F1 Academy heads to Montréal for the first time this weekend, and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will host three races instead of two after the second race in Miami was postponed because of poor weather. Feeder Series spoke to several drivers in the Montréal paddock about the impact the new circuit and the extra race will have on the weekend. 

By Kaylene Lau

Montréal is one of three tracks newly introduced to the F1 Academy calendar this year, and none of the drivers has raced or tested at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve before. The majority of the drivers told Feeder Series that the track’s being new to the calendar this year makes the competition more equal this weekend, especially for the rookies. 

There will be three races this weekend, with qualifying setting the grid for race three and the top eight from the session reversed to form the grid for race two. Race one’s grid will use the grid from race two in Miami. 

Campos’ Chloe Chambers, the polesitter for the first race this weekend, said that not having testing at the circuit would ‘shake things up a bit’. 

“I think it’ll give the rookies more of an advantage,” Chambers said, “because they’ll be able to be on the same level as the rest of us. I mean, it’s always fun to come to a new track. Having F1 Academy race at new places is always a good sign.”

Alisha Palmowski, Chambers’ teammate at Campos, said ‘nobody really knows what to expect’. Palmowski qualified second in Miami and will start the first race on the front row. 

“I think there’s a new dynamic this weekend, with it being a completely new circuit for not just all the drivers but the teams,” she said. “[There’s] limited testing as well with just the one free practice session ahead of Q1, so we don’t know who’s going to be strong, who’s going to be weak. [With] car set-up as well, we’ve got a limited window in order to find a good balance there.” 

“It’s going to be a challenge, but everybody’s in the same boat and obviously a great opportunity from the front row, so I’m super excited,” Palmowski added. 

So far, the Miami round was the only one that had two free practice sessions. Though Shanghai was a new track, pre-season testing was held at the circuit, allowing drivers to get more experience there beforehand. Similarly, drivers got testing time in Jeddah, and both there and in Miami, second-year drivers already had prior experience at the circuit from last year’s races. 

By contrast, none of the drivers have experience of racing in Montréal, and all will have only one practice session on Friday to familiarise themselves with the circuit. 

Nicole Havrda, who will be racing on home soil this weekend, competes with Hitech, the sole new team on the grid this year. Like Palmowski, Havrda noted that racing in Montréal would also level the playing field for teams. 

“Going into Miami was hard, because all the other teams were there [before]. Most of the other drivers racing there were too, so they knew more their end of the game. Like when we were going into FP1 and trying to dial the car in, they already knew what to do. So definitely this levels the game, which was really good – good for everyone. Home country is pretty cool too,” Havrda said. 

“We only have one FP1, which kind of sucks because usually having more practices helps a bit more. But yeah, just excited for it all.”

In a pre-event media session, Havrda also told Feeder Series that having one fewer practice session balances out the added race. “If we really think about it, in Miami, we had two practices, so it kind of equals out having three races and then one practice here.” 

Qualifying in Miami took place just as rain intensified on the circuit, meaning that those who went out later in the queue set slower times. Among the drivers affected were championship leader Maya Weug of MP Motorsport, who qualified 10th, and Prema rookie Nina Gademan, who qualified 13th. They will occupy those positions on the grid for race one this weekend.

“[The rescheduled race] doesn’t change so much the approach and so on because at the end, we have to focus on free practice and quali on Friday and make sure we are on top there,” Weug said.

“Race one we have to recover and then make a good start and make some moves, but the most important is to make sure in FP and in quali we do a good job. Then we have to make up the ground we lost in Miami.”

“The main challenge, I think, is starting from P13 in race one as it’s the Miami grid. I think the rest will be alright,” Gademan said. “So far, every time I came to a new track, I adapted very quickly, so I expect to do the same here. And I think it’s a really nice challenge with the chicanes and the kerbstones. Everyone’s going to do something different, so I see it more as a fun challenge than something challenging.”

Additional reporting by Calla Kra-Caskey

Header photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool