Canada

The Canadian Grand Prix is one of my favourite events on the calendar. A thriving cosmopolitan city, a distinctive circuit that is unyielding and unforgiving, and a crowd that loves F1; what isn’t to like? Add in the vagaries of the weather on the St Lawrence Seaway, a relatively low grip surface, and kerbs that need to be jumped in an effort to shave miliseconds from a laptime and it all adds up to a feast of entertainment. 
Daniel Ricciardo comes into this race knowing that he could, and perhaps should, have won the last two Grands Prix, but for factors controlled by the team that went against him. Here at the site of his first ever GP win, he needs to put all of that behind him and focus on what lies ahead. All the great champions in any sport have that ability to bounce back when knocked down, and Ricciardo would appear to have all the necessary character traits to ensure he doesn’t get bogged down in dismal reflections. In the other Red Bull, Max Verstappen will be equally keen to consign his Monaco race weekend to the history books, and his phenomenal ability on the brakes should mean that he’s a force to be reckoned with, but he needs to stay off the walls this time…..
Lewis Hamilton is by far the most succesful driver on the current grid in terms of results in Montreal. Four wins, including his first ever GP win in 2007, signify his affinity for a track that tests a driver’s committment and accuracy like few others. It’s a tightrope of a lap, the car balancing on the edge of adhesion under heavy braking and again as it is threaded through the various chicanes. The layout looks simple enough on a circuit map, but the sheer thrill of driving it well is writ large across the faces of the guys that qualify up front. Lewis finally got the ball rolling in 2016 with win number 44 in Monaco and he’s definitely the man to beat this weekend. Nico Rosberg, by contrast, suffered a pretty dire outing in his home town, and needs to come back fighting if he’s to protect his championship lead. 
Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for Ferrari to produce a stand-out performance. What has happened to the team that tested so well in the winter and looked to be on the verge of fighting Mercedes all the way? There have been the odd flashes of speed, but the final part of qualifying has been a real let-down, especially at the last two events. Vettel complains that the tyres are not coming into their ‘window’ effectively, and the black art of deriving grip at just the right moment is proving elusive for the great italian team. But they should take heart here in Canada. This was the venue of Gilles Vileneuve’s first win in 1978, in the Ferrari 312T3 and the team later took wins here with René Arnoux, Michele Alboreto and a solo win for Jean Alesi in 1995. Michael Schumacher’s victories for Ferrari in 1997 and 1998 were against the run of form at the time, and he maintained that success for most of his title winning years in red. I have a feeling that this season is just warming up nicely and that Ferrari’s time may have come; it may take a bit of luck on their side, but if it can happen anywhere, it can happen here.