Race Review: Canadian Grand Prix 2024

Oh, Canada!

After the dismal race weekend that was the Monaco Grand Prix, Canada came and Canada delivered. It was a race that will and has many people talking for some time to come, despite it being another victory to add to Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s ever growing list. But, we have to ask the question, is F1 really in Canada if it’s not a rain effected race? Probably not, so to speak. So, with the race start declared as wet, not wet enough for a Safety Car start thank the heavens, I’m sure many F1 aficionados were keeping everything crossed for a race on par with Canada 2011. Bar the lengthy red flag, we didn't need a repeat of that!

Let’s be honest, the start of the race was fun, and surprisingly clean. George Russell, who had qualified his Mercedes on pole ahead of Verstappen had a decent start, holding his lead into turns one and two. But, where everyone else was on the Intermediate tyre, Haas made the bold decision to throw their drivers on the Wets, giving Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg the chance to fly through the field over the course of the opening laps. And, flying they were, with Magnussen making it as high as 4th before the Inters came to life on lap six as the Wets started to wear away.

The weather conditions in this race were perfect for fans, but a headache for team strategists. As the Inters started to loose their grip, the threat of rain increased and the question mark as to when and whether drivers would pit was widely discussed by commentators alike. It would be Logan Sargeant, hitting the barrier in his Williams, that would bring out the first Safety Car, making up the minds of many teams as to whether they should pit before the rain. Three of the leading quartet - Russell, Verstappen and Oscar Piastri; Lando Norris was out in front leading in his McLaren, all pitted for fresh Inters. Norris would pit a lap later, losing his lead to Verstappen on pit exit. Down the back end of the field, Charles Leclerc, who’s Ferrari was having severe technical issues, took a gamble that shocked many an F1 enthusiast. He switched to Slicks just as the rain started to fall. You’d be correct in thinking that he came back in a couple of laps later for the Inter, after crawling around the circuit like a snail.

More fun came after the rain had gone away, with Pierre Gasly being the first brave sole to take a chance on the slicks. After a couple of slower laps, getting the compound up to speed, his times were getting good enough for other teams to take notice, and thus, we were in the middle of a tyre chain reaction.

Moving on from tyre and strategy talk, several drivers found themselves having a nightmare of a race. Take Leclerc, after his technical difficulties and faux pas on the Slicks, he ended up retiring, as did his Ferrari teammate, Carlos Sainz, who sustained damage from a spin that also took out the Williams of Alex Albon. Daniel Ricciardo found himself on the end of a 5-second time penalty for jumping the start, and Sergio Perez and Gasly came close to blows on the opening lap. Yes, I said Perez. It’s almost the norm that the Red Bull driver finds himself involved in incidents in one way or another…

Things would get painfully worse for Perez as the race went on. After trying and failing to make up positions after another dismal qualifying, Perez would hit the wet track while on the slicks, sending him into a frenzied spin, backwards into the barrier and breaking his rear wing in the process. With the car still running, his team advised him to bring it back to the pits in its unsafe condition, something Perez will pay for in Spain with a grid drop. But why did Red Bull advise him that? Oh, we do love a good conspiracy, but it seems they did all they could to avoid a Safety Car while Verstappen was in the lead. A bit of a “moo point” really, when it was deployed only a couple of laps later to rescue a stranded Albon.

But, why do we watch Formula One so? Well, for the speed, the adrenaline and, most importantly, on-track battles! And boy, we were in for a treat in the latter stages of the Canadian Grand Prix.

A drying track, cars on slicks and enabled DRS were the perfect ingredients for a late race battle for the final point positions. Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Gasly and Hulkenberg were the drivers finding themselves going wheel to wheel with 8th, 9th and 10th all up for grabs! Three laps to go and after spending the majority of the race in the points, Tsunoda makes a mistake, locking up and spinning, dropping the VCARB driver to a dismal 14th. For the others, they would fight until the end with Ricciardo coming out on top in 8th. After a bought of team orders, Gasly would finish 9th ahead of teammate Ocon in 10th, who was less than impressed with how his team had treated him. I mean, he is leaving them at the end of 2024. Hulkenberg, after taking evasive action to avoid a backwards Tsunoda, had to settle for 11th.

