F1 Canadian GP: Braking, Walls and Sprint Format Test Teams

The Gilles Villeneuve Circuit is an old school temple, its concrete walls are glued to the asphalt, its chicanes follow one after another without rest and its braking, the most demanding on the calendar, push disc temperatures to the boiling point.

Teams will have a single 60 minute free practice session to find the ideal setup, on a normal circuit, the strategy would be to start with a softer car and progressively harden it, but time is short: "We have to try to do most of the work in advance, on the simulator, but we know we're not going to get everything right," warns Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls driver.

The paradox of Montreal is that despite being one of the tracks where energy is easiest to recover (heavy braking recharges the batteries), energy management will take a back seat. "It will be a minor issue, it's a circuit where we can push harder and have fewer problems," confirms Lawson, the real headache will be something else, the stiffness of the car.

During the ground effect era, the solution was to avoid the kerbs and run very low and very stiff. This year, with the new regulations, the cars are less sensitive, teams will have to decide whether to opt for a softer setup that allows them to cut the kerbs or maintain stiffness to stabilize the aerodynamic platform, it's a calculated risk and the margin for error is minimal.

The key to the circuit is turn 10, L'Épingle (The Pin), this second-gear hairpin, surrounded by grandstands, is the slowest point on the track, but its importance goes further: it leads to the longest straight on the circuit. Getting the line, the braking point, and the exit speed right has a benefit that extends all the way to the final chicane; failing, on the other hand, leaves the car exposed to attack.

Hannah Schmitz, Red Bull's head of strategy, explains how they approach the sprint format: "The most important decision before the weekend is which tires we are going to use in the only practice session, once we go into sprint qualifying, the options are reduced, two sets of mediums and one of softs," she pointed out, the strategic debate then focuses on whether it is worth doing an extra lap or whether a used set can be reused.

Montreal's history is full of memorable feats, the most famous of which was Jenson Button's in 2011. The Briton crashed into his teammate Hamilton, then into Fernando Alonso, received a drive-through, and went through the pit lane six times, but on the last lap, taking advantage of a half-spin by Sebastian Vettel, he took the victory. A lesson, at Gilles Villeneuve, you never give up.