Fernando Alonso
In terms of passion, skill and fighting spirit, no one can tell Fernando Alonso he is about to turn 41. Driving your alpine race car to second place on a treacherous, wet qualifying track was like a small victory. Threatening leader Max Verstappen with “maximum attack” was certainly one of the Spaniard’s psychological tricks. But he had already figured out the fifth position, and it would have been possible despite the onset of a completely sleepless night.
In the end, Alonso crossed the finish line in seventh place and the race stewards slipped him to ninth for zigzagging. The fact that he was not allowed to overtake his 15-year-old teammate Esteban Ocon for safety reasons almost impressed the Spaniard: “I was a hundred times faster than him over the weekend.” But he ordered astonishingly, even more angry about the Renault engine, which was only running on less power from lap 20: “Since then it was about survival for me. Driving me a kamikaze was.”
mike schumacher
Sixth on the grid, further ahead than ever. In the chaos of the rain of merit, he drove as confidently as his father. Liberation was finally found, also within the Haas Racing team. Even team boss Günther Steiner said “thank you”. Mick Schumacher broke free in qualifying in Montreal and was actually hoping for his first World Championship point in the race. After all, who wants to be a cheater forever? Even in the race, when he had lost a place on the first lap, the points were still within reach. The 23-year-old finished in the top ten while teammate Kevin Magnussen blasted Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.
Schumacher was able to maintain fairly well for over 19 laps in the first half of the field, then had to step down after position and roll over with a drive failure on his rental Ferrari. Bitter, very bitter. But Mick Schumacher, who immediately followed the driver’s route announced in Montreal, kept his despair under control: “an unpleasant feeling” he said in German, “unhappy” in interviews in English. His car looked great and the performance wasn’t bad either: “That’s what we can take with us to Silverstone.”
Sebastian Vettel
There is now a whole collection of T-shirts that Sebastian Vettel uses to point out grievances in the world, mostly about human rights, peace, and preferably environmental issues. It is registered in Formula 1, but it rarely reaches the larger public. This changed with his protest against tar sand mining as “Canada’s climate crime”, as Energy Minister Sonya Savage from the province of Alberta grew in excitement: “I have seen a lot of hypocrisy over the years, but this is the crowning glory, She tweeted and explained that Vettel’s racing team is co-financed by Aramco, the world’s largest oil production company. The politician then contemptuously recommended that racing drivers reduce their own carbon footprint: “perhaps with pedal cars.”
Vettel knows he is weak, but he usually remains stubborn. But on Sunday, he changed his helmet, which also had his message for the people of Canada. Why he didn’t say this in a Sky interview, his team denied coercing the driver. This raises the question of whether others influenced him. The Saudis are also one of the main sponsors of Formula 1.
Max Verstappen
In the last 15 most exciting rounds of the Canadian Grand Prix, radio communication between the front-runner and the Red Bull command post was disrupted. “Maybe they were really happy,” speculated the Dutchman, who was able to make his sixth win this season from his second pole position. The defending champions have dominated two-thirds of all races so far and have been able to hold a decent lead over main rival Charles Leclerc. He cannot and does not want to relax, he has shown himself how quickly situations can change.
The slope on Ile de Notre-Dame suited him. It has the character of a permanent racetrack, even reminiscent of his beloved go-kart courses. Verstappen found it a nice surprise that Fernando Alonso was standing next to him in the beginning: “As a little boy I saw Fernando running and winning titles on TV, and now he’s standing next to me.” Well, not for long. As well as a kind of manifestation of the accelerated generational change initiated by Verstappen in Formula 1. Champion also forbade other drivers from speaking up for him on the controversial issue of jumping racing cars: “They shouldn’t include me.”
Carlos Sainz Jr.
In the end zero commune seconds were missing and Ferrari’s number two finally secured their first Grand Prix victory. Due to a safety car stage shortly before the end, Spaniard leader Max Verstappen suddenly refocused his eyes on him. Bravely he fought his way to the Dutchman through air turbulence. But there was no getting around it, as a defender in an unfamiliar role Verstappen passed the stress test and secured his sixth win of the season against a new opponent in the red car.
Nonetheless, it was a happy ending for Scuderia Ferrari, which experienced only minor glitches at the pit stop after a major fuss in Baku. Eventually, Charles Leclerc finished fifth even after an engine change from the last row of the grid. A grand prize of damage range, even though Leclerc is already 49 points behind Verstappen in the World Cup. “At least we were back in music in terms of performance,” Sainz said. “We were fast the whole race and I was able to fight with full force until the last lap.”
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes is the most expensive test driver in the world. In order to finally get rid of the Silver Arrow’s balance problem, Lewis Hamilton will have to keep experimenting on Friday because of his experience. In Montreal, these went so wrong that Hamilton had already recommended a better thought of a new design for 2023: “a disaster.” After his fourth place in qualifying, this was no longer an issue, and the fact that he was third on the podium at the Canadian Grand Prix for the second time this year makes for feelings of joy covering any back pain. was created. “I almost feel young again,” said the Canadian record winner.
For the second time, Mercedes drivers finished third and fourth in the reverse order from Baku. But George Russell continued his streak of being the only driver to finish in the top five in every race. Hamilton immediately became a positive thinker again: “The result gives us a lot of hope. For the first time I could see to the end in the top right. At times we were as fast as Red Bull and Ferrari.” Hamilton had only one wish: “How did George handle the experiments in the second half of the season…?”
toto wolf
The World Automobile Association would have preferred to solve the problem of bouncing racing cars and many drivers moaning in pain quickly and through technical instructions. but that’s about it bouncy, which can cause long-term damage to the back and brain, is very complex. There is no universal solution for all racing cars, not all are equally affected, with Mercedes being the hardest hit. So in Montreal, the only data collected was how hard the cars were stopping and where the pain threshold might be. Then, the teams must work together to consider what will be changed.
A foreshadowing of how difficult it would be to build consensus at the team owners meeting in Montreal. Once again, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and Red Bull governor Christian Horner clashed. Wolff argues in terms of the health of all the drivers who got things done with official protests. Horner more or less blames the opposition for wanting to gain an advantage midseason after having missed targets so far. No one publicly addresses the other by name, but Wolff bursts in: “There are allies who try to manipulate what is said to maintain a competitive advantage and play the political game.” Austrians find that “pathetic” and “timid”.
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