After a much-needed break for the grid, Formula 1 is back this week with the Canadian Grand Prix.
And there is much to discuss.
From some fascinating fights shaping up throughout the standings, to one driver who is on the cusp of a suspension, and another who may be forced to miss his home race due to injury, there are no shortage of storylines.
Let’s dive into the major talking points for the Canadian Grand Prix.
Checking in on the F1 title races
With the latest triple-header in the rear-view mirror, it is time to check in on both title races.
The Spanish Grand Prix offered the latest twist to a fascinating F1 Drivers’ Championship fight. Lando Norris’ win in the Monaco Grand Prix pulled him to within just three points of teammate Oscar Piastri atop the standings, but Piastri’s command performance in Barcelona pushed that gap back to ten points, as he finished up front ahead of Norris as McLaren locked out the front row.
Perhaps more intriguing is what happened behind them. As the grid arrived in Barcelona Max Verstappen was just off the pace, only 25 points behind Piastri and 23 points behind Norris. But as we will discuss in a moment, Verstappen’s tenth-place finish in Barcelona — coupled with the one-two performance from the McLaren duo — dropped him further away from the front. As the grid heads to Montreal Verstappen sits 39 points behind Norris and 49 points behind Piastri.
And with George Russell only 26 points behind Verstappen, the gap is closing up behind him too.
As for the Constructors’ Championship race, McLaren remains the class of the field, as the Woking-based team has 362 points on the season, putting them 197 points clear of the team in second.
That team?
Ferrari.
After all the consternation in recent weeks about the Scuderia a third-place finish from Charles Leclerc and a sixth-place result from Lewis Hamilton pushed Ferrari into P2, six points clear of Mercedes and 22 points clear of Red Bull.
There is a long way to go until trophies are handed out, but the fights at the front are fascinating indeed.
Whither Lance Stroll?
In the hours leading up to the Spanish Grand Prix, word broke that Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll would be withdrawing from the race, citing pain in his hands and wrist. Stroll underwent surgery ahead of the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix after a cycling accident during pre-season training, and made a stunning return to the grid for the first race of the season, where he finished sixth.
However, his status for this week, his home race, is in doubt.
Mike Krack, the team’s Chief Trackside Officer, relayed that “Plan A” is for Stroll to be in the AMR25 this week. But Krack conceded that much is up in the air before the teams head to Montreal.
“At the moment, it’s really difficult to tell you how it’s going to go, and what is going to happen in the next days, but we will find out,” Krack said to the official F1 website.
And if Stroll cannot race this weekend, there are further complications. Reserve drivers Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne are on standby, but both are slated to drive in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which conflicts with the Canadian Grand Prix. Jak Crawford, who drives in F2 and is part of Aston Martin’s driver development program, currently lacks the requisite points on his FIA Super License.
“It is quite simple, the ‘Plan A’ is to have Lance in the car – that is the ‘Plan A’, and that is what we are working to,” said Krack. “If the ‘Plan A’ does not work, then we need to pull ‘Plan B’.
“Obviously we always knew that Le Mans was going to happen, so we also had plans in place that if we need a driver that is doing Le Mans, we will bring him, but at the moment this is not the only question,” added Krack.
“We wait what the next days are bringing, and then we take a decision.”
Max Verstappen on the cusp of an unexpected vacation
F1’s latest triple-header ended with a penalty, putting the defending Drivers’ Champion on the precipice of a one-race penalty ban.
Max Verstappen’s incident with George Russell in the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix resulted in not just a ten-second penalty from the race stewards for the Red Bull driver (which dropped him to P10) but a three-point penalty on his FIA Super License. That increased Verstappen’s current penalty tally to 11 points, putting him one point shy of a one-race suspension.
Complicating matters is the fact that the next points to expire on Verstappen’s Super License, the two he received for an incident with Lando Norris at last year’s Austrian Grand Prix, do not expire until the end of the month.
That means Verstappen has to navigate both the Canadian Grand Prix this week, and the Austrian Grand Prix later this month, without incident.
All eyes on Red Bull’s second seat … again
Verstappen standing on the precipice of a one-race suspension is not the only major storyline at Red Bull.
It is time to talk about the second seat … again.
Yuki Tsunoda, tapped by the team as a replacement for Liam Lawson after just two races this year, has not delivered the kind of results Red Bull is hoping for out of their second seat. Tsunoda has banked just seven points since his promotion to the senior team, a mark that has seen drivers such as Alexander Albon, Carlos Sainz Jr., Nico Hülkenberg, Esteban Ocon and yes, Isack Hadjar, outscore him over that stretch.
Now there are rumblings that Hadjar could be the next driver to earn a promotion to Red Bull. “There is one driver who Racing Bulls think has a very similar style to Max Verstappen. I don’t think he’s ready yet. But is Isaac Hadjar the answer to their problems?” asked Sky Sports F1’s David Croft in recent days.
“If Hadjar is the closest thing to Max Verstappen, then he has the easier task of adapting to that car, which has been designed and developed more to Max’s liking.
“Red Bull say because Sergio Perez was a bit reluctant in coming forward to give feedback last year, so therefore, the feedback was all Max’s, therefore, the car kind of went in a Max direction.”
The issue of the second seat at Red Bull has lingered since Daniel Ricciardo departed from the team after the 2018 season, and now even Verstappen is wondering why this remains a problem for the team.
“Yuki isn’t a pancake. This [with the 2nd Red Bull driver] has been going on for a long time,” said Verstappen at the Spanish Grand Prix.
“Maybe that’s a sign. Of what? That you can decide yourself.”
Then there are the rumors that the team is looking for approval for 17-year-old Arvid Lindblad to receive an FIA Super License. Lindblad, who sits third in the F2 Drivers’ Championship standings and is coming off a win in the F2 Feature Race at the Spanish Grand Prix, is considered one of the sport’s brightest young talents. But as he is yet to turn 18, he would need approval from the FIA to drive in F1.
He turns 18 in August.
Might this be a backstop should Verstappen receive a penalty as outlined above? Consideration for another mid-season move?
Or just more fodder for people like me?
Is the front-wing saga settled?
Entering the Spanish Grand Prix, front wings were the talk of the paddock.
With the sport’s governing body instituting stricter testing on front wings, to cut down on the “flexi-wing” saga that dominated the conversation the past several months, there was rampant speculation that the new requirements would shake up the pecking order, and perhaps knock McLaren down a bit.
The corresponding front-row lockout from Piastri and Norris ended that speculation, at least for now.
Is the “flexi-wing” saga truly over, or does Montreal spring a surprise?
Has a new contender emerged in the midfield fight?
Williams expected a difficult week in Barcelona, and those premonitions were proven correct as the team endured their first point-less race week since the Bahrain Grand Prix. Still, they sit comfortably in fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship race with 54 points, 26 points clear of Visa Cash App Racing Bulls. Haas sits seventh in the table with 26 points, just two behind the tally of VCARB.
But did a new contender emerge in Barcelona?
Nico Hülkenberg’s stunning fifth-place finish in the Spanish Grand Prix, which included an overtake of Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap, delivered ten massive points for Sauber, propelling them up to eighth in the standings. Despite entering the Spanish Grand Prix sitting tenth in the Constructors’ Championship, that result brought their season tally to 16, tying them with Aston Martin but giving Sauber the tiebreaker edge.
Can Sauber keep that momentum going in Montreal?
