Рубрика: Autosport News

Canadian GP promoter promises «serious» contractor review following F1 issues

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F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali addressed complaints raised by the teams over flooded hospitality units and leaking roofs during the rain-hit race.

Team personnel, guests and media were also dismayed at the lack of suitable parking provisions, with only a muddy track linking an overflow car park to the paddock.

Domenicali apologised to team principals at a meeting at the track on Saturday morning for the working conditions, which are at odds with their ambitions for the race.

A statement from the organisers sent to Autosport said: “Regarding [the car park] and egress, we sincerely apologised and understand the frustration that this has caused, we acknowledge that what transpired is unacceptable and put in mitigation measures for the Sunday including an alternative route.

“We are well aware that leaky tents and media booths are not up to the standard we wish to uphold and will be having serious follow-ups with the third parties involved.”

The promoter also responded after a breakdown in communication left some race fans unable to enter the track on Friday.

A number of spectators were wrongly told that both practice sessions had been cancelled due to the heavy rain.

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

The promoter blamed the local transport authority Société de transport de Montréal [STM] for the incorrect information.

A statement added: “Regarding the Friday pre-FP1 storm, there was never any communication from the promoter that the sessions were cancelled.

“We communicated to fans in grandstands to evacuate the grandstands due to weather but asked those in suites or permanent buildings to stay put.

“We temporarily stopped fans from entering the circuit for security reasons as they were safer in the subway, their cars, or the casino.

“We understood later in the day that the public transit authority, the STM took it upon themselves to announce a cancellation without our knowledge or consent.

“As soon as the weather front had passed, and it was safe to do so we allowed fans back into the grandstands and back on-site.”

The Canadian Grand Prix has a deal to remain on the calendar until 2031 and, this year, enjoyed a record attendance of 350,000 spectators over the three days.



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Mercedes set for Spanish GP floor upgrade as new F1 front wing delivers hope

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The German manufacturer delivered its most competitive weekend of the year in Montreal last weekend as George Russell took pole position and came home third.

But the result was probably not as good as the team could have hoped for, with the pace of its W15 having been super strong at various points of the weekend.

A new front wing that Mercedes introduced to help complement a recent upgrade appears to have transformed the balance characteristics of its car and suggested that the squad had finally started to unlock the secrets of the current ground effect machinery.

Watch: Canadian GP Race Review — Wet and Wild Vs Cool and Calm

With plans for more developments including a new floor set for the next race in Spain, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted there was a sense that his squad was finally moving away from the difficulties it had in the past of improvement not delivering what had been hoped for.

“I think definitely, since Imola, we’ve taken the right steps and put parts on the car that are working, something that we were struggling in the past couple of years,” he said.

“Now directionally we seem to be adding performance every weekend and we have new stuff coming also, new parts coming in Barcelona that should help us. So I would very much hope that we can continue this positive trajectory.”

While much of the focus of the step forward that Mercedes has made has surrounded a new philosophy of front wing, Wolff says that the improvements to the car are much more involved than that.

Mercedes W15 nose and front wing detail

Mercedes W15 nose and front wing detail

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

He adds the progress has been helped by a raft of changes and an improved understanding of flow structures, that is helping it unlock what is needed.

“Sometimes when you bring a highly-visible part like a bodywork or front wing, this is pretty much the talk of what has changed the performance,” he said.

“But the truth is we have, over the last three races, brought so many new parts, visible and invisible for the eye, that have contributed milliseconds to more performance.

“I think this is where those marginal gains then have that positive effect. That was just a huge effort of the factory, so I think the wheel has started to get some real motion on it.”

Russell’s pace at times during the Canadian GP put him on a par with Red Bull and McLaren for the win, but a couple of mistakes proved costly in dropping him back.

While there was a sense of disappointment about the final result, with both Mercedes drivers unhappy about their own performances, Wolff said the negative sentiments were actually a sign of how far the team had come.

“I think when you finish third and fourth where we have been coming from, then it’s a positive race,” he said. “Three and four is much better than we had previously in the last few races. So that’s good.

“But I think both drivers saw that there was more because we could have maybe gained a position or two, and that’s why there is a kind of negative sentiment that prevails.

“But if you would have given them third and fourth before the weekend, probably, they would have taken it.»

Asked after the race if he felt Mercedes had a car to win, Wolff said: “Maybe for a few minutes, we dreamt about it, but in reality, probably not.”



