Canadian Grand Prix

Lance's hometownLance's hometown

At the Canadian Grand Prix, Lance finished in P15. Unfortunately, a seat issue for Fernando meant he was unable to continue in the race.

Read on to get the reaction from the team trackside.

Prior to lights out, rain fell and the track temperature was 25°C less than Saturday's sessions at only 16°C, resulting in low grip.
Both drivers began on Soft tyres due to the track having dried out. While Lance changed the battery of his AMR26 and therefore started from pitlane, Fernando started the race from P19.
By the end of Lap 1, Fernando was up to P14. He continued to gain and battled for the points positions during the opening laps.
On Lap 16, Lance pitted for fresh Softs. Five laps later, Fernando also switched to Softs.
After 23 laps, Fernando had to retire the car as a result of a problem with his seat.
On Lap 53, a VSC began. At the same time, Lance came into the pits and returned to the track on Mediums. Ultimately, he finished the Grand Prix in P15.
Mathilda Paatz was also back on track earlier in the day, placing fifth in the F1 ACADEMY Feature Race. She comes away from the weekend with 35 points gained.

THE LATEST FROM THE TRACK

Welcome to Montréal

Our season-opening stint of flyaway events extends with an earlier-than-usual trip to Canada – though Montréal, tongue firmly in cheek, is often referred to as the most European race of the season.

That's not simply a commentary on language and architecture, but also about the circuit, the atmosphere and the sheer buzz around the place. The old school Circuit Gilles Villeneuve doesn't take prisoners with its narrow, tunnel-like layout and rarely does a race pass without high drama. It's always been a good track for us in the past, but there are new intrigues for 2026.

This is, of course, a home race for Lance, and we expect to see a lot of green in the massive, packed bleachers at opposite ends of this long, thin circuit in the St Lawrence River. It's also another chance to see Mathilda in action as F1 ACADEMY returns to Montréal for a triple-header – and we have the bonus of seeing F2 in Canada for the first time, with Mari back in action.

RACE STARTS IN:

days

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Session Times

FP1

SPR

Quali

Race

Toggle below to highlight parts of the track.

Sectors
Turns
Straight-line Mode
Overtake Mode

Turn 10 arrives very fast. You brake and then have a 180-degree turn onto the back straight. It's iconic.

Mathilda Paatz – F1 ACADEMY Driver

Circuit length
4.361km
Number of corners
14
Race distance
305.270km

NEED TO KNOW: CANADIAN GP

THE CIRCUIT

THE GRAND PRIX

THE STRATEGY

THE FACTS

THE TRAVEL GUIDE

LAST TIME OUT IN MONTRÉAL

THE CIRCUIT

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve isn't one of F1's truly ancient venues but its 1970s origins put it firmly in the old-school camp. It's tight, bumpy and, surrounded by walls, doesn't allow much margin for error. Following the perimeter of Île Notre-Dame in the St Lawrence River, the circuit is a collection of straights, linked by medium-speed chicanes. It has kerbs to be ridden and ever-present walls, the threat of which makes a race without Safety Cars or red flags something of a novelty.

A recent resurfacing effort has smoothed out some of the biggest bumps – but the massive temperature swings of the Montréal climate are not kind to a racing circuit, and so Friday running is often an opportunity to experience new lumps that invariably appear between races. And this combined with a generally low starting grip level make the track a place to exhibit some caution in the early running.

The stop-start nature of the circuit means it's a hard race for fuel consumption, but also incredibly harsh on the brakes. It's the toughest track F1 visits for braking performance, with the issue being the short intervals between the heavy braking events, during which there often isn't enough time to properly cool the discs and calipers. Retirements due to brake failure are not uncommon.

THE GRAND PRIX

Île Notre-Dame is an artificial island, constructed in the St Lawrence using spoil excavated when the Montréal Metro was being dug. Today it forms part of park Jean-Drapeau with Île Sainte-Hélène, the two islands linked by bridges. It was originally constructed as a host venue for the Expo 67 World Fair, and then reconfigured for the 1976 summer Olympics, relics of both of which are still prominent landmarks around the circuit.

From the Expo, the French Pavilion is now the Casino that sits in the middle of the island and lends the back straight its name. The US Pavilion is the huge geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller, which now houses the Montréal Biosphere. From the '76 Olympics we have the rowing basin which runs the length of the back straight and hems in the paddock and pit building – which used to be up by the hairpin – and the Turn One grandstands. For most of the year, it's a place for walking, running, cycling and visiting the attractions, but on Grand Prix weekend there's only room for one thing.

One of the best things about the Canadian Grand Prix is that almost every corner provides action, and so almost every grandstand provides a great view of action. This is interesting for the teams, given the start-finish grandstand is relatively small, and the start-finish straight is relatively narrow, which at times makes it feel like the spectators are in the garage. While there are good views from grandstands out in the woods, the two main concentrations are at the ends of the track, with the stadium sections around T1-T2 and the hairpin.

Lance has his own grandstand at the hairpin – which is the gift that keeps on giving because not only does it have an excellent view of the track, it also has the iconic geodesic dome as the perfect backdrop for pictures. The other advantage of this – or any of the other stands around the hairpin – is that they're closest to the Jean-Drapeu Metro station on Île Sainte-Hélène. This can be significant as there isn't any public parking at the track. Walking down to the big bleachers at T1-T2 can take an hour from the station, though it provides a very nice run for members of the crew after the day's activities have ended.

It's also worth noting that the grandstands are uncovered, so an umbrella is a useful accessory. The Canadian Grand Prix tends to be a wild ride, from torrential rain to baking sunshine and everything in between – sometimes in the same session. On the upside, it's extremely welcoming, packed to the rafters for all three days, and has an amazing, positive atmosphere.

