From the urban sprawl of Monaco, to the lush parklands of Montreal, Formula One is back this weekend with another edition of the Canadian Grand Prix. Join The Roar for a live blog of the race, starting from 4:10am AEST.
Set again at the popular Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the Canadian Grand Prix is another outlier in comparison to the rest of the calendar with its low-speed corners and strong emphasis on power.
The 4.3km layout this year will feature three DRS zones, with the latest having been added between Turns 7 and 8, to create greater opportunities for overtaking across the 70-lap grand prix.
Like Monaco, the supersoft, ultrasoft and hypersoft tyres have been brought by Pirelli and once again, the former two could be what are used as the preferred race tyre in the warm conditions.
Having won two races already in 2018, Lewis Hamilton has the unique opportunity of equalling the record set by the great Michael Schumacher for number of wins in Canada.
The Briton and reigning world champion, who won his maiden grand prix here in 2008, has won the last three consecutive races here and will be targeting his seventh in total.
He will have to work from fourth on the grid though for that win, having had a troublesome qualifying session, though has had encouraging race pace.
From pole position it will be Sebastian Vettel, who turned up the wick for Ferrari during qualifying and claimed his 54th career pole.
It’s another circuit that has been unkind to Vettel in the past, having only had the one victory to his name – despite Ferrari’s impeccable record of 11-wins.
Max Verstappen, who swept the practice sessions will start a season-best of third for Red Bull, as he looks to respond to critics this weekend regarding his consistent crashes.
The honour of top Mercedes AMG was claimed by Valtteri Bottas, who will start on the front-row alongside the Ferrari of Vettel.
Renault and Force India have all their cars featuring in the top ten, making for an intriguing battle for the midfield – though it’s the drivers just outside the ten that will add some flavour, with their free choice of tyre to start the race.
An unpredictable race looms, with the top three teams all in the hunt. Who will maximise this opportunity and get the best of their tyre strategies come race day?
Tune in on The Roar from 4:10am AEST for live blog coverage of the Canadian Grand Prix, as another exciting chapter of the 2018 Formula One world championship is waiting to be written.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Thanks again for tuning into this live blog of the Canadian Grand Prix. I'll be back in a fortnight's time on The Roar as Formula One returns to France for the first time since 2008. Until then, have a good day and enjoy the public holiday to those who have it today.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
After 7 races, the championship continues to intrigue as we only have 1-point separating Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton heading back to Europe for an unprecedented triple-header, starting with the French Grand Prix.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 121 - Sebastian Vettel 120 - Lewis Hamilton 86 -- Valtteri Bottas 84 -- Daniel Ricciardo 68 -- Kimi Räikkönen 50 -- Max Verstappen 32 -- Fernando Alonso 32 -- Nico Hulkenberg 24 -- Carlos Sainz 19 -- Kevin Magnussen 18 -- Pierre Gasly 17 -- Sergio Perez 11 -- Esteban Ocon 10 -- Charles Leclerc 8 --- Stoffel Vandoorne 4 --- Lance Stroll 2 --- Marcus Ericsson 1 --- Brendon Hartley 0 --- Romain Grosjean 0 --- Sergey Sirotkin
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 206 - Mercedes AMG 189 - Scuderia Ferrari 134 - Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 56 -- Renault Sport 40 -- McLaren Renault 28 -- Force India Mercedes 19 -- Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda 19 -- Haas Ferrari 12 -- Alfa Romeo Sauber 4 --- Williams Mercedes
