Mark Hughes:
Mercedes looks to be in great shape around a fairly cool Montreal. Just as was the case last year. For reasons no one quite understands, the Mercedes is good at generating tyre temperatures whenever that’s a difficult thing to achieve for everyone else. See also Vegas last year.
When conditions come to it, it’s super-fast. Montreal provided those conditions and George Russell was fastest in both the single lap and long runs, with team-mate Kimi Antonelli third in the headline times and fourth-fastest over a race stint simulation.
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Antonelli ran the newer Imola-spec rear suspension through both practice sessions, while Russell switched to it for FP2. Difficulties at Imola convinced the team to revert to the old spec at Monaco and Spain but in retrospect it looks as if the Imola difficulties were related to a wrong set-up. Here, the new layout seemed to be offering the upgrade which the simulations had promised.
“A very positive day,” said Russell. “We had higher expectations coming to this weekend because cooler conditions, the track’s quite smooth so the tyres naturally run quite cold and we know our weakness. When it’s hot, we struggle and when it’s cold the tyres run cold, we’re pretty competitive. There was definitely validation today.
"The lap was really strong, probably optimised, nothing more in the tank. We had it all on the table full beans, power and everything, let’s see what tomorrow brings.
“A number of teams are thinking about the medium tyre. Come qualifying, do you go on the soft or the medium? That’s one of the challenges when we have the C6 compound.”
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