The Canadian Grand Prix 2019 was the 7th round of the 2019 F1 season, and took place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada, on June 9th.
Lewis Hamilton won the race after starting in the 2nd position, followed by Sebastian Vettel, who originally had the pole position, and Charles Leclerc completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 22 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 6-9: 5 stops
The fastest pit stop was Robert Kubica's, stopping the clock at 23.119 seconds during his pit stop on lap 38, while the slowest one was was Alexander Albon's, who stopped the clock at 37.950 seconds, 14.831 seconds slower than Kubica, during his pit stop on lap 1.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 1 stop. Only Kimi Räikkönen, Robert Kubica and Valtteri Bottas decided to try something different with a 2 stops strategy.
The race winner, Lewis Hamilton, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
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6Alexander Albon
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-Carlos Sainz
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3Pierre Gasly
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2Daniel Ricciardo
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2George Russell
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3Sergio Pérez
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-Daniil Kvyat
-
-Nico Hülkenberg
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1Sebastian Vettel
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1Lewis Hamilton
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1Antonio Giovinazzi
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-Charles Leclerc
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-Romain Grosjean
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17Kevin Magnussen
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8Lance Stroll
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4Max Verstappen
2 stops
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1Kimi Räikkönen
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1Robert Kubica
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2Valtteri Bottas
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy lost an average of 0.4 positions, while those on a 2 stops strategy gained 1.33 positions on average.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 2 stops strategy was the best option, even if Lewis Hamilton managed to win the race making 1 stop.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There race went on mostly with no incidents. Only 2 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, Alexander Albon, who retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars on lap 59, and Lando Norris, who suffered a suspension problem on lap 8.
Collision damage
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Alexander AlbonLap 59
Suspension
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Lando NorrisLap 8
Qualifying
Sebastian Vettel managed to get the pole position by 0.206 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:10.240. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was Lewis Hamilton.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 11 out of the 14 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 6 out of the 9 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.