Lessons Learned from Formula 1 in Canada
The only thing left for Shoemaker is frustration

06/20/2022, 06:55 am

The winner of the Formula 1 race in Canada is Max Verstappen again, but Lewis Hamilton is on stage with him. The Mercedes driver feels “reborn”. Mick Schumacher’s feelings, never reached the finish line again – this time completely innocent, completely different.

Max Verstappen plays a champion

Nine races, seven results, six wins – Verstappen is making the most of his chances in the hunt for his second world title. Carried the pole in Canada and drove to victory. It’s not so easy, but with the experience of 150 Grand Prix in just 24 years, the Red Bull driver now combines skill, speed, regularity and coolness. They were not super fast in the race. “But we still won, and that’s a quality too.”

The delayed safety car completely melted his comfortable presence, and instead of an easy victory he had to fight about 15 laps against Carlos Science in Ferrari, benefiting the DRS as he was less than a second away. Nothing is burning anymore. World Champion.

He still jumps, but he’s coming fast

A week ago, the 37-year-old tormented himself with back pain from his Mercedes, and now he feels “like a new person”. Louis Hamilton suddenly spoke about his Mercedes again with almost childlike enthusiasm. The hopping was not as bad as it had been in Baku a week ago, and the silver arrow was fast, especially on the Hamilton wheel.

15 years ago he scored his first of 10 incredible 10 hits now in Montreal. Third place now felt like 37 years old. Hamilton, who will be running his own race at Silverstone in two weeks, insisted that Red Bull and Ferrari are currently a bit faster for Mercedes. “But we’re getting closer.” The World Championships may be over, but you still want to win at least one race here and there.

The Schumacher is as good as his car

Mick Schumacher should be a life partner. There would have been a lot of potential at the Canadian Grand Prix, probably his first World Championship points – thus ending the debate on counting races with zero and zero in the debate over his future. But this time his hose knocked him down. After two serious accidents and numerous criticisms, he showed strength in fitness and racing before being stopped by a weak car.

But the 23-year-old could feel at least a small winner after this weekend: he drove flawlessly, his sixth place in the qualifying round was a great career and made everyone sit down and watch. Also in the race he could not help the engine malfunction.

The cut stopped at the pistol on and off

Practically good, bad at qualifying, then bad luck in racing with the timing of the virtual defense car phases: Sebastian Vettel’s weekend was the most used in terms of the game, reversing the smooth upward trend of the last two Grand Prix. For now. In twelfth place, he fought: “We need a completely different race. Two virtual security cars broke our necks, and then it was over.” What seemed so hopeful at times in Canada ended in another disappointment for the 34-year-old.

And things went in moderation: Cutting, who not only considers himself a racing driver but also uses his limits for socio-political purposes, received harsh criticism for his high-profile opposition to tar sand mining in the Canadian province of Alberta. Alberta’s energy minister has accused the former world champion of hypocrisy, not only because he works in Formula 1, but also because his salary is partly funded by an oil company in Saudi Arabia. In Sunday’s race, he avoided wearing a racing helmet with anti-cutting message. He had a previous meeting with his Aston Martin team on the cause.

Leclerc is already teasing

Monaco was very “disappointed”. From 19th to fifth place on the stage was exactly the maximum damage limit practically for a Ferrari driver considering the whole race. But of course: Leklerk lost a lot of ground to Verstappen in the sixth race in a row, already 49 points behind the Dutch at the World Cup.

Leclerc could at least travel to the next race in the UK after being re-moved at the end of the phase due to two engine failures and a mechanical change in Barcelona and Baguio. It can only come in handy. “49 points, that’s just two wins,” Leclerc joked Sunday.