Lap on the Canadian track with Oscar Piastri

      Oscar Piastri is entering his fourth season with McLaren, and during this time he has stood on the podium at most of the championship tracks, some more than once, but the Canadian circuit named after Gilles Villeneuve is not among them. It just so happened, and now Oscar is eager to change that. In an interview with Racer, he talked about the features of the Montreal track and the challenges drivers face there.

      Oscar Piastri: "It's a very challenging track, completely unique compared to many others. There are many straight sections, numerous chicanes, and you could say that in many ways it's an urban circuit.

      You need to achieve excellent stability under braking, and the brakes must be very effective. It's important for the car to change direction well, to accelerate well out of corners, and while all the car's characteristics need to be at a normal level, a significant part of the lap is taken up by braking.

      There are so many of these zones that the main difficulties are associated with them, and it's hard to fully adapt to this.

      The asphalt surface is very dusty and very uneven. Of course, Canada has very cold winters, and the condition of the track changes significantly. It's located on an artificially created island, so the ground here is subject to significant shifts. And considering everything that needs to be achieved here, and adding bumps to that, it turns out to be a truly challenging track.

      In working with setups, the main focus should be on brake efficiency, although you can easily fall into a sort of trap. On one hand, it's important to achieve stability under braking, and you need to be able to attack corners aggressively. But it's also important for the front wheels to hold the track well in the middle phase of the corner, and then for the driven wheels to provide good grip during acceleration.

      However, achieving all of this at once is impossible, so you always have to compromise. Often, you find yourself trying to achieve stability under braking and good acceleration, but the front wheels hold the track in corners worse than needed. Because of this, the car doesn't allow you to enter the corner as you want, and you can't accelerate properly anymore – simply because you still can't turn.

      But if you manage to find the optimal balance, and the car fits into the corner, allowing you to straighten the trajectory on exit, then you can accept not the most effective grip on exit, but you manage to complete the lap a bit faster. In general, finding this compromise is not easy.

      All sections of the circuit are important in their own way; you can't single out a specific section. There are many chicanes or combinations of two corners in a row. The most obvious example is the 1st and 2nd corners, but also the 3rd and 4th, 6th and 7th, 8th and 9th, 13th and 14th...

      There are many places where you need to change direction, and if you make a mistake in one corner, you will likely go wrong in the next one as well. I believe finding the right approach to all these combinations is very difficult.

      Probably, the combination of the 1st and 2nd corners is more challenging than others because when you exit the first corner, you try to slow down while turning, and you need to slow down enough for a proper passage of the second. Additionally, it's worth mentioning the last chicane of the lap, where there are high curbs, and where the "Wall of Champions" is located. The limit beyond which a mistake will follow is minimal there – honestly, every combination of corners on this track is challenging in its own way.

      During sprint weekends, it's always hard to find the right setups, and in Canada, we will have a tough time, considering the inevitability of compromises. Last year we faced difficulties, and to sort out all the issues, we probably would have needed another extra day of practice.

      The condition of the track changes very quickly since it is rarely used for racing. After qualifying for the sprint and the sprint itself, many drivers will likely be dissatisfied – I hope we won't be among them.

      Of course, our team has prepared a number of technical innovations for this weekend, but we will have only one hour to get to grips with them. However, it's an interesting challenge!

      Moreover, overtaking is possible on this track, although it's also easy to make a mistake if the car's setup leaves much to be desired. One way or another, the weekend promises to be both challenging and exciting."