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Max Verstappen has won the
Canadian Grand Prix and it was one of the Red Bull driver’s best victories
ever, coming at the end of a race that had three different leaders – George
Russell, Lando Norris and Max of course - from three different teams,
Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull. At some point in the race, Oscar Piastri
(McLaren) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) were also in the hunt, not just for
a podium finish, but for the win itself, although they went on to finish
fifth and fourth respectively.
This was Max’s 60th Formula 1 win, his third in a row in Montreal and the
sixth of the season. It is Red Bull’s 119th win, the fifth at this Grand
Prix.
On the podium, the three drivers and the Red Bull Racing team representative
sported a special edition of the classic Pirelli Podium Cap, designed
specifically for this edition of the Montreal race. The cap is all-white
with the Pirelli logo in red, while on the visor, there’s the typical
Canadian Maple leaf, which of course is also part of the national flag seen
on the sides of the cap. In fact, the current flag was first raised above
the Canadian Parliament building in the capital Ottawa on 15 February 1965.
THE DAY ON
TRACK:
The race got underway on a wet track. 18 drivers opted to start on
Intermediates, while the Haas pair went with extreme wets. Indeed, Magnussen
and Hulkenberg provided the show in the early stages of the race, as the
blue banded Pirelli Cinturato Full Wet offered excellent grip in these
conditions, so that both drivers were able to charge up the order, with the
Dane even making it as high as fourth place by lap 3, having started 14th.
However, the track was drying out rather quickly and so the American team’s
two drivers were the first obliged to pit for Intermediates, as their lap
times had slowed considerably.
Then, in the second part of the
race, the green-banded Pirelli Cinturato Intermediate was the tyre to have,
as conditions alternated between rain and sunshine with the track drying,
especially on the racing line, before getting wet again following another
shower. The majority of drivers made the most of the first Safety Car
period, forty minutes into the race, to switch to a second set of
Intermediates, while a trio made up of Ocon, Tsunoda and Bottas, gambled on
their tyres lasting long enough to extend the stint until the track was fit
for slicks. Sauber’s Finn went to lap 42, while Alpine’s Frenchman and
Racing Bulls’ Japanese driver waited a further two laps. These three were
the only drivers to complete the seventy lap race with only the one pit
stop.
When slicks were viable, the majority (14) of drivers chose the Medium, thus
looking for a better warm-up phase, while five went with the Hard, thinking
more about wear, armed with the knowledge that in free practice, the Medium
had suffered with graining.
Given the weather over the weekend at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, it’s no
surprise that all tyres, the P Zero White hard, Yellow medium and Red soft,
as well as the Cinturato Green Intermediate and the Cinturato Blue full wet,
were put to good use. But they were not the only tyres in action, as the
Ferrari Challenge P Zero and Ferrari Challenge were used by the cars in the
Prancing Horse’s eponymous one-make series, of which Pirelli has been the
sole supplier, ever since it was established in 1993.
MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR
"What a race! After the Monaco Grand Prix came in for criticism that,
objectively, it was not exactly thrilling, Formula 1 answered its critics
with an amazing show from the first to the last lap, with three drivers
taking turns to lead and a further two also in with a chance of winning.
Congratulations to Max for a great win, and also to all the other
protagonists of this Canadian Grand Prix, because I reckon that everyone who
loves this sport really enjoyed themselves.
“On the tyre front, we were able to see four of the five available types in
action. Even the extreme wet, which usually is not used much, proved to be
competitive on a low energy track with a lot of surface water. The
Intermediate was also able to do very long stints, confirming its
suitability for both very wet and almost dry conditions. As for the Hard and
Medium, it’s hard to say which worked best as the second Safety Car deprived
us of being able to evaluate what might have been the price to pay in terms
of degradation for those who had chosen the Medium to ensure more grip in
the opening laps when the track was still damp.”
COMING UP NEXT FOR OUR TYRES
After this brief trip to North America, Formula 1 heads back to Europe for a
long run of summer races. The first stop is Barcelona, which hosts the
Spanish Grand Prix from 21 to 23 June. Prior to that, Pirelli will be
running another two day test session, this time at the Mugello circuit on 13
and 14 June, once again with support from Scuderia Ferrari. As was the case
last week at Le Castellet, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are on driving
duty, this time with the Monegasque tackling the first day and the Spaniard
the second.
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