Of Montreal

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The first European leg of the season over and done with and it's over to north America, for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal and next weekend's United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis.

It's very much a case of the whole F1 racing machine decamping to another continent for a fortnight.

Our unscientific poll, based on reader opinion, currently has Raikkonen on favorite to win this sixth race of the season. Ferrari's number one -- and the highest paid driver on the grid -- hasn't had a win since the Australian Grand Prix at the very start of the season, and is under pressure to get his title challenge back on track. He is currently 15 points adrift of championship leaders Alonso and Hamilton.

Current odds at bookmakers Ladbrokes have Alonso (who won here last year) and Massa as joint favourites, with Raikkonen third and Hamilton fourth.

The circuit Gilles Villeneuve was named for the late Canadian Formula 1 driver (father of former F1 driver, Jacques) whose promising career was cut short by a fatal accident in qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix and who won at the circuit in 1978. It is not a favorite among F1 drivers because it is relatively unchallenging, particularly coming one race after Monaco, the most demanding of all the circuits.

Jacques Villeneuve has courted controversy before the Montreal race by deriding the driving style of young hopeful Lewis Hamilton. The promising rookie has won plaudits from veteran drivers including Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauder, but his 'choppy' driving has been denounced as dangerous by the Montreal-resident.

"When will these chopping moves stop?" Villeneuve told Autosport magazine, "Lewis is not get penalized for these things -- and his behavior off the startline has started to look the way Michael [Schumacher] used to. So far, he has been lucky, so we'll see if it carries on. He makes progressive moves that would have got some of the other drivers black-flagged."

However current drivers including Williams' Alexander Wurz and Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella have defended Hamilton, with Fisichella going so far as to accuse the Canadian of talking too readily with the media.

The drivers will all wish to avoid the so-called "wall of champions". In 1999 it was hit by three previous world champions: Jacques Villeneuve, Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher.

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