2023-06-17 19:28:01
Brain teaser for the drivers and engineers at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve: On Friday it was possible to drive on a dry track, apart from a few laps at the end, but today, Saturday, it’s raining. The Canadian meteorologists are convinced that the weather will be friendly once more on Sunday. This raises many questions in terms of voting.
Caution was advised when the track conditions were difficult: only a two-and-a-half-hour break between the third practice session and qualifying meant that a crash with the corresponding repair time was out of the question.
The training started at 14.5 degrees, the slope was only 17.4 degrees, humidity 91 percent. The brave fans in the stands braved the weather. They had been served a lot of action and incidents with Formula Ford and Ferrari Challenge, a foretaste of the premier class.
Skipping was not advisable: The rainy weather will not change for hours to come, so empirical values for qualifying on a wet track have to be gathered. Even if the usual almost 62 percent full throttle on this route is of course not possible in the rain.
At the start of practice it was just trickling, but there were puddles in numerous corners, also in the crests of the corners.
Incidentally, Pirelli has brought a new rain tire (marked in blue) that is not warmed up, in contrast to the intermediate tires marked in green. All drivers took to the track with the rain tyres
Good news for fans of Nico Hülkenberg: The Haas driver as the first man on the track, his racing car restored following the engine burst and fire in the engine compartment.
Mercedes driver George Russell complained that his car pulled to the left when braking. Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso sent a radio from the hairpin: “Who is the blind man in the AlphaTauri?” It was Yuki Tsunoda.
The above Tsunoda was lucky to avoid the wall during a spin in the fast back part of the runway. The drivers switched to intermediate tires.
Fernando Alonso messed up a new best time by braking before the chicane leading to the start and finish.
The rain increased, the spray as well, the drivers had their hands full. Yuki Tsunoda spun once more, this time on the first turn. Fernando Alonso took the lead, 1.5 seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo.
Shortly therefollowing, Carlos Sainz took the lead in the Ferrari, under the watchful eye of Piero Ferrari, son of legendary company founder Enzo Ferrari. Then Charles Leclerc in front.
How much water can Pirelli rain tires actually displace? The rain tires 85 liters/second at 300 km/h, according to information from Pirelli, the intermediates, on the other hand, only 30 liters.
Although it rained more, the times got faster, even with intermediates. Reason: The tires marked in green are warmer than the rain tires marked in blue.
Standing following 20 minutes, with increasingly poor visibility: Charles Leclerc in front of Carlos Sainz and Nico Hülkenberg, Verstappen fifth, Alonso ninth. World Championship leader Max Verstappen once once more complained that there were no clean shifting maneuvers when shifting down.
The drivers received the information: More rain is coming. Most of the pilots were running with plenty of fuel and were constantly improving – thanks to the tires, not because the weather had calmed down.
Standing following half an hour: Verstappen, Leclerc, Sainz, Norris and Hülkenberg. Then Sainz crashed his car into the TecPro barriers in the first corner following a driving error. The break lasted eight minutes.
At that point, Mercedes were only in 8th place (Russell) and 16th place (Hamilton), the two Englishmen having problems keeping the heat in their tires. “The grip is bad,” Hamilton said on the radio. “It’s all a matter of tire temperature,” came back from the command post. “I’m coming in, it’s a waste of time,” Lewis moaned.
Again the warning of the engineers that more rain is coming. If there was a chance for good lap times, it would be now. Hamilton, Gasly and Albon slipped off the track, but without the consequences like Sainz.
Ten minutes before the end of the race, the rain intensified, and most of the drivers were out of the hunt for times.
3. Training, Canada
01. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 1:23,106 min
02. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, 1:23,397
03. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, 1:24.483
04. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, 1:24.715
05. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, 1:24.765
06. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, 1:24,825
07. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, 1:24,944
08. Yuki Tsunoda (J), AlphaTauri, 1:24,955
09. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Alfa Romeo, 1:24,988
10. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, 1:25,087
11. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, 1:25,140
12. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, 1:25.191
13. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, 1:25.198
14. Alex Albon (T), Williams, 1:25,379
15. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, 1:25,435
16. Nyck de Vries (NL), AlphaTauri, 1:25,725
17. Sergio Perez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, 1:25.857
18. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Alfa Romeo, 1:26,750
19. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, 1:26,840
20. Logan Sargeant (USA), Williams, 1:27,279
2. Training, Canada
01. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, 1:13,718 min
02. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, 1:13,745
03. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, 1:13.844
04. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, 1:14.044
05. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, 1:14,094
06. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 1:14,142
07. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Alfa Romeo, 1:14,220
08. Sergio Perez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, 1:14.250
09. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, 1:14,419
10. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, 1:14,477
11. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, 1:14.533
12. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, 1:14.544
13. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, 1:14.617
14. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Alfa Romeo, 1:14,811
15. Yuki Tsunoda (J), AlphaTauri, 1:14,941
16. Nyck de Vries (NL), AlphaTauri, 1:15,002
17. Alex Albon (T), Williams, 1:15,003
18. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, 1:15,092
19. Logan Sargeant (USA), Williams, 1:15,426
20. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, 1:16,369
1. Training, Canada
01. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Alfa Romeo, 1:18,728 min
02. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, 1:19,175
03. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, 1:19.807
04. Sergio Perez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, 1:20.154
05. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 1:20,231
06. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, 1:21.496
07. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, 1:24.045
08. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, 1:24,336
09. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Alfa Romeo, 1:24,961
10. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, 1:25.991
11. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, 1:26,809
12. Nyck de Vries (NL), AlphaTauri, 1:32,274
13. Yuki Tsunoda (J), AlphaTauri, without time
14. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, no time
15. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, without time
16. Alex Albon (T), Williams, without time
17. Logan Sargeant (USA), Williams, no time
18. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, no time
19. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, without time
20. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, no time
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#Training #Canada #Verstappen #ahead #Alonso
