Preview of the 2022 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix: a revitalized Montreal

This weekend marks the ninth round of the 2022 F1 World Championship, the Canadian Grand Prix.

Home to Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the Canadian Grand Prix has not been on the calendar since 2019 due to Covid regulations, but thankfully that is a thing of the past.

The 2.71-mile track consists of roads around Notre Dame Island, a man-made island in the St. Lawrence River, and tends to feature action-packed racing. Overtaking is relatively easy, speeds are fast, and cars are pushed to their limits. [The layout is a long straight followed by a series of chicanes and low-speed corners, much like the Baku Urban Circuit in the previous round. Therefore, the key to the setup will be to find a compromise between stability under braking and excellent traction, while still being able to navigate the relatively tall curbs, an important detail on this circuit.

The cars tend to run a low-downforce aero configuration in order to prioritize straight speed, which can exceed 186 mph at the end of the straightaway. This lack of downforce leads to instability in the corners, making the mechanical grip of the tires even more important than usual.

Traditionally, the track surface is very smooth, but the constant cycle of hard braking and hard acceleration means that tire degradation is on the higher side, which is something teams need to be aware of: the C3 is white hard, the C4 is yellow medium, and the C5 is red soft. In 2019, the one-stop strategy of starting on medium and finishing on hard led to victory.

The weather is very changeable, often cool and rainy even in summer. The cooler weather and track conditions result in a certain amount of graining on the tires, especially at the start of the weekend, which reduces grip. Looking at the weather forecast, light rain may fall during Saturday's qualifying session, but Sunday's race is likely to be dry.

Heading into the weekend, Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen leads the 2022 drivers' championship with 150 points. Sergio Perez, also of Red Bull, is second with 129 points and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari is third with 116 points. In the constructors' championship, Red Bull leads with 279 points to Ferrari's 199 and Mercedes' 161. The last winner in Canada was Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.