However, while this battle was raging, the battle at the front was also starting to heat up, as it had done numerous times over the course of the 70 lap race. Verstappen, in the lead, had pretty much checked out, leaving Norris, Russell, Hamilton and Piastri to it, with Norris and Russell in particular having some nail biting, wheel to wheel battles. This included a hairy moment that saw Norris leave the track at Turn One, potentially gaining an on track advantage, an incident that race control deemed unnecessary to investigate. And, it wasn’t just Norris that Russell was battling with. The Mercedes driver attempted a move on Piastri into the final chicane, having to take to the run off to avoid an incident. The latter stages were very much Mercedes vs McLaren or McLaren vs Mercedes.

As we already know, despite the woes Red Bull faced going into the Canadian Grand Prix, this was Verstappen’s race all along. However, it wasn’t easy for him with both Russell and Norris making the reigning World Champion’s life that little bit more harder. Joining Verstappen on the podium in 2nd was Norris - another impressive performance from the McLaren driver has firmly proved that he is one to watch in 2024. Russell would finish 3rd.

Canada, you did us proud in 2024. Can Spain top it in two weeks time? Who knows!

2025 F1 Driver Market Updates and Rumours - Some of My Thoughts, Opinions and Predictions

Formula One in 2024 may be fielding the same driver line up as in 2023; but for 2025 things are looking somewhat different, with big names moving around and plenty of seats yet to be claimed. Silly season, as we call it, is far from being over. And surely, the best is yet to come?

As we know, the driver market was triggered early for 2025 with Lewis Hamilton making a shock move to Ferrari, replacing Carlos Sainz who is currently without a contract for future F1 seasons. Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez were confirmed to be staying at their respective teams - Ferrari, Aston Martin, Williams and Red Bull, joining Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, George Russell and Max Verstappen who all are already locked in for 2025. Nico Hulkenberg will be leaving Haas and moving to Sauber - which will become Audi in 2026, with Esteban Ocon recently confirming his time with Alpine will come to an end at the end of 2024. With 10 seats left up for grabs, there is everything to play for!

The most talked about seats in the driver market are those at the top end of the field. The likes of Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari, with the biggest question mark being where current Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz will end up. Will he make a move to Red Bull or Mercedes? With Perez’s recent contract extension and Verstappen locked in for the next few seasons, this team looks to be out of the running; as does Mercedes, with several drivers linked to their vacancy. So that leaves Sauber/Audi, Williams or Alpine, three other teams the Spaniard has recently been linked to. Wherever the 3x Grand Prix winner goes, not only would it play a pivotal role in the future of his Formula One career, but it could also trigger more movement in this already crazy silly season.

One thing Formula One has been lacking in recent seasons is Formula 2 graduates. Could all this be about to change, with rumours of the Mercedes seat going to Kimi Antonelli? There is no denying that the Italian youngster is talented, but with only a few months of F2 experience under his belt, is a jump to the Mercedes F1 team to premature and optimistic? Would Williams be a better fit? Possibly. Then there is Ollie Bearman. The young Brit has already got one foot in the door after a fantastic F1 debut in Saudi Arabia where he deputised for an unwell Sainz. With Hulkenberg off to pastures new (or old, he's been to Sauber before) could Bearman find himself at Haas for 2025. This HAAS (pun intended) to be a given. Past F2 drivers Jack Doohan and Liam Lawson are also linked to teams for 2025, meaning we could be about to have an influx of rookie drivers - the most in recent seasons.

