After rain altered qualifying for Canada , a curious grid remained with several drivers out of position, both ahead and behind. For example, the second classified in the world championship, Sergio Pérez, will start on the seventh row of the grid, and Charles Leclerc, who has an engine penalty, on the last.
For his comebacks, and for a good result from drivers like Fernando Alonso or the Haas who shone in the wet and started at the front, the strategy of the Canadian GP will be important.
The Gilles Villeneuve is a circuit where overtaking is possible, but also where you have to refine a lot with the decisions of stops and tires to finish in the best position at the end of the 70 laps of the race.
What is the best strategy for the F1 race in Canada? How many pitstops to do in Montreal? What tires to use?
Until now the F1 drivers have not been able to enjoy two sessions in the same conditions during the 2022 Canadian GP . FP1 was on a very dirty track, FP2 in more normal conditions, FP3 in the wet and very cold, and qualifying in the wet but drying. For this Sunday more heat and no rain is expected, so Pirelli is not entirely clear about the outlook.
The rain that did fall on Friday and Saturday has affected the asphalt in Montreal, but Pirelli hopes that going to a stop at the Canadian GP will be the fastest and most effective .
In that case, the manufacturer recommends going out with medium (yellow) tires and then riding hard (white), leaving the soft ones unused, which are the fastest but also wear the most.
But Pirelli also points out the option of starting on the softs and, stopping earlier, then riding the hard ones to try to reach the end of the Canadian GP. He is aware that the drivers who start behind and hope for a better result (for example Sebastian Vettel or Pierre Gasly, who fell in Q1), can play a more aggressive strategy. Perhaps in that sense, as in Charles Leclerc’s, the logical thing would be to start hard to make a very long first stint relying on a Safety Car at the ideal point.
But we must not forget that Canada is a difficult circuit and that we usually see many off-tracks and accidents there, so we will have to be attentive to any safety car that comes out at the least expected moment and alters everything.
And make two stops in Canada ? Pirelli admits it is slower, but given that little time is lost in the pitlane at the Montreal circuit (because it goes inside the last and first corners), it may not be a losing option given the right circumstances.
The best pitstop strategies for the 2022 F1 Canadian GP
| Number of stops | What tire to go with? | When to stop? | Second stop? |
| two stops |  Medium (yellow) |
Return between 22 and 28 (make hard |
no second stop |
| two stops |  soft (red) |
Return between 17 and 22 (make hard |
no second stop |
| two stops |
Medium (yellow) |
return between 15 and 20 (make hard |
lap between 50 and 58 (put soft |
)In his review of Saturday’s qualifying in Canada, the director of Pirelli Motorsport, Mario Isola , recommended that the teams analyze the information obtained on Friday to face the race after the long-run simulations that we saw both in FP1 and in FP2.
