[Official] Canada - Grand Prix weekend thread

[Born Racer]

If anyone would like to cobble together some kind of preview, please feel free to, as I'm afraid I don't have enough time to put one together. Thanks! Otherwise, this can serve as the Grand Prix weekend thread.

[S griffin]

That explains why there's a shorter title than usual! Anyway there is rain expected this weekend, could be the best chance for the Red Bull run to come to an end if that is the case

[chillibowl]

indeed, looks like the wet stuff is coming!

not the official F1 weather service but as we are in Canada, here is a link to our national weather service provided by Environment Canada!

https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/qc-147_metric_e.html

also looks like cooler temps overall with only a high of 19c predicted for Sunday.

how that relates to their available tire selections...



looks like they are on the softer end of the spectrum which hopefully means they will better suited to the cooler temps/easier to get heat into them?

perhaps this will mean a greater variety of strategy options and with the possibility of rain will help create situations where fortune favours the bold!

BR always has the history section unfortunately all i've got is my history here which includes a 2006 visit when Alonso scored his last Canadian GP win.

many drinks were had by us, some nice back and forth between Alonso and Kimi who then had a bad stop and ultimately got passed by Michael on the last lap leaving us with an epic podium finish of Alonso, Schumi, and Kimi in 3rd.

as we walked towards the podium post race, we all marveled at the amount of marbles on the track which buddy excitedly collected as souvenirs until he realized he was basically just collecting track side garbage and then proceeded to throw them at us for laughing at him! on our way off the island, i scored myself a wonderful Mild Seven Renault polo (one of my all time favorite liveries) on sale which i still have but sadly no longer fits very well anymore!

anyways, here's to Alonso wining here again after 17 years!

[S griffin]

I can just imagine the Strolls taking Alonso to all the best pubs in Montreal!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Lewis has won here 7 times, including his very first F1 win in 2007, so I think Mercedes will be the team to watch after an excellent performance in Spain.

[Lancsbreaker]

Gasly brings first practice to an early halt with either a driveshaft or clutch issue stranding the Alpine....red flag.

[Lancsbreaker]

25 minutes in and still red flag - apparently power issues meaning no track CCTV available to FIA........

[Lancsbreaker]

Still no go: Latest from FIA: "The delay will be longer as the CCTV is not synced correctly and until the issue has been fixed we cannot run on track. This system is a local installation and they are continuing to work to resolve the problem. The clock will continue to run down on FP1 and the session won’t be extended as there must be 2.5hrs between FP1 and FP2. We are looking at options to extend FP2."

[Lancsbreaker]

Confirmation with 9 minutes to go that the session won't be resumed - FP2 will be extended by 30 minutes.....


So only 12 times on the board, Bottas first on mediums, from Stroll, Alonso, Perez and Verstappen all on soft. No times for the Mercs......

[fergus_r]

What are the chances that the same people crying out for less track time were also moaning about what happened in FP1?

Anyway, the rain at the end of the extended FP2 was biblical. Current forecast suggests heavy rain all day today - if that's the case, I can't imagine there will be much running. Looking dry and sunny tomorrow (at the moment!)

[Sodemo]

This trio on Sky are pretty awkward, Button, Patrick and the blonde presenter, devoid of chemistry.

[Lancsbreaker]

Coming to the end of FP3 and the rain has come down heavily, after a largely dry but damp session, with everyone on Intermediates.. Verstappen tops the list ahead of Leclerc, Alonso, Magnusson and Sainz (who lost a large chunk of the session after knocking the front end off the car). Gasly, Stroll, Tsunoda, Bottas and Hamilton round out the top ten.


K Mag to Hamilton covered by under 0.4 of a second.....but Verstappen 1.9 ahead of Hamilton, with Leclerc just under 0.3 behind him - then a further second to Alonso. Perez back in 17th, IIRC.



Speculation that if the weather doesn't improve, Qualy could be at risk....

[bjohnsonsmith]

Q1 red flagged as Zhou Guanyu stops on the track, but eventually gets under way.

[broadrun96]

Sainz needs a weekend off, he's been in the way and turned at cars at least 5 times this weekend already. And that last one at the end of Q1 with Gasly coming on a flyer was garbage

[bjohnsonsmith]

Stroll nearly binning it at his home GP. It doesn't look like he's having a good time of it.

[broadrun96]

Haas is in the pits doing a rain dance right now. RC had to have seen him on track and let him finish the lap, it was his lap time posted and then red flag right after. Alonso was tracking faster but 5-6 seconds down the track

That new wall at the first chicane seems ridiculous, if they were gonna add the wall they needed to cut the grass strip back. Making drivers go against the track to get back on is just stupid stupid.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Another red flag as Oscar Piastri goes rear end first into the barrier.

[broadrun96]

The Haas guys are trying so hard not to celebrate their best starting spot yet with 2:30 to go but it's hard to resist with everyone in the garage now

[Greem]

I'm so so happy to see Hulkenberg bag second place for Haas. Right tyres, right time, give their strategists a pay rise!

Verstappen though. I really don't want to admit this to myself but the combination of him and that car is about as closer to perfect as possible under the current regs.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

This trio on Sky are pretty awkward, Button, Patrick and the blonde presenter, devoid of chemistry.

I actually thought they were great in FP3 - proves that we're all a bit different. Really liked their chatty, more relaxed coverage of a practice session - or maybe it was just a relief to not have the "squeaky shrieker" (Croft) rabbiting on.

Enjoyed qual today - particularly Q2 where that Williams / Albon gamble really paid off, that was great to see.

Grid being the way it is could make for some pretty interesting early laps in the race.

Also, really nice to see the Hulk on the front row, with number 27 on his car at this circuit.

[Richard C]

Ran across an interesting F1 video that has some Canada content. Tool nerds like myself might recognize the YT channel!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOJydyfPQ3w

Richard

[chavez]

Haas celebration short lived.

Hulk penalised for infraction under the red flag.

Can Alonso lead into the first corner?

[GT6]

It is never over until they annouce the penalties. what a silly way to run a sport

[S griffin]

Wet quali certainly spiced things, but it seems nothing can get Max off pole. Great quali by the Hulk, shame he then got that penalty. At least he's still in the top 5. Fernando on the front row, can he beat Max into the first corner? Merc looking good in 3rd and 4th. Good to see both McLarens in the top 10. Great job by Albon there

Terrible session for Ferrari. Should have banked a lap on slicks for Leclerc. Sainz had a close call with Gasly there, no surprise he got a penalty. Checo must be wondering if he can get any worse for him atm. Not a great home GP for Stroll so far, but he usually goes well here in the race, so it's not all doom and gloom

Anyway let's see what the weather does today before we speculate further

[bjohnsonsmith]

That was a very clean start.