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The story behind Ocon’s Canadian GP Alpine F1 outburst

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Having given up a position late on to team-mate Pierre Gasly to allow him to try to overtake Daniel Ricciardo ahead, Ocon felt massively let down when the pledge to swap positions back if it failed did not happen.

As a consequence, Ocon was livid and lambasted his team’s decision in the media pen straight after the chequered flag.

«No, it is unexplainable, that one,” he said.

«I’ve always respected the instructions that I’ve been given, as a driver, and I’ve done that once more. I’m the nice guy!

«I’ve done my part of the job – the team hasn’t, honestly. It is not fair, on that race. So, I’m very frustrated with how things have been played out. I guess there are a lot of reasons, so we’ll let the benefit of the doubt go on.»

But while Ocon may have felt that things were unfair on him, details that later emerged showed why Alpine had eventually decided against that final swap back.

How it played out on track

In the last 25 laps of the Montreal race – in which Alpine achieved its first double points finish of the season – Gasly was running in tenth behind Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo but closing rapidly on them.

Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524

Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

However, what was not clear from the outside was that Ocon had been dealing with some energy management issues that were holding back his pace and risked him falling back even more.

Gasly had been hassling tenth-placed Daniel Ricciardo for several laps when Yuki Tsunoda ahead of them spun out of the points and the Australian subsequently overtook Ocon for eighth.

Realising Ocon’s power unit problems would not allow him to get back past Ricciardo, Alpine requested Ocon to let Gasly through on lap 68 of 70.

Without initially explaining its reason why, Ocon was initially resistant and asked the question, to which his race engineer Josh Peckett revealed that the goal was for Gasly to attack Ricciardo.

«Forget it!» Ocon replied, in reference to the pace of the RB.

Peckett insisted, so Ocon asked for assurances that he would be given the place back if Gasly did not manage to overtake the RB.

He eventually gave in: «Okay, I let him by, but make what’s right at the end.»

Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524

Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Ocon let his team-mate through between Turns 7 and 8 on lap 69, but there wasn’t enough time for Gasly to grab eighth place from Ricciardo.

Towards the end of the final lap, Ocon expected Gasly to slow down and let him back through – but that moment did not come.

Ocon was informed before the last chicane on the final lap: «Esteban, the cars are not swapping places. Push to the end, please.»

It was that call that angered Ocon, who obviously felt he had been let down after playing his part to help Gasly and the team.

But the team’s call in not swapping the positions back was triggered by the fact that Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg was so close to Ocon that there had been a danger of the German gaining a place if the two Alpine cars had tried to engineer a swap late on and messed it up.

Team first view

Speaking to Autosport about the events, Alpine team principal Bruno Famin said he was well aware that swapping positions like this was never easy. So that was why he was not worried by how things played out, either over team radio or in media comments afterwards.

“There’s no real friction,” he said. “They are drivers, and when you ask one driver, whoever it is, to give his position to his team-mate, generally it’s not so easy.

Bruno Famin, Team Principal, Alpine F1 Team

Bruno Famin, Team Principal, Alpine F1 Team

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

 “But we did it. We did it for the sake of the team on purpose. I think Esteban was fighting a bit with the energy management, consuming quite a lot of energy and then we had two Haas [cars] on the back.

“Esteban was slowing everybody, it was quite obvious on TV, and the risk was to have the two Haas cars passing us. And that’s why we gave that instruction.

“They are saying things at the end of the race, but the day after we’re on a different mind.”

The Canada team order drama probably had greater significance because of all that happened in Monaco, but it is not the first time that such a situation has proved troublesome for Alpine – with a position swap at last year’s Japanese Grand Prix having triggered some anger.

But Famin was clear that his team’s focus was on what was best for the squad, not what was ideal for each driver.

“They’re fighting for their own result, career,” he said. “But at Alpine, it’s very clear: there’s only one goal: it is the team interest first.”

Quotes from Jake Boxall-Legge



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McLaren blew Canada F1 win with «crucial» slick tyre call

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While McLaren had lost the lead to Verstappen at the first safety car stop for Logan Sargeant’s stranded Williams, Horner does not think that was the key moment that opened the door for his team’s victory.

Instead, he suggests that the “crucial” decision came later in the race when drivers started moving across to the slicks and Norris elected to run longer than everyone else.

With the slicks taking a while to come up to temperature, Norris’s decision appeared to be inspired as his inters remained faster.

