F1 | GP CANADA, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “MCLAREN THE BEST PAIR OF DRIVERS”

The ninth round of the F1 world championship was certainly conditioned by the weathers, but Saturday already gave us heart stopping qualifying with Russell and Verstappen who set the same time and Norris third, barely 21 thousandths of a second behind.

The first surprise, negatively, for Ferrari came precisely on Saturday with Leclerc and Sainz eliminated in Q2. A swallow does not certainly a summer make, but in Maranello they must roll up their sleeves to understand what did not work on this weekend. They had problems both technically and in the set up and aerodynamics. All the problems Monte Carlo had hidden reemerged, since that is a completely anomalous track, Ferrari said goodbye to this weekend with nothing in the kitty after the double retirement.

Once again it was Max Verstappen who drags and takes Red Bull to the top with a car that is certainly not the one of 2023. The Dutchman made the difference. A real masterpiece. When he wants, he puts together those five or fast laps that make the difference. Despite the renewal, Perez was struggled all the weekend, which ended with the retirement.

McLaren confirmed it is the team with the best pair of drivers and with an extremely competitive car. Since the start of the season, it has been the most consistent team and currently the second force of the championship. Lando Norris made life not easy for Verstappen. It was a pity only for Piastri. At the end he had to give way to the two Mercedes drivers.  Very good Russell, just like Hamilton who was very correct in regard to his teammate. Since Imola, we have a Mercedes in growth. This is surely a positive sign for the continuation of the season.

Precious points for Aston Martin with the sixth place of Alonso and seventh of Stroll, In the Racing Bulls, Daniel Ricciardo finally brought the team important points, especially also following Tsunoda’s mistake at the end. An error can be made, also considering the hazardous strategy. He was very good, even in the management of the tyres and a mistake can happen.

Valuable points also for Alpine, especially after what happened in Monte Carlo between the two drivers, thanks to the ninth and tenth place by Gasly and Ocon respectively.

They will come back to Europe in two weeks, to Spain for the tenth round.

Gian Carlo Minardi