The rain finally came during practice for the Canadian Grand Prix, and Valtteri Bottas set the scene perfectly
Friday featured a bizarre pair of practice sessions ahead of the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix.
The first practice session drew to a close after just four minutes, as Formula 1 officials dealt with a failure of the track’s CCTV system. Race officials in Montreal could not fix the issue, and the decision was made not to restart FP1 despite teams and drivers having just four minutes of practice time.
Race officials made the decision to start FP2 30 minutes early, thereby increasing the duration of that session to 90 minutes. However, with rain in the forecast, teams had one eye on the track, and the other on the radar.
Eventually the rains came near the end of FP2, which made for some tense moments on the track as drivers had to adjust on the fly to worsening conditions. Among those drivers? Valtteri Bottas. The Alfa Romeo driver at one point simply drover to the inside of the track and onto the grass, in an attempt to slow down his car.
That’s when he offered the perfect description of the conditions over the radio to his team:
A very appropriate description from Bottas.
However, do not let that light-hearted moment fool you. Bottas had a rather strong day Friday. He topped the time sheets in the abbreviated FP1, and placed seventh in the extended FP2. Given his history in Montreal, he could surprise the field this weekend.
Even if the conditions are best suited for a duck.
