Stroll finishes his home race as Alonso retires after early progress
Circuit de Gilles-VilleneuveThe Canadian Grand Prix, Round 5 of the Formula 1 season, took place at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.
Air temperature was 12°C, track temperature 17°C and humidity 72%. Before the start, conditions at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve were cloudy, with intermittent light rain creating difficult conditions. The race began with parts of the track still wet following earlier rain.
After the start, conditions soon became dry, and teams that had opted for Intermediate tyres were forced to pit early. Fernando Alonso started from P19 and Lance Stroll from the pit lane, both on Soft tyres.
Alonso made strong early progress, moving up to P10 by lap 5. Stroll also gained positions from his pit lane start. However, both drivers later lost ground as rival cars moved ahead.
On lap 14, Alonso gained two places from P14 after two cars ahead made contact. Stroll pitted after 14 laps, switching from Soft tyres to another set of Softs. Alonso pitted after completing lap 20 and also selected another set of Softs. However, he returned to the pits three laps later and retired.
Stroll made his second stop after completing lap 49, switching to Medium tyres and rejoining in P15. With six cars retiring, Stroll finished his home race in P15.
We had a good start and we were fighting into the top ten positions. We made the right call starting on the Soft tyres, with a few others opting for Intermediates and then having to pit early. Unfortunately, we had an issue with the seat in the race, so we decided to retire the car. We seemed to be faster here than we were in Miami with the same package. We need to wait for performance to come with our upgrades around the summer break, but we will look to keep optimising this package until then.
We had a good start and we were fighting into the top ten positions. We made the right call starting on the Soft tyres, with a few others opting for Intermediates and then having to pit early. Unfortunately, we had an issue with the seat in the race, so we decided to retire the car. We seemed to be faster here than we were in Miami with the same package. We need to wait for performance to come with our upgrades around the summer break, but we will look to keep optimising this package until then.
It’s been a difficult weekend in Montreal. We couldn’t get the temperatures we needed into the tyres and we were struggling for grip throughout the race. We didn’t have the pace we needed on the straights either. The car performance isn’t where we need it to be and there’s still a lot of work to do to get us there.
It’s been a difficult weekend in Montreal. We couldn’t get the temperatures we needed into the tyres and we were struggling for grip throughout the race. We didn’t have the pace we needed on the straights either. The car performance isn’t where we need it to be and there’s still a lot of work to do to get us there.
We made a decent start to the race with both drivers making up ground in the opening laps. But it was difficult to stay there, especially with the threat of rain reducing. Fernando’s race ended early due to a seat problem, making things uncomfortable in the cockpit, so we chose to retire the car on lap 24. Lance’s race was a conventional two-stop race [Soft, Soft, Medium] finishing in P15 ahead of Bottas. Unfortunately, we do not have more pace at the moment and this is our position. Separately, I would like to congratulate our colleagues at Honda for the pole position and win in the Indy 500.
We made a decent start to the race with both drivers making up ground in the opening laps. But it was difficult to stay there, especially with the threat of rain reducing. Fernando’s race ended early due to a seat problem, making things uncomfortable in the cockpit, so we chose to retire the car on lap 24. Lance’s race was a conventional two-stop race [Soft, Soft, Medium] finishing in P15 ahead of Bottas. Unfortunately, we do not have more pace at the moment and this is our position. Separately, I would like to congratulate our colleagues at Honda for the pole position and win in the Indy 500.
We haven’t had any major power unit issues again on both cars today, with Lance completing full distance at his home grand prix. Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish the race on Fernando’s side, but everything was going smoothly from a power unit perspective.
Overall, during the Canadian Grand Prix, we have confirmed positive signs on driveability so that is a good thing to take forward to the next race in Monaco as this is a key characteristic there. Still, there is a gap between driver demand and our achievements, so we will keep working to improve driveability for the season now we know the direction to go in.
We haven’t had any major power unit issues again on both cars today, with Lance completing full distance at his home grand prix. Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish the race on Fernando’s side, but everything was going smoothly from a power unit perspective.
Overall, during the Canadian Grand Prix, we have confirmed positive signs on driveability so that is a good thing to take forward to the next race in Monaco as this is a key characteristic there. Still, there is a gap between driver demand and our achievements, so we will keep working to improve driveability for the season now we know the direction to go in.
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