CANADA: Good, but also quite bad.
NUMBER TEN
Canada. Quite a lot going on.
Really great: Mercedes. Russell qualifies on pole and keeps himself there to secure the win. Easy. Antonelli starts P4, gets Piastri in the first lap for P3, and nabs his first podium finish. A great comeback after a couple of wobbly ones for Mercedes.
Better: Verstappen. No naughtiness, just good driving and great strategy. Using an early 2 stopper to fend off Antonelli and keep close to Russell, Verstappen keeps his Red Bull at P2 – his first podium in 3 races.
Not so great: McLaren. Let’s address the elephant in the room, Norris and Piastri have a bit of a crash. Well, more Norris than Piastri, but it’s not a great look for either. It’s a shame because Norris is having a successful race, climbing up the grid from a P7 start - his hard tyres allowing him to go long and even lead the race while the frontrunners swap their mediums. In the closing stages, there is a big bunch up at the top and it looks as if both McLarens are on the hunt for podium. Then Norris forgets the width of his car and tries for a gap between Piastri and a wall. The wall wins. Piastri gets away undamaged, but having lost P3 in the opening lap and not quite got close enough to Antonelli, he remains P4 over the finish line. It’s not their usual P1 P2, or the best display of teamwork.
Quite impressive: Alonso, Hulkenberg, Ocon and Sainz. Alonso has a great qualifying session and starts P6, he finishes the race at P7 - only losing a place to fellow World Champion Lewis Hamilton – not bad considering his rough start to the season. Hulkenberg jumps up 3 places from P11 to P8, adding to Sauber’s total of 20 points already this season – a massive improvement from their 4-point finish last year. Ocon and Sainz nail the 1 stop strategy, with Ocon clinching P9 from a P14 start, and Sainz climbing up to P10 from a P16 start.
Sort of meh: Ferrari. It’s not awful, they come in at P5 and P6, but it’s just a bit messy. Leclerc is unhappy with his strategy (and fair enough) – they start him on hards, alongside Norris who’s on the same, but bolt on another set of hards at his stop thus committing him to a 2 stop when a 1 stop may well have given him a chance at podium. Hamilton, as he tells his pit wall, is nowhere. I mean, he’s physically in the Top 10, but he's just not competitive and doesn’t have the pace for anything more. Team talk required I reckon.
Really quite bad: Albon and Lawson. Albon has an absolute shocker, yet again. He has a scrap with Colapinto and sends himself across the gravel, momentarily going airborne in his Williams. He is forced to go way too long on his medium tyres, pitting alongside those with hard tyres having lost track position every lap. His power unit then decides to pack up, and he retires on Lap 49. Another DNF. Lawson also suffers a DNF, retiring his RB on Lap 56. Bad vibes.
The rest. It’s quite fun in midfield - lots of battles. Tsunoda starts P18 (having been dropped 10 places for overtaking under reds in practice) and fights his way up to P12. Red Bull use a late one stop strategy for him, pitting in Lap 56, similar to Alpine with Gasly who pits Lap 53 and also makes a big jump up the grid from pit lane start to P15 finish. Bearman, Colapinto, and Bortoleto battle it out to take P11, P13 and P14. Hadjar has a bit of disappointing one down at P16, just ahead of Stroll at P17.
It's a mixed bag.