jude talks
some thoughts about the canadian gp:
clearly this track did not suit the mcl39, so it was always going to be a difficult weekend. because of this i think it has been tricky to see if the new suspension has actually changed much about the car - lando said he didn't feel a difference. i am interested to see if there is a difference when they're at a track that's more favourable.
oscar has had a good weekend, considering he has been vocal about the car's difficulties. p3 in quali and then p4 in the race, managing to extend his championship lead even with the struggles during the race aswell. i hope he uses this result as a reference for other times the car seems difficult - that it's not totally coming away from him. he's got great control, adaptability, and these are things he shows weekend in and weekend out. very proud ^-^
we know that lando has been struggling with the car since pre-season testing, so each weekend is always an unknown. p7 in quali wasn't what he wanted, but it's always sunday where you get the points. his racecraft, w2w and tyre management this race was amazing, and it was very exciting to finally see some good racing between lando and oscar.
obviously the collision is less than ideal. up until that point, lando and oscar's racing had been great. it was a misjudgement from lando and a silly mistake, costing him his race. obviously very upsetting to see, but im glad he was okay after the crash, and also that oscar's race wasn't impacted.
seeing lando take full responsibility and apologising to the team and oscar immediately is one of the reasons why i support him. he proves time and time again his love and loyalty to the team and also his respect for other drivers.
i can only hope that lando is able to take this week to go back to the team, shake this weekend off and come back next race weekend with a fresh mindset. and, of course, as stated previously, i hope oscar is able to look back on this race and see some of the success he had whilst not feeling 100% with the car.
oscar currently sits at 196pts in ths championship, 22pts ahead of lando who has 176pts. it's disheartening to see so many lose their support for lando after this race, as it's not over until it's over. the gap being only 22pts means with lando win, and either an oscar p9/10 or no pts/dnf, the championship lead changes. it's still a fragile gap, and there's 14 races yet to come.
i'm excited to see more w2w racing with lando and oscar (hopefully no more collisions though - i don't think my heart can take it!) this championship battle will be long and full of twists and turns. it's too early in the season and they're too close in the championship to call it now.
each day is a new day full of opportunities <3
onwards to austria!