Two weeks after the race in Spain, the Formula 1 family arrived in beautiful Montreal for the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix. This race is a favorite among fans, drivers, and teams alike, holding a special significance for Aston Martin's Stroll family, as both Lawrence and Lance were born and raised in this vibrant city.

THE CIRCUIT:

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a semi-permanent racetrack that incorporates a mix of public roads and parkland, located on the Île Notre-Dame in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is named after the legendary Canadian Formula 1 driver Gilles Villeneuve, who tragically died at Zolder, during qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix. The track has been a fixture on the Formula 1 calendar since 1978.

Turn 14 is dubbed the "Wall of Champions" after three former Drivers' World Champions (Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher, and Jacques Villeneuve) found the outside wall in the 1999 race.

Its total length is 4.361 kilometers (2.710 miles), making it one of the shorter tracks on the Formula 1 calendar, also, the circuit's proximity to the St. Lawrence River means that it has occasionally been affected by changing weather conditions during races, adding an extra element of unpredictability.

FRIDAY

The day started with the threat of rain for later, therefore, everyone would try to gather as much dry weather information as possible in the first practice.

FP1

The first driver to come out was the reigning World Champion Max Verstappen in his Red Bull, followed by everyone else shortly thereafter. Then, Pierre Gasly informed his team of having no gears on his Alpine. He stopped on track, not even completing his first lap, and the first Red Flag of the weekend was shown.

It was supposed to be a rather short Red Flag, but coincidentally, there also was an issue with the track’s CCTV infrastructure, hence the long time lost by the teams.

Since the track’s CCTV issue was not resolved on time, FP1’s clock kept on ticking down until time simply ran out. So, officially, Valtteri Bottas was the fastest, ahead of Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Checo Perez, and Max Verstappen.

It appears a groundhog, and there are a ‘few’ around the circuit, dismantling some of the wirings, compromising the CCTV’s signals. Odd situation to say the least…

FP2

Practice started 30 minutes earlier than originally scheduled to give teams a bit more time to prepare for the rest of the weekend due to FP1 practically not happening.

Green lights came on and everyone rushed on track as there was the threat of rain in the afternoon. Busy racetrack that was, also very dusty. You could even see some ‘rooster tails’ on the straights as the cars picked said dust from the track and into the air.

Then, with just over a third of the session over, the second Red Flag was shown as Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas stopped on the main straight with engine issues. His engine went bang, literally…  The session resumed with 53 minutes remaining…

Just 10 minutes later, Esteban Ocon was asked to stop his Alpine. The driver complied at the exit of Turn 9. It was a loss of water pressure, and another Red Flag, although it was a fairly short one and with 42 minutes still left in the session, FP2 resumed.

With just over 7 minutes left, the track was declared wet, and teams sent a few drivers on inters, but there was not a single patch of rain on the track. Those drivers returned to the pits to fit slick tires, but then, the heavens opened and rain it did.

In the end, it was Lewis Hamilton the fastest, followed by George Russell in the other Mercedes, then came Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, and Charles Leclerc, the Top Five 

SATURDAY

It was wet in Montreal and forecasted to rain all day long.

FP3

Most drivers went out to try and learn as much as possible on a very wet track as not only qualifying was going to be wet but the race as well.

Then, with just a few minutes to half time, Carlos Sainz crashed his Ferrari at Turn 1. On the replay, it appeared as though he lost the rear end while braking on the track limit paint. First Red Flag of the day.

At 13:07 local time, the session resumed, and almost every driver came out since there was some more rain expected before the end of the practice. And as predicted, the rain picked up towards the end of the session, and that was that. Max Verstappen had set the fastest lap, closely followed by Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. More than a second behind came Fernando Alonso, Kevin Magnussen, and Carlos Sainz.

QUALIFYING

As expected, it was raining, and the probability of all wet qualifying was in play.

Q1

Twenty of the best drivers in the World got ready for the first round of qualifying, and it was cold, and the track was damped, so everyone was on inters. And what a heartbreak for Zhou Guanyu as his Alfa Romeo lost power, stopping on track. The Red Flag was shown, but he managed to get it going again.

Red Flag ended at 16:10 local time, and there was already a long cue at the end of the pit lane. Everyone trying to get into Q2 on a fast-drying track.

In the end, it was Max Verstappen the fastest, and Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, Nick de Vries, Logan Sargeant, and Zhou Guanyu out of qualifying. Carlos Sainz was investigated as he impeded Tsunoda and Gasly on the final corner, both missing Q2.

