It’s been a while, eh?
It’s officially been 1,105 days since Formula 1 last raced in Canada at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. Drivers, teams, and fans alike have been desperate to get back to Canada. I’m sure the anticipation and atmosphere is going to be special, here’s hoping the forecast of heavy rain showers all weekend doesn’t dampen their spirits.
However, those of us not lucky enough to be at the track this weekend will certainly look forward to the possibility of a wet race. It was only two races ago in Monaco that a little bit of rain caused a lot of chaos. As much as I don’t enjoy sitting through an extra two hours of red flags, I do enjoy the possibility of a shaken up order when the track gets slick.
This weekend there’s a lot to look out for on track, but also a few paddock stories worth noting. After many teams and drivers have persistently complained about the severity of the bouncing in the new generation of cars, the FIA have stepped in with a technical directive to monitor the problem. If the bouncing becomes so severe that it poses a danger to the driver the FIA can step in and require the team to make changes. The teams will be hoping to avoid this reprimand as they don’t want to lose any precious downforce on their cars. Mercedes are the team with the most prominent porpoising problem, as Hamilton looking visibly fatigued and in pain after finishing the race at Baku.
Additionally, with the start of summer rolling around, it’s inevitable that we start hearing the first whispers of driver contracts and negotiations. Usually, this mostly occurs around the summer break but after Sergio Perez let it slip that he’d secured a Red Bull extension, he started a chain reaction of pundits and fans speculating about driver line ups. Oscar Piastri was a popular name at the end of last year when he became the Formula 2 World Champion and moved into the reserve driver role at Alpine Racing. He is well-backed by seemingly everyone for a seat in Formula 1, with commentators comparing him to the likes of George Russel and Charles Leclerc. The rumours have been flying that he’s linked to a seat at Williams next year. Personally, I love the unofficial driver market season and I hope this is the first of many juicy stories.
On track, there’s a lot to be excited about. The Montreal track is an interesting mix of quick direction changes set in an impressive part of the city surrounded by the river. It has produced an interesting racing history, with 6 drivers claiming their maiden win here, including Daniel Ricciardo in 2014. Could we see another driver take their first win this weekend in Canada? Carlos Sainz…I’m looking at you.
As we get further into the season, there are several teams and drivers beginning to introduce new parts to the car’s pool which incurs a penalty if it’s outside of the allocation. This weekend we already have Yuki Tsunoda starting from the back of the grid, while Charles Leclerc has taken a variety of new components but not incurred a penalty as of writing. However, now it has been confirmed that he will in fact take a new power unit this weekend, therefore dropping him down the grid with a 10-place grid penalty.
Whether it’s rain or groundhogs shaking up the race this weekend, I’m excited to see who comes out victorious in Canada.
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