Here's a BBC clip of James and Murray Walker describing the race>>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXUYnWn3_IQ
by James Hunt
Though it tended to be processional I found the Canadian Grand Prix thoroughly entertaining. While the intensity of action in the early laps made them quite obviously thrilling, the last half of the race was equally engrossing.
For Alain Prost this race must have come as something of a relief. His confident control and consistent speed in Montreal, where he enjoyed probably his smallest car advantage to date, showed us that the Prost of old is alive and well. His performance did a lot to allay the criticisms of his driving that have tended to overshadow his season so far. It was indeed fortuitous that he needed to work so hard for this win.
Ayrton Senna's opening laps were, I thought, absolutely sensational - at genius level - and at least equal to the way he simply threw himself past the opposition in the rain at Donington. Spine- tingling to see, Senna's charge from eighth on the grid to third by the second lap, was nevertheless supremely controlled. At no time did he look as if he was going to go off himself, or take anyone else off. Thereafter, his momentum hardly slackened and he was eventually able to take command of second place despite having a car inferior to his closest challengers.
The latter stages of the race, following the pit stops for fresh tyres, were best appreciated by focussing on the gaps between the leading cars. We had the spectacle of the eventual winner Prost having to work very hard to regain control of the race after his stop. Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher was charging after Senna and, though the traffic they encountered changed the interval between them from time to time, their battle for second place was riveting.
Here we had probably the greatest driver of all time being chased by the heir apparent to become the best of the next generation. Not to be outdone by Senna, Schumacher's early laps were similarly spectacular - if less visible because he was back in the pack - after his car's traction control played tricks on him at the start and he lost several places.
That these two drivers should find places to pass where others fear to tred in Montreal is no coincidence. Schumacher regained most of his lost ground in short order and by the time the tyre stops were complete he was right back in the race, ahead of Hill and only a few seconds behind Senna.
What a pity that within three laps of Schumacher finally catching Senna their conflict was resolved by the mechanical failure which put Senna out of the race. Senna will certainly rue the alternator failure which, had he been able to continue to fend off Schumacher, cost him the second place points - to add to those lost at Imola when mechanical failure also cost him a secure second place - that would have kept him ahead of Prost in the championship.
Damon Hill deserved his third place after driving a good solid race but, when he found himself right behind Senna and Schumacher after the tyre stops, I would have liked to have seen him stay with them. Earlier, Prost was able to drive away from Hill unchallenged in an identical car and this, together with Hill's inability to keep pace with Senna and Schumacher in inferior cars, raises questions about Hill's outright speed. Granted, the other three drivers are among the fastest in F1 but Hill, quite rightly, has high ambitions and will no doubt be looking to pick up his pace.
The Ferraris were best of the rest in Canada and, though Jean Alesi's car eventually failed him, Gerhard Berger was an encouraging fourth. That Ferrari is coming back on form is good news for Grand Prix racing, which sorely needs the famous Italian team to be competitive.
Less becoming to the sport is the awkward way the powers-that-be announced that fully 24 of the 25 cars on the grid in Canada were illegal, though, it was decreed, they would be allowed to race.
Although the cars in question were undoubtedly contravening long standing regulations, most had been doing so for some time. It is transparently obvious that this development is a political manouevre by the governing body to counter the intransigent and isolated postion of the McLaren and Williams teams have taken over the proposed rule changes which will ban some of the technology next year. But FISA's being forced to handle it in this very public way, on the doorstep of the IndyCar series by which F1 feels it is being bruised, is unfortunate.
Everybody accepts that rule changes are urgently needed, firstly to halt the two tier structure that has developed between the 'haves' and the 'have nots.' The success of the top teams brings them more sponsorship to further develop the technical advantage they have over the others. Meanwhile, the consequent lack of success of the less financially endowed teams leaves them struggling more to survive than to improve. Secondly, for sporting reasons, the insidious advance of computer technology needs to be reversed in all areas in which it has taken over the driver's job.
What worries me is that instead of wasting enormous amounts of energy in fighting each other over procedures and detail, FISA and the McLaren/Williams alliance should be combining all their considerable knowledge and experience on the real issue. This is to create a climate in which 30 or more cars, of which at least half should be fully competitive if driven well enough, can compete for 26 places on the starting grid at an affordable price.
At a recent meeting of the teams on this subject I understand that McLaren stated that the "name of the game" is to win races. Robin Herd, of the Larrousse team, pointed out that this was secondary to the necessity of "staying in business."...Hear, hear!
To satisfy both requirements the goal should be to create an environment similar to the halcyon days of the mid-1970's when the sport was at its most competitive and affordable.
/end
(excerpt from James Hunt The Biography by Gerald Donaldson)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/James-Hunt-Biography-Gerald-Donaldson/dp/0753518236
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