Pre Race

CANADA 🐻 🇨🇦 🤠

Yes, folks. It’s race week again – and this time Kevin Magnussen and the rest of the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team will continue the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship on Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The 4.36km circuit, named after Canada’s late Formula 1 hero, is known for its full-throttle blasts, medium-speed chicanes, and a smattering of heavy braking zones. What does K-Mag think about the famous track?

“It’s another great track and another classic, I’d say. While Monaco is narrow and twisty, Montreal is the complete opposite with good opportunities for overtaking. It’s a driver’s track as well, flying over the kerbs and braking very late into the chicanes. Other than that, Montreal is just a fantastic place to go. The city is awesome, the food, hotels, and the fans – I’ve got nothing bad to say! I don’t think I’ve ever had a fantastic weekend there yet, though, so I’m aiming for that this season.”

DID YOU KNOW THAT … The Montreal circuit is built on the man-made Notre Dame Island initially created for hosting the 1967 Expo 67 World Fair. After the expo and the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics it was decided to transform the island’s roads into a racetrack. The first Formula 1 race was hosted in 1978 and the circuit – named Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 1982 after the death of the Canadian driver – has been on the calendar ever since.

Quali Day

ALL SET IN MONTREAL 😃 👏 🇨🇦

Update from the ninth round of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship in Montreal, Canada, where the Admin By Request-powered Kevin Magnussen will start today’s race from a P14. The Dane made it to Q2 in a solid qualifying but as the team unfortunately got the weather forecast wrong – the expected rain never came – there were no more fresh tires available for another push at the end of the session.

“I think we thought the rain was going to come in Q2, so we went out on a new set at the beginning, which meant if the rain didn’t come, that wasn’t going to be great as with track evolution, you wouldn’t have your new tires for the end. Unfortunately, that rain didn’t come, so the lap I did on my first run was a good lap, so given the tire choices we made, I think it was the best we could do,” Kevin said.

“However, I’m slightly optimistic, the long run pace looked decent, albeit it was in the dry, so let’s see what the weather does in the race. We should be in contention no matter what.”

Race Recap

“Great potential, no points”

Despite gaining 10 (!) positions in the first four laps of the Canadian Grand Prix, Kevin Magnussen and the rest of the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team had to leave Montreal with zero point. The Danish race ace ran as high as 4th on the wet track before losing seconds in the pitlane:

“It didn’t feel like we got the best out of it today with all the opportunity that race offered, we didn’t seem to capitalize on that, so that’s disappointing. There was lots of potential, that’s for sure, and we didn’t get any points. I had a great start, gaining lots of positions, but then we had one very slow pit stop and one medium slow pit stop, and I also think we pitted for inters off from the full wets too early. It felt like something was coming at the beginning of the race but there’s nothing to show for it,” Kevin said.

Kevin Magnussen finished P12 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – and he will be back in the seat fighting for points in the Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya next week on June 23rd.