Max Verstappen already knows that he will not be bothered by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari on Sunday. The Monegask will start at least ten places back in Canada, but probably even at the back. Carlos Sainz is therefore the only real threat. The question is what the Spaniard can do against two Red Bulls.
Friday in Canada provided some answers, but raised even more questions.
The most important answer came after Ferrari’s second free practice: Leclerc gets new ones control electronics in his car, resulting in a ten-place grid penalty. But probably Ferrari chooses to all the way to go and a whole new engine in the pool to introduce. That is the fourth of the season for Leclerc, so he starts at the back due to a large number of grid penalties.
Leclerc therefore did not run a normal program on Friday, and only drove on soft tires in the second free practice. Only Sainz drove a long runwhich is not so lung wash, on the medium tires. This resulted in a remarkably strong average. So strong that it is unlikely that Red Bull will actually be that far behind at race pace. And because the Red Bulls were doing longer runs, they most likely had more fuel on board as well.
But just to be sure: that’s how the only remaining Ferrari and the two Red Bulls related to each other on the mediums.
Long run averages on medium
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari): 1.17.5 (5 laps)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull): 1.18.2 (9 laps)
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull): 1.18.4 (9 laps)
Leclerc is fast over one lap despite the engine failure
In one round it was as usual close together. Leclerc came close to the time of Verstappen, despite the deviating program of the Monegask. He also drove a turbo that had some problems, and that will probably be replaced on Saturday.
Sergio Pérez himself admitted afterwards that he was unable to drive representative lap times with little petrol due to a problem in the set-up. Without going into what exactly that was. The Mexican is in good shape in terms of race pace, which can give Red Bull a strategic advantage with two against one up front.
Best times second training
- 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull): 1.14.127
- 2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): +0.081
- 3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari): +0.225
- 11. Sergio Perez (Red Bull): +1,040
Wet Saturday only makes forecasting more difficult
Because rain is forecast for Saturday, there is a risk of a wet qualifying. That is usually a recipe for surprises in the starting lineup. In addition, most of the rubber that was put down on Friday washes off the track, a process that started immediately after the second training session on Friday with a huge downpour.
It just makes the calculations more unreliable. Verstappen can therefore stick to how Friday went for himself. And that went fine. For the first time in 2022, he even clocked the fastest time in the first free practice.
Verstappen again gave the impression of being the big title favorite
There were some glitches, but nothing that Red Bull can’t solve over the weekend. Meanwhile, the grid penalties are already starting to pile up at the major competitor, with no guarantee that the engine problems of Baku and Barcelona are really a thing of the past at Leclerc.
After two weekends that started a little more difficult for Verstappen, he really gave the impression of being the big title favorite for the first time in Montreal on Friday, if that is possible on a Friday. Either way, it’s a role he prefers to keep until the end of the season.
Canada GP Timetable
- Third free practice: Saturday 7 p.m.
- Qualification: Saturday 10 p.m.
- Race: Sunday 20:00