Welcome to the Canadian Grand Prix – 2024
Latest on Verstappen future rumours
Rumours of Max Verstappen joining Mercedes are not going away, in Monaco two weeks ago Sky Sports has reviled a conversation were going on between his father Jos and Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff.
Verstappen’s future has been in the spotlight for five months since the row about allegations of inappropriate behaviour were made against Christian Horner first emerged. David Croft says these rumours remerged in Monaco after Verstappen’s father Jos spoke to Wolff
Croft said, “Now, I am not sure what’s changed since the opening race of the season and Monaco so that it all went a bit quiet in between and then someone might have come to the race in Monaco that we hadn’t seen at the track for a while that might be quite close to Max Verstappen. Mentioning no names on that one but the rumours started again on that one.”
Croft claimed that he had received a number of text messages over the Monaco weekend stating that Verstappen to Mercedes isn’t “dead in the water yet”.
The messages Croft says read, ‘Max going to Mercedes, you know, that’s not dead in the water yet’. As we know Verstappen hasn’t given his unconditional backing to Horner, Adrian Newey has already announced his departure from Red Bull a month ago.
Since Newey announced his decision to leave much of the discussion has been around could that give Verstappen a way to leave Red Bull.
FIA unveils 20269 regulations
F1 cars will be smaller, nimbler and more environmentally friendly from 2026, the sport’s governing body the FIA has said. It has set out the new regulation concept which will be introduced in eighteen months time and aimed to improve race ability.
Cars will be 30kg lighter, 10cm narrower and have engines with a near 50-50 split between electric and internal combustion power – and use fully sustainable fuels. The new active aerodynamics will be used to optimise the use of the new engines.
Cars will have front and rear wings that open on the straights to reduce drag and increase speed, but then close to increase downforce for cornering performance. Overtaking will be facilitated by a power-boost system for a car following another, to be known as manual override mode. This will replace the current DRS system used since 2011.
The current hybrid engines will be replaced by the second generation hybrid unit, which will triple the amount of electrical power used, have attracted two new manufacturers into F1 in the shape of Audi and Ford, and persuaded Honda to reverse its decision to quit the sport.
The four current manufacturers Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Red Bull-Honda also have committed to 2026, although Red Bull has already announced that it will switch to Ford to develop its engine. Audi will also enter the sport having completed its buyout of Sauber earlier in the year.
That means there will be six power unit manufacturers in the sport, the most since the 2008-09 financial crisis.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said: “The key features of the 2026 regulations are advanced, sustainable technology and safety. Our aim, together with F1, was to produce a car that was right for the future of the sport’s elite category. We believe we have achieved that goal.”
The rules are a part of F1’s pledge to go net-zero carbon by 2030.
Perez signs a new two-year contract
Sergio Perez has secured a new two-year deal with Red Bull that will see him continue to race for the world champions until the end of the 2026 season. The Mexican has been teammates with Max Verstappen since 2021, the move is seen as a key one in next year’s drive market.
Perez’s contract extension ends the hopes several drivers – including Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo – had of joining the team that has dominated F1 over the past two years and continues to lead both world championships in 2024 despite a growing challenge from rivals.
team principal Christian Horner ahead of the Canadian GP this weekend said, “Now is an important time to confirm our line-up for 2025 and we are very pleased to continue working together with Checo. Continuity and stability are important for the team and both Checo and Max are a successful and robust partnership, securing our first ever one-two finish for the team in the championship last year.”
Perez, who has claimed five of his six F1 career wins at Red Bull and helped them win the Constructors’ Championship in 2022 and 2023, said: “I am delighted to be staying here to continue our journey together and contribute to this team’s great history for two more years.”
“Being part of the team is an immense challenge, and one I love. We have a great challenge this year and I have full trust in the whole team that the future is bright here and I am excited to be part of it.”
Although Max Verstappen has a contract until 2028, the fallout over the allegations of inappropriate behaviour which Horner was cleared of by an independent inquiry, continues to raise questions about internal fractional fighting for control of the team.
Although it had become increasingly clear in recent weeks that Perez was edging towards a contract renewal for 2025, the announcement of a two-year term nonetheless represents something of a surprise. But Perez’s value and contribution to the team on and off track has regularly been praised by Horner, who had always said the seat remained for the Mexican’s to lose.
Maybe because of the regulation change in 2026 when Red Bull also becomes an engine manufacturer they have opted for stability within the team. Red Bull’s 2024 car again proved dominant in the early races of this year, Perez had started this season brightly and finished second to Verstappen in three of this season’s first four grands prix.
However Red Bull isn’t as dominant as they were last season with both McLaren and Ferrari winning races.
Talking Points Montreal
Round nine sees f1 head to Montreal before the start of the most intense part of the season, five races in six weeks before the summer break. In the last three races, there have been three different winners which may have opened up the championship.
There have also been major developments within the driver market since the Monaco Grand Prix with the 2025 grid starting to take shape. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve provides the perfect venue, with some of the best and most passionate F1 fans in the world sure to create a brilliant atmosphere.
