In the round-up: Carlos Sainz Jnr praised the efforts of Ferrari’s strategists in the Canadian Grand Prix.
In brief
Ferrari made “right call” on strategy
Sainz started Sunday’s race 11th, one place behind team mate Charles Leclerc, both on the medium tyre compound. The pair finished in the same order in fourth and fifth places after Ferrari opted not to pit during an early Safety Car period.
“We definitely did a very good strategy,” said Sainz. “Staying out with both cars was the right call.”
While most drivers made two pit stops Ferrari gained ground by sticking to a single stop for each of their cars. “The medium was very strong on our car this weekend since Friday and I could maximise the stint on the medium and I felt good on it,” said Sainz.
“We trusted the medium because of FP2 and we committed to it and felt like we’d go long, no problem. It was a nice tyre. The hard, like always in our car, the harder tyres are a bit trickier.”
Red Bull retrieve bird Verstappen hit
The unfortunate bird Max Verstappen struck on his way to victory in Canada was extracted from the front-right corner of his car by a mechanic after the race and pictured on social media.Sargeant to get Williams update in Austria
After Alexander Albon’s run to seventh place in Williams’ upgraded FW45, the team plan to introduce the same upgrade on Logan Sargeant’s car at the next race, according to team principal James Vowles.
“The update that was on the car this weekend was enormous by standards in Formula 1 and it was the culmination of huge and significant teamwork back in Grove, of hundreds of people really pulling together and working together to deliver the update we have here in the timeframe that we had available to us.
“It’s paid off. Without that upgrade I’m confident that we wouldn’t have the points on the table today and that is really a testament to the dedication the team has to this year’s championship and our future championships.”
Penske struggling on smooth tracks – Newgarden
“I’m biased, I’m an old surface fan anywhere we go,” he admitted. “I don’t like new pavement at any track. But it is a different challenge than what you get on an old surface.
“I think as a team we’re not excelling on smooth surfaces, particularly something like this. It’s in our control to make it better. As a team, we’ve got to figure out a better formula for our cars with this type of track.
“This weekend just cemented that for us. We already felt that way at previous tracks. Running through this weekend, the test last week, we definitely confirmed that we have a weakness on these type of surfaces. We knew that going in.
“We knew it was going to be new. I love Road America. I still love it just as much as I loved it in the past.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell attends Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal (Three Down Nation)
'The NFL commissioner has spent significant time with Formula One Group CEO Stefano Domenicali and sat in on the regular pre-race meeting with all team principals on Sunday morning. The head of North America’s most powerful sports league is looking to the fast-growing sporting phenomenon for tips on how to maintain his place on top.'
Matt Bishop monthly edition 4 (Omologato Watches)
'The championship was cancelled. Since ('Geki') had been heading the points standings at the time of the tragedy, Geki, who had been just 29, was declared champion - posthumously - a la Jochen Rindt - who died at just 28 at Monza in 1970 and was declared posthumous Formula One world champion at season’s end'
Temporary bridges vital to Las Vegas Grand Prix transportation (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
'The idea is when the track is hot, when there’s racing, that’ll be the bridge that allows emergency vehicles and other vehicles to cross over the track so that they can service the 23,000 rooms we have inside the track.'
Michelin to introduce new Hypercar, GTP tyre specs in 2025 (Sportscar 365)
'We’re not going to try and beat the record of 3'14 (at Le Mans). But we don’t want to go and be slower than 3'30.'
Cinema specialist and racing passion: Getting to know the real Brad Benavides (F2)
"Favourite racing memory? 'I’d have to say La Conca, 2018 with my dad. It was a shifter class race, WSK Super Master Series. I went with my dad to that race, we were coming from pretty good results in the races before that event and when I went to that event, in the beginning, it was going terrible. It’s a really nice place, you feel like you’re near Bari, that part of Italy. You think you’re at some resort, not some kind of track. At the beginning it was super, super tough, then we changed kart and then I went a second and a half quicker after changing the chassis. I was zero to hero, going through that with my dad was a huge confidence boost.'"
Stenshorne doubles up at the Hungaroring (Formula Regional by Alpine)
'For sure, this is a really good weekend, we are really happy to bounce back like this after the Barcelona round. In the end was just a perfect weekend. We were a bit lucky yesterday, I would say, with the technical issue of Kimi (Antonelli), but today we had good start, and a good management of the race… it was a really good race.'
Perez’s confidence is shot and the sharks are starting to circle (Daily Telegraph)
'One is tempted to wonder whether, by now, Bernie Ecclestone would have engineered a route for Lewis Hamilton to join Verstappen at Red Bull, purely for the box office viewing which would ensue.'
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it to us via the contact form.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Had a few nice moves out there today, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough for points.
Sadly our Alphatauri admin is leaving and who also being my best friend of me since I joined in the team.
Good luck for your upcoming future and anyway we see us in the paddock!✌️ pic.twitter.com/6ynxHblZ9c— 角田裕毅/Yuki Tsunoda (@yukitsunoda07) June 19, 2023
Traditions. 💚#CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/zOYorAVHXJ
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) June 18, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Did the Canadian Grand Prix indicate Red Bull’s rivals are finally starting to catch them?
It’s possible that the others are starting to properly catch the Red Bull, but I seriously doubt it. I suspect this was just an outlier: either the track wasn’t suiting them on race day, or they were running with the engine dialled well back. Even so, Verstappen was still comfortably in the lead for the whole race and never looked to be in any danger whatsoever. And even then, and with a safety car, he still crossed the line nearly 10s ahead of Alonso.
