After four consecutive races in Europe, Formula One flies back across the ocean for the Canadian Grand Prix, a race that will mark the half point of the 2003 season. Atlas F1's Craig Scarborough previews the eighth race of the 2003 Championship and all the teams ahead of the race

As the F1 circus heads off to Canada, the teams will find the party has already started, as the Montreal fans produce one of the warmest welcomes on the calendar. F1 Mania hits town for the race weekend and although many only have eyes for Jacques Villeneuve and his BAR team, the rest of the grid will also receive a positive response.

From the high-speed straights of Austria and the temporary circuit of Monaco, the teams are faced with a track composed of the best bits of both. Being a semi-temporary street circuit on a man-made island, the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve naturally lacks the space of a permanent track and results in a stop/start nature. However, unlike Monaco, the stops are interspersed with longer, faster straights, allowing the cars to stretch their legs and punish their brakes when the stops start again!

Mid Season

The Canadian Grand Prix will mark the critical half-way point of the season - when the opening shots of the flyaway races have been forgotten and the all-out ground war of the European season has given the strongest indication of who has the pace. Moreover, the last race at Monaco was an oddball, one-off race that bears little relation to the teams' true competitiveness.

McLaren and Kimi Raikkonen are still in a strong position on the World Championship standings, and the Finnish driver has not been losing too many points to Michael Schumacher as initially was expected. However, clearly the MP4-17D is not the car to carry the fight to Ferrari, and the new MP4-18 - although now actively testing - will not debut before the European Grand Prix at the earliest.

Michael Schumacher has so far lacked the consistency and dominance of last year, but the German nonetheless has lead the pack on pace more often than not. This F2003-GA's one lap qualifying speed cannot solely be used to compare its pace against its rivals, for Michelin have produced better race tyres this year and McLaren's race-focussed strategies has blunted their all out speed in qualifying.

Curiously, there has been only one driver in each of the top two teams that has had the edge this season - David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello have not brought themselves to the fore enough this year and have drifted in the Championship standings as a result.

Williams are coming on, improvement in pace are evident, but they still lack the consistency and reliability to fight for either of the World Championships. Each of their drivers has equal if different talents: Juan Pablo Montoya's win in Monaco was long overdue, as has been Ralf Schumacher's improved qualifying performances.

Renault has a strange mix of consistency - their pace has waned according to the circuit, but reliability has brought them a string of finishes in the points. And, just as Renault appear to have the engine performing, a management shake up has seen their key engine man, Jean-Jacques His, leave the team for Ferrari's road car division - no doubt via the race engine shop, for a debrief. Furthermore, while Fernando Alonso continues to grab headlines, Jarno Trulli maintains his focus and keeps his performances close to his teammate's.

Sauber, Jordan, BAR and Jaguar are still left with a point to prove, with doubts over the effectiveness of each of their chassis packages. Minardi and Toyota, on the other hand, leave no doubt: both have poor chassis. However, while Minardi can be forgiven to an extent, the continued lack of pace from the German-made chassis surely cannot be tolerated much further with such a gem of an engine pushing it along.

Amongst the drivers of the midfield, the new boys are yet to show enough promise to suggest a star has been born, while the more experienced drivers have kept on an even keel with perhaps a couple looking ready to retire from F1 or move on to new pastures for 2004. Perhaps the sole driver standing out has been Mark Webber - his Friday and Saturday timed laps have been a source of entertainment, but his race days provide slightly less sparkle.

Set-Up and Layout

A lap of the Montreal circuit is made up of the long straight, broken up by chicanes, with hairpins at either end, and the drivers' challenge stems from the sequence of corners on the opposite side of the straight. As with Austria, this layout rewards powerful engines and brakes, which in turn allows for overtaking.

As teams trim the cars' downforce to a minimum to maximise straight-line speed, the cars become nervous and this increases the input the drivers have in making a fast lap. The nervous cars and the precision braking could see drivers caught out in the qualifying session, and this may result in a mixed-up grid, similar to Austria's.

Furthermore, the track is hardly used and the dirty surface rubbers in over the weekend, so a tyre working well on Friday may not function so well in the race, adding more unpredictability to the weekend.

While one stop race strategies were once favoured, with long opening stints, this year could feature multi-stops with much shorter opening stints, as been the norm this year.

A Lap of the Gilles Villeneuve circuit with Alex Wurz

As you start a lap of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, you reach 185mph/297km/h in seventh gear along the short pit straight, before braking hard for the left-right weave of turns one and two. Located just before the pit lane exit, turn one is taken at 85mph/112km/h in third gear, and is immediately followed by the Coin Senna. This right-hand hairpin is negotiated at 50mph/80km/h in second gear.

You push hard on the throttle as you exit the Coin Senna for the short straight that leads to the chicane of turns three and four. You drop from 160mph/257km/h in fifth to negotiate the right-left flick at 82mph/131km/h in second, as you aggressively jump the kerbs.

Exiting turn four, you sweep flat out through the long right-hand curve of turn five, reaching 170mph/273km/h in sixth before once again braking hard for the left-right flick of turns six and seven. The first left-hander is taken at 50mph/80km/h in second with your speed increasing to some 90mph/144km/h in third for the right of turn seven. Full on the throttle on the exit as you power along the Place de la Concorde, achieving speeds of up to 195mph/318km/h in seventh gear, before dropping back through the gears for the right-left sequence of turns eight and nine.

