Montreal — Max Verstappen is starting from outside the pole position for the second consecutive Formula One race. But how will this play out at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday?
Following a challenging session in the challenging conditions, George Russell unexpectedly won a pole for Mercedes his first since 2022. Russell will start from pole position at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve since he and Verstappen set identical lap times in qualifying. Verstappen completed his quickest lap first.
Just two weeks after its triumph in Monaco, Ferrari faced an unexpected blow when both of its drivers were eliminated in the second round. Carlos Sainz was unable to record a fast enough lap time, and Alex Albon of Williams eliminated Charles Leclerc in his last Q2 run. Yuki Tsunoda kept up his pressure on the leading drivers but eventually qualified in eighth place; Daniel Ricciardo, his teammate at RB, surprised everyone by starting in fifth place. Days after Red Bull announced extending its two-year contract, Sergio Pérez was eliminated in the first round of the competition, rounding out the Red Bull camp.
There are a lot of unanswered questions ahead of Sunday’s race after a weekend of unpredictable weather, with the sun appearing and disappearing behind the clouds and rain even hail pouring down at various times. Verstappen mentioned that the tires have been more difficult to grain, and that the weather is predicted to play a role.
Although Red Bull is not predicted to be the favorite on Sunday, can Russell lead Mercedes to their first victory since their debut in São Paulo in 2022?
Although Red Bull is not predicted to be the favorite on Sunday, can Russell lead Mercedes to their first victory since their debut in São Paulo in 2022?
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— Formula 1 (@F1) June 8, 2024
After breakthrough pole, can Russell end Mercedes’ win drought?
Russell’s victory at Interlagos at the end of 2022 was Mercedes’ most recent F1 race victory, which occurred more than eighteen months earlier. The gap has felt like a lifetime for a club that has been consistently dominant for nearly ten years.
Mercedes was under pressure to rectify its problematic automobile concept under these rules, which led to many false hopes and perceived breakthroughs during that period. flurry of speed that was never able to hold onto the competitiveness at the front. However, Russell’s pole on Saturday provided evidence that the team has made progress with the most recent revisions.
“It’s such a buzz, it’s been a while since we’ve experienced this feeling,” Russell said. “It’s been a little while to be able to get back in the fight, and we’ve almost felt like all that hard work hasn’t been paying off.”
It has now.
Nor was pole position something that appeared out of thin air. Throughout the last session, Mercedes maintained the lead while Lewis Hamilton and Russell finished 1-3. Russell felt that his best qualifying session was in Q3, even though he had won Q2. Even so, his lap was good enough for P1. “It bodes well for tomorrow,” Russell said.
Russell will have a difficult time controlling the lead, especially with Verstappen in the front row.“It doesn’t get much stronger,” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said of that prospect on the run to the first corner. “If (Russell) can stay in the lead, that would be good.”
For the first time in a long time, Mercedes will truly think it has a chance come race day. “We’re going to go for victory,” Russell said. “The car is genuinely really, really fast at the moment.”
Verstappen ‘not that stressed’ despite continued struggles
It’s a rare, rare thing in 2024 not to see Verstappen holding the pole position award. But despite setting the same time as Russell, the Dutchman will line up second on Sunday.
“Being on the exact same lap time, yeah, it’s great, but in hindsight, I think when you look at their pure pace, I’ll take second,” Verstappen said. “Because after Q2, I saw (Mercedes’) lap times, I was like, ‘There is no way that I can do something like that.’”
Verstappen’s weekend has not been perfect. The weather forced him to withdraw from FP1, and during FP2, an Energy Recovery System (ERS) malfunction kept him out of the race for the majority of the second half. Although Verstappen finished second on the timesheets and appeared to recover come Saturday’s practice session, he complained that his vehicle felt like it was bouncing.
“I think overall, just the weekend was again a bit messy from our side,” Verstappen said after qualifying, “just too many little issues.” The team had been working on the balance of his car, and he felt “quite happy with it.” But ultimately, “we need to be able to just have cleaner weekends without issues.”
Monaco drew attention to an RB20 design flaw, namely with regard to how the car handles bumps and curbs. This meant that Red Bull’s potential for competitiveness was uncertain going into the Canada weekend. Verstappen confirmed Saturday that they’re “still struggling with the same things” as in Monaco.
“The track layout helps compared to Monaco, where Monaco has a lot more low-speed, so it’s really important to have good ride, mechanical grip,” Verstappen explained. “Here, there’s more aero involved. Of course, there are a few places still where you need to ride curbs, or you have bumpy places, but we know those limitations, so we need to work on that. But that’s why I think, in general, to be P2 here is alright.”
