Welcome to The Briefing, where you can get a jumpstart on the Canadian Grand Prix with our guide to the key topics.

Every race weekend, we’ll speak to one of our engineers to discuss the key talking points ahead of the upcoming Grand Prix, and simplify them so that you can dive straight into the action with a better idea of what to expect, and what you should be looking out for.  

This week, powered by Google Cloud, we spoke to Tom Stallard. Tom looks at the changes to the circuit, which include a new track surface and modified kerbs, and how they will impact our work and the race this weekend. We also explore our choice of rear wing and the role that weather could play in Montréal this weekend.

Here’s what you need to know…

1. The track surface has been re-laid  

The two issues likely to dominate practice this weekend are the new track surface and the threat of rain.

The track was re-laid last year, after the Grand Prix. We laser-scanned it back in October, soon after the resurfacing work was finished, so we have some data. It looks a little bit smoother than the old surface, which moves it from being one of the bumpiest on the calendar to something that’s just a little bumpier than the average.

Of course, since we’ve done the scan, it’s suffered a Canadian winter, which usually has an impact, so we’ve got to work out today if the track has changed since that scan.

2. There have been some changes to the kerbs

Another thing we want to study is the kerbs. In theory, the changes are like-for-like. The only official alteration is swapping grasscrete for concrete at the apex if T1 and T6. We suspect that won’t make a huge difference. For the rest of the track, if the new kerbs -  while of the same type as the old ones - have been seated 10mm higher, that will make a big difference.

Another change is that the track has been dropped under the bridge between T7-T8, to provide greater clearance. We’ll have to find out if there are bigger bumps where the angle of the incline changes.

3. Will the changes impact our strategy?

So, priority number one today is learning about the tyres on this new surface. We have the C3, C4 and C5 compounds this weekend and, as we’ve seen elsewhere, the softer tyres come with a bigger risk of graining. Last year wasn't too bad, but new asphalt changes the likelihood. Sometimes a new, grippier surface stresses the rubber more, which tends to rip up the softer compounds. We need to understand if that’s the way it’s gone, and then what implications that has for our race tyre allocation.

Last year, everyone was pulled onto a similar strategy through the timing of a Safety Car. Without that, the tyre model suggested the race was on the crossover between one and two stops. The likelihood this year is that it’ll be the same – but we need to run on the new asphalt to see what’s really happening.

With that in mind, we’ll want to do some long-running to understand how the tyres are coping. It’s unlikely we’ll commit to a one-stop race and take five C5 tyres into Qualifying, so the question becomes: do we want two C4 Mediums or two C3 Hards for the race?

The Hard C3 will be a little more robust, while the Medium C4 will be more helpful should there be Safety Car restarts or Red Flags. Also, if the C4 is working well, it will give you a bit more traction – and that’s highly significant at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve: half the battle here is having good traction.

Of course, we only have two sets of Hard tyres per car, so you can’t use one in practice to find out if you need both for the race. Therefore, the priority becomes understanding what the Medium is like as a race tyre. If it’s good, you don’t need that second Hard tyre. If it isn’t good, then the C3 is the best you’ve got, you save both sets for the race and hope it’s better than the C4.

 4. Which rear wing will we be going with?

For aero, we’ll most likely use the medium-downforce rear wing introduced in Bahrain. It’s undergone a few tweaks since then to cut drag, and will be paired with a slightly different beam wing. We also have the lower-drag wing available that was used in Miami.

Some of our choice is dependent on the weather – and the forecast at the moment is changeable. We could have a very wet weekend, or every session stay dry, or something in between where we’re dealing with wet track, dry track, damp or drying track at various times. Were the weekend hot and dry, the Miami wing would look pretty interesting – but with changeable weather, you want to keep some load on the car.

It looks more like an event where we want to see how much straight-line speed we’re prepared to give up in order to make sure we have enough grip – rather than how much grip we’re willing to give up in order to be quick on the straight. Our instinct is to keep a bit more downforce on.

The Miami race provides a decent starting point for set-up. Last year, we had to run very soft in Canada to have confidence in braking – but this year we’re hopeful of being able to stiffen the car quite a bit for the high-speed sections to control the ride-height. The assumption is that the straights will be smoother than they were.

In the low-speed section of the track, we don’t really use the kerbs, so the car doesn't need to be soft there, but there is quite a lot of lap-time to be found on the medium-speed kerbs in the 150-160km/h range, at T3, T6, T8-9 and the final chicane, so the trades we’re looking at are really very interesting.

5. How the weather will influence our decisions

It is, of course, all highly weather-dependent. If we’re starting in the dry, then the plan will involve a few early runs with aero rakes fitted. If it’s wet, we can’t use those, because they fill with water and break.

If the track is wet, then there are things we’d like to do. One of those relates to the surface. If we have heavy rain, it’d be useful to test the Wet tyre, see where the grip is, but also assess the level of spray and whether the visibility will be so poor it demands a Red Flag. Of course, we only have two sets of the Wet tyre, so it’s likely you’d only want to go once-past the pit lane to limit the risk of damaging a set.

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