Cool Canada Giving Formula 1 Drivers Tire Headaches

A forecast repeat for race day of the chilly temperatures that greeted the F1 paddock on Thursday has left drivers in no doubt about the unique challenges they could face.

The high working range of the soft tire (which requires track temperatures of around 20 degrees to function properly) could make it unusable on race day, but it will not be straightforward to keep the lower working range supersofts and ultrasofts in the right window either.

For as well as the cooler temperature, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve track is not a high energy circuit, because there are no long high-speed corners to warm the tires up and, worse than that, the long straights serve to cool the rubber down.

Furthermore, its track surface is an old one which means it is much less abrasive than some more modern venues.

Speaking about how hard it was going to be to get the tires operating properly in Canada, Fernando Alonso said: "Very hard. The temperatures are not helping, being that cold.

"We have the experience of Monaco, where the tires were a little bit difficult to switch on. The lap here is very short, actually you lose temperature, you don't gain temperature, with the long straights.

"It's going to be difficult but it's the same for everyone. Hopefully we can find something in the practice to prepare this first lap."

Lewis Hamilton believed that drivers could always weave excessively on the straights to prepare the tires for qualifying, but that option would not be there for the race.

"I can only guess at the moment if it's going to be harder than the last race," said the Mercedes driver. "I imagine it will be similar.

"I think we get to higher speeds so down the back straight we can do bigger weaves for longer, and get even more temperature from the brakes. Hopefully it won't be any worse than the last race, I think it will be similar."

The headache over tires could be particularly felt for the Renault and Haas teams, which have both taken the bold option of bringing no supersoft tires for the Montreal weekend.

Romain Grosjean said: "It is tricky. It is clearly our job number one and clearly experience normally helps with those things.

"The more we go the more we understand and of course we have to work with that. Hopefully we can use some tools and get it to work better than we did recently."

Asked about the strategy of having elected to focus on the ultrasofts, Grosjean said: "On paper they are lower working range and quicker warm up, but it was the opposite in Monaco – which doesn't make us smile too much here.

"But when we had to choose, the paper had some information. It may be different from Monaco and hopefully with the big braking and so on we can get the ultra soft to work well."

The influence of the tires could well be felt throughout the grid, with Manor's Pascal Wehrlein mindful that getting it right will be essential for his team on a weekend that offers his outfit a good chance of a decent results.

"The bigger problem here is that the straights are so long that the tires will cool down so much on the straights," he said.

"It is my biggest concern at the moment because I think this track is one of the best for us this season but if we don't get the tires to work…"

That's why the practice sessions in Montreal could well take on greater significance than normal, with tires likely to become the talking point of the race if, as expected, the cold weather returns.

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