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George
Russell will start from pole position on Sunday in the Canadian Grand Prix.
Today we witnessed an exciting qualifying session in which Russell managed
to beat his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli at the very end. The Briton
was the fastest driver in Q3 with a time of 1:12.578. Antonelli finished
second on 1:12.646, while Lando Norris took third with a 1:12.729.
Russell set his fastest lap on the second flying run, using the same set of
C5 tyres, earning him the right to start from the front of the grid on
Sunday. Several drivers went quicker on their second push lap with the same
set of tyres, making the session uncertain right up to the final seconds.
The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented by Giacomo Gianniotti. The
actor, of Italian heritage, grew up in Canada and achieved worldwide fame
thanks to the series Grey’s Anatomy, in which he played doctor Andrew
DeLuca. He currently stars in the crime series Wild Cards on Netflix.
The Mercedes driver also claimed victory in today’s Sprint, making the
most of the pole position he secured for the short race on Friday. Second
place went to Norris, with Antonelli finishing third. The Mercedes drivers
opted to start on a used set of Medium tyres, while Norris started on a new
set of the same compound. Arvin Lindblad, running the Hard, finished in
eighth position, while Sergio Perez, classified eleventh, completed today’s
race on the Soft.
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DARIO MARRAFUSCHI –
PIRELLI MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR
“The choice of compound for today’s Sprint was almost uniform across the
grid, with a few exceptions that ultimately allowed all three compounds to
be seen in action. Over the distance of the short race, the Soft showed
linear and limited degradation, a sign that it could represent a useful
joker in the strategies for Sunday’s race, should the track remain dry.
For tomorrow, the one-stop strategy is clearly the best option, with the
Medium-Hard combination indicated as the quickest on paper. This
conservative approach, which we believe will be the most widely adopted by
the teams in the absence of rain, calls for the pit stop to take place
between laps 21 and 27.
Slower than the previous option is the
Hard-Medium strategy, which allows the first stint to be extended until laps
38 to 44. Depending on grid position, some drivers could benefit from
starting on the Soft, bringing forward the pit stop to between laps 17 and
23, before completing the final stint on the Hard.
There is, however,
a high probability of rain tomorrow, which opens up the use of the two
wet-weather products. From Miami onwards, Pirelli has extended the
authorisation for the use of tyre blankets to the Full Wets as well, setting
them at 40 °C for two hours. A temperature increase had already been adopted
for the Intermediates, which can be heated to 70 °C for two hours, as is the
case with slicks.
The use of tyre blankets certainly makes it easier
to bring wet tyres up to temperature in the opening laps, even in low-grip
conditions, such as low ambient temperatures or due to the characteristics
of the circuit itself. Both factors apply at Montreal, where the relatively
low lateral forces make it difficult to generate tyre temperature, as seen
in today’s qualifying, and where forecasts indicate a further drop in
minimum temperatures."
Formula 2:
Noel Leon claimed his first
Formula 2 victory by winning the Sprint Race in Canada. The driver remained
calm and focused despite multiple safety car periods during the Sprint on
the Gilles Villeneuve circuit. Finishing almost four seconds behind,
Gabriele Minì took second place. The Italian had started from pole position
but was unable to convert his front-row start into a win. However, Minì
managed to keep Martinius Stenshorne behind him, with the Norwegian
finishing third. The F2 drivers will be back on track tomorrow for the main
race of the weekend. |
