F1 has landed in Canada where, on Thursday, the canonical press conferences of the drivers took place. There was also talk of 2026 regulations clearly but the focus of all the drivers is concentrated above all on the ninth weekend of a season that is giving… excellent battles. Not only in the center of the group, which has always been the scene of great and close battles between multiple teams, but finally also for the top positionswith Red Bull having managed to win ‘only’ five of the eight races held so far, seeing Ferrari (2 wins so far) and McLaren (1 win) getting very close.
Norris: “I would say Ferrari is the favorite because the SF-24 is a very versatile car”
Ferrari comes from the important victory in Monte Carlo, with Charles Leclerc who dominated the entire weekend, except for the always problematic third part of qualifying which is the most complicated session of the entire championship. A Monegasque driver who got the better of Oscar Piastri and a Mclaren which proved to be very competitive even on the atypical and very slow track like that of the Principality. The updates brought to Miami have given an important boost to the MCL38, especially at low speeds where Andrea Stella, TP of the Woking team, clearly stated that he had seen a better leap forward than expected. Something that Mclaren is trying to understand in order to calmly continue approving the developments that will arrive in several steps between now and the summer break.
The semi citizen of Montreal is to be considered a stop & go routewhere the ability to attack curbs, coupled with excellent braking/traction qualities and top speed can make the difference.“We should still be very close and I think it’s impossible to say which of us, Ferrari or Red Bull will be in front. This is what makes current F1 so exciting.” – said Lando Norris, who then wanted to go unbalanced – “If I had to make a bet, I would probably bet on Ferrari, which I think is the favorite due to its high top speed but also because I think it can adapt better to the track”. An analysis of the English driver that leaves us somewhat perplexed, especially for the first part where he talks about the high top speed of the SF-24. In the last few events it became quite clear that the Maranello car was the one that paid a little in terms of top speed of the three leading teams.
Many technical factors that go towards or against the three leading cars
Helmut Marko also has an idea similar to that of Lando Norris, who considers Ferrari the favorite in the ninth round of the season. “The SF-24 is the best on curbs and above all it goes fast on all tracks” said the consultant of the Anglo-Austrian team. The RB20, on the other hand, has a problem with regards to passing over curbs, which increases when other teams such as Ferrari and Mclaren can go very soft, an important requirement of the Monte Carlo track for example. However, in Canada we will return to using less extreme setups from this point of view, so the difficulties of the car from Milton Keynes should ease in comparison with its competitors. Added to this is the strong probability of rain (60%) in each session, with perhaps only Sunday doing slightly better. This would result in very limited use of the curbs, which would meet the RB20, as well as the asphalt is new and very smooththerefore without too many disconnections which often put the intrinsic rigidity of Verstappen and Perez’s car into difficulty.
Just connecting to the possible wet weekend, Mclaren must also be taken into consideration, a team that has always been strong in very wet track conditions and is in a very positive moment. However, Lando Norris wanted to lower expectations because, as Leclerc put it, “Going into the weekend no one wants to say they are favourites, it is more important to throw the ball to the opponent” the Monegasque said with a smile when asked to comment on Norris’ prediction. “I will never say we are the favorites this weekend, and the same goes for them” concluded the winner of the last Grand Prix.
