Key events
“It was a good day but of course today is very different so we will see, there’s very low grip, so throughout the race there will be a lot of rubber on the track which will also influence the tyres quite a bit, but we will see.”
So says Max Verstappen. I’d genuinely love to know if he enjoys simply cantering away in the distance without any challenge. I’m sure winning F1 races never gets old but surely, SURELY, a contest would be more fun?
Just been told that the track is “green” which means it’ll be slippery. First corner could be tasty.
Not long to day? “We will rock you” is blasting round the track? Ya’ll ready for this?
He’s got some way to go – 62 in fact – but Max Verstappen will one day surpass Lewis Hamilton’s record of 103 F1 race wins.
Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. That’s from the man who holds the record himself:
Speaking of Ferarri… there’s a problem with Charles Leclerc’s car. There’s an issue with the wooden plank under the machine. Vasseur doesn’t seem too bothered though. Should be fine by the time they get going.
Just what is going on at Ferarri? That’s a question that has too many answers to unpack here. Not even Fred Vasseur, the team’s F1 prinicapl, can pinpoint the problem. “It’s very difficult to understand and to fix it because it’s not always the same problem,” he said after Barcelona.
What makes this conundrum more baffling is the success at Le Mans last week. How could that have gone so well when everything else is going so wrong with the flagship car?
Starting grid
Just a reminder, after all those grid penalties, how the drivers will start today’s race:
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Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
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Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
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Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
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George Russell (Mercedes)
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Nico Hulkenberg – 3 place penalty (Haas)
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Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
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Lando Norris (McLaren)
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Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
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Alex Albon (Williams)
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Charles Leclerc (Ferarri)
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Carlos Sainz – 3 place penalty (Ferarri)
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Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
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Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
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Valterri Botas (Alfa Romeo)
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Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
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Lance Stroll – 3 place penalty (Aston Martin)
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Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri)
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Logan Sargeant (Williams)
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Yuki Tsunoda – 3 place penalty (AlphaTauri)
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Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
There were four grid penalties after yesterday’s practice.
Haas driver Niko Hulkenberg should be starting on the front row but has been booted down to fifth after he was caught speeding under a red flag.
Ferarri’s Carlo Sainz drops from eighth to 11th after a problematic Q2 exit. Lance Stroll of Aston Martin starts 16th instead of 13th and AlphaTauri’s double Q1 elimination becomes more depressing as Yuki Tsunoda goes from 16th to 19th.
A win for Max Verstappen would take his career tally to 41. That would put him level with the Brazilian great Ayrton Senna.
The flying Dutchman has needed a few more starts to get there – Senna needed 162 for his haul while this is Verstappen’s 172nd race – but that would be some feat for the 25-year-old double world champion.
He’s got plenty left in the tank and will soon be hunting other titans of the sport. Alain Prost (51), Sebastian Vettel (53), Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (103) will have Verstappen in their rearview mirrors eventually.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
Hello and welcome to Max Verstappen’s victory parade in Montreal. Er, I mean the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. But really, what’s the difference?
Formula 1 is a complicated sport, one with so many moving parts and technological innovations that it can be hard keeping track of what’s what. But things get real simple when you stick an elite driver in a car that is streets ahead of the pack.
Red Bull have been unstoppable this campaign. Verstappen has won five races so far (including three on the bounce) with his teammate Sergio Perez claiming the other two.
The reigning world champion begins on pole – the 25th of his career – after beating out Niko Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso in the lashing rain. Though Hulkenberg was one of four drivers slapped with a grid penalty and will instead start in fifth.
Lewis Hamilton edged his Mercedes teammate, George Russell, to fourth – but will start third – while it was another tough day for the Ferraris. Carlos Sainz placed eighth but has been shunted back down to 11th after impeding Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
We’re not expecting much rain today but the famous Wall of Champions – a feature that makes this one of my favourite tracks on the calendar – will still pose problems for any driver who strays off his line.
The smart money is on Verstappen getting to the first corner and staying in front for the rest of the race. But perhaps this is the day he finally puts a foot wrong.
My name is Daniel and I’m excited be serve as your safety car for this one. If you want to share something with the group then please do get in touch.
