F1 update – Canadian GP & Spanish GP

Round 9 of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship was held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada for the Canadian Grand Prix. Round 10 for the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship was held at the Circuit De Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took his sixth victory of the year in a wet-dry Canadian Grand Prix heading home McLaren’s Lando Norris with Mercedes George Russell finishing third.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen narrowly fended of McLaren’s Lando Norris to claim his seventh victory of the year in a tight battle at the end which also saw Mercedes Lewis Hamilton finish third.

Canadian GP – top 5:

• 1st: Max Verstappen – Red Bull
• 2nd: Lando Norris – McLaren
• 3rd: George Russell – Mercedes
• 4th: Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
• 5th: Oscar Piastri – McLaren

Spanish GP – top 5:

• 1st: Max Verstappen – Red Bull
• 2nd: Lando Norris – McLaren
• 3rd: Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
• 4th: George Russell – Mercedes
• 5th: Charles Leclerc – Ferrari

Canadian GP highlights:

• From joy at Monaco, Ferrari suffered despair as both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz would retire from the race, Leclerc retiring with engine problems on lap 41 whilst Sainz would retire on lap 53 after colliding with the Williams of Alexander Albon who also retired.
• Sergio Perez would retire on lap 52 after terminal damage to his Red Bull.
• Logan Sargeant would crash his Williams out of the race on lap 24 which in turn bought out the safety car for the first time.
• Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll would finish his home race in seventh behind teammate Fernando Alonso.
• For the first time in 2024 Alpine managed to get both drivers into the points with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon finishing ninth and tenth respectively.
• RB’s Daniel Ricciardo would have a good weekend finishing eighth after qualifying fifth.

Spanish GP highlights:

• For the second time in 2024 there were no retirements.
• Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda were both given 5 second time penalties for speeding in the pitlane.
• Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished his home race in sixth.

News:

• Esteban Ocon announced that he would leave Alpine at the end of the season.
• Sergio Perez signed a new 2 year deal to remain with Red Bull. Perez would also receive a 3 place grid penalty for the Spanish Grand Prix and received a fine of $25,000 for driving a badly damaged car.
• Sauber announced the signing of Stefano Sordo as it’s performance director.
• The new car for 2026 was launched which will see DRS removed for a new active aerodynamic system and a new manual override mode.
• Former team principal Flavio Briatore returned to the Formula 1 paddock in a consultant role at Alpine.

The next round of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship will be held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria for the Austrian Grand Prix on 28th to 30th June.

Here’s Aston and regular contributor Cameron Perkins with the latest from the world of Formula 1.