But his call to stick it out for two further laps did not quite work out, even though he had a 20-second advantage over Verstappen at the time.

Although he was able to emerge from the pits marginally in front of Verstappen, the exit blended on to a damp part of the track and he could not get traction – which allowed his rival running on the dry line to pass him for the lead.

Horner reckoned that things would have been different if Norris had pitted just one lap earlier, as Verstappen’s tyres would not have been up to temperature.

“I thought we were in a much better window as the circuit dried out,” explained Horner.

“We were able to hold a consistent gap and then it was all about getting the crossover at the right time, because the first sector was pretty damp. When you drive out of the pitlane, you lose a huge amount of the temperature.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“I felt like we timed that about right, going onto the medium tyre. Whilst Lando was able to capitalise enough to hit the 20-second mark, and it hovered around that, with each lap we did, the tyres were getting warmer and I was surprised they didn’t cover after one lap.

“They left him for two and that was crucial as that gave Max another lap to generate the temperature. When Lando did pit, he [Verstappen] had tyres that were in a window and was able to drive and pull out a three-second gap by sector one. So that timing was crucial.”

The importance of the timing of that switch to slicks came after Horner admitted McLaren had looked on course to win when Norris enjoyed a huge pace advantage on the drying track in the first stint.

“In the first stint, we looked very competitive at the beginning of the race, pushing George [Russell] very hard and pulled out seven seconds very quickly on the cars behind,” he said. “So the wetter conditions we were set-up pretty well for.

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“Then unfortunately, we just dropped a little back from George as the DRS opened, which then allowed Lando to come back as the track was drying out. It looked like the Mercedes was in more trouble, but we were struggling to get past and that gave Lando a free pass.

“At that point, it looked like McLaren was the favourite to walk away and win the race. Then pitstops came and we went onto another new set of inters.

“There was a safety car that neutralised everything and the adjustments we made, we were then able to get ourselves into a better position.”



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Ferrari’s «very weak» F1 Canadian GP weekend a one-off

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The Spaniard spent much of the grand prix struggling with pace and could not crack the top 10, and his chances were further dented when he made contact with Alex Albon at Turn 6 after spinning to put the Williams driver out.

Sainz felt that he had to «take risks» to make progress in the slick-tyre phase of the race, which he felt was likely responsible for his Turn 6 strife, as he felt the competitiveness swing slightly in his favour as the circuit started to dry.

He felt that Ferrari’s struggles in Canada would be a «one-off», borne out of an inability to hit the ground running by preparing the tyres correctly in qualifying.

«It was one of those races where the pace never clicked. We had some damage in the car from a couple of contacts that we had during that crazy race but there was never really enough pace today to make any overtakes.

«Only when we went on slicks there towards the end of a race I started to feel there was maybe potential for some points, and I was starting to become a bit quicker.

«I was just trying to take some risks to overtake people in the DRS trains to try and be close in sector two, probably touched maybe the wet.

«I don’t know. It’s a very strange way that I lost it there in mid-corner and ended our race. It was a very weak, very disappointing weekend for the whole team because we never seemed to find a good pace.»

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

«I think Canada was a bit of a one-off, a bit of a special one and we need to understand what happened as a team. There was clearly something the others were doing in qualifying with the tyres to prep them better.»

Charles Leclerc had to cope with a power unit issue throughout the race, which he was initially told was costing him about half a second in the straights, and he had to change a number of settings on his steering wheel throughout to try to alleviate the problem.

After sinking down the field, Ferrari attempted to take a gamble and put him on fresh hard tyres as the circuit was drying from the earlier rainfall, but this did not pay off when a rain shower emerged later on in the grand prix.

«I don’t know what happened. At first, I think [I was losing] six tenths, but then some laps It was 1.2, sometimes it was 1.5, sometimes it was one second,» the Monegasque said

«Every time I was going on power, I didn’t know what I will get — and that was, first of all, very difficult to drive, very frustrating because in the straight, I would get overtaken by everybody.

«In the first part of the race, I think we did quite a good job managing that. And because we were in wet conditions, we could recover in corners, I was still believing we could finish in points.

«But then as soon as it dried up, I was a sitting duck in the straights. [The long pitstop] was annoying. But at the end, that was the best we could do at that point. I knew we would finish out to the points whatever happened with that issue. So we had to try something with the slicks.»



