And we're back! After a umm, interesting Monaco GP, we head to Montreal for the 9th GP race on this circuit. I dropped a couple of nuggets of info in the grab bag buzz, but will properly add them here: Team Alpine has decided not to renew Esteban Ocon's contract after this season. Alpine also announced that reserve driver Jack Doohan will run at least one practice race (P1) this weekend. Red Bull also announced that Sergio "Checo" Perez will remain with the team till 2026. Color some of us F1 fans somewhat surprised, as from a results point of view, Checo hasn't delivered the high standard results Red Bull expects. (foreshadowing!)
Also, Team RB principal Helmut Marko stated that one of their 2 drivers, Yuki Tsunoda will stay with VCARB till end of 2025 season. Me thinks there is more to this story here, as Yuki seems to not be happy with the long range plans VCARB has for him. Stay tuned.
When possible, if it is a driver's "home race" I try to shift the eye candy to that driver (The Brits I have to spread out!), and this weekend, it is Aston-Martin's Lance Stroll's home race. A lot of fans are not, umm....fans of Lance, as his billionaire (and a jerk, imho) daddy basically paid for Lance to race in F1. Lance has also at times, expressed his spoiled rich boy behavior on and off the track, so there's that.
I WAS impressed that after an off-season motor-bike accident that broke his wrists and foot, that Lance was able to come back and race in that season's first GP, he was in a lot of pain navigating the track at speeds up to 200 MPH. The pic below is from his hospital stay:
Not a toga party- Lance Stroll with TWO broken wrists!
Now our usual driver/team graphic for your reference! Will it be updated if Alpine decides to cut ties with Ocon? We shall see!
A note about practice sessions. Not much happens, and as you may have noticed, the P1, P2, P3 write-ups have been short. Only reason why i include them is sometimes things happen, like a spinout, engine failure, a crash, etc. it's the Qualifying and the GP race itself that is the "meat" of the Zoom Zoom. (and the eye candy)!
P1: Basically a washout as it was pouring in Montreal. Instead of 60 minutes track time, drivers didn't come out until 40 minutes left in the session. Standing water is an issue.
And after 11 minutes of racing, red flag comes out as Sauber's Zhou slides into the wall, beating up his left rear tyre. Red flag lifted, with 22 minutes left on the clock. Intermediate and wet tyres being used by the drivers. This race is Alpine's requirement to insert a rookie driver into a P1 race, and that would be Australian Jack Doohan for his chance to get in some F1 practice. Sadly, due to the weather/track conditions, Doohan only got one lap on the track; mother nature not kind to the rookie Aussie.
Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan strikes a pose!
P2: Well, it started dry later on this Friday afternoon for the 60 minute start. and drivers started on the soft tyres, but almost immediately decided NOPE, switch over to mediums and intermediates as track is too slippery. Perhaps the most exciting part of this practice as the rain starts to fall harder, is Mercedes Lewis Hamilton bouncing off a curb to avoid a groundhog. This Montreal race has a history of groundhogs running across the track, leaving both the groundhog and the F1 drivers in full white hot terror mode! Red Bull's Max Verstappen left the track halfway thru as smoke was coming from his brakes! And near the end of this practice, I, and some teams , have thrown our hands up, due to the weather and what tyre to go with. Saturday's P3 and Quali should be interesting with the weather conditions. Noting that Turns 2 and 10 seem to be the problem turns for the drivers skidding off into the gravel, before re-entering the track. P3: Dry weather! All cars ready to go, all starting on medium tyres, and five minutes in Sauber's Zhou AGAIN skids off to his rear tyres locking up and skidding him into the grass on Turn 2. Quick red flag, and practice resumes. All cars in last few minutes switched to the soft tyres to close out P3. And that was that.
A note on how Qualifying works: There are three quick races to determine grid position for the GP on Saturday. First quali the last five drivers are cut, second quali again, last five drivers dropped, and 3rd and final quali determines the top ten on the grid and the ever important pole (1st) position. This also applies to the Sprint Qualis, you will just see me use SQ1 to show the difference.
Quali One: Threat of rain, temps in the high 60's, high humidity, and 10 MPH wind. The drivers kick off the first 16 minute quali, and all drivers on soft tyres due to tyre graining. Some slight scrapes on the wall, but our bottom five is Sauber's Zhou and Bottas, Alpine's Ocon (He will start last anyway due to the 5 grid spot penalty from last week's race in Monaco), Haas Hulkenberg, and the driver who just signed an extension with his team, Red Bull's Sergio Perez (who was visibly upset in the paddock!).
Of note: First time Williams' Sargent has made his first Q2 in 2024!
