07/06/2024
NEWS STORY
Rain, thunder, lightning, and even hail all made an appearance on Friday at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. That led to a day where drivers switched intermittently between slicks and the Intermediate compound tyre throughout.
Whilst there was little to be gleaned in terms of relative performance, both Lewis and George gained valuable track time. After a torrential downpour had wet the track prior to the session, FP1 started wet but ultimately dried to such an extent that both drivers finished the hour on Soft tyres.
FP2 did the reverse with Soft tyres to start being traded for the Intermediate tyre at the end. George ended the day with the second quickest time with Lewis P7, but unable to set a fully representative time having gone purple in the first two sectors before hitting traffic at the final turn.
Saturday's forecast is similarly mixed when we return to the circuit for FP3 and Qualifying.
George Russell: It was good fun out there today. It was difficult to take many learnings into the rest of the weekend as each lap the conditions were changing. First it was spitting, then it was drying, then it was raining again! The car was feeling good overall, but we will only learn about our position relative to others tomorrow. I had faith in the car today though and felt confident throughout.
In FP3, you are usually very focused on your Qualifying performance. However tomorrow, we are also going to have to evaluate our race pace. We are going to have to be very clear on the changes we want to make ahead of Qualifying. In all honesty, there won't be a lot that any driver or team learnt today. The weather could be similar tomorrow though so it's going to be interesting.
Lewis Hamilton: It felt great out there today. I was raring to go throughout no matter what the conditions. I was pleased that we were able to maximise our time on track as that is what is needed around a circuit like this. It's all about building your pace. Today, it was also about understanding the conditions plus the new surface they've laid.
The car felt strong throughout and I didn't even get to finish what would have been my fastest lap. This is one of the best circuits we go to, so I really enjoyed myself out there. Recently, Saturday's have proved more challenging for us, but I feel confident out there and that the car is reacting to my inputs. Ultimately, we won't know until tomorrow afternoon just where we are in the order but today was a really good day overall.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: The goal for today was to make the most of the opportunities for running and learning in the mixed conditions. The team and drivers have done a good job of that. There's a chance of rain in both Qualifying and the race. We were therefore focused on covering as many conditions as possible and making sure we had the tyres in a decent temperature window along with understanding the car balance.
The car seems to be working reasonably well, but it's impossible to draw conclusions on pace from a day like today. If we get a dry final practice tomorrow, then it's going to be busy as we've still got a lot of low and high fuel work to get through. The track is tough on the cars so ideally, we'll get a long run in to check everything is OK. Considering the conditions today ,it was a decent start to the weekend.