Canadian GP
The Debrief by Aramco
Two cars into the points
Fernando secures second and Lance battles into the top 10 in front of his home fans as AMF1 Team comes away from Canada with another points haul.
Hard-fought points and a podium at Île Notre-Dame. Fernando finished second in his AMR23 to take his and the team's sixth podium of the season. He also matched his best finish of the season with P2 at the chequered flag.
Lance, meanwhile, battled a grid penalty and an unfortunately timed Safety Car as he gained seven places to complete a comeback to P9 – making a stunning last-gasp pass on the final lap – adding more points to Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One® Team's tally.
Both drivers began on Medium tyres, switching to Hards and pitting for Hards once again as two pitstops were the order of the day – while the rain held off on Sunday. That was after a wet and stoppage-hit Friday and a Saturday that saw plenty of rain and plenty of action, leading to a mixed-up grid.
Scroll down to read the thoughts of Fernando, Lance, and Mike as they entertained fans and brought home a solid result from Canada's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
"It was a great result for Aston Martin today and another podium for the team. I think it was our most competitive race yet and the upgrades on the car are working well." Fernando begins by hailing a 20-point haul for AMF1 Team with a pair of upgraded AMR23 cars in Montréal.
The Grand Prix
"It was a good recovery drive to score a couple of points this afternoon. We got unlucky with the Safety Car; pitting a lap before it was deployed meant we missed out on a cheaper stop while the cars around us were able to take that opportunity." Lance was unfortunate not to be able to capitalise on the Safety Car at his home race, but he still made up an impressive seven positions to take points on Sunday.
"Congratulations to Fernando, Lance and the entire team on another great result. It was a very well-executed race with strong pace, clean pitstops, and important overtakes." Mike begins by pointing to the solid execution, both in the pitlane and on the track, on Sunday.
"I lost the position to Lewis [Hamilton] at the start, but we had some good pace and after a close battle we retook second. It was then like a qualifying session as Lewis was pushing at the end and we had to keep him there and not make any mistakes." Fernando underlines just how hard he was fighting to keep second place throughout the race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
"Our focus had to shift to damage limitation and trying to pick up a couple of points for the team. There are still positives to take from the race; the AMR23 felt strong and was performing well." Lance says he had to reassess his objectives after the ill-timed Safety Car on Lap 12.
"There was not a moment to relax as Fernando stayed close to Max [Verstappen] and kept a gap to Lewis to finish second. We also had to play it safe with some lift and coast to manage a fuel system issue." Mike praises Fernando for overcoming an issue in the race and pushing hard to take his joint-best finish of the season.
"We hope to put more pressure on Max in Austria." Fernando looks ahead to the next race, the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix on 2 July, as he seeks an even better result.
"I had a fun final lap too, overtaking Valtteri [Bottas] just before the finish line. To hear the cheers from the grandstands when I took the position was great, and I want to say thank you to all the fans who have shown their support this weekend." The support from the fans has been momentous throughout this week and weekend in Montréal, and Lance says he could hear the roar of the crowd as he took ninth on the final straight on the very last lap of the race.
"It was good to see Lance make a great comeback and score valuable points too. He was heavily disadvantaged by the Safety Car. It came out a lap after his first pitstop, which cost him several positions and undid much of his hard work in the opening laps. He kept his head down and recovered well to take ninth place on the final lap. We leave Montréal, our second home race, with 20 important points for the Constructors’ Championship." Mike commends Lance for his determined drive into the top 10.