Canadian Grand Prix 2015: 5 Bold Predictions for Montreal Race

The bizarre end to the last race in Monaco proved that even the dullest of processional races can kick up a surprise or two.

What then can we look forward to when Formula One visits the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve—a venue renowned for producing more thrills per pound than any other on the modern calendar—for the 2015 Canadian Grand Prix?

A repeat of last season's awesome race is unlikely. Though Daniel Ricciardo took the chequered flag 12 months ago, his Red Bull simply isn't good enough this time around.

But with braking a possible issue for the Silver Arrows and Ferrari not a million miles away in terms of raw pace, another non-Mercedes winner isn't out of the question.

Read on for our five predictions on how the weekend will unfold.

Lewis Hamilton dominated the field in Monaco before an erroneous and unnecessary late pit stop cost him the win. It's tough to imagine a greater psychological blow for Hamilton than seeing Nico Rosberg celebrating with the winner's trophy—but expect him to hit back in Montreal.

The defending champion is the only current driver to have won here on more than one occasion. He lost out on pole last season due to a mistake on his fastest lap but was the quickest Mercedes driver in the race. He would probably have won had both W05s made it to the end.

Hamilton seems more at home in the W06 on Saturdays than he did in its predecessor and should take his fourth Canadian pole. From there it's not difficult to see him having enough of a race-pace advantage to easily take his fourth Montreal win.

Grand Chelem? Not quite.

Pit stops could ruin the "lead every lap" requirement and the fastest lap will probably go to a driver making a late-race switch to super-softs.

But Hamilton can and most likely will enjoy the closest thing to a perfect weekend a driver in the Pirelli era can realistically hope for.

Ferrari brought a huge upgrade package to the Spanish Grand Prix, hoping the raft of new aerodynamic parts would help them cut the pace deficit to Mercedes. But maybe they tried to do too much at once.

Sebastian Vettel finished 45 seconds down on winner Nico Rosberg, the largest gap between the lead Mercedes and lead Ferrari of 2015 so far. Neither he nor team-mate Kimi Raikkonen could get close to Lewis Hamilton's pace at the next race in Monaco.

But rear-tyre management and straight-line speed are two key factors in Montreal—and Ferrari are good at both. Add in the weakness Mercedes may have in the braking department (evidenced by their troubles in Bahrain) and we have a recipe for a closer race on a circuit with a number of big stops.

It's highly unlikely Ferrari can challenge on raw pace, but should Mercedes slip up—as they did in 2014—the Scuderia will be ready to pounce.

Three of the five (if we include Will Stevens) 2015 rookies will head to Canada with realistic hopes of scoring some points—Carlos Sainz Jr, Felipe Nasr and Max Verstappen.

As is so often the case in F1, the competitiveness of their machinery will dictate which of them comes out on top. Sainz and Verstappen will certainly fight hard in their Toro Rossos, but the latter is carrying a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision in Monaco.

Of the two, Sainz has to be considered the more likely to do well.

But the STR10's strengths are in quick corners; Montreal features primarily the slow variety. Furthermore, its main weakness—the sluggish Renault power unit—significantly impacts the team's performance in a straight line.

And there are lots of straights on the Ile Notre Dame.

So we're backing Nasr to emerge on top of the rookie pile in Canada. His Ferrari engine has more than enough grunt to compete on the straights and per Nasr's comments reported by GP Update, the Sauber is at home in low-speed corners.

He won't bother the front-runners, but eighth or ninth looks a reasonable target for the Brazilian.

Pastor Maldonado should have scored points in at least four of the six races so far. He had sufficient pace in Australia, Bahrain, Spain and Monaco—but on every occasion something went wrong.

And incredibly for a man dubbed "Crashtor" by many fans and notorious for ruining his own chances, none of the issues he suffered at those races were his fault.

But a DNF is a DNF and points aren't awarded for innocence; the Venezuelan is one of only four drivers yet to make his mark on the world championship table.

His Canadian race will go one of two ways. According to the team's technical director Nick Chester, the Lotus E23 should enjoy the slow corners and long straights in Montreal. If all goes to plan, that should mean a point or two for Maldonado.

But braking issues put him out of Monaco, China and Malaysia—and Montreal presents one of the biggest tests of the year in this department.

Maldonado should score points. If he doesn't, it'll be the brakes that let him down.

When one thinks of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, three things immediately spring to mind: High-speed straights, overtaking opportunities and lots and lots of walls. The racing surface is rarely more than a metre or so away from a piece of armco and even a small error can cause a track-blocking incident.

The third Mercedes led 2014's Canadian Grand Prix twice—once on the opening lap when Max Chilton hit Jules Bianchi and again at the end after Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez collided.

With a field full of drivers who aren't shy about having a go we can see it emerging at least twice again this year.

Hopefully everyone will get their pit stops right if it does...