Official 2026 Canadian Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

[paulguitar]

There won't be overtaking at Monaco.

[TheDeuce]

paulguitar said:

There won't be overtaking at Monaco.

Probably not. But there have been passes in recent years and the new cars only increase the chance of more.

They also increase the chance of a car finding a barrier, which leads to an awful lot of passes...

[Gad-Westy]

paulguitar said:

There won't be overtaking at Monaco.

Lance Stroll of all people nailed an overtake into the chicane last year. If he can do it....

Monaco basically needs rain for any on track action. I can't really see this year's cars being any different. A tiny bit smaller but not enough. I don't imagine the 'straights' are going to see any major clipping either. Perhaps a little up the hill but it's so narrow there.

[Jasandjules]

I would say out of the tunnel because within 1 second they will have the overtake mode.. Just need to guy in front to not have enough charge, but I think with Monaco that will be a problem as they all will!?!?!?

[vaud]

CSR Performance said:

Great race!

The Kimi and George skirmishes are great, feels like we are rapidly heading to Senna/Prost levels of rivalry. Hopefully the rest of the season will continue to be this exciting.

The TV coverage wasn't the best though, at one point there was a VSC and I'm not sure we were told why?!?

I think Toto has another 2016 on his hands…

[TheDeuce]

vaud said:

I think Toto has another 2016 on his hands

Indeed. Another wonderful period of happy sponsors, endless extra media attention and a driver situation which promises him a double title either way.

For full effect the media has to suggest it's all a nightmare and Toto has to agree it's all a nightmare.


A lovely sort of nightmare.

[Blib]

I think that Antonelli must have sold his soul to the Devil.

He's had all of the luck going so far this season. It's absolutely remarkable.

Shirley, it cannot, will not continue?

[kambites]

TheDeuce said:

Except we can't see or appreciate who's getting what right or doing what or when. Not quite the same as seeing a driver make pace by clipping a series of apexes perfectly or late braking on the very limit of traction.

It's much the same as watching a driver try to minimise lap-time while minimising fuel burn, though; which is something we've had since refuelling was banned (albeit not in qualifying).

[PRO5T]

Blib said:

I think that Antonelli must have sold his soul to the Devil.

He's had all of the luck going so far this season. It's absolutely remarkable.

Shirley, it cannot, will not continue?

It never does.

But! What an excellent professional can do is try and capitalise on these early advantages as Rosberg did in 2016-and what Piastri spectacularly failed to do last season.

[paulguitar]

PRO5T said:

Blib said:

I think that Antonelli must have sold his soul to the Devil.

He's had all of the luck going so far this season. It's absolutely remarkable.

Shirley, it cannot, will not continue?

It never does.

But! What an excellent professional can do is try and capitalise on these early advantages as Rosberg did in 2016-and what Piastri spectacularly failed to do last season.

It's been a remarkable step up from Antonelli. Sure, he has had the rub of the green, but he is also starting to look really special.

Edited by paulguitar on Tuesday 26th May 16:17

[kambites]

Blib said:

Shirley, it cannot, will not continue?

Probably not, but there's no reason to believe the luck will swing back the other way either. Even if luck is balanced from here on, Russell still needs to make up 40 points somehow, against a teammate who seems to be at least on a par with him in terms of overall pace.

[732NM]

RDMcG said:

I do believe that these modes are outside the control of the driver - would prefer that the driver could deploy any of these items at will rather than a preprogrammed impact.

The extra energy is automatically applied if you are within 1s at the OT line, and unlike DRS, it's for the entire lap.

[PRO5T]

Piastri was (I think?) 104 points ahead of max at one point last year, still finished behind him in the class car of the field by the last lap of Abu Dhabi.

[kambites]

paulguitar said:

It's been a remarkable step up from Antomelli. Sure, he has had the rub of the green, but he is also starting to look really special.

I think he always did look pretty special. He was erratic and not very emotionally mature, but he's always had moments which have shown what he'd be capable of if given the time. I think the surprise is just that he managed to iron out so much of that immaturity so quickly.

[kambites]

732NM said:

RDMcG said:

I do believe that these modes are outside the control of the driver - would prefer that the driver could deploy any of these items at will rather than a preprogrammed impact.

The extra energy is automatically applied if you are within 1s at the OT line, and unlike DRS, it's for the entire lap.

I think the question was whether the power-train firmware automatically adjusts to use the extra available energy in the optimal way throughout the lap, or the driver has to manually decide when to deploy it.

[Harry H]

A good race indeed, but for the first time Crofty is now starting to really annoy me and I'm starting to understand the hate.

He oversells it all the time becoming a major factor in turning the sport into more of a show. It's motor racing at 200+ Mph, it's already exciting and doesn't need a commentator screaming his head off all the time trying to big it up.

No doubt under direction every time he mentions Max he seems to be obliged to add "4 times world champion". Like if it's said enough we'll start to believe it. Doesn't do it for Lewis, Alonso etc. I'm so focussed on listening out for examples of this so I can get even more annoyed I miss whats going on.

Trouble is, now I've tuned into the bullst I can't stop hearing it and it's ruining it for me. If only there was another live channel in the UK to watch it on, I'd be off like a shot.

[732NM]

George has never been under the expected championship winner pressure before, and Kimi has less to lose, he's expected to be beaten by George.
We'll see how they cope with the pressure, Piastri fell apart when it mattered last year, despite his supposed cool demeaner.

Pressure can create silly mistakes.

[732NM]

kambites said:

732NM said:

RDMcG said:

I do believe that these modes are outside the control of the driver - would prefer that the driver could deploy any of these items at will rather than a preprogrammed impact.

The extra energy is automatically applied if you are within 1s at the OT line, and unlike DRS, it's for the entire lap.

I think the question was whether the power-train firmware automatically adjusts to use the extra available energy in the optimal way throughout the lap, or the driver has to manually decide when to deploy it.

It does it automatically.
It's a different system to the driver controlled boost.

[paulguitar]

Harry H said:

A good race indeed, but for the first time Crofty is now starting to really annoy me and I'm starting to understand the hate.

He oversells it all the time becoming a major factor in turning the sport into more of a show. It's motor racing at 200+ Mph, it's already exciting and doesn't need a commentator screaming his head off all the time trying to big it up.

No doubt under direction every time he mentions Max he seems to be obliged to add "4 times world champion". Like if it's said enough we'll start to believe it. Doesn't do it for Lewis, Alonso etc. I'm so focussed on listening out for examples of this so I can get even more annoyed I miss whats going on.

Trouble is, now I've tuned into the bullst I can't stop hearing it and it's ruining it for me. If only there was another live channel in the UK to watch it on, I'd be off like a shot.

F1 TV isn't particularly difficult to do. I pay about £20 per month to ViaTV, and I think the VPN works out at about £3 per month. Not having to tolerate Croft is wonderful.

[Harry H]

732NM said:

George has never been under the expected championship winner pressure before, and Kimi has less to lose, he's expected to be beaten by George.
We'll see how they cope with the pressure, Piastri fell apart when it mattered last year, despite his supposed cool demeaner.

Pressure can create silly mistakes.

Kimi is going to be a hot head that's for sure. George just needs to keep his cool and let the teenager self destruct. It's gonna be good for the punters and for the F1 viewing figures.