2022 Canadian GP Qualifying Update and Tips – JP
2022 Canadian GP Qualifying Update
It is almost time for 2022 Canadian GP Qualifying and James Punt has an update. You can check out his outright preview here.
2022 Canadian GP Qualifying
Just a quick update for this evening’s qualifying session. With the session expected to be wet, we have a much more open session ahead than normal.
The forecast is for the rain to last all afternoon, so a wet qualifier looks nailed on. The race on the other hand will be dry. This means that set ups should be geared towards a dry race set up.
This afternoon’s FP3 was held in the rain, and it must be said cold, conditions. That was making it hard to get heat into the rubber and grip was at a premium. Everyone was cautious, nobody stuck it in the wall, not even Nicolas Latifi. That suggests that maybe we haven’t seen some of the driver’s best efforts.
It was interesting that Fernando Alonso was into the action early, setting the fastest times on the full wets after just a couple of laps. He was then the first to switch to the inters and set the quickest time on those as well. He was swapping best times with fellow old timer, Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin.
Alpine Quick
The Alpine was quick in the dry yesterday, with Alonso 3rd and 5th in the two practice sessions. They have brought a new rear wing this weekend, giving more downforce than their Baku set up of last weekend. That was hurting their top end speed, but very handy in the wet. His teammate, Esteban Ocon, ended up 4th quickest which tells us the car is competitive, especially in these conditions.
We now know that Charles Leclerc will be starting at the back of the grid after Ferrari decided not just to give him a new engine, but the whole power unit. He is unlikely to take part in a wet session as a result. The man with six poles from eight, is effectively a non-runner. Teammate Carlos Sainz is very handy in the wet but was only 10th this afternoon and the car looked skittish.
The drivers I was looking at in the preview, Alonso, Vettel and Norris, in case it was a wet qualifying, all ended up in the top 6. There were two Alpines and two McLaren’s in the top 6, suggesting that their set ups are reasonably rain friendly. Lando Norris was interviewed after practice yesterday and said he wanted a wet qualifying session. It looks like he has got it.
Norris Happy With Rain
He was third in the wet/dry qualifying session at Imola earlier in the season and was very good in the wet at Spa last year and was on pole after the rain in Russia last year, pipping our 101.00 selection, Carlos Sainz.
George Russell is another very good wet weather driver and he was seventh today and even in the Mercedes, he cannot be ruled out.
We backed Verstappen ante post for pole, but he was just 9th today, not running for the first 30 minutes and only doing 10 laps. The rain got a bit heavier in the last ten minutes or so, so he didn’t see the best of the conditions and never really got his eye in. He didn’t want to damage the car just before qualifying, but very nearly did. Expect him to be more competitive later.
In circumstances such as this, it is worth rolling the dice on some outsiders and the only question is whether to go win only or each way. With each way only covering the first and second places, I’ll go win only for small stakes.
