Canadian Grand Prix Review: A Metric Tonne of Fun
Montreal has always been a favorite stop on the season for the F1 drivers because its just a really fun Grand Prix. Montreal has no trouble putting on a party, the crowd is rowdy and festive, the track is fast and the weather traditionally beautiful but yet unpredictable. Returning after a 2 year hiatus, the Canadian Grand Prix lived up to its hype.
Friday and Saturday practices saw surprises all over the time sheet with Fernando Alonso and Vettel showing incredible pace. Qualifying on Saturday lead to even more excitement, the rain soaked track shook up the entire field, and lead to some shocking results. Vettel was outside the top 15 despite an incredible showing just two hours earlier in practice, Alonso ended up 2nd on the grid, both Haas cars finished inside the top 10….yes that’s right I said BOTH! Riccardo finally outqualified Norris and Russel even tried a lap on the slicks.
Race day kept the hits coming. We had interesting strategy decisions (looking at you Alpine), incredible overtakes and battles up and down the order. Leclerc was fighting his way through the field not hiding his frustration on the radio. Home town hero Lance Stroll did a great job holding off the DRS train on old tires to finish in 10th and collect a championship point……And of course the whole event was capped off by a 10 lap shootout between Mad Max and Carlos Sainz. Max showing all the metal that made him champion last year. Yes, it was just an incredibly fun weekend. It showed in our standings too. They are all mixed up, so to continue this theme of fun, I want to look at all the fun and exciting battles and story lines we have going on in our pool.
First the contenders, there is plenty of fun and excitement happening in this group. After Baku it appeared Jimbo was starting to build separation, but unlike Mad Max, Jimbo didn't come out of the greatest title fight in F1 history victorious. He doesn’t have the mental toughness required to survive a chasing pack lap after lap. Unlike Max Jimbo made a crucial error and is no longer our championship leader. It was S.M.A. who did what Carlos Sainz's couldn't, S.M.A. was able to pull off the overtake with an incredible 56 point weekend. He now leads by a miniscule 1 point after being 24 points back just a week ago.
It isn't just a two person battle for the Champion though, far from it. In fact only 17 points separate 1st from 7th. Another competitor chasing down Jimbo and S.M.A. is Marstar, who took home Top Weekend Performer with an incredible 59 point haul . Once fighting for the best of the rest title, they now find themselves a mere 10 points back of top spot. I would compare her to Sir. Lewis Hamilton, as both were overjoyed with their race results, but unlike Lewis, Marstar has actually won a weekend this year…. so she is really more like Charles Leclerc Marstar.
Now last years champion Meg hasn’t seen top spot yet, but she keeps her presence felt….much like Mercedes. And like Mercedes, she had a solid weekend that built confidence heading into her home Grand Prix. She now sits only 2 back of S.M.A. This former champ can not be taken lightly….just like Mercedes. Not to be forgotten, Mahkatz, Fyshing and Leah. All 3 have been in or around the fight this year. Leah put in a Red Bull performance, she had the race winner on her team but mechanical issues kept her from scoring any more points. While Fyshing put in a very Alpine performance, yea all her drivers scored points, but they scored them in the most dissapointing way possible.
The Mid Pack is also full of fun battles. They are mostly for pride, but sometimes those are the best battles. Cam-ando-Alonso leads this group. Like Ferrari and Mattia Binotto, they have made some poor choices which reflect their location in the standings, but showed promise this weekend, so the hope is there. Cam-ando-Alonso is being chased by Jafyshe and Louanne. Louanne has been mostly down this season, but hooked it all up this Grand Prix and scored close to maximum points. Just like Alfa Romero, she is no longer fighting in the backfield. Sitting between these two is Jafyshe. Jafyshe started the season in the mid pack and has stayed there since. I guess hes the most McLaren like. The pressure is on the veteran to pass one rookie and hold off another. Cargo V. Roum and ITZ Formula One are in this fight as well. Much like Pierre Gasley, they have charm and charisma, but inconsistent results. They will have to pull it together soon if they want to truly compete in this best of the rest race or even move up into the lead pack, hey if Marstar and SMA can do it.
Now the last group we need to discuss is the back markers. Matty-G, C-Mart, Brownie, Rob and BreeBree are all fighting to stay out of the Williams Poor Performance group and maybe put in a Louanne like performance and get back into the best of the rest conversation. Like Aston Martin, these competitors show promise but just never put it all together. Now I do need to give a shout out to Matty G, and not for the right reasons. He once sat top of the table but now finds himself fighting for survival. He had an incredibly terrible weekend. He walked away from Montreal with just 2 points. I don’t think I have ever seen a points total that low before. Much like Tsunoda Matty G just appeared to driver into a wall for no reason. The Williams Poor Performance of the Weekend goes to them. Also Fast Cars Dive Bars finished the weekend 197 points back of our leader. They are only in a battle against themselves. However, they can find solace in the fact they are still probably performing better than Nicholas Latiffi.
What great competition we have up and down our standings and we aren't even half way through the season yet. We get a two week break before the F1 circus heads to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. An icon track that kicks off one of my favorite parts of the calendar. So as usual do your debriefs, take a breath and review the timing charts.
