F1 Canadian Grand Prix 2022 – Return to Gilles’ backyard
Max Verstappen looks to emphasise his dominance from pole position at today’s Canadian Grand Prix with the testing conditions throwing another interesting wrinkle as he targets a second world championship. The Red Bull driver was untouchable in the rain as mistakes and mechanical issues rained on the parade of his closest challengers.
The Gilles Villeneuve Circuit saw Fernando Alonso secure second in qualification for Alpine, Carlos Sainz starts third for Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton, despite his very public complaints about the state of the Mercedes W13 car, is back near the top of the field, with the seven-time world champion seizing fourth for the Silver Arrows. Special praise should also come for Haas team, who locked out the third row of the grid thanks to Kevin Magnussen in fifth and Mick Schumacher in sixth.
Do not expect Alonso to play it safe from the start today, which makes for a fascinating prospect when lights go out: “The goal is to lead the race in lap one. Turn One, maximum attack. And then after that, they can go and they can fight – but it will be nice, sweet to lead the race.” While Verstappen added: “Fernando is getting a little bit old, but he’s still very fast,” Verstappen said. “So I know he starts very well, you know, so I have to be ready. To be on the front row together with Fernando; I used to look at F1 as a little kid, seeing Fernando being up there and winning his races and championships and putting it on pole. So to be sharing the front row is a nice thing.” Follow all the latest updates as we build towards this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix:
Russell into pits for new hard tyres
George Russell made his first pit stop on lap 20, with the aim of going to the end of the race on one set of hard tyres.
That hasn’t been possible though and Russell has come in for new hards, leaving him in fourth, six seconds behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
That should pretty much guarantee Hamilton a podium finish, barring a calamity or another safety car.
Dan Austin19 June 2022 20:06
Verstappen and Hamilton into pits for second stop
Max Verstappen has pitted for his second pit stop and despite quick work by the Red Bull mechanics, the Dutchman comes out just behind Lewis Hamilton.
The Mercedes was rounding Turn 1 as his great rival exited the pits, and Hamilton took the racing line to cut Verstappen off.
Hamilton pits at the end of the following lap for new tyres of his own, though, and comes out in fourth behind team-mate George Russell.
Dan Austin19 June 2022 20:03
Leclerc finally pits but stop is slow
Charles Leclerc is finally into the pits for Ferrari but his stop is slow.
The Ferrari mechanics are working on his car for 5.5s, about three seconds longer than a typical pitstop.
That has dropped the Monegasque just behind a four-car DRS train involving Lance Stroll, Zhou Guanyu, Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo in 12th place.
Leclerc would have been ahead of all these cars if not for the slow stop.
Dan Austin19 June 2022 20:01
Race has settled down with Verstappen leading
We’re now past the halfway mark in this race and for now things have stabilised quite considerably over the past efw laps.
Max Verstappen is maintaining a lead of around seven seconds ahead of Carloz Sainz, with Lewis Hamilton ten seconds further back in third and George Russell another nine seconds off his team-mate.
Esteban Ocon is fifth, still fending off Charles Leclerc, with Fernando Alonso behind them in seventh.
Leclerc is still on the hard tyres he began the race with.
Dan Austin19 June 2022 19:57
Verstappen losing grip
Max Verstappen has been on the Red Bull team radio to report that he is losing grip on his hard tyres.
The Dutchman came in behind the first virtual safety car on lap eight for fresh rubber, and will need to stop again to make it to the end of the race.
He is ahead of Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari, who is eight second behind but could potentially make it to the end after waiting until lap 20 to stop.
Dan Austin19 June 2022 19:50
Alonso finally pits
Fernando Alonso has finally come into the pits, and is out in seventh behind Charles Leclerc who is chasing Alonso’s team-mate Esteban Ocon.
This is a frankly bizarre strategy from Alpine, who seem to have managed to drop Alonso way out of contention for a podium after his spectacular performance in qualifying.
Even if the Spaniard can go to the end on these tyres he is now extremely unlikely to be able to challenge the Mercedes cars which were behind him when the first virtual safety car came out.
Dan Austin19 June 2022 19:45
Leclerc targeting Ocon in sixth
Charles Leclerc is up to seventh after the slew of pit stops behind the second virtual safety car, and could take a home strong haul of points if he is able to continue making progress through the field.
The Monegasque has yet to stop in this race but is all over the gearbox of Esteban Ocon who has. Leclerc needs to make the pass happen soon if his strategy is going to work.
Dan Austin19 June 2022 19:41
Hamilton up to third past Alonso
And on the very next lap, Hamilton is through using the exact same method as Sainz and is now running in third.
Alpine’s decision to leave Alonso out on track already looked strange and the way he is dropping back through the field behind drivers who have already pitted shows the French team have made a significant error. He will drop to sixth or seventh when he eventually does make a stop.
Dan Austin19 June 2022 19:37
Sainz passes Alonso for second
Carlos Sainz has already passed Fernando Alonso with ease using DRS on entry to Turn 14 once in this race, and has just done the same again after catching his compatriot very quickly on fresh rubber.
Lewis Hamilton is now behind Alonso in fourth and will be looking to make a similar pass very soon.
Dan Austin19 June 2022 19:35
Sainz out in third just ahead of Hamilton
Carlos Sainz has come into the pits on the second lap behind the virtual safety car and comes out less than a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
The Mercedes is within DRS range and is on the attack.
The pair are only just over a second behind Fernando Alonso in second, who Alpine have inexplicably left out on track during both safety car periods.
Dan Austin19 June 2022 19:33
