Qualifying crash my “first major mistake” in F1 – Piastri

In brief

Qualifying crash my first “major mistake” in F1 – Piastri

Piastri reached Q3 in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix but lost control of his McLaren through turn seven, backing his car into the wall. It brought out the red flag which effectively ended the session as rain made it impossible for drivers to improve.

“I think it’s been a reasonably encouraging weekend,” Piastri said after the session. “I think most of qualifying was good – apart from Q3. So all in all, quite happy.

“It’s my first sort of major mistake – I had to get the first crash out of the way at some point. Just too aggressive on the throttle and that was all. Easy to do. A shame and sorry to the mechanics, who now have more work than they need. But all in all, I’m still reasonably happy with how the weekend’s gone.”

Stroll elimination down to “wrong tyre at the wrong moment”

Stroll was knocked out in Q2 in 13th place, along with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez ahead, after all three could not improve on their best times after switching to slick tyres just before rain increased in intensity.

“Wrong tyre at the wrong moment,” Stroll said after the session. “I was ready for dries, I was kind of pushing for dries but then the team I think maybe saw some forecast saying more rain.

“It’s always a difficult decision to make, but is what it is and we’ve got a long race tomorrow ahead of us.”

Antonelli error hands Stenshorne FREC win

Martinius Stenshorne won the first of two races in the Formula Regional European Championship at the Hungaroring yesterday after an apparent mistake from Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli midway through the race handed him the lead.

Stenshorne had started from pole and had led into turn one but Antonelli had charged up the inside into turn two to take the lead. After ten minutes, Antonelli suddenly ran wide at turn one, which allowed Stenshorne into the lead as Antonelli fell back.

Stenshorne’s win moves him into the lead of the FREC drivers’ championship with 74 points ahead of Kas Haverkort, who finished second. The second race of the round takes place today.

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

Leclerc will wear Gilles Villeneuve tribute helmet after talks with family (BBC)

'Villeneuve's son Jacques, the 1997 world champion, said it was a 'shock' to see Leclerc with the helmet because the family had not been consulted. Villeneuve spoke to Leclerc to raise issues around trademarks and sponsors.'

Stroll’s winding F1 journey back to the Canadian Grand Prix (Toronto Star)

''It’s a great feeling to have a competitive car underneath you. I was looking at the telemetry at one of the races earlier this year and I pulled up the same data from last year’s race (there), and I think we were something like four-and-a-half seconds quicker than we’d been in 2022, which is an insane amount (of time).'

AMF1 Team at McGill University (Aston Martin)

'Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, we visited McGill University's downtown Montréal campus to make an impact and inspire the next generation. Wte swapped the racetrack for the lecture theatre to take part in a series of illuminating panel discussions exploring how the business and engineering of Formula One intersect, drive innovation, and affect the world around us.'

James Allison is the brain that Ferrari let slip away, but the Mercedes technical engineer must arrest the current slump (Daily Mail)

'Ferrari’s loss is Mercedes’ gain. Since leaving the Scuderia, the Cambridge-educated engineer, the 55-year-old son of an air chief marshal, has been a crucial component of the team that carried the world before it through the second half of Lewis Hamilton’s years of blistering success.'

Guenther Steiner: How the Haas F1 boss keeps things running (Boardroom)

''Experience takes time, and what we don’t have is time. Nico is very focused, very determined. He’s doing a fantastic job for us in a moment. And he and Kevin are pushing each other. I’m doing this to be competitive, and I have fun when we are competitive.''

The 50-year history of the Safety Car's evolution in Formula 1 (F1)

'The Safety Car made its first appearance at the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix, as a result of several incidents caused by harsh weather conditions. To control the chaos, a slick Porsche 914 was deployed out on track, driven by former Canadian racing driver, Eppie Wietzes. However, things did not run too smoothly, as the Safety Car picked up the wrong lead driver, causing most of the field to end up a lap down. This meant that it took several hours to figure out who actually won the race before Peter Revson was later confirmed the winner.'

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Social media

Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

I would like to extend my thanks to @SkySports for kicking IndyCar qualifying off of Sky Sports F1 with no option to watch it on Sky Go. Truly appreciate seeing IndyCar given second-class treatment on here, it's amazing.

— Daniel Learmouth (@daniellearmouth) June 17, 2023

Their reaction says it all. 💚

This weekend, we surprised two lucky AMF1 Team fans with #CanadianGP paddock passes and an access-all-areas tour of our garage. The father & son duo got a chance to come closer to F1 than ever before and see things they've only dreamed of!#IAM pic.twitter.com/KIyUq37fEL

— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) June 17, 2023

I spoke to someone who drove the track right after they re-paved, they said it was like driving on ice, 6-7 seconds slower than when they last ran RA, the track cleaned up and was faster at the end of the day. Offline where cars haven’t run is clearly super slick still. #IndyCar https://t.co/V5omaZvACh

— Stefan Wilson (@stef_wilson) June 17, 2023

Live from the hairpin, the rain stopped but the Groundhogs are out. #CanadaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/TaYzJgl1cb

— Catherine Dea (@catherine__dea) June 17, 2023

|@Charles_Leclerc wearing a Gilles Villeneuve helmet.

Meanwhile @Carlossainz55 channelling another of his @scuderiaferrari predecessors: Rene Arnoux…

And I guess we have to say @alex_albon is channelling Jean Alesi with that slick tyre gamble!#F1 #CanadianGP #RaceFans

— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) June 17, 2023

Haas reminds me a lot of Jordan. 280 staff, a sweary boss & an inherent desire to annoy the big teams given half a chance .

— Mark Gallagher (@_markgallagher) June 17, 2023

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• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

After Charles Leclerc was left frustrated when his team did not agree to his call to pit earlier for slicks in qualifying, MichaelN thinks Leclerc might have to start putting his foot down…

I like Leclerc. But – does anyone believe that Schumacher would have been overruled at all, never mind in this almost disinterested fashion? Of course not.

It might not come naturally to him, but Leclerc has to assert himself more. This is not the first time he’s quietly going along with an evidently deficient idea from the Ferrari pitwall. And yes… Silverstone.
MichaelN

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Chris P and Jh1806!

On this day in motorsport

• 35 years ago today Ayrton Senna put his McLaren on pole position for the United States Grand Prix in Detroit while the Ferraris bumped team mate Alain Prost to fourth