The Montreal circuit, named after the late Gilles Villeneuve, hosts the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend, for the ninth round of the Formula 1 world championship.
The circuit is semi-permanent, built on the artificial island of Notre-Dame and has similar characteristics to other city circuits, such as Monaco and Baku. It is 4.300m long, for a total of 14 corners, as the track has a “stop and go” nature, with several straights interspersed with chicanes that favor single-seaters with good traction – a characteristic which is essential for cars to be able to perform well in the Canadian GP – and at the same time stable in corner entry and braking.
The car setup should be quite different than in Monaco, but similar to that seen in Baku last week, with teams most likely opting for low-medium downforce configurations to take advantage of the different straights, especially the one between turns 12 and 13, the longest at the circuit.
As evidenced by the graph below created by the Megaride engineers, where the thermal energies generated on the 4 corners are shown, there is a medium level of stress on the tires during a push lap. A large amount of energy can be seen not so much in cornering as in acceleration and braking, demonstrating that the Canadian circuit engages the tires more decisively in the longitudinal direction than in the lateral one.
Given the “stop and go” nature, the management of the braking system is very critical, with several corners that will stress the brakes and therefore the tires. Particular attention should be paid to turn 13, the first of the two Ss that leads to the straight of the finish line: this section is particularly famous because at the exit of 14 there is the so-called “Wall of Champions” where several high-caliber drivers have had accidents or collided with the barriers.
The MegaRide technicians focused on the thermal increase that occurs in this braking area on the front left.
Turn 13 is located at the end of a long straight, the “Casino straight”, with the tread temperature which is quite low before braking, having undergone forced convection with the air along this straight. The thermal increase that can be seen from the simulations is 50%, a clearly normal surge, given the conditions.
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The track does not offer a good level of grip and generally tends to gradually improve during the weekend, causing slippage, especially when cornering: therefore wear is a key factor that should not to be overlooked.
Pirelli, as was the case also in Baku, will bring the softest combination, C3, C4 and C5, recommended for medium-low loads. However, attention must be paid to the management of the corners, as the cars will have to make full use of them to minimize lap time: it will therefore be a tough test for the tires to withstand such stresses.
Another element to consider is the weather: it is generally very variable and temperatures can be low, such as to trigger graining on the tires.
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