C5 not C5, or C5? This F1 Canadian GP is a question for qualifying

With the most soft grade of tires available for Canadian Grand Prix, many drivers and teams of Formula 1 are once again uncertain that which compounds are the best options for qualifying in Montreal.

After the introduction of the C6 compound for 2025, and the decision of Pirelli to be more aggressive with its selection of tires for the race, offer more performance on the most soft rubber – at paper, at least – on a single lap.

However, the delta between it and the C5 is very small; With the expectation of high temperatures on Saturday, it would not be out of understanding that C6S struggled to struggle for a full lap without overheating – thus, it could be well prudent to save a set of mediums for merit.

It was a situation seen in both Emola and Monaco race, in which three soft compounds were also used; In Q3 in Emola, Fernando Alonso claimed the fifth on the grid with a lap on mediums.

This inspired some more teams to locate the middle campus in Monaco; Although only Alex Albon laps his best Q3 on the yellow tire, it was half a second below his effort in Q2.

George Russell said that “many teams are clearly thinking about this medium tires”, showing that Mercedes can choose to hang on a new set on Saturday.

Most teams chose to stick to the soft tire in FP1, very few drivers opted to detect mediums or hards in that session. For example, Pireli said that nine out of 10 teams have saved two sets of Hards – Saubber is the only team to burn a set in FP2 – to use in the race. However, Sauber feels that an additional set of C5S can offer dividends on Sunday.

Carlos Sainz predicted that “a mess with tires again”, due to short -time differences (around tenth) between the two compounds.

Although it will mean that using the medium will remove the performance, it is again related to how the drivers manage sofets; If the C6S is placed under a lot of load in the initial region, they can struggle to distribute optimal level traction from hairpin and final chicane – both important parts of the circuit which are particularly electric -sensitive.

“Personally, I don’t know and feel that no one knows,” Pierre Galley said. “I am sure this is going to be a question – I think eventually on our side, we are probably trying to bring the car to the best place.

“Of course, it will be part of it and if it is a small to get from (using a medium), we will try to take it. We will go through everything tonight.”

Alonso, who benefited from Eston Martin’s decision to employ mediums in Emola qualifying, explained that he needed to look more in the last practice session of Saturday, given that the Silverstone Squad did not use C5 in the FP2.

Aston’s practice session was interrupted by the early FP2 shunt of the Lance Walking, which provides its data, although Alonso found that he was struggling with grains on the softes. He said that bringing the tire into the window was also a challenge.

“They take a (some) lapse to get into temperature, but then they do grains to get into temperatures,” said experienced Spaniel. “So, there are only one or two laps where you can be in performance. I think it’s going to be the same tomorrow.

“We don’t know (if the medium will work for qualifying). Obviously, FP1, FP 2 is the lowest important session of the weekend. We know that the track is getting gripier throughout the weekend. It is a street circuit, so a lot of track evolution. We want to do a proper test tomorrow in FP3.”

Pirelli’s Chief Engineer Simon Berra revealed in his post-session notes that Grening was actually a widespread problem, although a chance for improvement with a chance to hold on to Saturday with a circuit.

He said that there was a possibility of a two-stop race for Sunday’s 70-Lap Affair, stating that both medium and hard tires were hanging well during a race stent-which could stop the decision to put back the set of C5 yet.

Berra said, “The grain level was quite high today, but the situation should improve, even if it is difficult to say whether the incident would disappear completely in the race.”

“It will be interesting to see how the team will deal with qualifying, in terms of using both mediums and managing softes, because tomorrow is still a free practice session. Simulation indicates that a two-stop is the fastest strategy and at this time, there is no indication that it can change, but we will learn more tomorrow afternoon.”