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‘Red Bull must deliver cleaner F1 weekends’

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Verstappen suffered an issue with a brand-new hybrid component of his Red Bull — Honda which left him sidelined through most of Friday’s second free practice.

The additional MGU-K element added to Verstappen’s pool of components might come back to haunt him later in the 2024 season in the form of grid penalties if he exceeds the allowed allocation.

Verstappen qualified beyond his own expectations in Montreal, setting an identical time to Mercedes polesitter George Russell on a circuit that didn’t play to Red Bull’s strengths.

But the triple world champion has urged Red Bull to cut out its problems, with little margin for error as rival teams have put the outfit under increased pressure.

«It was a nice qualifying session, but from our side we’ve had too many issues this weekend,» Verstappen said as he addressed the engine issue.

«It shouldn’t really happen. We keep a close eye on everything, as we always do, but sometimes you have periods when things don’t go well for a while and all these little problems come up.

«We have to try to make sure it doesn’t happen anymore. Everyone knows that and you always try to prevent it, but at the moment things are just not going so smoothly.

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

«Of course, we talk about it in the team and we always try to improve or analyse why certain things happen, but somehow, we can’t really stop it at the moment.»

Canada comes off the back of a more difficult Monaco Grand Prix in which Verstappen finished sixth as he and team-mate Sergio Perez struggled with the RB20’s performance on kerbs and bumps.

What looked set to be a three-way battle for wins with Ferrari and McLaren is now a four-way dogfight, with Russell’s pole underlining Mercedes’ recent progress with a tangible result.

«Mercedes has easily been quick this weekend, so second place is actually a good result for me,» conceded Verstappen.

«We were exactly equal in Q3, but Mercedes was three-tenths faster in Q2. Because of that, I think there was still a lot more in it for Mercedes, they haven’t really shown their best lap yet.

«I’m happy that it’s Mercedes and not Ferrari, because Ferrari is closer to us in the championship.

«But at the end of the day, we have to concentrate on ourselves and make things happen ourselves, because you can’t rely on the competition.»

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

In recent weeks it has also appeared harder for Red Bull to nail its set-up directions on Friday, with the team massively on the back foot in Imola before turning things around ahead of qualifying.

«Somehow, it is just very difficult to make our car feel very comfortable. It looks like it goes a bit easier at other teams,» Verstappen concluded.

While the Dutchman has managed to drive around some of the RB20’s handling issues, Sergio Perez suffered another disappointing qualifying session, being eliminated in Q1 as he struggled for rear grip.



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How Hamilton’s data helped Russell snatch Canada F1 pole

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Hamilton had looked well on top of things in final practice in Montreal, as he ended Saturday morning’s session nearly fourth-tenths clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Russell.

And it was that pace advantage that prompted Russell to dig a bit deeper into what Hamilton was doing.

Having gone through his data to better understand things, he claimed what he learned helped him secure the top spot, as his team-mate ultimately ended up seventh.

“This morning Lewis was absolutely flying and he was well ahead of me,” explained Russell after taking pole position. “I had to look a lot into his data to try to understand what he was doing differently. And, to be honest, that helped me a huge amount.

“So ahead of this qualifying, I’m just so glad that we could pull it off, because I feel like we really deserve all of this hard work we’ve been putting in, and the car has been feeling awesome this weekend.”

Mercedes’ first pole position since last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix has come in the wake of it introducing a new front wing to help improve the balance shift between high- and low-speed corners.

Russell admitted that the result had delivered a huge lift for the entire squad, which has struggled to make progress with the current generation of ground-effect cars.

“Such a buzz,” said Russell. “It’s been a while since we’ve experienced this feeling. There is so much hard work going on behind the scenes back at Brackley and Brixworth and it’s been a little while to be able to sort of get back in the fight. It almost felt like all of that hard work hasn’t been paying off.”

Pole man George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, celebrates in Parc Ferme

Pole man George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, celebrates in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

He added: “I think we struggled a lot with understeer before. Last year, we had a lot of oversteer, and we’ve sort of been just trying to find the halfway house between what we had last year and what we had this year. And it feels like we’re sort of dialling in that sweet spot right now.

“It feels like it’s something we’ve been saying for a long time, in all honesty. But really, there is a sense of relief to actually see it translate into pole position.”

Russell’s pole position came despite him setting exactly the same time as world champion Max Verstappen. The Briton got the top spot, however, because he logged his lap first.

Verstappen believed that second was nothing to be upset about, after fearing that Mercedes was pretty clear at the front based on its pace in the early stages of qualifying.