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT A Montreal masterclass has seen Sebastian Vettel take a dominant 50th career win in Formula One, controlling the race from pole position to the chequered flag at the Canadian Grand Prix. On a day which already would be emotional for Ferrari, celebrating the 40th anniversary of late Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve’s emphatic win for the Scuderia at the first race in Montreal, Vettel has taken the Italian marque’s first victory in Canada since 2004. Pitting just once for supersoft tyres, asserted the control that Vettel already had over Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen, who had a heated start going into Turns 1 and 2. Bottas was able to then keep the eager Dutchman at bay, and did so for the entirety of the race, through their own one-stop strategies. From sixth on the grid, Daniel Ricciardo was able to jump Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen by undercutting the duo of world champions en route to fourth. The Aussie did come under late threat from Hamilton, though with that upgraded power-unit, had the Silver Arrows’ measure. Renault were the best of the midfield, with both their cars scoring points in seventh and eighth, led by Nico Hulkenberg ahead of Carlos Sainz. The same could not be said for Force India, who lost Sergio Perez early from the points battle – due to an early pit-stop. Chaos ensued on the first lap of the race, with the Safety Car being deployed to recover the wreck of a crash between Brendon Hartley and the young Canadian in Lance Stroll. Hartley, who started an impressive twelfth and was chasing points, ended up on the wrong side of the Williams and both then collided to eliminate both cars. Charles Leclerc was impressive again, scoring a solitary point for Sauber in tenth, keeping at bay Pierre Gasly who encountered brake issues and the late-stopping Romain Grosjean. Leclerc was in the wars early with Fernando Alonso, though an exhaust failure brought a premature end to the Spaniard’s 300th grand prix. There was no better luck for Stoffel Vandoorne, who was forced to pit early having ended up as collateral in that first lap crash. After two stops, the McLaren finished in sixteenth, in what was a disappointing weekend for the Woking outfit. Having typically dominated in Canada, an off-weekend for Hamilton which saw the reigning world champion collect fifth and as a result concede the lead of the championship to Vettel, by a mere point.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR RACE REPORT AND UPDATED STANDINGS
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Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Paul di Resta VETTEL - "Perfect is a good way to describe it." BOTTAS - "Since Lap 1 they [Ferrari] seemed to be quicker." "We were in trouble at the end running out of fuel." VERSTAPPEN - "It was a good race, I was glad to pit early." "The last few laps we were really competitive."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 70-LAP CANADIAN GRAND PRIX 1 S. Vettel 2 V. Bottas 3 M. Verstappen 4 D. Ricciardo 5 L. Hamilton 6 K. Räikkönen 7 N. Hulkenberg 8 C. Sainz 9 E. Ocon 10 C. Leclerc 11 P. Gasly 12 R. Grosjean 13 S. Perez 14 K. Magnussen 15 M. Ericsson 16 S. Vandoorne 17 S. Sirotkin RET F. Alonso RET L. Stroll RET B. Hartley
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
SEBASTIAN VETTEL WINS THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX! His 50th career win in his usual dominant fashion, that has brought him this far in his career. Valtteri Bottas holds on against Max Verstappen for a solid second and a deserved podium for the Dutchman in third.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
And the checquered flag being waved a little early there...
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 70/70: FINAL LAP Verstappen was briefly within a second of Bottas, but he will consolidate third in this race.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 69/70: TWO LAPS TO GO
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Roar Guru
Lap 68/70: Hamilton the closest he's been all race to Ricciardo.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 67/70: FOUR LAPS TO GO
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 66/70: 1:13.864 the new fastest lap from Verstappen as he narrows the gap to Bottas down to 1.6 seconds. 'HPP-1' instructed to Hamilton, which is the highest engine mode on that Mercedes AMG, as he looks to utilise all that power to pass Ricciardo for fourth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 65/70: SIX LAPS TO GO
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Roar Guru
Lap 64/70: Leclerc's tenth looking more solid now, with Gasly caught up with Grosjean behind him.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 63/70: As it stands, Vettel will assume the lead of the championship by 1-point. Though if Hamilton gets past Ricciardo, then he would lead by 1-point.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 62/70: Hamilton also within a second now of Ricciardo.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 61/70: Grosjean in the hunt of Gasly's P11 now, being on those fresh tyre and being within a second of his compatriot.