Sure, a defending car will lap slower than a lonely car. Makes complete sense. But that in and of itself is not enough to conclude that Bernoldi was to be shown the blue flag. Like I said: I believe (read: seem to recall) that a technical defect or a tyre situation is required to warrant that for cars in the same lap.
Having said that, I’m going to have to disagree with your assessment of the Arrows drivers. Jos is a quicker driver than Bernoldi. His race lap times are quicker in most cases. The problem is that Jos isn’t a very good qualifier. He’s usually next to Bernoldi, or somewhat behind him. But in his first few race laps, he always overtakes a few people. And I think that’s very admirable, and very rare, too, that far back in the field.
“Starting” is as much a talent as overtaking is. There are only a handful of drivers that can truly start better than the rest. Villeneuve, Montoya, Ralf Schumacher, Michael Schumacher (on a good day - he fucks up the odd start too!), and, IMHO, Verstappen.
Yes, discussing F1 is fun. 
Yo, Elvis!
Did you happen to catch Verstappens start today? The lad went up from 13th to 7th in three corners! He even ran 4th for a bit, when his #$%&^%^ team had to call him into the Pit (under a full safety) by using the PIT BOARD, because the on-board radio was failing. Talk about an amateur move. Then, 4 laps before the flag, Jos crashed out while running a well-deserved 6th. His left front brake disk exploded, and all the power went to the back, locking it up and tossing him into the gravel. He’s been bitching to the team about his easily overheated brakes for MONTHS now.
Again, a great drive that didn’t land him the points he deserved.
Ralf Schumacher ruled the race, and Hakkinen got the easiest third spot ever. Raikkonen and Alesi impressed too with inspired drives. Great race!
(Sorry for the continuous F1 hijack - I figured Elvis would want to read this. Maybe we ought to start an F1-discussion thread in MPSIMS. Whaddaya reckon, Elvis et al?)
Yep, no argument, Verstappen ran well in Montreal, and eased up almost enough to make sure he finished. Great race as always, even if there’s always a morbid undercurrent - who’s gonna crash next? what part is gonna break on whose car next? are there gonna be enough finishers to get all the points? If only the Arrows mechanics had the wit to pull that hamburger wrapper out of Bernoldi’s radiator, he might have finished too.
Oh, speaking of Bernoldi, the story about Haug and Dennis going to see him after Monaco turns out to have been a lie by Tom Walkinshaw.
But despite all that, NOBODY hit the “Bienvenue au Quebec” sign in the race this time (I have some closeup pix of Schumacher’s tire marks there from the 1999 race, taken after the track was opened to spectators). There WASN’T a pileup at the start when the pack funneled into the Senna curve. Kind of disappointing in a way.
The Speedvision announcers couldn’t help pointing out that Michael’s hug of Ralf seemed a little less warm than in Imola, and they’ll probably get less warm than that every time Ralf wins. We’ll see in Spa, Monza, and Indy, where the Williams horses will make as much difference as in Montreal - look for Michael and DC to win the races on the “typical” tracks the rest of the schedule.
Dammit, gotta get back to waking at 7AM every other weekend for the rest of the European schedule.
See you in MPSIMS.
Good analysis, Not-So-Dead-Rock-Icon.
I too was amazed by the lack of crashes coming onto the main straight. Namely: zero. Must be a novelty of some sort. People ALWAYS crash there. In 1999, it was Schumacher, Villeneuve, AND Hill.
Another thing: JPM was an idiot when he lost his Williams (it was clear that both Williamses (?) were handling beautifully), but Barrichello was an even bigger fool for letting is surprise him. “Ooooh, but I lost my traction control!”. Big deal, Rubinho. You never HAD TC until 4 races ago. Poor excuse.
Did you see the carbon dust coming from Verstappens brakes? They just HAD to explode at one point. Damn, damn, damn. Oh well, there’s a few fast tracks left. He might do well at Indy or Monza. We’ll see.
(I’ll open an MPSIMS F1 debate thread somewhere prior to the next GP. How’s that?)