Q2

Q2 started as Q1 finished with everyone on inters, but the track continued to dry up rather quickly. Then, lucky Lance Stroll had a spin on one of the tightest sectors of the track, not touching any wall, and after his 360, got back to business.

Many drivers saw the drying track as a big opportunity and gamble on slick tires, paying off for Williams and Alex Albon as he went fastest, just before it started to rain yet again.

Early on Leclerc asked for slicks, but the team said no, that they needed one timed lap as the rain might come later, but the Monegasque was right and when Ferrari decided to change to slicks it was a little too late. Out in Q2. He was accompanied by Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen, and Valtteri Bottas.

Ferrari doing a Ferrari thing, you might say…

Q3

The rain kept on coming down and there was a ten-car-long cue when the green light came on. But is wetter and wetter out on track.

And after some fantastic pieces of driving by most drivers, especially Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Hamilton, and Russell, Oscar Piastri found the barriers in the middle sector, bringing out the Red Flag.

There were 7:11 minutes left on the clock as the session resumed, but since it was raining aver more, none of the ten improved, so it was Max Verstappen on Pole Positions, 1.244 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. He was followed by Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri, and Alex Albon in the Williams.

25th Pole Position for Max Verstappen, his second at Montreal.

A few hours later the FIA informed Sainz, Stroll, Tsunoda, and Hulkenberg were penalized with a 3-Place Grid Penalty each, Sainz for impeding Gasly, Stroll for impeding Ocon, Tsunoda for impeding Hulkenberg, and Hulkenberg for ignoring Red Flag speed protocol.

SUNDAY

Contrary to the original forecast, it was sunny and dry, although some cloud cover lingered around, and being this Canada, you never know if the rain was going to come.

Out go the lights and off went Verstappen. He got a great start but so did Hamilton in P3, he got a slipstream from his old rival and managed to use it to jump Alonso into Turn 1.

On Lap 5/70, Alonso tapped the barriers on the exit of Turn 4, with sparks and a dash of flames from the rear rim of the Aston Martin. No damage done.

Then, on Lap 12/70 - Safety Car, Safety Car, George Russell crashed his Mercedes! he was limping along with a punctured right rear and possible rear wing damage. That brought the Safety Car out, and as such the leaders all pulled into the pits... Russell found his way to the pits and the team change a few bits and sent him back again.

Taking the opportunity for a free stop, many drivers went into the pits, but there was mayhem in the pit lane as both Hamilton and Norris were investigated for unsafe release.

The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz did not pit, both on medium compound tires, nor did Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, and Kevin Magnussen, all of them on hards.

Safety Car came in at the end of Lap 16/70 and racing resumed.

On Lap 23/70, Alonso was all over the back of Hamilton. Onto the back straight he was closing, closing and... pulled out and alongside. And with that Super move, he overtook the Mercedes. Hamilton tried to come back at him but couldn’t.

By Lap 26/70, Ferrari informed Leclerc that Sainz was not going to attack and to focus on closing in on Hamilton. They remained fourth and fifth.

On Lap 35/70, de Vries and Magnussen tangled, trying to overtake, side by side, they both ran straight on at Turn 3. Both of them were stuck, and they were both trying to reverse back out. They both managed to get back onto the racetrack, Magnussen was now 18th and de Vries, 19th. All that helped Russell, who thanks to some pit stops as well was suddenly up to 11th. That Mercedes sure is a strong car…

On Lap 38/70 the stewards informed that Norris had been handed a five-second time penalty for 'unsportsmanlike behavior'. Which was for backing up the pack under the Safety Car.

On Lap 39/70, Ferrari called Sainz for his first stop and onto the hards. A lap later, they did the same with Leclerc. Both had such an advantage over Perez in sixth that both kept their places with Sainz in fifth and Leclerc, in fourth.

On Lap 55/70, Russell was told by his team that his "brake wear was too high." He crawled back to the pits... There must have been some damage to the brake ducts when he hit the wall earlier on. 

During the final few laps, there was an intense battle for second place as Hamilton pursued Alonso, somewhere behind them, there was another intense battle, this was for seventh place as Alex Albon defended as best as he could manage very old tires on his Williams from Ocon, Norris, Bottas, and Stroll.

And after seventy laps, Max Verstappen wins at Canada, his 41st win in F1, equaling the great Ayrton Senna’s tally. It also was Red Bull’s 100th win. Fernando Alonso finished second, Lewis Hamilton, third. After them came the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz, Checo Perez, and a phenomenal Alexander Albon, finishing an amazing seventh for Williams Racing. He was voted a well-deserved ‘Driver of the Day’ by the f1.com fans.

QUOTES FROM THE PODIUM

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