Canada Top 5

Number 1: Penalty Party

The Canadian Grand Prix was filled with penalties. Most of which took place before the race even started.

Four drivers were handed penalties for impeding: Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenburg, Lance Stroll, and Yuki Tsunoda.

Both of the Williams drivers were handed fines for improper tire procedures following practice.

The most talked about penalty of the weekend was Lando Norris’s unsportsmanlike behavior penalty. The McLaren driver was handed a five-second penalty for what was later described as driving too slow during one of the safety cars. This issue brought up a lot of discussions about why it was labeled as unsportsmanlike. If it was a penalty for improper safety car procedures, just say that. Don’t leave everyone confused with a vague penalty when you know exactly what you are penalizing.

Number 2: A Podium Fit for a World Champion

After qualifying I predicted who would be on the podium. I decided it was going to be a World Champion podium. I ended up putting Hamilton and Fernando in the wrong positions but nevertheless, I was right.

Between the top three finishers, they have 11 World Championships. It was a pretty cool moment to see the three drivers stand and celebrate together despite being from different teams and not always getting along.

Number 3: A Haas on the Front Row (Almost)

Nico Hulkenburg was so close to putting his Haas on the front row, until he was handed the penalty I mentioned earlier. This team has had historically tragic luck and for a minute there it looked like things were going in their favor. Then I got the notification that he got a penalty and was bumped down three places.

This could have been his chance to make it on the podium for the first time but now it will be a giant what if.

Number 4: Alex Albon: Driver of the Weekend

The Williams driver Alex Albon was named Driver of the Day at the end of the race but he was my driver of the weekend.

His performance during Qualifying was outstanding. Similarly to Hulkenburg, we will never know what would have happened if Qualifying hadn’t been affected by the rain. His Q2 lap couldn’t be matched so who knows what kind of lap he might have done.

During the race, he fought his way into seventh place bringing home some much-needed points for the team.

Number 5: Watching F1 and IndyCar Simultaneously

While I was so excited to watch the Canadian Grand Prix because it came on at a normal hour, I was not excited to pick favorites. Every other weekend, I watch F1 in the morning, take a little lunch break, and then watch IndyCar. This weekend they started 30 minutes apart.

Going into the weekend I created a plan with the intention of watching F1 first and then recording IndyCar to watch after. Nothing similar to this plan took place.

IndyCar started 30 minutes before F1 so I decided to watch the start of the race and keep the F1 pre-show content playing on my iPad. This turned into me keeping this setup for the entirety of both races. I would just watch bits and pieces of both. Indy features commercials so it provided perfect breaks to fully turn my attention to F1. Once the commercial was over I would tune back into Indy.

It was totally worth it because my favorite Indy driver (Marcus Armstrong) had an amazing first half of the race so I was glad I got to see it live.

This is such an unusual occurrence and I don’t think it will happen again during the season. Despite being a strange way to watch it was very fun!