F1 Canadian Grand Prix: 5 Predictions for Qualifying

Canadian F1 Grand Prix - Practice
Canadian F1 Grand Prix - Practice

The Canadian Grand Prix has well and truly begun as Friday saw Free Practice sessions one and two take place.

And from what we have learned in Friday's action is that Red Bull Racing may just find another pole lap come Saturday.

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has seen Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton dominate over the last few years as the Briton has been victorious at six Canada races.

Can anyone stop Hamilton from achieving the magnificent seven?

Here are five predictions ahead of Saturday's qualifying session:


#5 Red Bull's pace may surprise a few

Canadian F1 Grand Prix - Previews
Max Verstappen

On Thursday, Max Verstappen was asked by a journalist on why he keeps having accidents in 2018.

The Dutchman responded cold and threatened to 'head-butt' someone if asked the same question again.

A day later, Verstappen tops the opening practice session in his Red Bull.

Friday was a good start by the 20-year-old, two weeks after disappointing the team by finishing P9 at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Red Bull knew they could have scored more points in the constructors' championship from the Monaco race.

If only Verstappen hadn't crashed in FP3. He'll be making sure not to do that this weekend while his car is looking to be providing the business again.

His teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, was third fastest in FP1 setting up what could be a promising weekend for the Milton Keynes team.

It was a redemption win for Ricciardo when he won in Monaco, it might just be mutual feelings for Verstappen if he was to finish in first place come Sunday.

#4 Qualifying pace may not be the strongest for Hamilton

Canadian F1 Grand Prix - Practice
Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has so far picked up two victories this season and it might just remain as a couple of wins come the conclusion of the weekend.

The Briton admitted fears to the press on Thursday that his team Mercedes could be falling behind their rivals Scuderia Ferrari and Toro Rosso.

Or it could just be mind games from the four-time world champion if FP1 thinks otherwise. Hamilton was second fastest in FP1, 0.088 seconds slower than Max Verstappen.

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is like Hamilton's second home and he knows everything about the track. The championship leader is targeting a joint record win of seven races in Montreal to be in line with Michael Schumacher.

Qualifying may not be the best we'll see from Mercedes but come race day, don't be surprised if Hamilton has one or two tricks up his sleeve.

#3 7th could be a realistic aim for Alonso

Canadian F1 Grand Prix - Previews
Fernando Alonso

It's not every day a racer is about to celebrate their 300th Formula 1 Grand Prix.

It's just a pity Fernando Alonso will be racing in a not so race winning McLaren-Renault on Sunday.

We have been proven in front of us that this year's McLaren can consistently finish in the points and has so far only had one unreliability issue which happened at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Hopefully for Alonso and the team, the reliability problem has been solved ahead of the seventh race of the season.

But out of all the occasions Alonso has celebrated so far in his racing career, the Spaniard will want to finish as high as he can for a weekend like this one.

In FP1, Alonso was seventh fastest on the leaderboard - a similar finishing position we have seen from the 36-year-old in 2018.

The McLaren was only 0.598 seconds off the pace and on the same ultra-soft tyres as Mercedes were using on Friday morning.

Despite Alonso's negative predictions ahead of Sunday, there might just be something to cheer about yet in Montreal.

#2 Vettel and Ferrari are already warming up for Sunday

Canadian F1 Grand Prix - Practice
Sebastian Vettel

The one team that has not had much mention in the build-up to Canada is Scuderia Ferrari.

Let's not forget that Sebastian Vettel is in real contention for the driver's championship for a second season running.

The German is currently just 14 points behind Lewis Hamilton after finishing ahead of his rival at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Vettel probably does look back at the previous round and wonder how on earth he didn't win on the streets of Monte Carlo.

FP1 was an okay session for Vettel by finishing fourth fastest and will be happy knowing he was only 0.272 seconds behind Verstappen's pace-setting lap.

Ferrari are known for building up to the weekend and we may see the best till last.

But where will Vettel finish on Sunday?

#1 Another long weekend for Williams

Canadian F1 Grand Prix - Previews
Lance Stroll

It is probably no surprise but this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix could be another big mountain to climb for the Williams team.

And for the Canadian Lance Stroll, it would be a big shame for him not to display his best at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in front of a home crowd.

It's been nothing but downhill progress by Williams this year.

It wasn't too long ago a familiar face of Valtteri Bottas achieved third place in Montreal for the British based team in 2015. He finished behind Nico Rosberg and the race winner Lewis Hamilton.

Three years on and the 2018 edition of the Montreal race could see both Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin finish outside the points yet again.

Both the Canadian and the Russian did not have much to shout about in FP1.

Sirotkin finished in 17th with Stroll trailing behind him in 18th position.

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