Edd Straw's 2024 Canadian Grand Prix F1 driver rankings
The Canadian Grand Prix was spiced up by the rain that fell before and during the race. This made it the most exciting race of the 2024 Formula 1 season yet, and it also proved to be the biggest challenge for the drivers so far this year.
Who managed to handle the difficult situation better and who struggled in Montreal? This is the opinion given by Edd Straw.
What's the deal with the rankings? Well, after every grand prix weekend, the 20 drivers are sorted based on their overall performance from stellar to subpar. A variety of factors contribute to this assessment, such as speed, ability to navigate the race, reliability, and avoiding critical errors. Of utmost importance, however, is how well each driver maximizes their car's potential.
It is crucial to acknowledge that this evaluation considers the drivers' performance throughout the entire weekend. This bears in mind that the qualifying round is essentially the starting point of the race. It sets the groundwork for the rest of the race. Additionally, it's important to highlight that this assessment is not a measure of a driver's overall skills. It only gauges their performance during a specific weekend. As a result, the rankings are subject to considerable changes from one weekend to the next.
Each of the 10 cars has unique performance abilities. Additionally, various factors beyond the driver's control also impact the overall outcome of the weekend. Therefore, the ranking based on individual performance will not match the final results significantly.
Began: Second Concluded: First
Verstappen did amazingly well except for a quick detour off the track as he left Turn 1 and entered Turn 2 during lap 17.
Red Bull's vulnerability presented an opportunity for him to showcase his remarkable skills, performing exceptionally well in a challenging vehicle during both the qualifying session and the actual race. Although getting ahead was made easier by the first safety car, he was the most immaculate among the leading group of drivers.
Conclusion: Once again, it proved to be the deciding factor.
Commenced: 3rd Concluded: 2nd
Imagine how much things could have changed if the first safety car showed up at a different time. The lead that was gained by skillfully managing the tires in the beginning of the race was lost and the team ended up in third place because of it.
He managed to reach the second position and felt disappointed for not being able to secure the win. The only downside was a short mishap at Turn 1 during his second time on the track.
Conclusion: It was a close call and they had a good chance of winning.
Commenced on the 10th but did not complete.
After facing difficulties with the Williams car when driving over the kerbs, which resulted in a minor collision with the wall during Free Practice 3, a surprising improvement was achieved just before qualifying. This upgrade enabled Albon to secure a spot in Q3 for the second race in a row with an exceptional performance during Q2.
While on the train, he fought hard for the eighth position in the race. Earlier, he executed an impressive passing maneuver by slipping through a narrow space between Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon. Unfortunately, his position was disrupted when he was hit by the twirling Carlos Sainz.
Decision: Points that were truly earned were not given.
Begun on the 6th and wrapped up on the 6th.
Following two weekends of unusual dullness, Alonso displayed his usual impressive performance in Canada.
The Aston Martin car was leading the pack and trying to catch up with the top three teams. Alonso did an impressive job, finishing in sixth place in both qualifying and the race.
Conclusion: Achieved the best outcome.
Commenced on the 4th of the month and completed on the 5th.
In written form, it seems like a bad outcome for Piastri to come in fifth place when his teammate in McLaren had the chance to win and came in second. However, Piastri's situation was somewhat unlucky.
He drove skillfully; however, due to the dry weather towards the end of the race and both Mercedes drivers changing to new tires during the second safety car, he was pushed back from the podium close to the end of the event.
Conclusion: Followed Norris closely throughout the entire period.
Commenced: First Concluded: Thirdly
The weekend in Canada displayed both the positives and negatives of George Russell's racing abilities.
He secured a remarkable spot at the front of the starting grid and proceeded to lead the initial 20 laps of the competition. However, he also committed several errors in addition to excessively utilizing his intermediate tires in the beginning stages.
Despite a rough driving style, Russell managed to grab the third spot, demonstrating his exceptional speed.
Conclusion: Quick but too messy in the competition.
Commenced: 5th Ended: 8th
Ricciardo really needed a weekend like this, but it wasn't simple due to getting a false start penalty caused by an issue with the clutch that wasn't his fault.
Even though he thought he was losing the race at the beginning, he managed to only make small mistakes and stayed in the running for a few points.
He earned the position of eighth place and achieved it when his team-mate in the RB team, Yuki Tsunoda, spun towards the end of the race.
Conclusion: The weekend that he just had was the most successful one throughout his entire season.
Commenced: Fifteenth Concluded: Ninth
Gasly performed well enough to make it into Q2 and he may have had a chance of overtaking Kevin Magnussen to claim 14th position, but there were no other significant opportunities available.
The competition kicked off on the wrong note as Gasly had a partial spin after colliding with Sergio Perez. Despite the setback, Gasly persisted and even managed to be one of the speedier cars on the circuit during the moderate weather conditions.
Although he changed his tires to slicks a bit prematurely, he managed to gain some points and overtook his Alpine teammate Ocon towards the end of the race while chasing after Ricciardo. However, his rise to the top was not immediate.
Opinion: Utilized the available equipment to its fullest potential.
Began on the eleventh but did not finish.
Leclerc had a pretty uneventful weekend due to the low level of traction that affected the Ferraris during the qualifying round because of an error in calculating tyre pressure. Additionally, he was hindered by a power loss early on which further slowed him down.
He did well to stay in the race despite the rainy weather, but as the track dried up, he gradually lost his position and the risky decision to switch to slick tires hastened his eventual exit from the competition.
Decision: The defiance shown at the beginning of the race was notable and admirable.