THE STRATEGY

It's tough to outline strategy for the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix, as much has changed since last we were at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Obviously, these cars are very different to the ground effect machines of 2022-2025, but it goes beyond that, with the race being held in May for the first time, and Pirelli going a step harder with their tyre allocation as a consequence of scrapping the C6.

The Canadian Grand Prix ran at the back-end of the season until 1981, but since moving forward, it's always been held in June, usually the second or third week. Advancing the race by a month makes for cooler ambient and, likely, cooler track temperatures.

What impact this has on the race is… fascinating. The Canadian Grand Prix in recent years has been won by a two-stop strategy – but there are always drivers scoring points with a one-stop. The cooler temperatures and the more durable compounds should increase the likelihood of the one-stop… unless they also increase the potential for graining. It's the sort of weekend were the data from FP1 and the Sprint will prove vital.

THE FACTS

1 | This is the 55th F1 World Championship Canadian Grand Prix. The race made its debut in 1967, skipping 1975, 1987, 2009, 2020-21. The early races were held at Mosport Park near Toronto, except 1968 and 1970 when the Mont-Tremblant Circuit here in Quebec hosted. Since 1978, the race has been held on the current track.

2 | This is the first time the Canadian Grand Prix has been held in May. Since 1982, when the race moved from an end of season berth, it has always been held in June.

3 | Back when this was an end of season race, the Canadian Grand Prix was a Drivers’ Championship decider in 1980, and settled the Constructors’ Championship in 1967 and 1981.

4 | The 1978 Canadian Grand Prix, held on October 8th, is officially the coldest grand prix on record, with temperatures of 5°C.

5 | Lance scored his first F1 points on this circuit, finishing ninth for Williams in the 2017 Canadian Grand Prix.

6 | Fernando is one of four Canadian Grand Prix winners in the field this year. He won here for Renault in 2006. Lewis Hamilton has seven victories on this circuit, Max Verstappen took a hat-trick between 2022-2024 and George Russell won last year.

7 | The track was originally named the Circuit Île Notre-Dame, taking its name from the island on which it is situated. The first race at this venue was won by Gilles Villeneuve, after whom the track is now named.

8 | Villeneuve is one of six drivers to take a debut victory at his eponymous track. The others are Thierry Boutsen (1989), Jean Alesi (1995), Hamilton (2007), Robert Kubica (2008) and Daniel Ricciardo (2014).

9 | The 2011 race made history for many of the wrong reasons. It holds the record for the most Safety Car deployments (six), the most pit-stops by a winning driver (also six, for Jenson Button, now shared with Verstappen at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix), the longest duration race at 4h4m39.537s (due to a two-hour red flag), and as a result of that, statistically the lowest average winning race speed of 74.844kph / 46.506mph.

10 | The 2024 race saw the rare occurrence of the pole position and P2 sharing the same time, Russell starting from pole having set his 1:12.000 before Verstappen. It's only happened once before – when the top three cars set the same time at the 1997 European Grand Prix.

THE TRAVEL GUIDE

To experience F1's most European Grand Prix… you really have to go to Québec. We're joking… but only a little bit. This is a race with a history that stretches back almost 60 years, on a track in use for nearly 50 years. It has an enormous and loyal following and it is an event that spreads far beyond the confines of Île Notre-Dame.

Montréal is a city that embraces its race probably better than any other. When the action at the track dies down, everyone walks to the metro, dives under the river and surfaces in the middle of party central. The race is very much the centre of attention downtown, there are pop-up stores and chequered flags everywhere, the restaurants spill out onto the pavement, but the official hub is on Crescent Street, where the roads are closed and pedestrianised for the duration, a stage erected, and the live music goes on deep into the night.

Beyond the race-based entertainment, Montréal has all of the big city attractions. Mount Royal Park is a terrific place to visit as is the Bell Centre, which is usually home to live music during race weekend – though avoid the top tier if you're afraid of heights: cramming 20,000-plus spectators into the tight, intimate arena makes the stands very steeply raked – definitely not for the faint-hearted.

LAST TIME OUT IN MONTRÉAL

Our four races at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve have been productive, with Lance scoring points in three of his four, and Fernando scoring in each of his three visits in green.

The Canadian Grand Prix came back onto the calendar in 2022 after a two-year hiatus when Covid restrictions were in place. A wet Qualifying session on Saturday was a lottery, with both Sebastian Vettel and Lance being eliminated in Q1. Lance, however, played the long game with a reverse strategy, doing 47 laps from the lights on the Hard tyre before passing his way through the field in the final third of the race on the quicker Medium tyre to finish tenth, after the field was bunched by a Safety Car.

Lance went the other way in 2023. Having started 18th after wet Qualifying (and surviving a spectacular 360-degree spin) he opened the race with two very short stints before a long final push on the Hard tyre. He overtook Valtteri Bottas for P9 on the final lap. The day was, however, memorable for Fernando's podium. Having made his way through a treacherous Qualifying session, he lined up P2, but lost that position on the opening lap, taking it back in the second stint after a duel with Lewis Hamilton.

2024's wet race was our strongest weekend of the season, with Fernando starting and finishing P6 but Lance having a more eventful afternoon, starting P9, dropping a position at the start and then rising through the field to finish P7.

Last year saw two very different races for our drivers. Lance was unlucky with a red flag on Saturday, and qualified at the back of the field. He started and finished P17. Fernando, on the other hand, was now getting to grips with the Imola upgrade and had one of his strongest outings in the first half of the season, punching above his weight to start P6 and finish P7.

UNDERCUT

"You've got to believe through the difficult periods"

Lance reflects on our current challenges, why he believes the team's future is bright, and why his passion for being behind the wheel remains his biggest motivation.