“Probably Q3 was the weakest of the sessions for Mercedes,” said the Dutchman. “So being on the exact same lap time, it’s great.

“In hindsight, I think, when you look at their pure pace, I take second, because after Q2 I saw their lap times and I was like, there is no way that I can do something like that.

Pole man George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, with Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, in Parc Ferme

Pole man George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, with Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

“Of course, there was a little bit of rain in between, like a few spits here and there, but I think overall just the weekend was, again, a bit messy from our side, just too many little issues.

“From there onwards we tried to, of course, find the best possible balance with the car. I think we did get a decent balance in qualifying, and I was quite happy with it, but just we need to be able to just have cleaner weekends without issues, and that will help a bit as well.”



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RB announces Tsunoda to stay for F1 2025

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With Sergio Perez signing a new deal at Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen, Tsunoda saw his slim chances of being promoted to the main team vanish, and the Japanese driver was widely expected to remain at RB instead.

The Anglo-Italian outfit has now confirmed it has taken up the option to keep the long-time Red Bull junior and Honda protege at the squad for the 2025 season, which will be his fifth with the team since making his F1 debut in 2021.

«I’m very happy to be staying with RB and it’s a good feeling to have my future decided so early in the year,» 24-year-old Tsunoda said.

«For that, I want to thank everyone at Red Bull and Honda who have played such an important role in my career and will continue to do so.

«It’s great to know that everyone appreciates all the hard work I have put in and that the team believes I can help it move further up the grid. We have already made clear progress this season and that really motivates me to always give my best.»

Tsunoda has been one of the standout drivers in 2024 as he matured into a steady performer to match his natural turn of speed.

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Thus far he has scored 19 points to hold 10th in the drivers’ championship, almost single-handedly keeping RB in sixth position of the constructors’ standings.

While team-mate Daniel Ricciardo’s long-term future remains unclear, as Red Bull also has reserve driver Liam Lawson waiting in the wings, retaining Tsunoda was a no-brainer for team boss Laurent Mekies.

«I watched Yuki’s progress in Formula 1 with interest even before I returned to Faenza and it’s been impressive, year after year,» Mekies said.

«The step up he has made this year is simply phenomenal, and he keeps surprising us all, race after race.

«There’s no doubting his natural speed to which he has now added a much more mature approach and this combination makes him a very quick and consistent performer, and a great team player.»

Team CEO Peter Bayer added: «Yuki is a graduate of both the Red Bull and Honda junior driver programmes and it’s thanks to a good job from all parties that he’s been able to reach his current level of performance.

«He is a valuable asset on and off the race track, as his engaging nature has made him very popular with fans around the world. We are excited that he is staying with us.»



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Verstappen concerned about “implications” of F1 Canadian GP FP2 engine issue

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The Dutchman was forced out of FP2 in Montreal after an issue with the energy recovery system on his Red Bull car early in the session.

Although the lack of running was not ideal when there was only limited opportunity for clear laps thanks to the weather, Verstappen said that chasing answers for what happened – and especially what the potential consequences could be – was his biggest concern.

Speaking about his day, Verstappen said: “Unfortunately [in] FP2 not many laps for me. There was a suspected electrical issue, so they told me to box, and they’re investigating now.

“It’s not ideal. I would have liked to drive more laps and some other people had a few more laps in the dry, a few more laps now in the wet. So, it’s definitely not how I would have liked to get on in FP2.

“But I think it’s more important to just figure out what actually happened and what kind of implications that will have for this weekend or the rest of the year.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Speaking about the situation for Verstappen, Red Bull motorsport director Helmut Marko said: “The problem is on the engine side. We have to take the engine out now to find the exact reason, but it is on the electric part of the engine.”

Red Bull seemed far from concerned about the lack of track time seriously compromising Verstappen’s weekend though.

Marko added: “Of course it’s annoying because the first session was already mostly wet and without conclusions, but for the set up let’s hope that [Saturday] is dry during that final practice session. If we get one complete dry session then it doesn’t hurt so much.”

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The mixed conditions in Montreal on Friday also meant that Red Bull did not get a proper understanding of how much progress it has made in addressing the kerb-riding problems that have held it back recently.

“We have found some problems after Monaco, and I hope that we can make steps with the new set up for this weekend,” Marko said. “When Max was out on track, he set purple times in sector two, so that looks promising.”



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