F1 Canadian GP live commentary and updates - Race

F1 Canadian Grand Prix coming soon!

Hello everyone, and thanks for joining us! After a whirlwind weekend of motorsport, following the conclusion of the Le Mans 24 Hours, we're back in the saddle and almost ready to go for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Qualifying recap

George Russell swiped pole from the clutches of Max Verstappen with a lap he labelled as one of his "most exhilarating" laps in his racing career, crossing the line with a 1m10.899s.

Oscar Piastri qualified third alongside Andrea Kimi Antonelli, while Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc were seventh and eighth; Norris knocked the wall on his final lap and had to abort, while Leclerc was caught out by dirty air from Isack Hadjar's car ahead.

Hadjar got a three-place penalty for impeding, but from Q1 as he baulked Carlos Sainz at Turn 6 - which knocked the Spaniard out in the opening stage.

"Good game, good game" - Russell is just a knee-bend away from Bruce Forsyth's iconic pose

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Alpine lining up Steve Nielsen for team manager role

Cyril Abiteboul, Marcin Budkowski, Otmar Szafnauer, Bruno Famin, Ollie Oakes...Steve Nielsen?

Alpine is set to announce Nielsen, formerly a sporting director at the team, as its team manager. The former police officer held roles at Toro Rosso and Williams after leaving Renault, before joining F1, then the FIA.

More on that story below.

Formula 1

Alpine set to appoint Nielsen as F1 team manager

Alpine is poised to sign Steve Nielsen as its new F1 team manager following the departure of Oliver Oakes

30 minutes until the Canadian GP begins

And if you want to know how George Russell took pole from Max Verstappen, you can have a look at the data right here. If you want. No pressure. Bit of a shameless plug, but it's better than doing it with a long, gratuitous LinkedIn post...right?

Formula 1

Analysis: How Russell snatched F1 Canadian GP pole from Verstappen

George Russell snatched a last gasp pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix, pipping his Formula 1 rival Max Verstappen at the end of Q3. It was extremely tight between the pair, so how did Russell achieve it?

Pitlane starts for Lawson and Gasly

Both Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly have accrued the sort of engine penalties that leads people to say "oh, they've got so many grid drops they're basically starting in Toronto/Ontario/Saskatchewan". 

Gasly has a new battery and control electronics - outside of the season's allocation of two each - for a theoretical 20-place grid drop, while Lawson has...wait for it...a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H, battery, and electronics - for a total of 50 places.

These are converted into pitlane starts for both drivers, so they won't have to theoretically serve the remainder - which is good, given they got knocked out in Q1.

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Strategy report: Pirelli expects two-stop

With the softest tyres, the strategies should be relatively mixed. Pirelli motorsport chief Mario Isola reckons that a one-stop will be overall slower than a two, with softs not likely to form too much of a part of the race unless a safety car emerges.

"The quickest on paper is medium-hard-hard, but also medium-hard-medium is an option and it's very close," Isola said yesterday. "Medium-hard one stop, it is possible, but on paper it's slower. Soft is not really an option, but maybe someone could try a soft-hard-hard to have a short stint - or maybe you have a safety car, and then you have the set of hards for the rest of the race. "

Five minutes to go!

Russell versus Verstappen, Turn 1. It's not quite Ali-Foreman, is it? Only nominal heavyweights here; in truth, you'd back Max in the boxing ring.

Tyres for the opening Canadian GP stint

Mediums: Russell, Verstappen, Piastri, Antonelli, Hamilton, Alonso, Albon, Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Hadjar, Bearman.

Hards: Norris, Leclerc, Ocon, Bortoleto, Sainz, Stroll, Tsunoda, Gasly, Lawson.

Softs: nobody.

Of those medium runners in the top six, Piastri, Hamilton, and Alonso have new mediums; Russell, Verstappen, and Antonelli have used sets.

Formation lap

We have movement as the clock ticks 2pm in Montreal. Here we go. The field gets their final tyre warm-up in before retaking their grid places.

Lap 2

Albon's lost another place to Hadjar, after that excursion. Colapinto didn't give him a ton of room at Turn 9, but he didn't really need to either.

Russell is 0.7s clear of Verstappen as it stands.

Lap 3

Piastri appears to have backed off Antonelli a bit, as McLaren seems to start its management of the tyres early. 

Russell, meanwhile, is trying to build a one-second safety zone over Verstappen - but he can't shake the Red Bull driver off at the moment.

Lap 4

Still just 0.7s between Russell and Verstappen as it stands. Antonelli is a further 2s back as he doesn't have a Red Bull up his tail.

Norris has also backed off sixth-placed Alonso, as he's aiming to keep his hard tyres in decent fettle.

Lap 5

Verstappen closes that gap to Russell to just over half a second - he's really hounding Russell here, aiming to get the Mercedes driver to take more out of his tyres.

However, Verstappen is moving out of Russell's wake on the straights to ensure he's not got an overheating car.

Lap 6

Russell's picked up the pace a bit now to clear that DRS window, and he's up to a 1.1s gap as it stands. Opportunity for Antonelli now to catch Verstappen - the Italian was lively at the start, keeping to the inside of Piastri out of Turn 2 and makes the lunge into the next corner.

