Formula 1 News: 2024 Canadian GP Preview

Formula 1 returns to North America after two European rounds in Imola and Monaco. The Canadian Grand Prix  is on a semi-permanent circuit built on the man-made island of Notre-Dame, originally created for Expo ’67.

The 4.361 kilometer track is named in honor of Gilles Villeneuve and features six left hand corners and eight to the right and it has one of the lowest average speeds of the season.

History

Canada initially became part of Formula 1’s calendar in 1967, switching between Mosport Park and Mont-Tremblant, before a semi-permanent circuit was formed on the man-made Ile Notre Dame in Montreal’s Saint Lawrence River in 1978.

That inaugural round was won by Canadian icon Gilles Villeneuve, after whom the circuit was named in 1982 following his untimely death. The ‘Salut Gilles’ signature still straddles the track’s start/finish line in his honor. Montreal swiftly established itself as one of Formula 1’s most popular venues, with the vibrant city opening its arms to the championship, and last season it made a successful return after a two-year pandemic-enforced absence.

The Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve looks simple on paper, given its length is just 4.3km and it has only seven complexes of note, but is deceptively challenging. The circuit is characterized by high-speed sections linked by medium-speed chicanes and a couple of heavy braking zones, with strong traction essential out of the slow-speed hairpins. The proximity of the walls adds to the challenge for drivers, none more so than at the final chicane, the exit of which is dubbed the Wall of Champions due to the number of elite competitors who have suffered costly accidents at the complex.

Last Year’s Race

Defending World Champion Max Verstappen took the lead from pole and held it all the way to win the Canadian GP Formula 1 race in Montreal from Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen was never threatened as he opened up a comfortable gap at the front in his Red Bull Honda and then controlled it to save his tires and engine to win by over 9 seconds.

“It was not a straightforward race, the tires were not getting in their window and we were sliding around a bit. But to win today, to win the 100th Grand Prix for the team is incredible. I never expected to be on these kind of numbers myself.”

Lewis Hamilton initially took 2nd place from Alonso at the start, but Alonso out dueled him and took the spot back from his former McLaren teammate.

“We were hoping to challenge a little more the Red Bull, but we lost a place at the start and it was a battle with the Mercedes,” said Alonso. “Lewis was pushing all the race, I didn’t have a single lap I could relax. At the end, Lewis had more pace, it was a tough race. It was 70 laps of qualifying today.”

It was Verstappen’s 6th race win of the year out of 8 races, and the 41st F1 win of his career, tying him with the great Ayrton Senna, as he stretches his point lead over Sergio Perez 195 to 126 points (a 69 point gap that was 53 when the race began).

Saturday saw wet conditions. However, as the countdown for Q1 began, the rain had started to ease, and team discussions were dominated by how close the time was to dry tires.

2023 Race Results – 70 Laps

POS	DRIVER	NAT.	TEAM	BEHIND
1	Max Verstappen	NED	Oracle Red Bull Racing	+0.000s
2	Fernando Alonso	ESP	Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant	+9.570s
3	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	+14.168s
4	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	+18.648s
5	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Scuderia Ferrari	+21.540s
6	Sergio Perez	MEX	Oracle Red Bull Racing	+51.028s
7	Alex Albon	THA	Williams Racing	+60.813s
8	Esteban Ocon	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	+61.692s
9	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant	+64.402s
10	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake	+64.432s
11	Oscar Piastri	AUS	McLaren F1 Team	+65.101s
12	Pierre Gasly	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	+65.249s
13	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	+68.363s
14	Yuki Tsunoda	JPN	Scuderia AlphaTauri	+73.423s
15	Nico Hulkenberg	GER	MoneyGram Haas F1 Team	+1 Lap
16	Zhou Guanyu	CHN	Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake	+1 Lap
17	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	MoneyGram Haas F1 Team	+1 Lap
18	Nyck de Vries	NED	Scuderia AlphaTauri	+1 Lap
19	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	DNF
20	Logan Sargeant	USA	Williams Racing	DNF

Verstappen on 2024 Race

“Following a more difficult weekend in Monaco, this week I have been with the Team back at the factory and in the sim preparing for the Canadian Grand Prix. The track there is very unique, has some old school curbs and there are plenty more opportunities for overtaking than Monaco.

“It is even more important to have a good set up of the car and find a balance between the straight line speeds as well as good stability under the braking. It is always good to be back racing in Montreal; the scenery is one of a kind, the atmosphere in the city is great and the fans are very passionate.”

“Finally, it is great news that Checo has signed with the Team until 2026 and I am glad to be able to continue with the successful partnership that we have created over the past few years. We achieved a record-breaking season last year and the Team is very strong, so we are looking forward to building on this success into the next two years as well.”

Early Weather Forecast

Friday
The Canadian weekend arrives after a week off. The teams will have two hours of free practice to prepare for the entire weekend, even though the weather is not expected to be favorable. Rainfall is indeed expected throughout the day, with temperatures around 23°C.

Saturday
The situation is not expected to improve on Saturday. Temperatures will consistently be around twenty-two degrees, and rain is expected throughout the day. The weather could be decisive in qualifying on a track that does not allow much room for error.