McLaren’s Lando Norris beat Max Verstappen in Miami to claim his maiden F1 victory, and then very nearly made it two in a row as the Red Bull driver just about held on for victory in Imola two weeks later. But in Monaco, it was Charles Leclerc who took victory.
Verstappen’s lead over Leclerc at the top of the drivers’ standings is down to 31 points, and Ferrari have closed to within 24 points of Red Bull at the top of the Constructors’ Championship.
The 2.709-mile circuit is a hybrid street / permeant circuit where we see great racing, because there are opportunities to overtake but that doesn’t come without risks given the walls and grass around this circuit. This year, as part of the longer-term plans which started during the pandemic to upgrade the circuit, has been entirely resurfaced and the kerbs replaced.
Montreal could be one of the last opportunities for Verstappen to be seriously dented as the kerbs and slow corners in Canada are expected to reveal the same weaknesses that saw Red Bull struggle in Monaco.
McLaren has been extremely consistent since bringing a huge raft of upgrades to Miami and are almost certain to be in the mix. Lando Norris could still follow in Lewis Hamilton’s footsteps, a bite with two races in between, by winning back-to-back in the US and Canada the first two races of his career.
Ferrari faces the question, because of the uniqueness of Monaco, whether Ferrari has solved a battery deployment issue that hampered them in Imola
Pirelli noted in their preview, “On paper, the track’s existing characteristics of low abrasiveness and therefore reduced grip should remain the same, but the real indications will have to wait until the Pirelli engineers carry out their first measurement tests on Wednesday.
“For most of the year, the track is only used by people on foot or cyclists and so lap times generally drop significantly as the cars rubber-in the surface. The tyres are subjected to very low lateral forces, although the longitudinal ones are greater, but overall, Montreal is one of the easiest tracks of the season on tyres.”
The race can also be affected by weather in late Spring, it can change quickly from a warm spring day to a cold and wet day. There has been great and interesting races, with the dramas of a hybrid street / permanent circuit accidents can change qualifying and races.
Mercedes look to cease on Monaco ‘momentum’
Mercedes have announced further upgrades for Montreal, as they seek to build on the “momentum” they have had in recent races. CEO and team principal Toto Wolff says while “the progress is not yet showing in terms of positions” they “know it will in due course” if they maintain their recent rate of development amid a general tightening of the field at the front of F1.
Mercedes’ best result in a Grand Prix so far in 2024 remains fifth but the team were encouraged by the performance of a new front wing introduced on George Russell’s car at the last race in Monaco. Speaking in his post Monaco Vlog trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said of their hopes for Montreal: “We are certainly hoping to build on the momentum that we have had recently, closing that gap to the front.”
“We have got some smaller updates. We are certainly going to have front wing two on both cars. That is something that we have been working on and we will make sure we can deliver that.”
Mercedes have decided to bring incremental upgrades rather than big upgrades, even bringing upgrades to Monaco. Teams don’t usually bring upgrades to Monaco because of is low-speed nature and short straights which makes it more difficult to evaluate things.
Shovlin added, “All the data we have seen though, says that it was delivering performance, it was bringing a benefit in terms of how the car was feeling. George was happy with that, and he could feel that it was a step in the right direction. We are happy with what we have seen to date.”
Looking ahead to the weekend, Wolff says that the team are continuing to make solid progress and improving the overall balance of the car as well as taking a step towards those ahead.
He says “Both drivers will have the new front wing, and there will be some other development items for this event. The new front wing offered a small lap-time gain around the tight streets of the principality, and should offer greater benefit on upcoming circuits.”
McLaren faces a major Montreal test
McLaren could be facing a big test this weekend in Montreal, as it looks to have addressed some of its key weaknesses. Since the regulation change in 2022, the team has struggled with grip in long, low-speed corners, coupled with a lack of aerodynamic efficiency, which dented its top speeds.
Over the last eleven months since introducing upgrades in Spielberg the team has looked at some races the second-best car on the grid. throughout this year, its weaknesses appeared to have largely carried over right until its first upgrade package in Miami, where Lando Norris ended up taking his maiden Grand Prix victory.
Looking at Miami, where McLaren had a fully upgraded car for Norris, half the upgrades for Oscar Piastri but Ferrari had yet to introduce its new spec, McLaren was fast in the few high-downforce corners but Ferrari was still king in terms of traction out of slow corners.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was also fastest out of the corners in Imola, but both he and Charles Leclerc lost a lot of lap time on the straights to both the Red Bulls and McLarens due to what was described as a wrong energy deployment strategy.
team principal Andrea Stella said “It looks like the car we took to Miami behaves well in low speed, almost beyond what was our expectation. Miami is dominated by low speed.”
“If anything in Monaco, the sector where we struggled the most was the first sector, a medium- to high-speed sector. So, it looks like the picture of our competitiveness is starting to finally change, where low speed doesn’t appear anymore like a clear weakness.”
