© Sulay Kelly for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
In Mercedes’ Canadian Grand Prix preview, Toto Wolff says “both drivers will have the updated front wing in Canada, plus some other development items for this event”.
“We had an encouraging weekend in Monaco,” Wolff said.
“We continued to make solid progress with our car, improving its overall balance and taking a step closer to those ahead. That progress isn’t yet showing in terms of positions but if we can continue to close the gap to the fastest cars, we know it will in due course.
“Both drivers will have the updated front wing in Canada, plus some other development items for this event. It offered a small lap time gain around the tight streets of the Principality and should offer greater benefit on upcoming circuits.
“That said, the picture at the front of the field is incredibly competitive. The field has compressed, and we are under no illusions that others will continue to improve. We will have to continue to work hard and diligently to get ourselves into the mix.
“The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a brilliant track. It offers a mix of low-speed corners and high-speed straights which makes for great racing. We always enjoy returning to Montreal as the fans are incredibly passionate about F1.
“We’ve enjoyed many good moments there over the years and hopefully we can add to those this weekend,” the Austrian concluded.
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Fact File: Canadian Grand Prix
- The 4.361 km Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is similar in its characteristics to that of the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan. Long straights requiring lower drag are punctuated by slower speed corners such as chicanes and hairpins that require higher downforce.
- The track surface ahead of the 2024 Grand Prix has been re-laid.
- The 14 corners of the circuit comprise six left-hand and eight right-hand turns. Most of the corners are in a similar speed range, which is at the lower end of the scale compared to the rest of the circuits on the 2024 calendar.
- This will be the 43rd F1 Grand Prix to take place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Only Spa, Silverstone, Monaco, and Monza have hosted more.
- Several corners come as a double change of direction (left/right or right/left combinations) that require good responsiveness from the car. These include the combinations that comprise turns one and two, turns three and four, turns six and seven, turns eight and nine, and the final chicane at turns 13 and 14.
- The 405-metre pit lane ranks eighth in terms of length across all the circuits we race at. However, time expended during a pit stop is not especially high, as drivers are spared the inconvenience of going through the last chicane, instead entering the pit lane directly. Additionally, the pit exit feeds in at Turn two, thus drivers avoid having to negotiate the first corner too.
- The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is traditionally regarded as tough on brakes, similar to the Austrian GP. However, there are usually fewer cooling problems in Canada than in Spielberg because the lap distance is greater and there is more time for the brakes to dissipate temperature.
- The wall on the exit of the final corner has been dubbed ‘The Wall of Champions’ ever since 1999, when Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher, and Jacques Villeneuve all had their races ended at the turn through crashes.
- Along with Miami, Austria and Las Vegas, Montreal has the most heavy braking zones on the F1 calendar with three.
- Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher share the record for the most wins at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with seven.
- The circuit is located on the Île Notre-Dame, an island that hosted the World Expo in 1967. The Expo 67 American Pavilion, which became the Montreal Biosphere and is now an environmental museum, is a visible reminder of this.
- The man-made body of water outside the track – which drivers cross over to get into the paddock – was built to host the rowing and canoeing events at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games.
Source: Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team