Began: ninth Concluded: eighth
During Q1, Lance Stroll's Aston Martin was hit by the 'Wall of Champions', causing the car to be slightly misaligned for qualifying, but this incident alone cannot fully justify the nearly half-second difference in lap times between Stroll and his team-mate Alonso.
He raced very well and came in just behind Alonso, which helped Aston Martin get a lot of points for the season.
Conclusion: It was a nice and tidy weekend.
Begin: 18th Concluded: 10th
Given that the Alpine car is only able to make it into Q2 with great difficulty, Ocon was unfortunate to have a somewhat disorganized second Q1 attempt which resulted in his elimination.
He performed well in the race after the team rectified a wastegate issue prior to the commencement of the race. Nonetheless, it was dispiriting for him to give way to team-mate Gasly in the late stages of the race with a comparable strategy to make an attempt against Ricciardo. Furthermore, he was not provided with the opportunity to regain his position after the attempt was unsuccessful.
Conclusion: Despite a great race, anger dominated the situation.
Begun on the seventh, completed on the fourth.
Hamilton didn't qualify as fast as his teammate Russell by almost three tenths and ended up six places behind him. He then considered Sunday's race to be one of his worst performances because he made a lot of mistakes while driving.
Hamilton may have been overstating things due to feeling disappointed from the missed chances, but he was fully aware of the opportunity for a significant outcome.
Final decision: More impressive than his original statement.
Begun: 14th Concluded: 12th
Magnussen thought he could have done better during qualifying, but the Haas car didn't perform particularly well at the Canadian race track.
He took advantage of the choice to use wet tires and managed to move up to fourth place. Had it not been for a slow pitstop during his expected early change to intermediate tires, he would have still been doing well. Unfortunately, his progress was nullified by the pitstop delay, and he was overtaken by his teammate Nico Hulkenberg after changing to slick tires a bit too soon.
Sentence: The most exciting part of the race was the appearance of an early contestant. Rewritten: The early participant's brief appearance stole the show at the race.
Begun on the 19th from the pitlane and ended up finishing in the 13th position.
Since Sauber is presently acknowledged as the poorest F1 car, Bottas performed reasonably well in qualifying and exerted effort to keep the vehicle competitive and secure a potential point, despite lacking the speed to launch a strong offensive.
Taking everything into account, he performed adequately.
Conclusion: Trying to win a battle that can't be won.
Commenced: 17th Completed: 11th
The weekend was mainly affected by Hulkenberg's aerodynamic issues, which resulted in a discrepancy in the load generated compared to his teammate Magnussen's vehicle.
As a result of the circumstances, Hulkenberg opted for a rear wing with increased downforce during the qualifying session, but this unfortunately led to him being eliminated in the initial round of qualifiers.
Despite feeling that he had issues with aerodynamics during the race, he performed admirably to nearly earn a point considering the Haas' speed and the prevailing conditions.
Conclusion: Continued to fight despite issues with aerodynamics.
Began: 8th Concluded: 14th
It seems that Tsunoda had a small advantage in speed compared to his Red Bull teammate Ricciardo. However, he made a mistake at Turn 2 during his final lap in Q3, which ended up costing him the chance to qualify higher.
He chose to keep using his first set of intermediate tires for a longer period of time and did not make a pit stop when the safety car was deployed. This strategy was successful and put him in a position to take eighth place.
Afterwards, he committed what he referred to as a "foolish decision" and lost his ranking in ninth place by spinning away.
Conclusion: Committed a mistake that is not typical of their behavior.
Began on the 12th, not concluded.
Sainz faced similar difficulties as his fellow Ferrari teammate Leclerc during the qualifying session. However, he had a robust car during the race, except for the minor damage to his front wing caused by colliding with Bottas's Sauber.
He was competing for lower rankings when he lost control and crashed while in 10th position, causing unfortunate Albon to also crash.
Conclusion: Ferrari faced multiple difficulties due to mistakes.
Begun: 13th Ended: Did Not Finish
Despite not having the lighter Williams floor that was introduced at Imola three weeks back, Sargeant managed to maintain a decent pace. During practice, he also showcased some impressive skills.
However, the slight difference in specification between the two teammates was not the only reason for the 0.25 second difference in Q2. Sargeant also lost time in the hairpin turn and final corner.
The competition was a complete failure because he fell to the bottom of the group after having two mishaps in a single lap at the beginning of the race, and eventually had a wreck that ended his participation in the event.
Final decision: Disastrous competition demolished an encouraging weekend.
Commenced: 20th position (in the pit lane) Concluded: 15th place
Sauber is facing many difficulties and the drivers are not the main issue. However, Zhou made matters worse by having exceptional crashes in practice, which is not typical of him, and as a result, he was far behind his teammate Bottas during the qualifying race.
Beginning from the lower end of the race rankings, he sauntered around at the rear end. At least, he managed to avoid any mishaps and successfully completed the race.
Conclusion: Lacking trust in the automobile.
Begun: 16th Concluded: Did Not Finish
During this particular weekend, it seemed like Perez's only purpose was to showcase the outstanding job that his teammate Verstappen was doing with the Red Bull team.
He had a hard time making the back tires function properly during the qualifying round, which led to his exit from Q1. Afterwards, he experienced damage to the front wing due to a collision with Gasly at Turn 2.
He reached only the 13th position during the race and unfortunately crashed into the wall at Turn 6. As a consequence, he was given a penalty of three places on the grid for driving the car back to the pits in an unsafe manner, based on the team's instructions.
Conclusion: A dreadful weekend.
