Webber losing ground at starts: Canadian GP Strategy preview

The analysis of the way the teams are likely to approach this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix shows that qualifying will have little importance and it will be all about running your fastest race, as overtaking is set to be very easy with the double DRS zone.

But analysis of the driver's start performance, a key factor in race strategy, shows that after six races Mark Webber is the worst starter in the field, having dropped 11 places so far. As his margin behind team mate Sebastian Vettel has grown this season, from hundredths of a second to tenths, he can ill afford to give away more ground to Vettel and other rivals at the start.

Williams have also had some bad starts, giving away 18 places in the first five races, but in Monaco they started to reverse that trend with Maldonado making up a place.

In terms of strategy planning, we are likely to see teams trying to save as many new sets of soft and supersoft tyres as possible in qualifying because the key this weekend will be to run your fastest race and that means spending as little time as possible on old tyres. We should see the front runners doing four stops for this reason. The soft and supersoft lasted well in Monaco but with the many traction events on the lap in Montreal, the wear will be a lot higher.

The expectation is that the supersoft will be half a second per lap faster than the soft, but for how long will it stay that much faster? That is the key question for the race

Part of the reason for this is that with two DRS zones, on the long straight to the final corner and then the pit straight as well, overtaking will be very easy. So the best strategy is to plan to do your fastest possible race.

It should be a thriller.