70 laps. 70 times by the “Wall of Champions” to determine the winner of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix.
George Russell stormed to pole position on Saturday and will start at the front of the field, but things could get dicey into Turn 1. Starting just behind him in second is Max Verstappen, in the first race after the two clashed in the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen was penalized for causing a collision with Russell in that incident, and is just one penalty point shy of a one-race suspension. The Red Bull driver needs to navigate both the Canadian Grand Prix and the Austrian Grand Prix later this month without incident to avoid a suspension.
Just behind them and waiting to pounce? None other than Drivers’ Champion leader Oscar Piastri, who starts third.
We’ll have the race covered for you live all afternoon, so check back early and often for updates!
Note: Updates are either in Eastern time, or by Lap number.
Canadian Grand Prix Race Notes
Lap 16: Piastri does not stay out much longer, as he pits at the end of Lap 16.
Jolyon Palmer notes on F1TV that he is a bit “underwhelmed” that Piastri did not go longer on his medium tires.
Lap 15: Hamilton comes in as well, and we have the McLaren duo out front as both Piastri and Norris stay out. Norris is planning to go long on his set of hard tires, but we will see how long Piastri can manage his medium tires, as the bulk of the medium-tire runners have made stops.
Remember, McLaren has done a masterful job so far this year at keeping tire degradation down, when compared to their rivals.
Lap 15: Mercedes calls Antonelli in as well. Piastri is running in P1 right now, followed by Hamilton, Norris, and Leclerc.
Russell is back into P5 at the moment, with Verstappen down in P8.
Lap 15: “Russell has pitted. This is Plan A. We need one of those amazing races from you,” says McLaren Race Engineer Will Joseph to Norris.
Lap 13: Russell pits to cover off Verstappen’s undercut threat. But with Verstappen back in traffic, Russell remains ahead of the Red Bull driver on the lap. Russell comes out in P7, and Verstappen is down in P9.
Lap 13: Verstappen is the first driver to pit, and comes out on a set of hard tires.
Lap 12: Verstappen pits on Lap 12, releasing Antonelli into P2.
Lap 11: Verstappen reports that his tires are “fragile.”
Norris down in P7 gets by Alonso, with Norris on a set of hard tires.
Lap 10: Interestingly, Verstappen has slid back to around 1.8 seconds behind Russell, and Antonelli is almost within DRS range of Verstappen.
Lap 9: Piastri reports that front tire degradation is “better” than it was for him in FP2, but rear tire degradation is “worse.”
Lap 8: As you can see on that replay, the door opened for Kimi Antonelli to pick up a place off the line, and the Mercedes rookie has settled into P3 behind Russell and Verstappen, and ahead of Piastri.
Lap 6: Here is a replay of the race start:
Lap 6: Russell has extended his lead over Verstappen, and is now over a second ahead of the Red Bull driver.
Lap 5: Verstappen is all over the rear wing of Russell here on Lap 5.
Lap 4: Nico Hülkenberg is the early leader in positions gained, as the Sauber driver has picked up two spots over the first few laps and is inside the Top 10, sitting ninth at the moment.
Lap 3: Verstappen remains within DRS range of Russell in front of him.
Lap 1: We are underway in Montreal! Russell holds onto the lead into Turn 1, and maintains an advantage over Verstappen on the lead lap.
Pre-race Notes
2:01: The formation lap is underway in Montreal.
Outside of the Top 10, Nico Hülkenberg, Isack Hadjar, and Oliver Bearman are all on the mediums, starting in P11, P12, and P13 respectively.
The rest of the grid from Esteban Ocon in P14 and back start on the hard tires.
2:00: Out of the drivers in the top ten eight of them (Russell, Verstappen, Piastri, Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, and Franco Colapinto) are starting on the C5 medium compound.
Only Lando Norris (in P7) and Charles Leclerc (in P8) are on the C4 hard tires.
1:59: Both Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson will start from pit lane after their teams made changes to their respective cars under parc ferme conditions.
