2024F1 Canadian Grand Prix Preview: More drivers to run updates
The 2024 F1 World Championship Round 9, the Canadian Grand Prix, will take place this weekend at the traditional home of the circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. It runs on a 2.71-mile track made up of roads around Notre Dame's artificial island on the St. Lawrence River. Overtaking here is relatively easy, the speed is high, and the car is pushed to the limit.
It is expected that some teams will add upgrades to their cars, as is usually the case at the Canadian Grand Prix. Among them is the Mercedes-Benz AMG, which has a new front wing and floor for Lewis Hamilton's cars. Teammate George Russell has already performed the configuration in the previous race in Monaco.
The track layout is a mix of slow corners and fast sections, with 3 straight, all with drs zones and separated by heavy braking chicanes. To succeed here, you need a high linear speed, excellent deceleration in the braking zone and sufficient traction for the corner exit.
Drivers should also be confident enough to push their cars hard even when they pass through the notoriously close barriers, including the so-called champion wall at the exit of the final corner, which claims the likes of Jenson Button, Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve. There is a ...........
Cars tend to run in low downforce aero configurations to favor linear speeds that can exceed 186mph at the end of the straight. This lack of downforce, combined with the relatively smooth track surface repositioned this year, leads to some instability in the corners. Therefore, the mechanical grip through the tire is even more important than usual. As a result, Pirelli named its softest compound combination, C3, C4, and C5.
The weather also often turns the strategy on its head, creating unusual track conditions, where high heat can alternate this time of year with heavy rain, Montreal current forecasts are likely to rain during qualifying on Saturday and thunderstorms during Sunday races. Entering the weekend, Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen leads the Drivers' championship by 169 points in 2024. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is 138 points in 2nd place, while McLaren's Rand Norris is 113 points in 3rd place. In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull leads by 252 points against Ferrari's 184 and McLaren's 276. Last year's winner in Canada was Verstappen, who was driving for Red Bull.
