iceman’s arrival on a stage which he had conquered ever so magnificently back in 2007 with Ferrari. Kimi’s comeback has been nothing short of exemplary given how easily he was written off and likened to Schumacher’s failed return to the sport. After six races, the Iceman sits comfortably in sixth position with 51 championship points to his name.

Lotus’ performances, their durability combined with sheer pace, has been a little beyond everybody’s expectations. Kimi produced some magic moments in Bahrain which coupled with a clever team strategy, earned him his first podium finish of the calendar year. Another podium position followed in Spain and the Iceman’s first victory since his return is now only a matter of time.

A winner in Canada in’05, Kimi will love to open his account at the picturesque circuit in Quebec and reinstate his status of being one of the most talented racers to have ever graced Formula One.

Romain Grosjean

While most F1 fans would be surprised at this Swiss driver’s inclusion among the likes of Raikkonen and Hamilton, but such has been the fairy-tale story of Grosjean so far this season. He might not have completed all the races, but Romain’s genius with the Lotus-Renault has been one of the most fascinating revelations of the season so far.

In the three races he finished, Grosjean’s worst performance has been a sixth-placed result. In spite of his failures in half the races, he occupies eighth position in the drivers’ table with 35 points to show for. His brilliant run in Bahrain earned Lotus a double podium and appreciation and eyebrows from all quarters of F1 paddocks. If Grosjean can get more consistency into his driving, he’ll be a force to reckon with all season. For Canada, let’s hope he can pull yet another rabbit out of the hat.