Canadian Grand Prix: Hamilton will do well for podium finish

Formula 1's Canadian Grand Prix has long been one of the most popular events on the calendar and it is back in the championship this weekend after its two-year pandemic-enforced absence. Since 1978 Canada's round has taken place on the artificial Ile Notre Dame, which sits in the enormous Saint Lawrence River, a stone's throw away from downtown Montreal.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, named after the flamboyant Canadian racer who died in 1982, features lengthy full-throttle sections that are punctuated by medium-speed chicanes and slow-speed hairpins.

That means a car's power performance is heavily assessed, as is its braking potential, while drivers also need to have confidence and the balance hooked up in order to attack the aggressive kerbs. Traction, and rear grip, out of those slow-speed turns is also vital.

That challenge is emphasised by the semi-permanent nature of the facility, meaning the circuit can be especially slippery and track evolution is high, while the concrete walls are also perilously close for those who stray off-line.

Chaos and controversy?

The Canadian Grand Prix has a reputation for delivering chaos and controversy in years gone by. In 2008 Lewis Hamilton famously rear-ended Kimi Räikkönen in the pit lane, two years later he triumphed in a crazy tyre-limited race, while in 2011 Jenson Button snatched victory from Sebastian Vettel on the last lap of a four-hour rain-affected epic.

Daniel Ricciardo's maiden win came in a frenetic 2014 race in which multiple contenders fell away and upon Formula 1's last visit in 2019 Vettel crossed the line first only to be demoted due to a controversial time penalty.

That led to a frantic scene in parc ferme where he removed the #1 board in front of race winner Hamilton’s car and had to be persuaded to attend the podium ceremony, to rapturous cheers from the enthusiastic crowd. Straightforward victories at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve are not necessarily commonplace.

Lewis Hamilton has seven previous wins at the Canadian GP.

A strong circuit for Hamilton

There are very few circuits in Formula 1 where Hamilton does not have a strong record but Montreal has always been one of his strongest hunting grounds. Hamilton is level with Michael Schumacher on seven Canadian Grand Prix wins, despite lacking the opportunity to compete there in 2009 and 2020/21, when he had race-winning machinery at his disposal.

But with Mercedes' package not performing strongly on tracks such as Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, due to the surface and the full-throttle sections, Hamilton will do well to reach the podium places.

None of the Red Bull or Ferrari contingent – Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz – have ever won in Montreal. And with the only non-Hamilton Canada winners in the field – Ricciardo, Vettel and Fernando Alonso – not in contention for victories this year there's likely to be a different face hoisting aloft Canada's winner's trophy on Sunday.

On current form it's hard to look past Red Bull, with the team having won five straight races, with Verstappen victorious in four of them. Ferrari, meanwhile, is all at sea amid reliability setbacks.
It continues to be strong on Saturday but needs to salvage its Sundays to keep its hopes alive.

For the first time since 1969 there will be multiple Canadian drivers on the grid for the Canadian Grand Prix – but don't expect any special outcome. Merely reaching the points would represent a positive result for Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and Williams' Nicholas Latifi. Stroll has just two points to his name in 2022 while Canadian GP debutant Latifi is yet to score.

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