Forget Monaco, which is the Sydney to Hobart, The Wimbledon, The Bathurst of the Grand Prix calendar – the race everyone knows and pretends to know about – the Canadian GP is regularly if not always one of the best races of the year.
It has the close proximity of the walls like Monaco, but unlike Monaco it has speed, nice long straights, and genuine overtaking places. Plus some ones that aren’t really but it doesn’t stop people.
It will be well worth the reward of the 4am start, but those lucky enough to get Liz’s big day off on Monday have zero excuse. If you don’t want to be referred to as a fair-weather friend.
Like last year after practice and qualifying, it looks a Mercedes benefit, but last year’s race ended up with a big Australian smile on the top step of the podium. While that looks unlikely to be repeated, the nature of this race means nothing should be ruled out. There appears to be little chance of rain during the race, but if there is, Lewis Hamilton’s off on Friday proves it’s all open if the track gets wet.
Leading up to the race the press conference involving Max Verstappen and Felipe Massa was good value, and if Max can back up the confidence with more results the F1 grid might be in for a tough time over the next few seasons.
Looking into this race, it is set up to be a Mercedes benefit, with Ham in front of Rosberg (unless there are more genius pit stops planned). But that’s where the boredom stops if you look down the grid.
A welcome return to best of the rest is Kimi, who was helped with Vettel’s troubles, and hopefully he can show the Ferrari’s potential around here. We’d love a Kimi winning press conference. Bottas’ appearance in fourth also excites as this track should suit the Williams better than Monaco, and Bottas has plenty to offer too.
Just a row behind could be the wild card and/or trouble. Grosjean has done a fair bit to remove his reputation of being a pain in the arse on the first lap, his team mate Maldonaldo has fairly or unfairly enhanced his of being a modern day Andrea de Cesaris. Their 5th and 6th positions will have the nerves of surrounding cars tested.
Rounding out the Top 10 is Gurgler favourite Nico Hulkenburg, a man who deserves and needs a decent performance to get either any seat or a better seat next season. And the Red Bulls, who surprised us last year, but look unlikely this year.
Right at the back will provide some more interest than usual with Vettel, Massa, Button, and Verstappen all looking to make up for some bad times earlier in the weekend, and in one case, last race. There could be fireworks going forwards and backwards in the first few laps.
GURGLERS BETS
There’s no value or point or fun in betting on Mercedes, so here are our overpriced long shots worth a few cents.
WIN
RICCIARDO/HULK/PEREZ – $501
PODIUM
ROSBERG (NO) $6
HULK $34
RICCIARDO $41
PEREZ $51
TOP 6
SAINZ $15
VERSTAPPEN $51
FIRST OUT
MALDONALDO $9
PEREZ $12
SAFETY CAR?
YES $1.44
LE GRID
Hamilton
Rosberg
Raikkonen
Bottas
Grosjean
Maldonado
Hulkenberg
Kvyat
Ricciardo
Perez
Sainz
Ericsson
Alonso
Nasr
Massa
Merhi
Stevens
Vettel
Verstappen
Button
Map courtesy of Wikipedia – where else.
TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE – THE BEST OF THE HISTORY
These are just a sample – there’s plenty more Canadian GP goodness out there.