With the vacant Red Bull seat going to Perez, it leaves the question as to who will fill the open seat at Mercedes. As mentioned above, Antonelli is an option, and so far, maybe the only valid option? But, what about Ocon? He has strong Mercedes links through his manager - Toto Wolff. That’s right, despite his rocky journey with Alpine, don’t be too surprised if we start seeing Ocon’s name being thrown around for that Mercedes seat. He’s definitely an option if the team want Antonelli to gain more experience before making the step up to the front of the F1 field.

Max Verstappen, although locked in for 2025, is another name being rumoured to make a shock move to a different team - in this case, Mercedes. With a lot of ongoings behind the scenes at Red Bull, and his father being very influential on his career, I wouldn’t rule this move out. I mean, it’s unlikely, but possible. Especially with the likes of Mercedes and other teams starting to come in strong with their car developments, getting ever so closer to Red Bull on track and on paper. With this in mind, have the team done the right thing in resigning their second driver; Perez? Despite his “minor” setbacks in recent times, Perez is a relatively good racing driver, as he has proved during his Sauber and Force India days. If it’s continuity that the team is looking for, then fair dos. Will it work out for them? Time will tell.

There was no secret to the fact that Red Bull were planning on reuniting Daniel Ricciardo with Verstappen for 2025. However, it’s also no secret that Ricciardo is struggling at VCARB, consistently getting out-qualified and out-raced by the younger teammate that is Yuki Tsunoda. With rumours circulating left, right and centre, it’s almost disappointing to hear that VCARB are looking at keeping Ricciardo on for 2025. This is nothing against the Australian other than that isn’t this supposed to be a Junior Team after all? In some ways I can understand the method to their madness. With not many drivers coming through the Junior Team programme at this moment in time, continuity and experience may help the team in the longer term. But, where is Tsunoda in all of this? Is a Red Bull exit on the cards for 2025? Could it be a seat on the sidelines at Aston Martin before they join forces with Honda, whom Tsunoda has ties with, in 2026? Or simply, could he stay with VCARB? Does this put a potential seat for current reserve driver - Liam Lawson into doubt? It would be one of the biggest shames in Formula One if he misses out for a second consecutive season.

With everything I have talked about in mind, this leaves a whole bunch of current F1 drivers without contracts for 2025, and of course, the rumour mill is in full swing. Could Valtteri Bottas be off to Haas? Could Zhou Guanyu be a shoe in at Alpine? Is Mick Schumacher about to make a spectacular F1 return? Is Logan Sargeant's time at Williams and F1 about to come to an abrupt end? Oh, it's juicy stuff! Too juicy in fact that I'm afraid to make any kind of prediction as to what the 2025 grid is going to look like. Regardless, here is where we stand as of writing: (Drivers in red are out of contract but tipped to stay with their respective teams)

Red Bull: Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes: George Russell and Vacant

McLaren: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll

Alpine: Pierre Gasly and Vacant - (Surely this will be Doohan?)

VCARB: Daniel Ricciardo and Vacant - (My feeling is Tsunoda)

Williams: Alex Albon and Vacant

Kick Sauber: Nico Hulkenberg and Vacant

Haas: Vacant and Vacant - (One will be Bearman 100%)

So, with that being said, what are your thoughts and opinions on 2025? Let me know in the comments! It's going to be a very interesting remainder of the 2024 season - and we're not even half way yet! I just hope Sainz gets himself somewhere. Ya'll know how much of a fan I am of his!

Race Review: Monaco Grand Prix 2024

Oh, Monaco. Should it stay, or should it go? Despite being full of glitz, glam and motorsport heritage, last Sunday’s F1 race did nothing to convince fans that the race around the streets of Monte Carlo is the spectacular that it once was. However, with Charles Leclerc FINALLY breaking his infamous “Monaco Curse” by winning his home race, it did turn out to be a stark reminder as to why we, as fans, love motorsport so much.