The uniqueness and different natures of Monaco and Montreal give the best tests of whether McLaren has achieved its objectives, given the prevalent combination of low-speed corners and long straights, where efficient drag levels are key.
Norris was cautious about the team’s Canada prospects, with the high traction and ride compliance demands of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve likely favouring Ferrari, which has emerged as the best car on bumpy circuits, over Red Bull and McLaren.
He added “Our car has performed well at a few different types of circuits, but we know we might have our work cut out in Canada. Our competitors are likely to be strong here.”
McLaren is aware they have “work to do” on the behaviour over the bumps and kerbs, the drivers seem more confident they can ride the kerbs in Montreal.
Renault rules out sale of Alpine
Renault has made it clear that its Alpine team will not be sold, despite receiving “offers left and right.” The team has had a challenging start to the season and has only scored two points leaving it ninth in the constructors, this has led to speculation that parent company Renault could look to sell it.
One potential buyer could be Andretti, after the FIA advised them to buy a team to secure a spot on the grid, while there have been recent rumours that the Chinese Geely company was eyeing an involvement.
But Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo is emphatic that, despite Alpine’s current difficulties, he is not interested in selling either the entire squad or a part of it to interested parties. Speaking to Autocar, de Meo said: “I want to make this very clear.”
“There is no way we are going to give up. It’s not my style. We will not sell even a part of this thing. We don’t need the money. I’ve had people making offers left and right, then talking in the press about it. But we’re not interested. It would be stupid, and I won’t do it.”
Speaking about the teams current struggles he accepts its not good enough, he put that down to a combination of mistakes with the engine and chassis for its current plight.
he said, “When we began the hybrid era [in 2014], our engine didn’t perform. We had been world champions with Red Bull but with hybrid, things went wrong.”
“Even the engine we developed in 2021 had a 0.2s to 0.5s disadvantage every lap. And this year we’ve screwed up with the car. If you combine everything, we’re up to 1.5s from where we need to be.”
Meo says that they were doing everything they could to move forwards, as well as setting out three key elements. Which are “first is a quality team of top-notch people.”
“The second is racing rage, an obsession to win. The third is collaboration and trust throughout the team, a spirit of cooperation that makes things seem easier.”
Doohan to replace Ocon in FP1
Jack Doohan will drive in place of Esteban Ocon in FP1 tomorrow, which has been seen as an opportunity for him to try and secure a seat with the team next year.
The timing is interesting a few days after Ocon announced he would leave the team at the end of the season. Earlier this week, following the latest collision with teammate Pierre Gasly along with other factors it was agreed that Ocon would leave the Alpine squad at the end of this season.
He has not yet sorted out his plans for 2025, but has been most strongly liked with Haas, although is also a contender for the Sauber/Audi.
Doohan is no stranger to Friday outings for Alpine, having previously run in Mexico and Abu Dhabi for the past two seasons as part of F1’s rules requirements for rookies to get two outings over the course of a campaign. This is his first outing this season. Famin did not make any reference to it being linked to what happened in Monaco. He said: “With Jack’s great work in the simulator in recent races, we can count on his valuable feedback in Montreal.”
Doohan this year is focusing on simulator role after electing not to continue in F2, will be hoping that a strong performance for the team will boost his chances of getting the nod for 2025.
he said, “I am grateful to the team for the opportunity to get more track time, and also familiarise myself with 2024 machinery early in the season.”
The Weekend Ahead
This weekend I feel there is one big thing which could give answers to the way this season plays out, how strong are Red Bull? This is a difficult circuit given its both a high-speed technical circuit and a street circuit. Red Bull has only won at one street circuit this season Jeddah. Montreal has some similarities to Monaco, but its faster and you can overtake it here.
I think there could be pressure on all the teams this weekend, they need to get it right as the track evolution is rapid meaning the times could be tight this weekend. If Red Bull are ahead or behind, there could be an interesting battle between McLaren and Ferrari, that battle tends to vary race to race.
I don’t know who will have the edge, but I think we will see in practice which team has the advantage, could they even fight Red Bull? Anything can happen here this is an old circuit.
If the weather stays dry we will again see rapid track evolution throughout the weekend, but things can get interesting if we do get rain. That means if we get rain midway through the weekend, race or qualifying that could cause a few headaches for teams, we need to remember this could be an interesting race where we can see drama. The circuit I think has it all for racing.
Mercedes will be hoping that their upgrades can allow them to close the gap, but they have been a bit up and down this year. I never really want to count Lewis Hamilton out, Montreal is a circuit where he goes really well, an unlikely eighth win would see him be the first to win two Grand Prix eight time.
You can join us for coverage of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix with reports and analysis on our website. FP1 starts Friday at 13:30 EDT / 18:30 BST Qualifying Saturday at 16:00 / 21:00 and the race Sunday at 14:00 / 19:00
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The latest news and analysis behind the headlines ahead of this weekend’s — Grand Prix, looking at the biggest talking points going into this race in —