It begs the question: What is possible for Verstappen? When asked what the plan will be for the grand prix, Verstappen said, “I don’t know. We’ll think about it. I’m not that stressed about it.”
Ain’t no way…#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/v3jbhY8YVq
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 8, 2024
Ferrari in recovery mode after surprise setback
How far Ferrari has come in just two weeks. The team was brought back to earth in Montreal on Saturday after Leclerc’s victory in Monaco (and Sainz’s third-place result) as neither of its cars advanced to the third round. Starting positions 11 and 12 will go to Leclerc and Sainz.
Ferrari may face challenges during the third practice session, as Leclerc noted that the vehicle seemed “very slow.” This was demonstrated during qualifying, when Leclerc acknowledged that he was taken aback by how far behind the lead they had fallen, to the extent that six teams qualified ahead of Ferrari.
“I don’t have any explanations for now,” Leclerc said. “In FP3, already we felt that something was wrong. We couldn’t see what was wrong and that was exactly the same in qualifying, where it definitely felt like something was wrong but nothing we could see was wrong.”
Leclerc found himself in a perplexing predicament as he battled to maintain grip in the initial series of tight corners on Saturday and then experienced the problem “snowball” across the remainder of the lap.
Sainz was perplexed too.“You never expect to go from fighting for a win and pole position to being out in Q2, but this is Formula One,” he said. “I’ve seen worse things happen, and we will go back and analyze why we’re struggling around here.”
This loss will be difficult to accept given the excitement around Ferrari and the rumors that it may challenge Red Bull in the championships. Sainz believed that certain elements, like as the high amounts of tire graining, may “spice up the race.” However, the truth is that he and Leclerc will be limiting their damage at a circuit where, before to the weekend, there appeared to be a chance to battle for yet another victory.
Ricciardo wants to finish the job after hitting back at Villeneuve’s criticism
Ricciardo qualified fifth in Montreal on Saturday, his highest finish of the season, and the timing of it could not have been better. It happened not just ninety minutes after his colleague Tsunoda was officially confirmed as the starting right back for 2025, but it also happened right after 1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve delivered some harsh comments on Sky Sports during their Friday practice telecast.
Villeneuve, who is not afraid to voice his opinions, questioned why Ricciardo was still competing in Formula One. “his image has kept him in F1 more than his actual results.”
This meant that Ricciardo was glad to clap back after qualifying sixth, ten years to the day after winning his first grand prix here. “I still don’t know what he said, but I heard he’s been talking s—,” Ricciardo said. “But he always does. I think he’s hit his head a few too many times; I don’t know if he plays ice hockey or something.”
Ricciardo added that he “won’t give him the time of day” before adding a “but…” and leaning into the microphones in the media pen: “All those people can suck it! I want to say more, but it’s alright. We’ll leave him behind.”
Ricciardo has not had this kind of performance or outcome this season. With the exception of his run to P4 in the Miami sprint qualifying and sprint race, he has not demonstrated much to indicate that he still possesses the advantage that made Verstappen a fierce rival at Red Bull. He has been candid about his difficulties, and following Monaco, he tried to collaborate with the group and his close friends to find out what he could be improving on. After a challenging weekend on a circuit he adores, Ricciardo referred to it as “self-therapy.”
Qualifying fifth served as a reminder of Ricciardo’s capabilities. The more important task at hand is for him to finish the job on Sunday and bring home a clean slate of points that will effectively put an end to Villeneuve’s trash talk.
Albon and Williams face another points-scoring opportunity
Williams and Albon had a memorable weekend at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix, as the Thai driver achieved his best finish of the year with a P7. Albon struggled with tire degradation during the race, but a DRS train developed behind him, and he managed to hold the lead by using a one-stop strategy.
Having qualified for qualifying and earned two points in Monaco, he is now in a position to try and repeat a point-scoring finish one year later.
The car’s weight has been one of Williams’ issues this season, but it might not be as much of an issue in Montreal.Albon said the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve “is the fourth least-sensitive to weight” and “we just need to make the most of these moments until the weight does come out of the car.”
The issue is that, regardless of Albon’s defensive strategy, Leclerc and Sainz are starting behind him, and a Ferrari moves at a far different pace than a Williams. Rain is predicted for Sunday. The weather has played a role in the weekend thus far.
“I’m hoping (for) a wet one. I don’t think we’ll keep the Ferraris behind on pure pace, so we’ll need something going on,” Albon said Saturday. “But let’s see. It’s not an easy one. Fingers crossed for some rain.”
Top photo: Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1, Chris Graythen/Getty Images via Getty Images