On social media, fans weren’t afraid to brand this particular race as a bore. Heck, even Max Verstappen, who was having a mediocre weekend running the race in 6th, moaned about his lack of stimulation several times over team radio. It doesn’t help that in this day and age Monaco is not suited to this era of Formula One car. Overtaking is almost non-existent, and instead we find ourselves watching a procession of cars filing through the narrow streets one after another rather than an exciting, nail gripping motor race. This year’s proceedings was particularly labelled a “snooze fest.” Bar lap one, of course, that was chaos and the ultimate factor that played a part in Monaco’s 2024 downfall.

There was action at the front going into turn one on the opening lap between the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and the McLaren of Oscar Piastri, making contact as they both got their elbows out for position. The former would come off worse with a puncture that led to him pulling out of the race up by the Casino section of the circuit. Piastri would continue, albeit with plenty of floor damage. Further back, it was carnage. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who had had yet another shocker of a Monaco race weekend thus far for the second consecutive year, found himself being tagged and spun by Kevin Magnussen in the Haas. Perez would hit the barrier at speed before taking out the second Haas of Nico Hulkenberg eventually coming to a halt, bringing out the red flag in the process. A sigh of relief for both Sainz and Piastri, who could fix their damage in the pits. For the other three, it was game over. It was also game over for Esteban Ocon in the Alpine who collided with his teammate, Pierre Gasly, at Portier. With race ending damage to his car and an enraged Alpine team boss, Ocon must have left the circuit that evening with his tail between his legs. Not a good look when 2025 driver contracts are on the line.

Of course, with a Red Flag comes tyre talk. With drivers able to change their tyres during the halted session, they’ve effectively been given a free stop, voiding the need for any more mandatory pit stops during the race once it restarts. This is where it all went wrong for Formula One. Should drivers and teams be allowed to change the car, including tyres, under a Red Flag? The rules say yes, but the debate rages on.

Come the restart and it was much cleaner than the first, with everyone getting through the first few corners unscathed. For drivers, teams, fans, pundits etc, it quickly became apparent that this race was going to be long. George Russell, in his Mercedes, was one of many drivers that took the “slower wins the race” approach, by driving... slowly, making the tyres last to the very end. Read the room, Formula One without pit stops simply isn’t fun. So, of course, when Sauber brought in one of their cars for a change of tyre, the F1 world suddenly awoke from it’s deep Sunday afternoon slumber.

And, Sauber weren’t the only ones to make a change. Come the latter stages, the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen had built up big enough gaps that a pitstop wouldn’t harm their already lowly positions in anyway, if anything, giving them a slight advantage of a fresher tyre towards the end. But everyone’s eyes were firmly fixated on the front quartet of Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz and Lando Norris, as they attempted to build a pitstop or more gap to fifth place man Russell. Of course, this being Formula One, neither Ferrari or McLaren felt it necessary, or wise for that matter, to make a final stop in the end, leaving Leclerc to drive away into the sunset as Sainz and Norris hunted down a struggling Piastri, who’s tyres had had enough.

I suppose, despite it being a strategic-type race, Monaco wasn’t totally doom and gloom. In fact, there were battles and there were overtakes. Unfortunately overshadowed by the negatives of the race, but they were there. You can imagine the glee on everyone’s faces when Lance Stroll managed to push his way by not once, but twice. An overtake! It was like we’d never seen one before!

During the final stages of the race, others were also catching and battling for position. Verstappen, who had pitted, managed to hunt down Russell, who had not. As mentioned before, Piastri, who’s tyres had given up, was defending his second position for all his worth from Sainz and Norris. Alas, despite some light at the end of the tunnel, this was Monaco and nobody made any late race dives for position. Leaving Russell ahead of Verstappen and Piastri ahead of Sainz and Norris.

Regardless, many will moan about this race for some time to come. With some demanding F1 do something to make it more interesting for 2025. But, if anything, with two Ferraris and two McLarens finishing in the top four, it’s visual proof that Red Bull are vulnerable in 2024 and that the Championship battle may not be over thus yet! As for the Monaco race itself, it was boring. I don’t want to admit it, but it was. Hey, we can't have it our way all the time, no?