Verstappen, Leclerc and Sainz, glued to the front of the pole

After the equality experienced at a turn in Baku last week, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Montreal) is preparing to live another even fight for the pole this Saturday (10:00 pm/DAZN F1). And in it, Carlos Sainz should once again play a leading role. In Azerbaijan, the Spaniard was very close to his first post after taking the lead on his first attempt in Q3, but made a mistake on his last lap. This Saturday he will try again after a good start to F1 GP of Canadadriving his Ferrari more and more comfortably, which should allow him to fight a Verstappen who showed a lot of power yesterday.

The champion seemed to control everything. The Dutchman knew that the strong point of his Red Bull was the speed of the race and the good wear of its tires, but he recognized before getting in the car that he had to improve by one lap. However, it was interesting to see him start his final career simulation, as if sending a clear message to his rivals that he was quick to do his homework.

Today, equality in leadership is high again. Red Bull is faster in the third sector, pure machine. While Ferrari has a strong point in the corners and manages to counter its loss at the top with its speed in the first two sectors. And now the question is whether Ferrari will bet like it did in Baku to take a little more aerodynamics in its car to get an extra advantage for this Saturday without compromising its cornering speed.

But more importantly, the key will be the Italians ’decision about Leclerc. The ‘Principino’ should be in that battle for the pole, but Ferrari will have to talk this Saturday whether it will finally decide to change the turbo of Charles ’engine or not. In doing so, he will start from the middle of the grid and be punished for the first time for exceeding the maximum turbos limit per year in the ninth race (of 22). On a track where you can overtake, this can be a great option, even if it will deprive you of any chance of success. This Friday Monegasque assembled the entire new unit except for that element so as not to give Verstappen clues on his plans.

If he finally punishes, Carlos Sainz This will be the first Italian sword in this battle. It will be necessary to see if ‘Checo’ joins the other side after a poor Friday where the Mexican could only finish 11th, 1 ”040 behind Max.

Alonso, another Good Friday

Alonso is 5th behind Vettel (4th). He even got the position from the German, but Fernando got stuck in his first ‘qualy’ simulation attempt. He recharged the batteries and set his final time on his fifth soft rubber lap, with room for improvement in that regard, finishing 5th at 0.416. But the film could be repeated. In Baku he was in the Top-5 on Friday and then on Saturday he continued fighting for the Top-10 due to the development of his rivals.Alonso has already told Azerbaijan that the natural position of the vehicle at the moment which is step ahead of its rivals compared to the beginning of the course is the fight for 7th place.

Be that as it may, it seems that on a short track the differences between Aston Martin, Alpine, Alpha Tauri (Gasly is 6th) and Mercedes may be minimal. It will also be necessary to see if McLaren will make a leap this Saturday after Norris was 8th in FP2 with Ricciardo in ninth place. For its part, there is also the question of whether Mercedes manages to confirm itself as the third best car also in a turn and not just on Sunday. So far, Russell was again the best on the star team in seventh place4 tenths behind Alonso, while Hamilton was 13th. Mercedes is expected to suffer a lot of rebounds again on such a bumpy track.