Oscar Piastri has highlighted a dual concern as F1 heads into what he has described as “a large element of the unknown” going into the Canadian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver will start from fourth on the grid at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, alongside team-mate Lando Norris, and an all-Mercedes front row spearheaded by George Russell.
The major concern for Piastri, his 21 rival drivers and the 11 teams overall is the near-certain threat of constant rain throughout the day, and the fear of what it means for the new 50-50 power units and Pirelli’s intermediate tyres which many feel are not fit for purpose.
Assessing what to expect on Sunday, speaking to the media, including ApexF1News, Piastri said: “It’s going to be tough. We’ve not really driven these cars in the rain. Full stop.
“Obviously, some people have done some testing, but for myself, I’ve not driven the car in the rain, so it’s going to be tough, and this circuit in the rain is tricky anyway, as we know from when we had a wet race here a few years ago.
“These power units don’t like it when you’re inconsistent, and it’s basically impossible to be consistent in the rain, so there’s going to be a few issues with that, most likely up and down the grid.”
As to whether the main challenge would be the tyres or the power unit, Piastri replied: “Everything!
“The tyres, I don’t know, but I’ve not heard amazing things, and the power units, they’re tricky enough in the dry and consistent conditions, let alone in the rain, so both will be a big problem.
“Obviously, I think the power unit will just be a lap time loss; it could be quite big, but obviously, getting the tyres into the window or not, the risk factor of that is significantly higher.”
Piastri confirmed McLaren “did a lot of preparation in Miami” in “trying to understand” how to handle the wet conditions with the new generation of cars, as rain was also forecast for Sunday, only to hit in the morning and avoid the race in the afternoon.
“I think the conclusion was we don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Piastri.
“And when you’ve got a few hundred, if not thousands of the best engineers in the world who don’t know what’s going to happen, it’s an interesting place to be in.
“I’m sure it’s the same up and down the grid, but there is definitely going to be a large element of the unknown.”
