Formula One was back in North America for the second time this season, this time for the FORMULA 1 AWS GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2024 in Montreal. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve delivered a thrilling and challenging race, thanks in part to the changing weather conditions that saw drivers racing in a mixture of conditions throughout.
The cars crawled away from the grid due to the wet conditions at the standing start. George Russell covered off Max Verstappen, who had a slightly better getaway, into the first corner to maintain his lead. He would use the opening laps to create a gap to the Red Bull. The other Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who started near the rear of the grid after a poor Saturday performance, collided with Pierre Gasly in the long second corner. This caused the Alpine to spin in front of Perez, but Perez pushed him straight again. Both drivers continued the race with minimal damage.
All eyes were on the two Haas drivers, who were the only two drivers to start on the full-wet compound tyres. This gave them an astronomical pace compared to the drivers on the intermediate tyres, allowing them to charge their way through their field. Kevin Magnussen made it as high as P4, but his pace quickly dropped off as the circuit began to dry.
Magnussen pitted on lap 8 to change to intermediate tyres, but a slow stop undid much of the work he had done in the opening stages. Nico Hulkenberg stayed out five laps longer but pitted once the train of cars behind him began to overtake.
After a disappointing qualifying where neither car managed to make it into Q3, Ferrari’s race started poorly. The pit wall spotted an issue with Charles Lelcerc’s engine, costing him heaps of performance on the long straights at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
As the circuit became increasingly dry, Max Verstappen closed the gap to Russell, putting the Mercedes under pressure. Verstappen put a tyre in the standing water in the first corner, forcing him to cut through the grass on the inside of the second corner. This put Lando Norris right on the back of the Red Bull on lap 17. The following lap, the DRS was enabled, allowing Norris to climb to P2.
Norris showed fantastic pace in the conditions, immediately catching Russell. Norris took the lead of the race on the run to the final chicane. Russell outbraked himself and had to cut the final chicane. He rejoined back onto the racing line but didn’t have the momentum to keep Verstappen behind. He was noted for rejoining unsafely, but the stewards opted not the investigate the incident.
Logan Sargeant brought out the safety car when he spun on the exit of turn 4 and bumped into the barrier. This was the American’s second incident of the race, having aquaplaned into the runoff at turn 6 in the early stages of the race. It took race control a while to call out the safety car, waiting to see if Sargeant would be able to get it going again, but the Williams’ rear suspension was broken by the barrier.
This was extremely unfortunate timing for Norris, who had stretched his lead to more than ten seconds by this point. To make matters worse, he was already at the pit entry when the safety car was deployed, forcing him to do a lap behind the safety car before he was able to pit. Verstappen, Russell, and Oscar Piastri were able to pit first. With the threat of rain present, most drivers opted to fit a new set of intermediate tyres. Norris pitted the following lap, rejoining narrow ahead of his teammate, giving Verstappen the lead of the race.
Ferrari took a gamble with Leclerc, pitting him for a set of hard tyres, hoping no more rain would materialize. Their hopes were dashed immediately, as the rain began to fall as soon as the race was restarted. Ultimately Leclerc retired from the race on lap 43.
The second dose of wet conditions did present some more action, including an extraordinary two-for-one overtake by Alex Albon in the final chicane. Albon was alongside Daniel Ricciardo down the straight and dove on the inside of Esteban Ocon in the final chicane.
Pierre Gasly was the first driver to gamble on slick tyres, pitting for hards on lap 41, but it was a few laps too early. Norris proved this point by cutting the first corner the following lap, although he managed to maintain his position. Lewis Hamilton was the first of the top cars to change to slick tyres on lap 44, triggering other drivers to do the same.
Norris stayed out the longest, but perhaps a lap too long. He rejoined the race narrowly ahead of Verstappen, but couldn’t apply the power on the wet pit exit. He was sideways in the second corner as he struggled for grip, losing the position to Verstappen. Russell was later able to get by Norris when the McLaren driver locked up into the hairpin. Norris got him back a couple of laps later when Russell bounced over the kerbs in turn nine.
Although the drivers were on slicks, the circuit was still slippery in some areas. Most notable was turn six, showcased by Perez when he spun and into the barriers. He damaged his rear wing and was forced to limp back to the pit lane to retire.
The second safety car of the race was deployed at the same corner the following lap. Carlos Sainz spun on the corner exit, collecting Albon. Both drivers retired from the race.
The safety car gave Mercedes a chance to give both of their drivers fresh tyres. This allowed both cars to challenge the McLarens in the closing stages of the race when the race restarted with just ten laps remaining.
Russell was fighting with Piastri for multiple laps. The two collided in the final chicane, forcing Russell to cut the corner and giving Hamilton the position. Hamilton overtook Piastri with DRS down the long back straight the following lap, as did Russell a lap later. With just two laps remaining in the race, Russell was able to get by his teammate to claim the final podium position.
But it was Max Verstappen who stood on the top step of the podium for the 60th time in his career, returning to form after a difficult few races. Lando Norris had to settle for P2, with a safety car that had helped him in Miami potentially costing him a race victory in Canada. George Russell managed to beat teammate Lewis Hamilton to the podium, leaving Hamilton with a bonus point for the fastest lap.
The teams and drivers will now head back to Europe for the first race in a triple-header that will start with the Spanish Grand Prix on the weekend of June 23.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 70 | 1:45:47.927 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 70 | +3.879 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 70 | +4.317 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 70 | +4.915 | 13 |  | |
| 5 | 70 | +10.199 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 70 | +17.510 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 70 | +23.625 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 70 | +28.672 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 70 | +30.021 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 70 | +30.313 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 70 | +30.824 | |||
| 12 | 70 | +31.253 | |||
| 13 | 70 | +40.487 | |||
| 14 | 70 | +52.694 | |||
| 15 | 69 | +1 Lap | |||
| DNF | 52 | ||||
| DNF | 52 | ||||
| DNF | 51 | ||||
| DNF | 40 | ||||
| DNF | 23 |
