Max Verstappen on Red Bull will start from pole position in the Canadian Grand Prix, the ninth round of the Formula One World Championship scheduled for Sunday at the “Gilles Villeneuve” circuit in Montreal. Second time and front row for Fernando Alonso (Alpine).
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Third Sainz, Leclerc leaves last © ANSA
In the second row will start Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari with the third time and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. Called to the company Charles Leclerc who instead will start last after Ferrari has decided to change parts of its engine again beyond the limit allowed per season.
After the first rumors, Ferrari has in fact decided to take the appropriate precautions in terms of reliability in order not to risk another zero like in Baku and Barcelona. In addition to the engine with the assembly of the third unit, the control unit and the turbo compressor were also changed to the Monegasque car. The change is expensive for Leclerc who will therefore be last on the Montreal grid. The Monegasque took part only in Q1 and the sensations, according to the Monegasque, are good: “I don’t know if I did my calculations well, but in this way I finished in front of Yuki Tsunoda and tomorrow, therefore, I will be able to start in front of him. – Leclerc’s words to Sky Sport -. An extra position is not that great, but in such a weekend you have to take everything you can. “
Despite all the morale of Leclerc is high in view of the race where he will be forced to come back and Red Bull hoping that his teammate Carlos Sainz and maybe fate can help him. The Monegasque is forced to limit the damage so as not to definitively lose the world championship train, now that Verstappen in the Drivers’ World Championship is ahead with 34 points. “It’s great to be back on this track – said Leclerc – it has a lot of character and driving here is always fun, especially because you have to attack the curbs a lot. As always, here the track has evolved a lot as it turned and the wind was at times very strong, even if it didn’t affect my work that much. Now we will concentrate on the race to prepare it in the best possible way “.
The choice of Ferrari came after Friday’s free practice in Montreal, with the Monegasque driver taking to the track at “Gilles Villeneuve” with the new engine and trying a type of work in free practice that had foreshadowed further changes. Until the end, the Maranello team preferred to check the performance of the single-seater and then, once the data was collected, most likely carried out a briefing with the driver to make the decision. And while the FIA in Montreal issued a directive to limit or avoid the hopping of cars, there has come a new harsh outburst from Lewis Hamilton against his performance-starved Mercedes: “I wait to hear what feelings George felt (Russell, ed. ), but for me – the English thunders – it was a disaster. We will continue to work on this car, but by now I believe that this car is for 2022. It is undriveable. We will have to resist and work hard to build a better car for Next year”
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