Quali Two: 15 minutes, and light rain has started to fall. Not much to report here, other than the next bottom five: Alpine's Gasly, Haas/Magnussen, Williams/Sargent, and the SHOCKER of quali's so far, BOTH Ferrari's LeClerc and Sainz will NOT be in Q3 or the top 10 starting grid for Sunday's GP. The word from the drivers that the cars had no "grip" and from the pundits, Ferrari seemed to have no pacing on this day. Wow. Mercedes and RB having a great Quali session though!
Quali 3: 10 minutes for grid and pole position. No rain for this last quali, and no incidents, but this qualifying really demonstrates just how very very close the top times could be! Mercedes George Russell on his 2nd lap came in at 1:12.000. Red Bull's Max Verstappen on the very last lap, also came in at 1:12:000...a tie! But the driver who got the time first gets pole position, so Georgie (former eye candy driver- use the search button) is P1 for Sunday's Montreal Grand Prix. Lando Norris was 3rd at 1:12:023, btw!
Time for 9th pole position home town boy Eye Candy!
Lance Stroll has that Canadian smile!
Before the start of the Montreal Grand Prix, it was officially announced that RB's Yuki Tsunoda has signed to drive for the team till the end of 2025 season.
GP Sunday in Montreal, and Mother Nature are in the mood to make things interesting. Light rain, with ponding, and more rain to come. The race is 70 laps with 14 turns, and three DRS zones (where you can go really fast!). Temps in the upper 60's with light wind. Problem with this newly re-asphalted track is a poor drainage system, hence the puddles and the spray the drivers will get from those in front of them. Update on the grid: Team Sauber had a rear wing problem, and will start in the pit lane, so Ocon moves up to 18th. Tyre management and pit stops will be a challenge, as will potential safety cars and yellow/red flags. No DRS can be used during rain, btw. 350K attendance for all four days, a Montreal GP record.
And its LIGHTS OUT, and that water spray is an issue as drivers start out with some caution. All drivers are on Intermediate tyres, except for the Haas team, who are gambling on a wet track, and are using wet tyres instead! On the 8th lap, Magnussen, who was in 4th place, pitted to change to intermediate tyres, as the track was drying up. Mags and his Haas teammate's gamble with the wet tyres paid off, with Mags in 4th, and Hulkenberg in 7th, but Mags had very poor pit stop, 8.6 seconds (yikes!), and entered the track in 12th place. Lap 13 Hulkenberg pitted to switch to intermediates (all drivers on those tyres now), and Hulkenberg entered the track at 18th, so a very mixed gamble for Haas starting on those wet tyres.
Russell, Verstappen, Norris and Piastri in top four thru 15 laps. Lap 20, we see Norris overtake Verstappen for 2nd place! Norris now hunting Russell for 1st, and Lap 21 Norris overtakes Russell for first, and a few seconds later, Verstappen passes Russell for 2nd, Russell now in 3rd! Logan Sargent spins out to the wall, bringing out the safety car, and ending his race with a DNF. Norris was too fast and missed the pit stop, and Verstappen, Russell, and Piastri all pitted; a couple of minutes late Norris pitted, but this safety car cost him the lead, as the other three are in the lead now; argh for Norris! Btw, Riccardo got a five second penalty for false start, and that was applied on his first pit stop.
Best overtake of the race was Albon threading the needle between two cars (remember, they all going 150MPH), to jump up into 9th place n the 32nd lap!
On Lap 44, we have our first shocker! Ferrari's LeClerc has retired their car due to engine issues!! Also most drivers have pitted and switched to hard tyres, top 3 still the same. Lap 54 provided for all kinds of mayhem! Perez' rear wing got clipped and is now basically vertical- not good- and he is out of the race (DNF=Did not finish), and a just a couple of minutes later, Albon and Sainz bumped up against each other, and both drivers/cars out of race (all okay). so the second Monster Shocker: Both Ferrari's are out (DNF)! This hasn't happened to Ferrari in years! The last five laps were very exciting with several overtakes between Mercedes Russell, Hamilton, and Piastri holding my breath during those overtakes, but it's the Flying Dutchman Max Verstappen by 3.8 seconds over Norris! That is 50 wins out of 75 wins in Max's career! Yuki Tsonoda dropped big due to taking out the bullock on last lap (that poor bollock- just go left of me, please!) Ocon raced well from the 18th spot into the points for Alpine, finishing 10th. Hamilton got fastest lap, while fans voted again, Lando Norris as driver of the day!
Whew!
Max, Lando and George at theMontreal podium!
Hometown boy Lance Stroll finished 7th, so lets get some Lance eye candy:
We'll finish with the true new star of F1 this year, Leo LeClerc, before we head off to Spain in two weeks!
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