Formula 1: Canadian Grand Prix tips with 7/1 qualifying prediction!

Formula 1: Canadian Grand Prix tips with 6/1 qualifying prediction!

June 18, 2022

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Content Editor at Free Super Tips, Alex was born in the shadow of Old Trafford and is an avid Man Utd fan. After graduating from university he combined his love of football, writing and betting to join FST and now closely follows goings-on in all of the top European leagues.

Max Verstappen extended his lead at the top of the World Drivers Championship in Baku last weekend as Charles Leclerc suffered his second retirement in three races and things could go from bad to worse for the Monegasque contender in Canada.

Ferrari’s lead driver looks set to take a ten-place grid penalty for a power unit change and a new set of technical directives to limit the amount of porpoising permitted could hit Ferrari, among others, hard.

This will be the first time since 2019 the Formula 1 entourage has touched down in Montreal, with Lewis Hamilton winner of four of the last five Grand Prix held in Canada.

Canadian Grand Prix qualifying predictions

Carlos Sainz to be fastest qualifier at 6/1

With Charles Leclerc expected to take a ten-place grid penalty for a new power unit, the Ferrari engineers could decide to sacrifice his one-lap pace for a more race-focused setup to help him work his way through the pack on Sunday, opening the door for an outside shot of Carlos Sainz taking pole.

Max Verstappen and Leclerc were once again at the front of the timing sheets in Free Practice 2 but Sainz was second in FP1 and third in FP2.

The Spaniard has been second only to Leclerc in two of the last four qualifying sessions and the Scuderia will be desperate to get him ahead of Verstappen and Sergio Perez in order to give Leclerc a fighting chance on Sunday.

This could push them towards a setup geared even more towards qualifying and it is not out of the question his Ferrari could pip the Red Bulls to pole.

Canadian Grand Prix race predictions

Max Verstappen to win at 4/9

He is short, but with Leclerc taking a grid penalty this is Max Verstappen’s race to lose and I cannot see him letting it go to waste.

The reigning world champion has won four of the last five Grand Prix and a Red Bull has been on the top step of the podium in all five of those races.

Verstappen, along with Leclerc, is on a different level to the rest of the pack and the new technical directives surrounding porpoising are expected to impact Ferrari more than Red Bull, who have had very few issues with porpoising so far.

Back Verstappen to take the chequered flag first on Sunday.

Sebastian Vettel top 6 finish at 2/1

Sebastian Vettel achieved a shock top-six finish in Baku last weekend and he followed that up with a stunning showing in FP2 as he finished fourth fastest, just three-tenths off leader Max Verstappen.

The new porpoising regulations could potentially take Mercedes out of the picture and they could impact teams like Haas and Alpine negatively, too.

Aston Martin are not one of the teams predicted to suffer and Vettel has shown he can drag a lot of performance out of the car since Spain. He looks good value to take a top-six finish at 2/1, with Pierre Gasly another appealing option at the same price.

Both cars to be classified – Haas – NO at 5/4

Reliability issues continued to plague Haas and other Ferrari-powered cars in Azerbaijan as Kevin Magnussen retired for the second Grand Prix in a row.

Magnussen has now failed to finish three of the last four races, although only to of these are classed as retirements as a driver is classified if they complete more than 90% of the race distance.

Still, this is a major concern for Haas and, while Mick Schumacher did make it round Baku in one piece last weekend, his crashes have blitzed the Haas budget. Schumacher had the ignominy of winning the F1 Destructor’s Championship last season after causing almost $5 million worth of damage and Haas have now retired three cars in the last two races.