Lap 7

Colapinto's got a bit of a DRS train forming behind him - Hadjar, Albon, Bearman, Ocon, Bortoleto, and Sainz are all within a second of each other behind the Argentine.

Lap 8

Russell's seen off the early storm and Verstappen's falling back a little bit now - which is letting Antonelli get to about 1.5s behind the Red Bull. Our top-10 hard tyre runners, Norris and Leclerc, are just biding their time.

Lap 9

"Front deg is better than FP2, rear deg is worse," Piastri reports. Alonso's reported some graining, which he's had to put up with all weekend. The top 10 is all spaced out now, although Antonelli's closing the gap to Verstappen...

Lap 10

Russell is 1.9s up on Verstappen now - and Antonelli continues to sit on the cusp of breaking into DRS range.

Leclerc reports that the hard tyre "isn't great" - but engineer Bryan Bozzi suggests that the mediums are graining - which they are.

Lap 11

Norris is now right on Alonso's tail, as the Aston Martin driver is struggling. Norris gets the stronger exit out of Turn 10 and bolts past with DRS. That's sixth place - Hamilton's 3.4s up the road.

"Very fragile," is Verstappen's verdict on the tyres, as he's now under pressure from Antonelli.

Lap 12

Antonelli opens DRS on the back straight to go for second, but Verstappen is already in the pits and takes the hard tyre. He's our first pitter, and that's quite early.

Lap 13

Verstappen rejoins just ahead of Colapinto, in ninth. Ocon, meanwhile, is flying at the moment - he dispatches Bearman, then Hadjar in very short order.

Russell pits to cover off Verstappen. Hard tyres for the Mercedes driver, who comes out ahead of Hulkenberg.

Lap 14

Antonelli leads, then - 1.5s clear of Piastri, who's slowly catching. Norris is now within 1.3s of Hamilton, "Plan A, we need one of those amazing races from you here," Norris is told.

To potentially cover off Verstappen, Antonelli stops. Hard tyres for the Italian, but Verstappen gets the undercut.

Lap 15

Verstappen is right on Hulkenberg's six now. Antonelli will need the German to hold him up, as he hopes to reclaim second.

Norris, meanwhile, gets the pass done on Hamilton - who immediately pits from what was second place.

Lap 16

Hamilton is out of the pits, between two Haases. Russell is 2.1s clear of Verstappen after their stops, as the Dutchman did clear Hulkenberg on that previous lap.

Piastri pits, which means Norris now leads. The Australian comes out behind Antonelli, who is currently stuck behind Hulkenberg.

Lap 17

Antonelli dispatches Hulkenberg at Turn 8, but he's now four seconds shy of Verstappen as the Red Bull driver grew his undercut advantage. Piastri will be next to pass the Sauber driver.

Sainz put a bit of a divebomb on Bortoleto to pass at Turn 10, which let Tsunoda pass the Brazilian moments later with DRS. It's all action here.

Lap 18

Norris is leading, but he's struggling with some wear on his left-hand tyres. Piastri clears Hulkenberg for sixth. 

Lap 19

Leclerc's picking up the pace, getting to around three seconds behind Norris. Hamilton, his team-mate, is still struggling in traffic.

Hulkenberg pits from seventh - he emerges ahead of Colapinto in 17th, although much of this midfield traffic is yet to stop.

Lap 20

"I don't really know why you don't listen to me," Albon says, presumably displeased by whatever strategy he's on - he's gone quite long on those mediums. "You can't box me now," he says, as he's continued on this stint.

Perhaps some of these midfielders are hanging it out for a one-stop.

Lap 22

Norris retains a 3s lead over Leclerc, who has Russell and Verstappen homing in on him. One stoppers for these two as well? It would require a mighty effort, given the age of their tyres out front.

Lap 23

Verstappen's closing in on Russell, who in turn is closing in on second-placed Leclerc. Antonelli's 5.6s behind the Dutchman, in fifth place. Norris is maintaining the pace out front.

Albon finally pits, as his mediums look incredibly tired.

Lap 24

"Plan B," Leclerc is told. "I think Plan C," the Monegasque responds. Russell might be closing in, but he's seemingly happy at the moment.

Lap 25

And people say they don't like degradation races - this is great, because we've got quite the mix of strategies.

Norris has lost about 0.5s on the past lap with a bit of a slow tour, but he's holding on. Leclerc, meanwhile, looks in danger.

Lap 26

Russell gets the purchase out of Turn 10 and winds on the DRS to cruise by Leclerc. Second for Russell as it stands, and Norris is next up. It's only a matter of time before Norris is eaten up.

Verstappen will challenge Leclerc next.

Lap 27

Verstappen gets DRS on Leclerc, but runs out of straight on this tour. Piastri's dropped back a bit from Antonelli now, he's 2.5s adrift. Big gap to Hamilton, who's 13s behind him.

Lap 28

Verstappen gets the tow off Leclerc, but he's denied the chance to pass on-track as Ferrari brings the Monegasque in. He'll come out ahead of Hamilton.

"I don't understand this choice," he says, as he's nailed on for a two-stop by sticking with hard tyres.

Lap 29

Norris now pits, responding to Leclerc - so that's the one-stop dream over...or is it? Norris gets the medium tyre now. Swift service from McLaren, and he's plenty ahead of Leclerc.