Lance Stroll has never hid that he was comfortable in the rain and that scenario is envisaged for the Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The latest weather forecasts do call for precipitation on Saturday. Sunday will remain a cloudy day with a slight chance of rain.
That’s certainly good news for the Quebec driver, who has shown in the past that he can excel at the wheel of a less competitive car even when the weather is unfavourable. At least in qualifying.
Such was the case at the Italian Grand Prix, where in his rookie year 2017 he set the fourth fastest time on the last lap (Q3) behind the wheel of his Williams, the worst single-seater ever.
Stroll used the Dantesque conditions at the Monza circuit to shine. Better still, the penalties imposed on the Red Bulls by Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo had earned him two spots on the starting grid and the privilege of starting on the front row alongside Lewis Hamilton, the holder of the top spot.
Unfortunately, due to the more favorable conditions in the race, he dropped back to seventh place at the finish.
The feat in Türkiye
But three years later, in Turkey, Stroll surprised everyone with the first (and only) top spot of his F1 career.
In changing conditions (sometimes very heavy rain), Quebec’s Verstappen beat by three tenths of a second, becoming the first Canadian driver since Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 (Jerez, Spain) to start from first place at the start of a Grand Prix.
At the end of the race the next day, however, he had to settle for ninth place.
Three podiums
Stroll, who is contesting the 130th event of his F1 career on Sunday, is hungry for podiums. He hasn’t equaled it since the controversial Sakhir Grand Prix on December 9, 2020, finishing third behind winners Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon.
His other two podium visits were in Italy (2020) and his first ever in Azerbaijan (2017).
The rain announced for Saturday could therefore prove to be an advantage for Stroll, especially as he can count on a formula racing car that improves significantly this year.
As a reminder, Gilles Villeneuve is the only Canadian driver to have won his national Grand Prix at the inaugural event at Île Notre-Dame in 1978. He was on the podium two more times in front of his home crowd, namely in 1979 (2nd) and 1981 (3rd).
His son Jacques once followed in his footsteps when he finished second in 1996. Since then, no other Maple Leaf driver has made it onto the podium in Montreal.