Key events
16/70 So, different tyre strategies, and they look to have played into McLaren’s hands. Hamilton pits now, and he drops down to ninth. Antonelli is in seventh.
15/70 Norris is asked for a one-stop – “one of those amazing races” – by the McLaren team. Antonelli pits, and now Piastri leads. Hamilton is second, Norris third.
Russell pits
14/70 The Merc garage call him in, and Antonelli now leads. Russell comes out seventh, and is two ahead of Verstappen. The undercut works!
Verstappen pits early doors!
13/70 Antonelli v Verstappen – this is a new one – but Max pulls into the pits. His tyre does look jiggered. He goes to the hard compound. Verstappen comes out at ninth.
12/70 Alonso allows Norris, in a far quicker car, to overtake him for sixth.
11/70 “Not good, really fragile,” says Verstappen of his tyres.
10/70 Leclerc: “These tyres are not great.” Ferrari tell him that’s the case for everyone. Antonelli is within a second of Verstappen.
9/70 Piastri is complaining of degradation on his tyres. That is likely to be an issue across the board. He’s in fourth, and 2.3 off Antonelli as Verstappen is within a Merc sandwich.
8/70 Russell, with clean air to use, is opening up the gap. The field is stringing out. Not been much in the overtaking stakes so far.
7/70 A look at the start shows that Verstappen was asked to make a defensive rather than attacking move. Piastri had to do similar and lost his place.
6/70 Leclerc is down in eighth. The Ferraris still well off it this season. Russell sets a fastest lap. Verstappen is sitting off. His team know they can’t risk the car by throwing the kitchen sink at it.
5/70 The heat is the concern. Verstappen seems fine to go all out despite the temperature. Russell and the Merc team have concerns over the heat, and now Max is pushing them so hard.
4/70 Verstappen is, as ever, the driver on the attack. Russell is being kept honest, with around 0.75 of a second’s lead. Max wants the open road ahead of him.
3/70 Piastri is also keeping it cool, Norris, too. Surely McLaren team orders on the tyres. Verstappen is setting the fastest lap. Russell leads for the first time since Las Vegas in November.
2/70 Albon was all over the place and is back in 12th. Norris is in seventh, sixth is Alonso, not easy to pass. DRS is enabled. Antonelli is dropping off Verstappen.
Away we go
1/70 No contact, Russell holds his lead by 6/10. Antonelli overtakes Piastri for third. Piastri had to hesitate. Albon bounces across the grass and rejoins, and he will be asked to drop back surely. Hamilton holds fifth.
Before we go…news from elsewhere in the world of vroom.
The formation lap sees the cars bob and weave all over the track. Can George Russell hold the lead. Last year, he did until the 20th lap, only for Verstappen to win. There’s the Piastri factor to consider too.
Right, not long to go until the off….
Toto Wolf is concerned about the heat. “The asphalt is very closed and smooth,” the Mercedes principal says. Sounds like a Suede lyric. Max Verstappen is looking calm as he runs over the final instructions with Gianpiero Lambiase, Red Bull’s chief engineer.
“Oh Canada” was sung well by some local youngsters, no straining of the national anthem in the cursive style made famous by Whitney Houston but rarely bettered, and often favoured south of the border.
Martin Brundle is on his grid walk and with Esteban Ocon, who is looking forward to a day without rain. The drivers are sheltering from the heat. Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu says Montreal is one of “our favourite events, for sure”. The worry for Racing Bull is the tyres – always the rubber – Jonathan Wheatley of Sauber cannot wait. Next year, his team will be Audi. Alpine – Franco Colapinto – are changing brake disks. His team seem confident. Quicker than KwikFit, that lot. Only 18 cars on the grid. Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly will start from the pit lane. There’s a DJ dropping tunes – it’s a modern remix of the below classic. Fernando Alonso seems happy with life…here comes the national anthem of Canada.
It’s a hot day in Canada, and the cars are out and testing. As ever, the discussion is about tyres. When isn’t it? All that tech and it always comes down to rubber.
Feels like old times to kick off in Melbourne next season.
Beau Dure on the chap they may soon be calling Mad Max, Fury Road.
There’s some needle within the grid. It sure adds to the gaiety of nations. If not Max’s moods.
Top 10 drivers’ standings
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1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 186 points
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2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 176 points
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3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 137 points
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4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 111 points
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5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 94 points
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6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 71 points
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7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 48 points
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8. Alex Albon (Williams) – 42 points
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9. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) – 21 points
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10. Esteban Ocon (Haas) – 20 points
Final Grid Positions after Qualifying:
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1 George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1m 10.899s
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2 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:11.059
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3 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:11.120
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4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Ita) Mercedes GP 1:11.391
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5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Ferrari HP 1:11.526
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6 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:11.586
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7 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:11.625
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8 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari HP 1:11.682
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9 Isack Hadjar (Fra) RB 1:11.867
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10 Alexander Albon (Tha) Atlassian Williams 1:11.907
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11 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Red Bull 1:12.102
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12 Franco Colapinto (Arg) Alpine 1:12.142
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13 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Kick Sauber 1:12.183
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14 Oliver Bearman (Gbr) Haas F1 1:12.340
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15 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Haas F1 1:12.634
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16 Gabriel Bortoleto (Bra) Kick Sauber 1:12.385
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17 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Atlassian Williams 1:12.398
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18 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:12.517
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19 Liam Lawson (Nzl) RB 1:12.525
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20 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:12.667
Preamble
This remains an open championship, with McLaren’s wings clipped – literally – and Max Verstappen’s ever-changing moods threatening him with the sin bin. It was something of a surprise to see George Russell claim pole – though he repeated last year’s feat. Now, can he turn it into a win? Lewis Hamilton is higher in the mix, too. With five different teams over the front five on the grid it looks an open race.
Lights out at 7pm. Join me.
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