By BAR Honda
June 6 2005

Built on a man-made island situated off Montreal in the St Lawrence Seaway, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is one of the most challenging on the F1 calendar. As if its combination of fast straights, tight hairpins and intricate chicanes isn't enough, the little-used track also boasts some of the characteristics of a street venue. The barriers are close in parts and the surface tends to offer more and more grip throughout the weekend as more and more rubber is laid down.

This is the view from Takuma Sato's hot seat...

"The Canadian Grand Prix is always an exciting race due to its overtaking opportunities. Even though there are no high speed corners, the circuit is very demanding for brakes.

"Approaching turn one you have to brake quite hard, whilst carrying good speed through the corner. Your exit is very important because it determines the entry to the Senna corner, a slow, right-hander which you take in first gear. It is important to find good traction on the exit of these slow corners.

"The next chicane is the fastest on the track and is tricky because it is a blind, undulating corner that dips down away to the right, so you really need to settle the car and get it right.

"After the next long, right-hander, which is usually taken flat out in the dry, comes a short straight and a high-speed 'S' bend. You need to be tidy through the first bend here to be sure of a good exit out of turn seven so that you can build up good speed along the Place de la Concorde straight and take advantage of the overtaking opportunity at the end of it.

"You brake very heavily approaching the next chicane and carry your speed through the rhythmical bends to the next straight. There is another overtaking opportunity under the heavy braking at the end of the straight for L'Epingle - a very tight hairpin and the slowest corner of the track.

"You must be careful not to make a mistake into this tricky hairpin because you have to carry your speed through for the longest straight of the track. Down the straight you reach approximately 330kmh and use all slipstreaming opportunities. You brake heavily for the last, mid-speed chicane which is quite difficult because you carry a lot of speed into it, but when you get it right, it is a great feeling!"