Gasly warns Canadian GP could become an 'elimination game' if rain falls on Montreal

Pierre Gasly has warned that the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve could turn into an “elimination game” if rain arrives on Sunday, with temperatures forecast to drop as low as 11°C and widespread driver concern surrounding Pirelli’s new 2026-specification wet tyres.

Even in dry running during the Montreal weekend, drivers reported needing a second warm-up lap to bring their tyres into the correct operating window. The circuit’s stop-start layout, characterised by low-speed chicanes and heavy braking zones rather than sustained high-load corners, limits the mechanical energy available to heat the rubber — a problem that becomes significantly worse in wet conditions.

“I think just the track on itself in the dry, it’s difficult to warm up the tyres. So, I think in the rain, it will be extremely difficult,” Gasly said. “From what I’ve experienced, that will make for a pretty eventful race. So, I think it’s going to be important to see the chequered flag. I don’t want to say too much, but I expect a pretty difficult condition if it’s wet. I would not be surprised that we end up having a bit of an elimination game.”

Gasly’s assessment is informed by direct experience: the Alpine driver participated in a Pirelli wet-tyre evaluation at Magny-Cours in France, describing the session as “a bit of a surprise.” Carlos Sainz elaborated on what Gasly encountered there, saying the Frenchman reported the intermediates and full wets failing to reach a workable temperature range and causing aquaplaning.

Lewis Hamilton has been among the most vocal critics of the new compounds. After testing them at Ferrari’s Fiorano circuit, Hamilton said he lobbied Pirelli and the FIA to reinstate tyre blankets — a request that was partially granted — but insisted the changes have not gone far enough.

“Ultimately they’ve had to build a tyre that works with those low blankets and the tyres don’t work. So we’re constantly battling the tyres that don’t work,” Hamilton said. “From my test, I’ve pushed them to raise the blankets. They did it. And from the test, I pushed them to add the blankets onto the extreme tyres, which they have. But that’s still not enough, there’s still a lot of work to do.”

Isack Hadjar also tested the wet compound during the Barcelona shakedown earlier this season, subsequently crashing after switching to the intermediate tyre in damp conditions. The Red Bull driver dismissed the rubber bluntly, saying it was “not made for a race with 21 other guys.”

With rain in the forecast and a paddock-wide lack of confidence in the wet-weather compounds, Sunday’s race in Montreal has the potential to be one of the most unpredictable of the 2026 season.