Entering the bumpy braking zone under the bridge for turn eight, your speed decreases to 70mph/112km/h in third gear. The slightly faster turn nine follows and this can be taken at 80mph/128km/h, still in third gear. Exiting turn nine, you blast along the sweeping straight that leads to the L'Epingle hairpin. Having reached speeds of 160mph/257km/h in fifth gear, you brake hard for the 180-degrees right hander, which swings you round onto the Droit du Casino.

Accelerating along the main straight, you reach 195mph/318km/h in seventh gear as you approach the hardest braking point on the track. You pull 3.8G as you brake sharply to negotiate the final two corners that take you back to the start-finish straight. The right-left complex of bends is negotiated at 70mph/115km/h in third gear and you have to be careful not to jump the kerbs too aggressively.

Team by Team

Ferrari

Horsepower, low downforce and chassis grip are all trademarks of Ferrari and requisites of both this circuit and those where Ferrari have won at this year.

However, if a win for Michael Schumacher could all too easily be predicted, it is the relative pace of Rubens Barrichello which will set out Ferraris true speed. Barrichello has not found the last tenths in qualifying and not gained track position at the start of races, and his non-aggressive racing style saw him all too often stuck behind other drivers. All these combined belittle his and the car's potential.

Williams

If Monaco cannot be counted as a mark of their position in relation to Ferrari and McLaren, then other recent races show Williams has made some improvements to their recalcitrant chassis.

Once the contract and friendship with BMW has been mended, progress needs to continue and Montreal could give the team a real injection to their season if a strong race result can be delivered. One feels that the Williams chassis could deliver if it could maintain balance without resorting to understeer as it so often has.

As has always been the case, either of the Williams driver has the ability to achieve the result - it's who gets it together on the day that would count. Although, it has to be said, it has so far been rare for both drivers to have a good day simultaneously.

McLaren

Without the new engine from the MP4-18, McLaren are expected to struggle as they did in Austria and Imola, but strong drivers and race strategies have seen the team minimise losses to Ferrari and maintain their lead in the Championship.

Development on the current car and engine must now be exhausted, so the team will be looking to Michelin tyres for some added pace this weekend. While a win is never out of the question for McLaren, this weekend there's only a realistic chance of a podium for the driver with the right set up - which has been Kimi Raikkonen more often than not this year, as David Coulthard has struggled to make his mark.

Renault

While Monaco promised all for Renault and delivered little, if Austria can be used as an example the team's lack the power to run the wing to keep the car stable, making the team and drivers appear out of shape.

The new aero setup for Monaco will lose some of its extra add-on bits, but the team often surprise with the frequency and originality of their aero development. Points, not podiums, are predicted for Montreal and more than likely for both drivers.

Sauber

Sauber have gained nothing from their adoption of the 2002 Ferrari engine - they lack the speed and reliability that was the hallmark of the unit last year.

The car is overdue on an aero upgrade - particularly to the rear end, but this is not predicted for Montreal. Moreover, with each driver pushing the other, the potential of the chassis has been reached and the drivers appear equally evenly matched.

Jordan

As the car lacks grip even when it runs a lot of wing, the chassis balance is not expected to be good on Montreal's low downforce circuit. The Cosworth engine is neither powerful nor reliable, although the team has discarded the extra oil tank added during pre-season testing for the motor's longevity.

Giancarlo Fisichella's weekends continue to impress in their consistency and rookie Ralph Firman has started to get to grips with the car and the qualifying format.

Jaguar

Always a threat on Friday, Jaguar's weekends drift away after that. So perhaps a change in weekend strategy is needed for the obviously sound chassis to display its capabilities in the hands of Mark Webber.

Antonio Pizzonia has delivered better results of late, but he will need to stand out more if he is to be noticed above the hype surrounding Webber.

BAR

After a weekend to forget in Monaco, BAR will regroup and rebuild. Jenson Button will have a fitness test before the race weekend by the FIA's medical representative, Prof. Sid Watkins, to ensure he is up to the job after his sickening accident out of the tunnel at Monaco. Jacques Villeneuve also suffered more unreliability at Monaco - this time from the engine.

BAR are due for an aero upgrade soon, although this was not seen in testing and is not expected at Canada.

Villeneuve tends to become somewhat unstable on track at his home race, but less so than in his early F1 years. He must be desperate for a strong weekend to disprove his critics and place him back on the rumour mill for a good drive away from BAR next year.

Button has showed he is a match for Villeneuve and his confidence has risen as a result; he might bounce back at Montreal after his shunt.

Minardi

Similar story as always for Minardi - only the hope of retirements, rain or other unpredictable factors can motivate the team going into the race. There have been several chances to score points for the team this year but all have been squandered. Added sponsorship shows there is money there, but it's unlikely if will be enough to improve the car or this year.

Toyota

With an upgrade to their already powerful engine, the drivers will be hoping for the chassis to find its feet and deliver a stable aero platform over the bumps and kerbs of Montreal, as well as provide the reliability that has been lacking this year.

Olivier Panis is a motivator for those around him, but his almost predictable post pitstop retirements must be sapping his resolve.