Sunday
Temperatures will be around twenty degrees when the cars are on track for what will be the ninth race of the 2024 season. Rainfall is expected during the afternoon, and this could affect the outcome of the Grand Prix.

Weekend Schedule (Local Time – Eastern Time)

Friday, June 7

The track opens to the public early on Friday but the excitement really begins in the afternoon as the teams hit the circuit for the first day of practice sessions.

• Venue opens to the public: 8 am
• First practice session (60 mins): 1:30 to 2:30 pm
• Second practice session (60 mins): 5 to 6 pm

Saturday, June 8

Drivers will begin to put their pedals to the metal with the third practice session and determine their starting spot with qualifying sessions on Saturday.

• Venue opens to the public: 7:30 am
• Third practice session (60 mins): 12:30 to 1:30 pm
• Qualifying – Q1 / Q2 / Q3 (60 mins): 4 to 5 pm

Sunday, June 9

After two days of practice and qualifying sessions, the main event finally arrives on Sunday. And once that final lap is complete, the winner of the race will hit the podium for a well-deserved celebration.

• • Venue opens to the public: 8:30 am
  • Drivers’ parade: Noon to 12:20 pm
  • Race (70 laps or 120 mins): 2 to 4 pm

What to Expect

Race interruptions
There hasn’t been a red flag here since the infamous 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, but Safety Cars are common: there have been five since 2014. Since the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was implemented in 2015, there have been four deployments of the VSC and since then, only 2015 and 2019 have been Safety Car- or VSC-free. The 2023 race had a virtual safety car for an oil leak on Logan Sargeant’s Williams.

Overtaking
It is not possible to overtake here but the short lap and small speed differences mean gaining an advantage over the car ahead can be tricky. There have been 27 passes per race on average over the last three races – ignoring Safety Car restarts, red flag restarts and race starts – and the long straight after Turn 12 is the most popular passing zone.

Strategy
The softest tire compounds are in play this weekend. Normally, this is a one-stop race, but this year’s Canadian Grand Prix could be thrown wide open with the rain.

Unlocking the Lap

The lap begins with a short run to the hard braking zone at Turn One, a left-hander that immediately leads onto the second turn where drivers must hug the inside line for a fast exit onto the following straight. This leads onto the Turn Three-Four chicane, where plenty of curb is taken in an effort to gain time.

Turn Five is a flat-out left-hander that leads into a low-speed corner, Turn Six, where it’s important to set yourself up and accelerate out of Turn Seven and down the straight towards the Turn Eight-Nine chicane. Again, it’s worth taking plenty of curb – just avoid the looming walls on the exit.

Turn 10 is the hairpin, a hard braking zone that demands patience on the throttle before a long DRS straight. Turns 13 and 14 can make or break your lap. The key once again is to use the high Turn 13 curb as much as possible to accelerate out of Turn 14 while avoiding the infamous ‘Wall of Champions’ on the exit of this fiendishly tricky final chicane.

Fact File: Canadian Grand Prix

• The 4.361 km Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is similar in its characteristics to that of the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan. Long straights requiring lower drag are punctuated by slower speed corners such as chicanes and hairpins that require higher downforce.
• The track surface ahead of the 2024 Grand Prix has been re-laid.
• The 14 corners of the circuit comprise six left-hand and eight right-hand turns. Most of the corners are in a similar speed range, which is at the lower end of the scale compared to the rest of the circuits on the 2024 calendar.
• This will be the 43rd F1 Grand Prix to take place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Only Spa, Silverstone, Monaco, and Monza have hosted more.
• Several corners come as a double change of direction (left/right or right/left combinations) that require good responsiveness from the car. These include the combinations that comprise turns one and two, turns three and four, turns six and seven, turns eight and nine, and the final chicane at turns 13 and 14.
• The 405-meter pit lane ranks eighth in terms of length across all the circuits we race at. However, time expended during a pit stop is not especially high, as drivers are spared the inconvenience of going through the last chicane, instead entering the pit lane directly. Additionally, the pit exit feeds in at Turn two, thus drivers avoid having to negotiate the first corner too.
• The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is traditionally regarded as tough on brakes, similar to the Austrian GP. However, there are usually fewer cooling problems in Canada than in Spielberg because the lap distance is greater and there is more time for the brakes to dissipate temperature.
• The wall on the exit of the final corner has been dubbed ‘The Wall of Champions’ ever since 1999, when Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher, and Jacques Villeneuve all had their races ended at the turn through crashes.
• Along with Miami, Austria and Las Vegas, Montreal has the most heavy braking zones on the F1 calendar with three.
• Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher share the record for the most wins at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with seven.
• The circuit is located on the Île Notre-Dame, an island that hosted the World Expo in 1967. The Expo 67 American Pavilion, which became the Montreal Biosphere and is now an environmental museum, is a visible reminder of this.
• The man-made body of water outside the track – which drivers cross over to get into the paddock – was built to host the rowing and canoeing events at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games.
• This weekend will be the 53rd Canadian Grand Prix, and 43rd in Montreal.

