Canada: Daniel overcomes obstacles to score points in Montreal

A jump-start penalty and a middle stint stuck in traffic tested Daniel’s resolve, but he came through with his first Sunday points of the season after finishing eighth in a tricky wet/dry race.

Race data

Canada (Round 9 of 24), 7-9 June, 2024

Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montreal: 4.361km, 70 laps
Qualified: 5th 
Finished: 8th
Laps per position: 7th (16 laps), 8th (9 laps), 9th (5 laps), 10th (17 laps), 11th (16 laps), 12th (6 laps), 13th (1 lap) 
Pit stops/tyres: Lap 26 (intermediate/intermediate, under safety car), Lap 43 (intermediate/medium)
Fastest lap: 1min 17.076secs (12th), lap 68
Points this event: 4 
Points this season: 9 (12th in world championship)

Daniel's download

“We needed that weekend – I needed that. For a race like that, we walked away with some points so all in all, a fairly good weekend from start to finish. I won’t complain. It was definitely a good one.

“It was a bit of a relief too, to be honest, just to get back into the points. We’d dropped out for a while … I got a five-second penalty for a jump start but I knew I hadn’t jumped the lights, so I was bit confused and I obviously questioned it. But then I remembered that when I was finding the revs for the start, maybe the car was moving … we had a bit of an issue, perhaps a clutch. Anyway, that was a bit of a backwards step and when we pitted for a new inter [intermediate tyre] and I wasn’t able to get much out of it, it looked like things were getting away from us.

“As it dried towards the end, we were able to pick our way through a few cars, so happy to finish with four points. It was never going to be perfect, these conditions are so hard for everyone, so we’ll obviously keep trying to clean it up. 

“These weekends are sometimes the hardest, especially when maybe things aren’t going too well or you’re lacking momentum. We had all conditions this weekend, so that was nice to start to finish, keep it on track, keep it steady and keep it smooth. 

“I was pretty jacked after qualifying [fifth] too … it’s always nice to put the lap together in Q3 but I’m not surprised, I know when I feel like this I can do things like this. It’s just trying to get myself in this place more often and that’s what I’ve been missing this year. 

“When I get it right, it goes pretty right!”

DR’s race recap

* Qualified a season-best fifth, 0.178secs off pole position (Russell/Mercedes).
* Passed by Alonso/Aston Martin and Hamilton/Mercedes on lap 1 to fall to seventh. Given a five-second time penalty for a false start.
* Passed by Magnussen/Haas on lap 2, fell to eighth.
* Passed by Hulkenberg/Haas on lap 3, fell to ninth.
* Advanced to seventh before lap 26 pit stop, rejoined in 10th. 
* Dropped to 11th before lap 43 pit stop, rejoined in 13th. 
* Improved to 10th on lap 53 after Sainz/Ferrari and Albon/Williams collided. 
* Rose to ninth on lap 66 after Tsunoda/RB spun.
* Passed Ocon/Alpine for eighth on lap 67. 
* Finished eighth after 70 laps, 28.672secs behind winner Verstappen/Red Bull Racing, 5secs behind Stroll/Aston Martin in seventh and 1.4secs ahead of Gasly/Alpine in ninth.

DR’s next destination

Round 10: Spain (Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya), 23 June

Spain in 2022 (most recent race): qualified 9th, finished 12th

In F1: 11 races, 2 podiums, 1 fastest lap, 67 points, 7 points finishes

Best qualifying: 3rd (2014, 2016)

Best finish: 3rd (2014, 2017)