Formula 1 heads for Montreal with its overtaking and changeable weather

The Canadian Grand Prix is the tenth round of the season, the second in North America after Miami. Montreal is one of the staples on the calendar, for many years the only round in this part of the world. It is popular with drivers and teams because there’s always a real buzz around the event thanks to the enthusiasm of the local fans. For the whole week, the city in the Province of Quebec comes alive with events linked to the Grand Prix.

Once again, the top three finishers will wear a special edition of the Pirelli Podium Cap designed by Denis Dekovic when they step up for their trophies. Brown in colour, this seventh version of the Podium Cap produced by Pirelli Design is already on sale on the dedicated e-commerce platform (https://store.pirelli.com/).

For the third time this season, the softest trio of compounds will feature on track. That means, after appearing for the first time in Imola and again in Monaco, the C6 will be in use, alongside its closest relatives, the C5 as Medium and the C4 as Hard. The selection is therefore one step softer than last year when the chosen compounds were the C3, C4 and C5.

This weekend, when using the new C6, teams and drivers will be able to make the most of the information and data gathered at its two previous appearances. The Gilles Villeneuve Circuit is a track where the lateral forces exerted on the tyres are medium to low, while the longitudinal ones are a bit more severe, although not particularly high, because of the cars being subjected to strong deceleration followed by sharp acceleration. The track surface is very smooth and not very abrasive and is never used for racing apart from the Grand Prix weekend. Graining, especially during free practice on Friday, could put in an appearance, but as the track gradually rubbers-in it shouldn’t be a factor. Lap times come down really quickly, not just from one day to the next, but also during each session.

On top of that, the unpredictable and changeable weather is a factor to consider, a wildcard that’s been known to disrupt the on-track action here, while fluctuating temperatures are a feature of the Montreal event.

The race got underway on a wet track. 18 drivers opted to start on Intermediates, while the Haas pair went with extreme wets. Indeed, Magnussen and Hulkenberg provided the show in the early stages of the race, as the blue banded Pirelli Cinturato offered excellent grip in these conditions, so that both drivers were able to charge up the order, with the Dane even making it as high as fourth place by lap 3, having started 14^th.  However, the track was drying out rather quickly and so the American team’s two drivers were the first obliged to pit for Intermediates, as their lap times had slowed considerably.

Then, in the second part of the race, the green-banded Pirelli Cinturato was the tyre to have, as conditions alternated between rain and sunshine with the track drying, especially on the racing line, before getting wet again following another shower. The majority of drivers made the most of the first Safety Car period, forty minutes into the race, to switch to a second set of Intermediates, while a trio made up of Ocon, Tsunoda and Bottas, gambled on their tyres lasting long enough to extend the stint until the track was fit for slicks. Sauber’s Finn went to lap 42, while Alpine’s Frenchman and Racing Bulls’ Japanese driver waited a further two laps. These three were the only drivers to complete the seventy lap race with only the one pit stop.

When slicks were viable, the majority (14) of drivers chose the Medium, thus looking for a better warm-up phase, while five went with the Hard, thinking more about wear, armed with the knowledge that in free practice, the Medium had suffered with graining.

The Gilles Villeneuve Circuit is a semi-permanent facility built on the manmade island of Notre Dame, on the Saint Lawrence river, which was home to the Expo ’67 World’s Fair and some events in the 1976 Olympic Games.

The track was completely resurfaced last year, but it has retained its low abrasiveness and reduced grip that has always been one of its characteristic features. 4.361 kilometres long, it features a sequence of straights and tight chicanes, with 14 corners (six to the left and eight to the right). It’s a real stop ‘n go track where stability under braking and efficient traction are vital.

Overtaking is possible, partly down to the three DRS zones. The best bet has always been the braking point at the end of the straight that takes the drivers back to the start. The following chicane, where drivers can still use DRS from the previous activation zone, has often seen some spectacular accidents, which has led to it being known as the “wall of champions” after no fewer than three world champions, Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve all crashed into it during the 1999 race. 

Apart from being surrounded by the waters of the Saint Lawrence river and running alongside an artificial rowing basin used in the 1976 Olympic Games, the Canadian Grand Prix is one of the races that is most often affected by rain. As previously mentioned, during last year’s race both types of wet weather tyre were used.

At every race weekend, Pirelli supplies each driver with five sets of Cinturato Green Intermediates and two of Cinturato Blue Full Wet. The former can disperse up to 35 litres of water per second at a speed of around 300 km/h, while the Full Wets can deal with up to 85 litres per second.

The Cinturato Full Wet was updated this year, with the tread blocks given greater rigidity so as to generate less heat in the tread pattern. The construction has also been revised to deal with the higher aerodynamic loads generated by the current cars, making the tyre less prone to overheating and thermal degradation. Development testing means the new Full Wet offers an improvement in performance, bringing it slightly closer to that offered by the Intermediate, while maintaining the same water dispersal values to tackle any eventual risk of aquaplaning.

It’s also worth noting that, since 2023, the Full Wets can no longer be pre-heated, while the temperature of the blankets for the Intermediates is set at 60 °C.

This year’s event will be the 54^th Canadian Grand Prix, with the first one dating back to 1967. The race has been held at three venues: prior to Montreal, it has been run at Mosport, around a hundred kilometres from Toronto and at the Mont Tremblant ski resort, 145 kilometres from Montreal.

Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton top the tables for the most wins with seven apiece and most pole positions with six. With four to their name, Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen lead the way for fastest race laps, with the German out on his own when it comes to podium finishes with 12. The most successful team is McLaren on 13, followed by Ferrari (12) and Williams (7).

The 2011 race is in the record books as the longest Grand Prix ever in terms of time, having lasted for four hours, four minutes and 39.537 seconds. It featured six Safety Car appearances, but the biggest factor in this record was a very long red flag period due to torrential rain, because a regulation that had been in force since 2005 meant that the race clock was not paused during stoppages. Eventually, Jenson Button, who had been last on lap 37, won the race for McLaren!

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PIRELLI IN MOTORSPORT

Founded in 1872, Pirelli is a company with deep Italian roots now recognised all over the world for its cutting-edge technology, capacity for innovation, and the quality of its products. Motorsport has always played an important part in Pirelli’s strategy, following the ‘race to road’ philosophy. The company has been engaged in motorsport for 128 years and today supplies tyres to more than 350 championships on both two and four wheels. Pirelli pays constant attention to the most efficient use of natural resources and energy, and will reach carbon neutrality by 2030.
Pirelli has been Global Tyre Partner of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship since 2011. The company also supplies championships including FIA Formula 2, FIA Formula 3, Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine and GT World Challenge, alongside numerous national series.