  Lewis Hamilton has won seven times in Montreal (in 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019), including the first of his career. He holds the record jointly with Ferrari great Michael Schumacher.

  Fernando Alonso (2006), Verstappen (2022, 2023) and Daniel Ricciardo (2014) have also won in Canada.

  The circuit on the Ile Notre-Dame has 14 corners and is named after late Ferrari great Gilles Villeneuve. McLaren have won 13 times in Canada, Ferrari 12 times (11 in Montreal), with seven poles and nine fastest laps.

  The rain-hit Canadian Grand Prix of 2011 was Formula One’s longest race, lasting four hours, four minutes and 39.537 seconds. The safety car was deployed six times, another record.

  The circuit is tough on brakes and the surface has been relaid for this year.

  The wall at the exit to the final corner has been dubbed “The Wall of Champions” since 1999 when Damon Hill, Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve all crashed there.

  Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll is the sole Canadian in the race. The last Canadian to stand on a home podium was Jacques Villeneuve in 1996.

  CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD

  Verstappen has led the championship for a record 47 successive races dating back to Spain in May 2022 and arrives in Montreal 31 points clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

  Red Bull are 24 points clear of Ferrari.

  WINS

  Verstappen has won five of eight races this season, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz triumphant in Melbourne, McLaren’s Lando Norris in Miami and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in Monaco.

  Ferrari are the only team to have had two winning drivers this season.

  Hamilton has a record 103 career victories from 340 starts. He has now gone 53 races without a win, a run dating back to 2021.

  Red Bull won 21 of 22 races last year, with Verstappen victorious in a record 19, and have won 36 of the last 41.

  The team have won 118 races and are fourth in the all-time list of winners. Ferrari lead with 245, McLaren have 184 and Mercedes 125.

  Verstappen has won 59 grands prix and is third on the all-time list. Michael Schumacher is second on 91.

  POLE POSITION

  Hamilton has a record 104 career poles, his most recent in Hungary last year.

  Verstappen took the first seven poles of the season, equalling Alain Prost’s 1993 record, and eight in a row including the last race of 2023 – equalling Ayrton Senna’s 1988-89 record.

  Leclerc ended that run with pole in Monaco.

  PODIUMS

  Verstappen has 104 career podiums, Hamilton 197.

  The Red Bull driver set a record of 21 podiums in a season last year but Michael Schumacher remains the only driver to have stood on the podium in every race of a season (2002).

  Verstappen has been on the podium six times in eight races this season.

  MILESTONE

  Verstappen is chasing his third Canadian GP win in a row.

  The race marks 10 years since Ricciardo’s first Formula One win at the circuit in 2014.

Pirelli Tires

The Canadian Grand Prix means a change of continent but it’s a case of status quo when it comes to tire compound choice for the ninth round of the season, because the race in Montreal will be the third in a row to feature the three softest compounds in the 2024 range, namely the C3 as Hard, C4 as Medium and C5 as Soft and also the trio’s second consecutive appearance at the Canadian track, a semi-permanent circuit built on the man-made island of Notre-Dame, originally created for Expo ’67.

The 4.361 kilometer track is named in honor of Gilles Villeneuve and features six left hand corners and eight to the right and it has one of the lowest average speeds of the season. Stability under braking and traction coming out of the chicanes and the slowest corners, which include the hairpin leading onto a very long straight, are the keys to being competitive, as is a car that can change direction quickly. Unlike the previous stop on the calendar in Monaco, overtaking is possible here, especially at the end of the straight leading to the final chicane, the exit to which features the “Wall of Champions,” thus named after three world champions, Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, all ended their races there in 1999, crashing into the wall on the outside of the turn.

The entire track has been resurfaced for this year and the curbs have been replaced. On paper, the track’s existing characteristics of low abrasiveness and therefore reduced grip should remain the same, but the real indications will have to wait until the Pirelli engineers carry out their first measurement tests on Wednesday. For most of the year, the track is only used by people on foot or cyclists and so lap times generally drop significantly as the cars rubber-in the surface. Graining might also occur, especially on Friday and particularly with the softer compounds. The tires are subjected to very low lateral forces, although the longitudinal ones are greater, but overall, Montreal is one of the easiest tracks of the season on tires.

While we’re not looking at Monaco levels of proximity, here in Montreal, setting a quick time in qualifying involves getting very close to the barriers and walls, while making best use of the curbs, so it’s also important for the driver to do as many laps as possible to gain confidence. Obviously, the slightest error is severely punished. That’s especially the case this year at the turn 4/5 chicane, where the old tarmac run-off area has been replaced with grass.

In last year’s race, all three dry compounds came into play with a mix of strategies with some drivers, including the three who finished on the podium, going for a two-stop while others pitted just the once, trying to lengthen the opening stint as much as possible. One has to take into consideration that the Safety Car is a frequent visitor and that a longer first stint therefore offers the best chance of minimizing time lost changing tires.

The weather, always very changeable in June, generally plays its part in the Quebec event. A cold, rainy, windy day, can be followed by sunshine and warmth, but temperatures can even vary considerably in the space of one day.