F1 Canadian GP live commentary and updates - 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.

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. "

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

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?

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

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

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