Originally Posted by
SS454
Finally back in Canada, usually one of the favorites on the F1 calendar. An exceptionally exciting qualifying in the rain shook up the grid for Sunday's race.
Red Bull were feared to be very strong with their great straight line speed, but Max Verstappen appeared to be what took them to the next level. He was on it the entire weekend in all weather conditions. Despite a load of pressure from Sainz in the race, Max controlled the race for a deserving win. Perez unfortunate mechanical failure, and while it would always be an unlikely task to beat Verstappen, DNF's will just never allow that hope to become reality.
Ferrari were very strong in Montreal. They still have a very powerful engine and they very possibly had the faster car. Sainz was given every chance to put the fight to Verstappen with more opportune pitstops and fresher tires, but the Ferrari's big weakness was traction out of the slow corners. This was more evident with Leclerc as he was stuck behind Ocon. It was very frustrating to see him try everything with no success, but it was equally frustrating that Ferrari could not come up with a strategy to work around him being stuck in traffic. His slow pitstop only compounded the frustration. It's amazing that Leclerc finished 5th, as if it wasn't for his talent, I feel he could have finished 8 or 9th.
Mercedes an incredible rebound race. Their cars looked terrible in practice, but were good in quali, and very good in the race. Hamilton opted for a low downforce setup, and I think this was good for the race and at times was near the same pace as the leaders. Russell who chose a high downforce setup was impressive in quali, but his choice to try dry tires was simply the wrong call, even if you can appreciate his will to take the risk for an extraordinary result. Are Mercedes back? Time will tell. It would not be surprising if there is some controversy surrounding them considering the recent rule changes, and their never ending development program under the budget cap.
Alpine should be over the moon all things considering, but their day is a little bitter sweet with Alonso's picking up an engine issue during the race. Ocon was a long way off the pace, but he didn't crack in the slightest from the pressure of Leclerc. Some good luck with the safety car meant a 6th place finish, which is well above where anyone would have predicted. Alonso was the star of qualifying and was in an excellent position to have a shot at a podium, even if 5th was the more realistic best home. Bad luck and misfortune destroyed those chances, but still good points and hopefully we see some more chances come his way.
Alfa Romeo didn't look particularly amazing in quali, but got it together in the race. Bottas kept fighting through the race, something he seemed to lack in his final years with Mercedes, and scored some points. Zhou again was mighty impressive the whole weekend, and at least was rewarded with points, though may have had the pace to finish ahead of his teammate, if all things went his way.
Aston Martin still can't seem to put it all together, but they have climbed from the bottom of the grid to battling for points. If anyone was going to bet who would score points from the team, everyone would have said Vettel, yet it was Stroll that got it done. There was a very tight fight for that final point. It's a shame the broadcast didn't show it.
McLaren had another disappointing weekend. The car just didn't appear to have the pace, but the team shot themselves in the foot every time they had a chance to advance. At least on Lando's side. Even though Ricciardo finished ahead of Norris, it's safe to say that Lando was the better performing driver on track. But it's a team sport, and the team failed together.
Williams had one of their better recent performances, though it was only good for 13th. Albon drive very well, but could only do so much with a car that bad. Latifi is the real Mr consistent. Always finishing last of the drivers that do not have problems.
Alpha Tauri didn't appear to be good enough to battle for points. Gasly again didn't look very good, but gave it his all and could only get 14th with heavy benefit from other cars not finishing. Tsunoda impressed with his speed once again, but his crash coming out of the pits was very amateur. Though it isn't like he would have scored points anyways.
Haas well be have to wonder how they walked away with nothing from this weekend. An incredible qualifying result put them in prime position to score some points. An unfortunate contact that forced a perhaps questionable black/orange flag for Magnussen, though he had no recovery from that point on. Schumacher got swallowed up in the opening laps but had a mechanical failure before he could even settle into his race. A legitimate shot of scoring points disappeared once again.
Driver of the Day: Max Verstappen. Class of the field all weekend, had control of the race. Perhaps did not even have the fastest car, and load of pressure from Sainz and didn't make a single mistake.
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