Another weekend, another round of Formula One racing. This time the showpiece shifts to Montreal where the machines will roar this weekend. It will be the 50th Canadian Grand Prix. Its long straights have historically suited Lewis Hamilton, who has won the race six times and will be the favorite to match Michael Schumacher’s record of seven wins on the circuit.
Currently, Mercedes has a stranglehold on the campaign, with Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas having procured a podium finish in all the six races so far. With the Silver Arrows scheduling an engine upgrade for the first time this season, one imagines that it will be a hard ask for Ferrari or Red Bull to topple them.
What will be Mercedes’ upgrade exactly?
Following his spectacular win in Monaco, Hamilton provided an insight to the media present as to what changes to expect in the upgrade. Honda, Ferrari and Renault have all rolled out updates already, but no one has come close to matching the pace, guile or sheer power of Mercedes. Hamilton said,” A lot of analysis will be made, particularly toward trying to understand the tyres better. And on my side, I’m trying to work even better with my engineers to try and extract more from my car.
“A lot of the engineers are trying to extract more information from the energy recovery system, and positioning the information in the right way, so I can deliver more from this car. And I know the guys back at the factory are working on developments. We will probably have a new engine by the next race, so the car will move forward as well.”
For his statement, it seems most likely that the upgrade will be power-focused. It is set to come from the engine bay of the W10, which means it is probably certain that the German manufacturers will be absolutely untouchable in the Circuit Gilles de Villeneuve.
Is there any chance for anybody else to win the pole?
Sebastian Vettel had taken the pole and won the race last year, but given the drama that has unfolded in Ferrari this season between their underperforming cars, drivers and the fact that Hamilton is alone only two points behind the entire Ferrari team’s total points, it seems unlikely.
Mercedes has historically been known to make well-timed upgrades, and on a course where cars break the 300 kmph barrier quite a few times, it all comes down to which car has the most efficient braking, the most stable chassis and the best energy recovery abilities. Mercedes, unfortunately (or fortunately, if you are a fan of the Silver Arrows), has the best-engineered cars in all the three departments.
So come Sunday, barring a miracle, you are most likely to see another Hamilton win no matter how hard Mercedes chief Toto Wolff tries to play their chances down. The second place might be up for grabs though, and that should tell you the tale of the dominance of Mercedes and their drivers.
