Canadian Grand Prix: Preview

Canada initially became part of Formula 1’s calendar in 1967, switching between Mosport Park and Mont-Tremblant, before a semi-permanent circuit was formed on the man-made Ile Notre Dame in Montreal’s Saint Lawrence River in 1978. 

That inaugural round was won by Canadian icon Gilles Villeneuve, after whom the circuit was named in 1982 following his untimely death. The ‘Salut Gilles’ signature still straddles the track’s start/finish line in his honor. Montreal swiftly established itself as one of Formula 1’s most popular venues, with the vibrant city opening its arms to the championship, and last season it made a successful return after a two-year pandemic-enforced absence. 

The Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve looks simple on paper, given its length is just 4.3km and it has only seven complexes of note, but is deceptively challenging. The circuit is characterized by high-speed sections linked by medium-speed chicanes and a couple of heavy braking zones, with strong traction essential out of the slow-speed hairpins.

The proximity of the walls adds to the challenge for drivers, none more so than at the final chicane, the exit of which is dubbed the Wall of Champions due to the number of elite competitors who have suffered costly accidents at the complex. 

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team enters the ninth round of the season in seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship, having amassed eight points.

Nico Hulkenberg has a strong record in Montreal, having taken points in each of his last six Canadian GP starts, commencing that run with an eye-catching fifth in 2014. That was also the race at which Kevin Magnussen collected his best result at the circuit, classifying ninth.

Guenther Steiner – Team Principal: 

Round 9 of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship brings us to the Canadian Grand Prix. After a short stint of European races, where does Montreal sit in your line-up of flyaway races? 

“For the team, it’s in the middle of the ‘European season’ but for me, it’s not actually a flyaway race because it’s one of the closest races to get to. With Canada, it’s difficult to find a date when it’s not snowing and not in the middle of the European races, as you can’t do it before we start to race in Europe because there’s always a chance it’s still snowing or at least cold there. 

“The Canadian Grand Prix is a great event, the fans always enjoy it and they’re very good fans there, I’m really looking forward to it.”

 

The Gilles-Villeneuve circuit is a fast, low-downforce track – will this play to the strengths of the VF-23 or does it highlight any limitations? 

“Like always this season, we don’t really know where we stack up, going from race to race, it’s difficult to predict. We’re not only predicting ourselves but we also have to predict our opponents as everything is so close, there’s a lot of competition within a few tenths. We need to go Montreal, do our best and work on our race pace, which was not where we wanted it to be in Spain.”

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team once again registered a top-eight fastest pit stop time during the Spanish Grand Prix. Can you explain some of the work that has gone on behind the scenes by the team to reach such goals?

“A lot of time has been spent in the last year to make our pit stops better, or good again. In the two years where we struggled, we went backward, as with everything. We’ve got a new trainer for our group, Faith Atack-Martin, and she’s doing a fantastic job. She’s responsible for keeping the team physically and mentally in the right place.

"Our Chief Mechanic, Toby Brown, keeps the group motivated the best he can, and our strategist, Faissal Fdil, who looks at the analysis of the pit stop and pit stop practice is also putting in a lot of effort because you can lose a lot of time. Normally you can’t gain time in a pit stop because everyone is doing a very good job, but you can lose a lot of time. Everybody is getting better, we had a top 10 result in Barcelona with the eighth fastest pit stop in the race, but if we keep working hard, I think we can get even better.”