Canadian GP: Heavy Rain Affects Friday Running in Montreal

The ninth Grand Prix of the 2024 Formula 1 season takes us to Canada and the iconic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The team brought some new parts with them to Montreal, including the new front wing that George had already run in Monaco and which is now available for use on both cars.

Friday was heavily affected by the Canadian weather, as rain interfered both practice sessions. Nevertheless, an encouraging day, as both drivers felt comfortable in various conditions.

The weather radar determined the course of FP2, with the rain coming and going during practice. Due to the forecast, Lewis and George hurried to complete a few laps on the Soft tyres at the start of the session. Due to the difficult conditions, both drivers had the old spec front wing on their W15.

The newly tarmacked track was very slippery, but the Mercedes duo successfully avoided the famous Wall of Champions. Lewis set the fastest time in the first two sectors on the Soft tyre, but then had to abort his lap when he hit traffic into the final chicane.

In the remaining 15 minutes, both drivers returned to the track on used Intermediates. Still too wet to use slick tyres, the second session came to an end with George in P2 and Lewis in P7.

Despite the compromised practice time, both drivers were satisfied with their Fridays and felt comfortable in the car. In total, they clocked in 71 laps around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

George Russell

It was good fun out there today. It was difficult to take many learnings into the rest of the weekend as each lap the conditions were changing. First it was spitting, then it was drying, then it was raining again! The car was feeling good overall, but we will only learn about our position relative to others tomorrow. I had faith in the car today though and felt confident throughout.

In FP3, you are usually very focused on your Qualifying performance. However tomorrow, we are also going to have to evaluate our race pace. We are going to have to be very clear on the changes we want to make ahead of Qualifying. In all honesty, there won’t be a lot that any driver or team learnt today. The weather could be similar tomorrow though so it’s going to be interesting.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

The goal for today was to make the most of the opportunities for running and learning in the mixed conditions. The team and drivers have done a good job of that. There's a chance of rain in both Qualifying and the race. We were therefore focused on covering as many conditions as possible and making sure we had the tyres in a decent temperature window along with understanding the car balance.

The car seems to be working reasonably well, but it's impossible to draw conclusions on pace from a day like today. If we get a dry final practice tomorrow, then it's going to be busy as we've still got a lot of low and high fuel work to get through. The track is tough on the cars so ideally, we'll get a long run in to check everything is OK. Considering the conditions today, it was a decent start to the weekend.