F1 Paddock Notebook – Canadian GP Thursday

Recapping all of the additional news and notes from the paddock at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on Thursday, F1 Editor Luke Smith brings you his paddock notebook.

– One of the main talking points heading into this weekend’s grand prix are the various engine updates that have been brought to Montreal. Ferrari, Renault and Honda are set to introduced their latest-spec power units in FP1, but Mercedes has been forced to delay its introduction until France due to a quality issue.

– The Honda update centres around the ICE, while Ferrari’s update was offered to the customer teams in Monaco ahead of its final introduction to the works team here. Haas team boss Gunther Steiner said there was no way Ferrari could find any gain in the two-week gap given the way the regulations are written.

– Brendon Hartley’s future was another hot topic in the Montreal paddock following reports on Wednesday Toro Rosso had made an approach for Lando Norris to take his seat from the Austrian Grand Prix onwards. Hartley dismissed the stories as just a rumour, saying he has a firm contract (echoing his words in Monaco). However, he did claim he had not spoken to Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost about the story at all.

– Haas has brought a sizeable part update package to Canada after only introducing minor tweaks in Spain and Monaco. Steiner did however downplay the possible impact of the update, saying: “I’ve never seen a car in the middle of a season do magic.”

– Kimi Raikkonen knocked back a question regarding the recently reported legal case that is ongoing in Canada surrounding an extortion complaint, simply saying: “I have zero to say about that.”

– There were celebrations at McLaren to mark Fernando Alonso’s 300th grand prix weekend. Alonso appeared in the team’s Paddock Club hospitality suite with assembled drivers, guests and media, with a film recapping his illustrious career being shown. Alonso was then presented with a book containing a picture from each of his 300 races as a present from the team. Drivers attending included Carlos Sainz Jr., Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon, Stoffel Vandoorne and Pierre Gasly.

– Max Verstappen caused a stir in the FIA press conference following two questions about his recent spate of es, joking: “If I get a few more I might headbutt someone.” Sat alongside Verstappen, Stoffel Vandoorne responded by raising his hand and requesting to ask a question, only for the press conference to move on swiftly.

– Seen to hold the key to the driver market for 2019, Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo was asked if Mercedes or Ferrari had been in contact with him. “Very simple questions,” Ricciardo replied. “A, maybe, B, maybe!”

– In Charlie Whiting’s pre-race notes to the drivers, it was confirmed that some large sausage kerbs have been placed at Turn 9 and Turn 14 in order to deter corner cutting. Drivers who pass to the left of the kerb and miss the corner are required to stay left at both corners of a bollard that has been placed at both corners.

– Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly will be racing at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the first time this weekend, with both drivers noting today how much of their prior experience of the circuit was based on the Playstation F1 games. Brendon Hartley and Sergey Sirotkin will also be making their maiden appearances at the circuit.

– Daniil Kvyat was in the F1 paddock on Thursday, marking his first appearance on a race weekend for the first time since his last race for Toro Rosso in Austin last year. Kvyat is Ferrari’s development driver, and conducted part of the team’s Pirelli running at Fiorano earlier this year, as well as spending time with the team at the post-Spanish Grand Prix test.