Canadian GP 2019: 5 Things that could happen at the race

Monaco Grand Prix saw Mercedes' run of 1-2 finishes finally come to an end. So, as much as there was some change, it seems a little superficial with the German outfit and five-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton looking set to continue their domination of the F1 world.

With Valtteri Bottas slipping to third only after contact with Max Verstappen in the pits, it seems like Mercedes are really set to continue its domination.

Although Vettel did show some semblance of pace around the streets of Monte Carlo, his teammate Charles Leclerc had a horrible race meaning Ferrari are even more behind in the Constructors title race.

As we head to Canada, a race which Vettel won last year, can Ferrari put up a fight to Mercedes? Or could Valtteri Bottas, who took P2 last time in Canada, get a win back over Lewis Hamilton?

Canada has seen some surprise podium finishes in the past and even surprise wins, including the maiden win for Robert Kubica.

While Kubica winning in the Williams might be impossible at this point in time, we might be in for some good results from the midfield considering how competitive it is in there.

Or maybe Hamilton wins again and gets further ahead in the title race. Who knows?

But either way that won't stop us from guessing. Check out our 5 early predictions for the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix.

#5 Leclerc bounces back with Pole

One of the major stories of the Monaco Grand Prix was the absolute shocker of a weekend that hometown hero Charles Leclerc had. The young Monegasque was first let down by his team when he was left out of a second Q1 run, limiting him to a P16 start.

As he tried to plough his way up the field on the race day, he was met with the barrier when trying to overtake Romain Grosjean and thereby getting a puncture. The safety car that this brought out gave us a good race but ruined Leclerc's. With the crash behind him, Leclerc will want to put on a show in order to show his critics that he can hang in the Ferrari.

Currently, behind Max Verstappen in the Driver's title race, Leclerc will not want to be sitting there and since he's shown that he can take pole before, we see him doing so once more in Canada.

Leclerc can't count on the pole to give him a good race finish as we saw in Bahrain, but starting P1 on Saturday could propel him to a result that doesn't have Mercedes finishing first, which is what Ferrari sorely need right now.

#4 Lance Stroll takes out a lead car

We have a driver who is from Canada in Lance Stroll, and you know what that means. We have to make a hometown prediction, and as you might guess we believe that Stroll will fall victim to the hometown curse as so many have before, including Leclerc in just the last race.

We see Stroll doing fine in Qualifying but his trouble coming in the race on Sunday. Last year in Brazil we saw the Force India of Esteban Ocon crash into Max Verstappen who was leading the race.

We see another driver in the pink car getting into trouble with a race leader, and we believe it will be hometown boy Lance Stroll in the Racing Point who finds himself in trouble.

Whether it's Verstappen he crashes into much like Ocon did last year, or someone else who is leading the race is to be determined.

However, given the luck that drivers have had in their home race this year, like Daniel Ricciardo's front wing disaster in Australia, it doesn't look good for Stroll. He might be lucky and have a performance like Carlos Sainz in Spain but we just don't see it.

#3 Kubica finishes in the points

F1 Grand Prix of Monaco - Final Practice

We're not going to give any uber optimistic podium prediction this week, however we are going go for something that is potentially even more unlikely.

At the very circuit at which he had a huge crash and then came back to take his first win at, we see Robert Kubica managing to pull off a miracle and dragging his sluggish Williams to a top ten position in the race.

Kubica and Russell have obviously been struggling in their Williams this year, as have the entire team.

Although the best position that either have been able to finish in is P15, we something happening in Canada that allows Kubica to steal a point and at least finish P10.

Canada has had some magnificent races in the past, namely Jenson Button's brilliant win in the wet in 2011.

Therefore we see something allowing Kubica to sneak the Williams high. Maybe it's a rain shower that forces many cars off track or a very opportunistic safety car, or maybe Williams somehow find enough pace in a tight midfield to grab a good spot in qualifying.

If this does happen, it would be our most startling correct prediction yet, so let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that somehow the talented Polish driver can find a way to grab even a single point.

#2 Strategy costs Ferrari again

From an almost impossible prediction of Robert Kubica grabbing points, we go to something which seems almost a certainty in recent times.

Ferrari have built quite a reputation for themselves in this era as being a bona fides bottle factory. Too many a time, Ferrari have found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, whether it be through mechanical failures, driver errors or more often than not, bungling strategy calls.

Just last time out in Monaco we saw Charles Leclerc out in Q1 due to Ferrari's illogical decision to not let him have another run when he was very close to the elimination zone.

That is just one call of many that has seen Ferrari blow so many points away in the dust. Therefore it seems almost a certainty that this weekend Ferrari will find another way to befuddle us all and cost themselves some points.

Maybe they call someone into the pits too early, or leave either Vettel or Leclerc out on worn tires for far too long. Either way, if there's one team to hold a press conference in Monaco on racing strategy and then mess up strategy in two consecutive races, it's 2019 Ferrari.

#1 Verstappen pips Hamilton to the win

The story of Monaco was Max Verstappen trying his best to try and get past the struggling Hamilton and essentially only being blocked due to the tight streets of Monte Carlo.

Verstappen could be described as the pound for pound best driver on the grid right now, taking his Red Bull to the limit and even managing to stay ahead of one of the Ferrari drivers in the Championship standings so far.

Since Mercedes did not manage another 1-2 in Monaco, maybe the time is ripe for someone to finally come in and steal a win from them as well.

I can't see Ferrari getting it together anytime soon, so I turn to Red Bull. Verstappen got so close to the five time World Champ in Monaco that I think he will want that sight of Lewis so close again in Canada.

We see the race going well enough for Red Bull that Verstappen trails Hamilton by less than half a second in the last lap before the Dutchman makes another lunge on the Brit, this time with success to take the win.

As of right now in F1, things seem a little predictable so we've tried to get some right while going off the course with this win prediction as well as our call of Kubica grabbing points. Whether any of this will happen is to be seen, but for all racing fans, let's at least hope that Canada is an exciting Grand Prix!

Edited by Alan John