The Mercedes duo looked strong during the only dry running of the weekend before qualifying in free practice three. Hamilton dominated the session puling out a blinding lap almost 0.4 seconds ahead of Verstappen who finished in P2. Yet just two and a half hours later, Lewis looked as though he was driving a different car, yet his team mate displayed the pace in the W15 car by putting it on pole position.

Verstappen who expected another difficult weekend like in Monaco last time out because the kerbs are similar in Montreal to the ones he struggled with in the principality. Yet the world champion was the only driver to improve in the dying moments of qualifying but he set a time exactly the same as Russell had done on worn tyres on his previous run.

6 of last 7 races in Canada won from pole

Russell was awarded the pole position because the FIA regulations state that should exact same times be clocked by two drivers, the one who delivered the lap first would be placed ahead of the other. This was only the second time in F1 history since the timing clocks recorded laps to three decimal places, that two drivers have set exactly the same time for the best slot on the starting grid.

With six of the last seven races in Canada being won from pole position, Russell is in good shape to clock up the second Grand Prix win of his career. However, this year’s race at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit will take place on brand new asphalt, and with few of them doing long runs due to the rain in the first two practice sessions, the tyre degradation is isn unknown.

The race on the Isle de Notre Damme is usually a one stop race, but a number of teams together with Pirelli believe stopping twice may be the way to go this year given the low grip nature of the surface causing the tyres to slide around and degrade.

Pirelli decided to bring the three softest compounds in the 2024 range, the C3 as white hard, the C4 the yellow medium and the C5 being the red soft. With traction at a premium the drivers up front will almost certainly decide to start on the medium tyre which will give better traction at the start. These drivers will then expect to stop for their change to the alternative rubber which they must run in the race between lap 15-21 swapping for another set of hard tyres between lap 41-50.

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Pirelli strategies defied by Hamilton

The alternative two-stop plan could be to stretch out the first medium stint to Lap 17 23, then take the hard tyre until Lap 43-52, and finish on the medium tyre to hunt down those on one-stop strategies. With tyre degradation unknown and low track temperatures expected it could indeed be the optimum strategy to stop just once – but only if the race stays dry and there is at present a 60% of rain during the Grand Prix.

While the hard tyre runners while struggle at the start, they will be able to run longer than those on the medium tyre, so if it rains, they will have the range to then make their first stop for the wet weather rubber. Lewis Hamilton starting in P7 will almost could decide to ignore the Pirelli three strategies which all start on the medium tyre unless the rain forecast is guaranteeing a downpour before the medium tyre runners ru out of rubber.

This would see him potentially take the lead of the race as his team mate makes his pit stop, and from there with overtaking not so easy, he could control the race and finish on the softest red tyre which will be around one second quicker than the hard tyre the rest of the field will be running. This time offset would see Lewis coming through the field toward the end of the Grand Prix and take his first victory since the Qatar event back in 2021, some 53 races.

Further if Hamilton ended up in the lead after those in front of him have stopped to ditch their worn out medium tyres, then when the rain comes he will have the advantage because he is leading the Grand Prix. Hamilton is an expert in wet conditions and will fancy his chances should he be at or near the front when the Canadian monsoon tyre wet weather begins to cover the track.

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Mercedes to replaceHamilton with Verstappen protege

In other Mercedes news, ex-F1 champ Jaques Villeneuve believes Toto Wolff has made the bold decision to replace Hamilton who is off to Ferrai next year with Max Vertsappen-esque protege who has leaped F3 from junior racing into F2 this year. Max did a similar thing and was in the Toro Rosso F1 car at the age of just 17 years.

“We haven’t made a decision yet,” Wolff told Sky Deutschland at the Canadian GP. “There are others that could also be of interest to us.” Meanwhile the Mercedes team boss rubbished reports that in a recent test involving Antonelli, George Russell and two year F1 driver Mick Schumacher, that the young Italian was much faster than the son of the seven times champion.

“This is total nonsense,” Wolff insisted. “All three had different programs, all three were very fast, but George was much faster than the other two because that’s how it works.”

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Marko insults Perez AGAIN: He has “mental issues”

Red Bull Racing has shown its faith in Sergio Perez by extending his contract for another two years ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix. Despite this vote of confidence, Perez continues to struggle in qualifying. Saturday’s session in Montreal saw him drop out of Q1 and start the race from a disappointing 16th position.

Red Bull Racing has ended speculation about its 2025 driver line-up by extending Sergio Perez’s contract for a further two years. The decision has significant implications for various stakeholders within the Formula One paddock. While it signals stability for Perez, it also has implications for other drivers’ careers and Red Bull’s internal dynamics. Certainly Helmut Marko, a significant part of that internal dynamic, was quick to point out Perez failing at Montreal… READ MORE