If the other teams are starting to catch up a bit, I think it’s more likely because Red Bull are already concentrating development on next year. With such a huge advantage, it’s highly unlikely any team will be able to catch them in either the drivers’ or constructors’ championship this year, and they have their development time ‘punishment’ to consider. Even if we reach the end of the season with one or more teams on par with Red Bull, I won’t be at all surprised to see them with a massive advantage at the start of next season again.
@Drmouse
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Julie, M744All and Erivaldo Moreira!
On this day in motorsport
- 70 years ago today Juan Manuel Fangio put his Maserati on pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix, lapping the original Spa-Francorchamps in four and a half minutes
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Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
20th June 2023, 0:35
Red Bull giveth, and Red Bull taketh away, wings.
Sumedh
20th June 2023, 1:58
On COTD, don’t discount the loss in speed due to carrying the dead bird too.
Yellow Baron
20th June 2023, 2:25
Here’s a proposal. (Going to try keep is as short as possible)
F1’s lack of title deciders.
If I was correct there have only been 5 in the last 15 seasons which is pretty awful. Naturally this has been due to dominance from two teams, as well as some that could not sustain he challenge to the end.
Now in the last 15 seasons I think only 1 season may have benefitted from a points system that would keep it closer and that would be 2009.
But I think it’s something that should still be considered and the reading is that the seasons now are just so long that is very tough. Essentially 26 races worth of points currently are on offer during a season which is 30% more than the previous consistent 19 per season
I would argue its unlikely that we will see title deciders unless things are freakishly close with problems for all contenders. Which remember, includes teams development impacting the title race. 2021 may have gone to the end but it too a resurgence from mercedes car and some bad results for max. So there was some luck involved as well as engine penalties
The chances of deciders nowadays are just so much lower that steps need to be take and F1 is such that hoping things will converge is a lost cause.
I’m going to go ahead and suggest that if by 2/3 of the season 1 driver has around 50 points or more of a lead in the championship then there should be some sort of a points reset for the final 8 races.
This would also stop a dominant team being able to take it easy and shift development to the next year and would mean less chance of one team holding their advantage.
I definitely see how this second suggestion is quite extreme and has some issues that would need addresses but what else? Forget the teams converging, it’s clearly a lost cause . In seasons with this many races the chances are just too slim.
F1 title deciders are one of the best things about the sport and for the last two decades or so. We just don’t have enough of them. They are a showcase event and we have only had them less than 50% of the time for over two decades
Please do discuss
Yellow Baron
20th June 2023, 2:34
Also 2021 wasn’t a convergence. Only two teams and two top drivers were close. 2021 was an outlier and a freak season. The rules were changes which aided redbull. I firmly believe we would not have seen the 2021 we saw if those floor changes hadn’t happened.
I just think that relying on convergence is pointless and that well I miss those final races where the title is on the line.
Looking back at it 2006 – 2012 was like some golden age in comparison to the following decade.
Please excuse my bad grammar!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
20th June 2023, 5:22
I also don’t trust convergence, unimpressed by the fact mercedes kept dominating all those years until the 2021 rule change.
MichaelN
20th June 2023, 11:34
Too many rule based gimmicks makes the results seem random and people generally don’t like that. Even if it’s frustrating to see the same guy win all the time, a ‘deserved’ winner can still be respected. Sometimes only in retrospect by partisan fans of the losing team – but respected nonetheless.
For there to be competition, the other teams need to step up. Get serious and do better. The rules can help them, and the budget cap is a great tool in the hands of the FIA to do so. Some have suggested that by expanding the budget cap to include more (or all) expenses, the FIA can then loosen the rules because the performance is effectively capped by the inability of the teams to spend more than a certain amount. This would in theory allow a team to off-set a lack of performance on the engine with better aero, or vice versa.
The main problem with this is that it becomes very tricky to write the rules. Every rule is effectively capping performance in one area, and thereby potentially privileging development in another area. In the most extreme cases, people would max out performance across the board, and you’d be right back to the current situation. If the limitations were very loose this wouldn’t be an issue, but then the FIA risks one team becoming, for example, way too fast on the straight while another would need unique tyres to handle its vastly superior cornering speeds. That concern is part of the reason why they decided to impose certain performance limitations on the Hypercars, so the teams could make their own kind of car with different characteristics, but then have the FIA/ACO sort the competitiveness of all those different solutions out via BoP.
Another thing would be to stop the teams from having so much say over the rules. Mercedes’ meddling that led to the new floor height regulations is a big contributor to the failure of the 2022-spec cars, which are now much (in relative terms) higher than intended, thereby lessening much of the impact of the floor changes.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
20th June 2023, 5:24
And wow, 70 years ago there was already the belgian gp around this time, while nowadays it’s many races away still.
Jere (@jerejj)
20th June 2023, 6:03
Other teams are also shifting more & more focus on next season, not only RB, especially their closest rivals knowing the budget cap penalty will affect them even more at next season’s beginning, so a balanced impact.
Qeki (@qeki)
20th June 2023, 8:56
Win at Le Mans! and now an error free GP! Oh Happy Days 😊
I luv chicken
20th June 2023, 15:51
Letters of merit, to be given out at the factory, no doubt. Citywide holiday, in Modena.
drmouse (@drmouse)
20th June 2023, 9:00
Thanks for the COTD @keithcollantine
On Ferrari, it was a rare strategic win for them, following blunders in Qually. I suspect that it comes down to the old saying: Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Mayrton
20th June 2023, 12:28
Hahahaha, nice.
Electroball76
20th June 2023, 14:00
Hey Enrico! This is not a clock, it’s a thermometer!