2024 F1 Canadian GP: Preview and Predictions

The 2024 F1 Canadian GP takes us to the beloved Gilles Villeneuve circuit. The track has been on the calendar for a long time and is one of the classic ones with some brilliant memories. The track has been famous for some of the career-first wins of drivers.

Jean Alesi, Lewis Hamilton, and Robert Kubica are a few of them. This time around, we're looking at a potential title battle brewing between three different contenders.

The last three races have seen Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari win a race each. The championship lead that Max Verstappen has more or less grown since the start of the season has been cut down in Monaco.

So what can we expect at the F1 Canadian GP this weekend? Let's take a look.

2024 F1 Canadian GP: Preview

Key Storylines

#1 What will be the pecking order?

The last three races have possibly expressed F1 in the best possible light. The three races have not only had three different winners but it has also had three excellent performances by drivers to emerge victorious.

Heading into the 2024 F1 Canadian GP, there's no clarity on who will be ahead. Would it be Red Bull, a team that has struggled on tracks with kerbs? Would it be Ferrari or even McLaren, the two teams that have reeled in the reigning champions?

It's a hard prediction, but it does appear that the field is closing up and the gap is not going to be much anyway between the top three teams.

#2 Who is bringing what?

This is going to be interesting because Mercedes is one team that has shown an ability to finally understand how its car works on the track. That's something that has escaped the team for a meaningful amount of time in the past.

At the F1 Canadian GP, the team is bringing new parts. It's still unsure what the other teams are bringing, but how everything is closing up at the front, every upgrade is going to be crucial.

#3 The Alpine saga

Esteban Ocon's leaving Alpine is possibly a big decision taken by the team, but it sets an interesting chain reaction in motion. It means that the French driver has a few options on the table, while the same goes for the team.

In all of this, the rivalry between Gasly and Ocon is certainly going to be interesting to keep an eye on. For the F1 Canadian GP, all eyes will be on Alpine and how the dynamics work on the track.

Form Guide

In form

Charles Leclerc breathed a sigh of relief when he crossed the chequered flag and you cannot blame him for that. He has been close to winning multiple races and then missed them due to one thing or the

other. With the win in Monaco, there's a sense of freedom that can be attached to it. He's only 31 points behind Max now and the F1 Canadian GP could be a track where he narrows the gap even further.

Out of form

Sergio Perez might be very close to getting a contract extension at Red Bull by the looks of it but his form has betrayed him more than once. The lack of qualifying pace continues to be a concern for Checo as he drives for his future in F1.

2024 F1 Canadian GP: Predictions

Who will win the race?

This time around, we're going with Charles Leclerc's Ferrari with the most important reason being the momentum that the driver is on.

The gap between the top three teams is not going to be much in Canada, and we're looking at drivers making the difference. We expect Leclerc to do that as he tries to close the gap to Max in the championship.

Surprise of the weekend (Team)

The last few races have seen Mercedes make strides. The German outfit is not the one to be looked over and what was evident in the last two races was that the progress could be seen on track.

In the F1 Canadian GP, the team gets another chance to close up to the top three. We're looking at a race weekend where Mercedes is a factor at the front.

Surprise of the weekend (Driver)

Lewis Hamilton has been quite emphatically outperformed by his teammate in 2024. The gap of 1-7 in Qualifying is not the kind of gap that shows competitiveness.

Having said that, Canada has been one of Hamilton's hunting grounds, and we're looking at something special from the driver.

Disappointment of the weekend (Team)

Aston Martin started the season with a car that could challenge Mercedes on occasion. Alonso brought in some good results with the car as well. However, the team comes to the F1 Canadian GP on the back of a disastrous run where its upgrades have proven to be downgrades.

It's hard to expect much from the team this weekend, and we could see another struggle during the weekend.

Disappointment of the weekend (Driver)

Questions have been raised about Daniel Ricciardo's form. He's coming to the place of his first F1 win this weekend. The driver will be desperate for a strong run this weekend, even though we're picking the Canadian GP as another weekend where he struggles.