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Formula 1
Canadian GP
F1 Canadian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying
Saturday’s action from the eight round of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
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Max Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings by 53 points from Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, following his latest win in Spain coupled with the Mexican’s fourth place finish behind both Mercedes drivers.
Lewis Hamilton topped Friday practice in a Mercedes 1-2, on a mixed up day which saw first practice effectively cancelled due to a track CCTV systems issues which necessitated second practice to be extended to 90 minutes to make up for lost track time.
Final practice starts at 5:30pm BST with qualifying starting at 9pm BST.
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The five to miss the cut in Q2 are Leclerc, Perez, Stroll, Magnussen and Bottas.
Leclerc is also out.
Perez is wagging the tail of his Red Bull and he is 1.4s off the pace in sector one alone. He fails to make Q3 for the third race weekend running!
Perez has been told he needs to find half a second on his delta time, but with conditions worsening, this will be a challenge and a half.
Rain
There is now constant rain falling and Albon is likely to remain unchallenged at the top. He will make his second Q3 of the season.
Perez, currently P12, is over a second adrift in each sector on his intermediates. He runs off the track at the final chicane and will lose both this time and his next.
He doesn't have enough time to recover to the pits and get a new set.
He doesn't have enough time to recover to the pits and get a new set.
The rain could be a disaster for Leclerc, who is currently P11 and is not improving on his current lap. He is over three seconds off the time needed to hit the top 10 and relegate Hamilton.
While Hamilton and Russell have now fitted slicks, Perez has bolted on fresh inters.
"Heavier rain in two to three minutes," say Ferrari.
Hulkenberg reacts by putting his Haas up to P8.
Hulkenberg reacts by putting his Haas up to P8.
Perez is dangerously close to dropping out of qualifying early yet again and pits at the end of his latest effort. He is currently P11 and one-tenth shy of Ocon.
Russell is currently P4 but has only lapped on inters. He has been wheeled back into the garage, however. Rain is now visible on the cameras.
Hamilton has similarly only used inters and is P7.
Hamilton has similarly only used inters and is P7.
Stopwatch
Albon goes to the top with a 1m18.725s.
Sainz again appears to be a lost lamb in the middle of the track as he is narrowly avoided by Albon.
Rain
The rain is now falling!
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"It's raining a little bit," reports Verstappen.
Stopwatch
On slicks, Albon goes fastest with a 1m19.471. This is what sparked the rush from the rest.
Stroll made minor contact with the wall in his spin and the team have fitted a new nose. He is also the only driver to remain on inters.
Stopwatch
Looking to the timesheets for the first time in Q2, Russell goes fastest with a 1m20.098 - one-tenth faster than Verstappen.
Stroll slides off the track on the entry to Turn 6 on intermediates. Norris now pits for softs.
Leclerc has requested soft tyres but Ferrari has instructed him to complete a banker lap first. A compromise, but if rain falls sooner than expected, not a good one!
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"When is the rain coming?" asked Leclerc.
"Six or seven minutes," answered Ferrari.
"Six or seven minutes," answered Ferrari.
No, is the answer to that, as Albon fits softs.
Green flag
"I'm thinking we could get away with a slick," reports Norris. Will he be the first man to jump?
Q2 is moments away from getting underway. All drivers are on intermediate tyres but Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer believes a dry session would see slicks come into action in this period.
The incident between Gasly and Sainz will be investigated after the session.
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"He should be banned for such a thing!" Gasly is not holding back on his criticism of Sainz.
The incident between Sainz and Gasly has been noted by the stewards.
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"What the **** was he doing?" screamed Gasly after being caught up in the chaos sparked by Sainz towards the end of Q1. He is the big name to drop out.
An incident of impeding between Tsunoda and Hulkenberg has been noted by the stewards.
Out in Q1 are Tsunoda, Gasly, De Vries, Sargeant and Zhou.
In a flurry of activity, Verstappen tops the order and Stroll and Hulkenberg narrowly survive.
De Vries and Zhou are out.
Ocon leaps up to P5.
Sainz has badly blocked Norris and Gasly and that will almost certainly be looked at by the stewards.
All 20 drivers are currently on the track and no one is safe given the high levels of track improvement.
The final timed efforts are now about to be registered.
As we say that, Stroll improves to P8.
As we enter the closing stages, Tsunoda, Stroll, De Vries, Sargeant and Zhou are in the bottom three.
Stopwatch
Verstappen registers a new best of 1m21.739. He is two-tenths clear of Norris, with Alonso third.
By: Autosport Staff
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