Canadian Grand Prix: Formula One live blog

Formula One makes its first trip across the Atlantic in 2019, with the all-round favourite Canadian Grand Prix the stage for Round 7 of the world championship. Join The Roar for a live blog of the Canadian Grand Prix, starting from 4:10am AEST.

Mercedes AMG arrive in Montreal having been undefeated so far this season and given that their reigning world champion in Lewis Hamilton is also a six-time winner of this event – many can be forgiven for predicting the Silver Arrows to go 7 from 7.

Though the 4.3km Circuit Giles Villeneuve is largely comprised by long straights, which could yet favour the winless Ferrari, who still have a power advantage over the rest of the field.

The 70 unforgiving laps will require more than just a power advantage, with all-around execution required to win the race. Something that Sebastian Vettel achieved twelve months ago here.

Vettel will start the race on pole position, which is the German’s first in 17 races. Two-tenths behind the Ferrari in qualifying was Hamilton and Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three.

Enjoying a season-best qualifying effort for Renault was Daniel Ricciardo, who’ll start on the second row of the grid next to Leclerc. The Aussie is a former winner in Montreal, though whether the Renault can keep up with the top three is another question.

A couple of heavyweights will be starting out of position, which could threaten Ricciardo, such as Valtteri Bottas out of sixth and Max Verstappen in tenth after he missed the Q3 cut due to a late crash from Kevin Magnussen.

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz will take a 3-place grid penalty for impeding Alexander Albon, which in turn has helped Verstappen up one position to tenth.

Strategy will be interesting, as the soft tyre life isn’t as long as expected. Drivers in the top ten who’ll have to start the race on softs, have the option of either taking one-stop and race the hard tyre to the end – or two-stop for medium tyres.

Can Ferrari avoid any stutters and break through then for their first win of 2019, with two of their drivers in the top three? Or will the clinical Mercedes continue their run of dominance.

Canada has produced some exciting races in the past, so can the 2019 edition do so also? Tune in for live blog coverage on The Roar from 4:10am AEST, to see whether there can be more magic in Montreal.

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