Comments on Canadian GP!

- Another multi-team fight: RBR/McL/Ferrari in Imola, Ferrari/McL in Monaco, RBR/McL/Merc here
- Ferrari’s worst result since Aus ‘23. Engine issues, no grip, bad strategy
- Solid Aston
- RIC’s P8 silences his critics
- Double points for Alpine

YOUR take?🤔

RACE PACE Canadian GP:

🟠NOR had the best pace, but🟡VER was just 0.03s/lap behind: a McL victory was in the cards.

🟢After passing ALO, HAM's pace was clearly better: he matched VER since the restart. If only he qualified P6...

🔴Driving on HARD slicks under the rain =💀

This version of the plot includes only the drivers who covered over 90% of the laps, for which the comparison is more representative (same track conditions and average fuel levels).

Leclerc's engine problem was even bigger than it sounded like:

Fastest Lap with the problem:
L23 1:26.623: 306km/h with DRS.

Fastest lap after solving it:
L39 1:26.012: 308km/h... without DRS.

It was like running with negative DRS, plus a loss of acceleration.

Leclerc’s paradox:
- The more it rained, the more the car struggled with the track conditions compared to the competitors.
- The less it rained, the more the engine problem impacted his pace.

The guy really cannot go 2 race weekends without problems.

GAP TO VER - Canadian GP (Non-lapped drivers):

⚪️MAG quickest until Lap 5: was P4, but the Haas cars (on full wets) quickly lost pace as the track began to dry.

🟠McL quickest on the drying track.

RUS: excellent start and end of the race compensated for the slower middle part.

The longest stint in the Canadian GP belongs to... Ocon! (Tied with TSU)

SAR triggered a SC on Lap 25➡️Most drivers pitted
Not Ocon, though: he did 44 laps on his Inters; the time saved by pitting just once helped him get P9.

(In Turkey '21, he did all the race on a single set!)

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Visualizing the airflow around Mercedes' sidepods! 👀 (Collab with @justf1car 📸)

Mercedes introduced a zero-pod design in 2022, but had to switch to a more conventional one mid-2023.

They progressively mitigated the car's high drag, but the gain in downforce wasn't as apparent.

Example:
Best Mercedes Quali lap - Saudi Arabia
2022: 323km/h top speed, 232km/h in T9
2023: 329km/h top speed, 229km/h in T9
2024: 332km/h top speed, 228km/h in T9

A zero-pod design is expected to produce MORE drag, as the sidepod does not shield the rear tyres from the incoming airflow.

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McLaren was mighty in the 2nd part of the 1st stint: the track was drying but still very slippery.

They locked the 2nd row in quali despite the worst top speed: excellent downforce.

In the race, the slippery track made their downforce even more useful and reduced the drag penalty.

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QUALIFYING PERFORMANCE

📈Mercedes, McL, Alpine, and Racing Bulls have improved throughout the season.

📉Red Bull's gap to the fastest lap was significant in the last 2 events. Aston got worse, too, compared to the start of the season.

(Using each team's fastest quali lap.)

Ferrari’s case is hard to interpret:
1) After a very strong start, the team has gotten slower in qualifying until China.
2) After that, they progressively improved, culminating in Monaco’s pole.
3) Lastly, that pole was followed by their worst 2024 qualifying session.

2024 QUALIFYING PERFORMANCE
[🟣Canada]

Merc and RacingBulls had their best qualifying in Canada. The track suited Williams, too.

🔴Ferrari, instead, struggled massively: as in China, they had tyre temperature issues.

🟠McL is versatile: consistent and solid performance.

Who’s your bet for the Spanish pole? 🤔

Ferrari WON Le Mans 24 again!

A thrilling fight against Toyota:
- Ferrari was 10kg lighter, which helped grip and tyre management.
- Toyota could deploy 17MJ more over a stint and had 13.2kW more (18hp) on the long straights.

Are you for or against Balance of Performance in WEC?🤔

Leclerc's engine issue was worth around 15km/h (~100hp)

After solving the problem, his top speed gap to SAI got even larger, as he couldn't push on Hards under the rain.

After pitting for Inters, his top speed started to improve but had to retire before it reached SAI's level.

Made via @JMP_software

Acceleration visualized - using George Russell’s Pole Lap in Canada! 🤩

- Larger dots: more intense cornering.
- Color: longitudinal acceleration (🔴Traction, 🔵Braking).

Longitudinal grip was king, as the track doesn't have very demanding corners.

Made via @JMP_software

Spanish GP PREVIEW 👀

Numerous, long high-speed corners➡️ Huge tyre stress: wear will be high despite the C1-C3 compounds. 🛞🔥

Downforce: critical for cornering and tyre wear. Drag, while less crucial, must be kept under control. 🛠

Since the removal of the Sector 3 chicane, the track lacks a proper slow section.

Overtaking has become more feasible, and most teams now opt for a marginally less loaded aero setup.

What’s YOUR prediction? 🤔

📸 @pirellisport

💡Ferrari is introducing a new rear wing in the Spanish GP, bridging the gap between:
- their High Load Monaco wing;
- their Medium Load one.

The team has introduced 2 new specs in the last 3 races, after running the same wing level in the opening 7 events.

So far, Ferrari has tuned their overall downforce and drag via the beam wings, as the rear wing load has been kept the same despite the very different tracks (e.g. extremely fast Jeddah and much slower Imola).

These 2 new rear wings will give the team more setup options. 🛠

📸 @AlbertFabrega

Practice 2 Sector Analysis

HAM was quickest overall, even though Mercedes was not quickest in any sector.

RBR: highest top speed➡️helped VER get P1 in the very fast S1.

Norris shined in S2.

Alpine (!) and HAM excelled in the slow S3, where the cars' high drag didn't matter as much.

LONG RUNS - FP2

PIA was quickest, but VER probably had the edge.

🟠PIA (S) pushed significantly in the first 3 laps, but his pace then dropped.

🟡VER (M) was almost as quick, but also more consistent and with no signs of wear despite doing 2 additional laps.

SAI and NOR were close.

This is just one of the many analyses from FP2 that I uploaded to my analyses repository, to which all the page supporters have access too! 📊👀

It is also one of those that I will discuss in my ‘Quali and Race Preview’ article coming out tomorrow👇

https://buymeacoffee.com/f1dataanalysis/spanish-gp-analyses-repository