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Formula 1
Canadian GP
F1 Canadian GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race day
Minute-by-minute updates for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal
F1 returns to the famous Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal this weekend for the first time since 2019, following two years of COVID-19 enforced cancellations.
Max Verstappen emerged victorious at last weekend's Azerbaijan GP as the Dutchman headed a Red Bull 1-2, as mechanical frailties struck Ferrari and title contender Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen, who starts the Canadian GP from pole position, has a 21-point championship lead over team-mate Sergio Perez, while Leclerc is third having slipped 34 points adrift.
Leclerc will aim to fight back from the last row on the grid in Canada, having taken an engine penalty following his retirement in Baku last time out.
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Pit stop
"Tyres really starting to drop," Verstappen says. He pits, and comes to collect a fresh set of hard tyres - and falls behind Hamilton!
Leclerc, shaking his head leaving the pits, is on fresh mediums and that's enough to get him ahead of Ricciardo to move up a carriage in the Stroll train.
Pit stop
"Why didn't you make sure I came out ahead?" Verstappen fumes. "Didn't have the pace," comes the deadpan reply - but Verstappen gets ahead anyway with DRS as Hamilton pits.
On lap 45, Leclerc is undoing Ferrari's poor pitstop work, as he now gets by Tsunoda on the back straight for 10th place. Next up is Zhou.
Stopwatch
It's a 1m16.959s for Verstappen, as Sainz plans to try and extend his stint. Russell, meanwhile, comes in for a stop.
Stopwatch
Hamilton now does a 1m16.769s, proving that the Mercedes isn't all that bad after all.
Leclerc dives by Zhou at Turn 1 for ninth place, so he's now in first class in the Stroll DRS train. I hope Stroll checks his ticket.
Quote
"We are happy for you to push to the end of the race," Verstappen is told.
Pit stop
No need, as Stroll pits just as Leclerc pulls alongside him, so it releases the Ferrari driver into eighth place. Stroll comes out in 13th.
Crash
Tsunoda has crashed at Turn 2! Safety Car deployed!
That was, er, not great by Tsunoda. Coming out of the pits on fresh hards, he locks up at pit exit and takes a one-way trip into the Montreal scenery.
Pit stop
Sainz pits - Verstappen retakes the lead, but he'll be right under fire from Sainz when we get a restart.
Pit stop
Ocon and Alonso both pit too, preserving their fifth and sixth places ahead of Leclerc - who moves up to seventh as Bottas pits.
Penalty
Moments before Tsunoda's off, Norris was given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane, meaning the McLaren driver's afternoon has gone from bad to worse.
Tsunoda's AlphaTauri has been recovered at Turn 2 so we'll be close to getting back underway now.
All lapped cars are also being allowed to unlap themselves: Magnussen, Stroll, Gasly, Albon, Norris and Latifi.
Safety car
The safety car is coming in this lap.
Verstappen eases off to try and get the jump off the restart...as is tradition.
Green flag
Verstappen gets us going again out of the chicane, with Sainz sticking with him. Hamilton, Russell, Ocon and Alonso are separated by little too.
All very well behaved by the midfield too at that restart, as they all follow in order.
Verstappen's kept afloat ahead of Sainz, as Hamilton's got a little bit of an advantage over Russell now. Leclerc's right on the back of the Alpines.
Leclerc, on the medium tyres just like Alonso and Ocon ahead of him, can't find a way through yet but the DRS has now been enabled.
Zhou gets by Vettel around the outside into Turn 1 to take ninth place. That's a smart move by the F1 rookie.
Sainz does a 1m16.287s to keep tabs on Verstappen, can he put pressure on the leader?
It's been a bad couple of laps for Vettel, who loses the final points place to Ricciardo, while further back Magnussen has dropped behind Gasly to 15th.
Leclerc is up to sixth, getting by Alonso up the inside going into the hairpin. Great move.
Sainz is keeping close to Verstappen, and we'll be watching like a hawk to see if the Spanish driver can make a pass. Meanwhile, Leclerc clears Alonso and will have Ocon next up.
Magnussen's pace has dropped like a stone as he's now in last place having been passed by Norris and Latifi.
Leclerc goes straight on at the chicane, and had passed Ocon but yields the position to have another go.
Vettel is another struggling after the safety car period, as he swaps places with Stroll, on mediums, to allow his team-mate to go after Ricciardo and the points positions.
Leclerc gets by Ocon again, this time at the hairpin. P5 for the Ferrari driver, but has a 4s gap to Russell to bridge.
A safety car infringement incident involving Vettel has been noted by the race stewards.
Sainz is throwing punches at Verstappen, but he's too far off to make anything work at the moment. The Red Bull driver seems to be in control here.
The stewards have opted to review that Vettel incident behind the safety car after the race.
Stopwatch
A 1m15.749s for Sainz at the end of lap 63. Although catching is one thing, passing is quite another.
Better news for Aston Martin comes from Stroll, who gets by Ricciardo for 10th with the aid of DRS on the back straight.
Verstappen's crucially got the legs in the first couple of sectors - Sainz finds the time to match in the final sector, but he's just not close enough by the time they launch off the hairpin. Lap 66/70 now.
Quote
"We stay where we are with the straight line issue," Alonso is told over team radio, tucked up behind team-mate Ocon in the fight for sixth. "Even with a straight line issue, I'm 100x faster," is the reply.
Gasly has run off track at the final chicane during his battle with Albon for 13th place. The AlphaTauri driver avoids any further drama and continues.
Lap 69, and Sainz is going to have one more go. He's gone quicker than Verstappen on the previous lap...can he do it?
By: autosport.com
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