As always, thank you for your continued support. It’s hard to believe that the Monaco Grand Prix has come and gone, signaling the end of the first third of the 2008 F1 season. The first race of the second third of the season is the only race in North America this year–the Canadian Grand Prix. Here is my report from the Canadian Grand Prix, a knock–down–drag–out affair again this year.

The specification for the TF108 in Montreal was the same as that used at Paul Ricard in mid–May, but the rain prevented full testing. Rain during Friday’s practice affected team preparations, but the team was able to collect valuable data.

Having fixed the issues from last year, we head to Canada with all the right measures in place

While the Monaco Grand Prix marked our lowest finish this season, the race result was a reflection of failed strategy. Fretting too much about the past won’t help the future, so we put the past behind, and came to the Canadian GP with a fresh outlook. The car we brought to Montreal is the same specification and chassis we tested on the final day at Paul Ricard in mid-May. We also brought a mid– to low–downforce spec wing for the race, as well as a mid–downforce spec wing providing some extra downforce. We planned to test both before making a final decision on our race package.

At last year’s Canadian GP, we repeatedly damaged our uprights on the curbs during practice, limiting what the drivers could do on the course. From what we learned then, we reinforced the suspension of the TF108. In addition, the circuit officials changed the shape of the inside drop off in Turn 8 (where we experienced trouble last year) to the same rounded form used in the final corner. This year we went into the first day of practice confident that we would be problem-free.

In addition to changes to aerodynamic specifications, the braking system was also improved for the Canadian GP. Montreal is a circuit that is known for being hard on brakes, featuring high–speed sections followed by rapid deceleration.

Some unfinished business due to the weather, but good results on the first day of practice

Affected by the rain from earlier in the morning, Friday’s first practice started under wet conditions, and only allowed us to finish two–thirds of the program we had planned for the first day. Timo (Glock) came into contact with the wall on the outside of Turn 4 during the late stages of the second practice session. Our practice was basically over at that point, which left us without a chance to test the super–soft tire compound on Friday.

The drivers complained about a lack of grip and other concerns, but this type of feedback is common on a slick track like Montreal. Our proof was the fact that many other drivers were also fighting the slippery circuit.

Mechanically, we tested different downforce levels for each driver on Friday, and while some issues remained, we were able to collect valuable data. Being one of the most important factors in determining setup for the next two days, we felt that being able to accomplish this much under such difficult circumstances was a significant victory for the team. We also confirmed that we would be able to effectively use the newly configured super–soft compound in Montreal, which would give us more strategy options.

Breakdown in the track asphalt and surface temperature increases throughout the weekend made it difficult to find the right car settings. However, the race strategy worked splendidly, and the drivers were able to avoid the troubles experienced by the top teams.

A less–than–satisfying result from an inability to accurately read changing track conditions

During Saturday morning’s free practice, both drivers voiced concerns about whether we would be able to draw out the performance of the tires on a short one–lap attack. Based on this feedback, we planned to run two or three consecutive attack laps during qualifying. However, we still weren’t able to put together a single solid attack lap. Surprisingly, we were not able to reach the top 10 during Q2 in order to move on to Q3.

We were able to see solid performance with a certain level of fuel in the cars during Friday practice, so we weren’t expecting qualifying to turn out like it did. I think that not being able to identify the track conditions as they changed dramatically from Saturday morning was the main factor behind our qualifying performance.

However, taking a good look at the results showed that Timo was within 1/100 of a second of the P10 driver, and Jarno (Trulli) at P14 was only about three–tenths back. From this perspective, we didn’t approach the race with excessive pessimism.

The Canadian GP in particular tends to be a fairly rough race, and starting P11 and back meant that we would be able to freely select our fuel load at the start of the race. This year’s super–soft compound is superior to last year’s–a fact allowing us to consider a one–stop strategy for our drivers.

Timo finished with a personal–best P4, and Jarno finished P6. This marked the first double–points finish for Panasonic Toyota Racing since the 2006 Japanese GP. This race demonstrated the overall growth of the team as a unit.

A successful one-stop strategy leads to a season–first double-points finish

Given our starting positions, and the fact that the safety car is a generally recurring theme for the typical Canadian GP, we decided to use a one–stop strategy for the race. Since chassis weight doesn’t affect performance much in Montreal, we knew we would be able to start with a heavy fuel load, and then switch to a two–stop strategy if necessary. On the other hand, starting the race with a two–stop plan would prevent us from going back to a one–stop strategy. In that sense, we determined that a one–stop strategy for the race in Montreal would not be overly risky.

The biggest question was tire selection at the start of the race. Normally, the theory is to start with the more stable soft tire. But we figured that the cars would be bunched together for some time after the start of the race; under these conditions we felt that the super–soft tires might not experience the graining to which they are susceptible. We took a calculated risk and started our drivers on the super–soft compound.

As expected, the safety car came out, after which the two–stop teams out in front came into the pits. We took advantage of that development, gaining position on track. These circumstances also turned out well for tire management.

To be sure, our race results owed something to the confusion among the top teams during the race. This season, our team had usually been the one inextricably buried in confusion during the race. In this race, both drivers and staff performed flawlessly from beginning to end. I think we saw the whole team grow today as a unit, making this a particularly rewarding grand prix.

Adding eight points to our championship efforts has taken us to fifth in the Constructors’ Championship. But we can’t be satisfied if we want to catch up to the top teams. We are going to keep up the momentum as we head to the French Grand Prix next, and we ask for your continued support.