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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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All lapped cars are also being allowed to unlap themselves: Magnussen, Stroll, Gasly, Albon, Norris and Latifi.
Tsunoda's AlphaTauri has been recovered at Turn 2 so we'll be close to getting back underway now.
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.
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.
Pit stop
Sainz pits - Verstappen retakes the lead, but he'll be right under fire from Sainz when we get a restart.
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.
Crash
Tsunoda has crashed at Turn 2! Safety Car deployed!
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.
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"We are happy for you to push to the end of the race," Verstappen is told.
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.
Stopwatch
Hamilton now does a 1m16.769s, proving that the Mercedes isn't all that bad after all.
Stopwatch
It's a 1m16.959s for Verstappen, as Sainz plans to try and extend his stint. Russell, meanwhile, comes in for a stop.
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.
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.
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
"Tyres really starting to drop," Verstappen says. He pits, and comes to collect a fresh set of hard tyres - and falls behind Hamilton!
Pit stop
Leclerc finally makes a stop, giving Ocon free breathing room, and grabs the medium tyre. But it's a slow stop for Leclerc, which puts him right onto the back of the Lance Locomotive.
This race has turned into a bit of stalemate with the various DRS trains and balance tyre degradation. It'll come alive again soon, we promise.
Sainz has brought the lead down to 5.9s as of the start of lap 42, having taken a second out of Verstappen in the last two laps. Russell's within about 8s of Hamilton now.
TV directors having the easiest job in the world - basically a binary choice between Ocon and Leclerc, or the Stroll train.
Russell, meanwhile, is slowly catching Hamilton having got fresher boots on his Mercedes. Hamilton has, however, picked up the pace a little bit.
Leclerc is a little miffed over the radio, unable to pass Ocon ahead of him. Alonso's wisely staying out of that fight, instead holding back to try to preserve some tyre life.
Pit stop
Gasly pits for a second time in this race and comes out in 17th place.
Due to the track characteristic of slow corners and long straights, overtaking is all about having early traction and top speed. Which is why some overtakes are a breeze, and others impossible. Zhou is facing the latter behind Stroll.
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"I feel like I'm already losing tyre grip," Verstappen says. Just the 36 laps to go until the end.
Stroll, still yet to pit in ninth, now leads at DRS train of Zhou, Tsunoda and Ricciardo.
Ocon is definitely able to dart out of the corners quicker than Leclerc, as the Ferrari driver runs out of straight to get alongside the Alpine.
Sainz is chipping away at Verstappen's lead now, taking about 0.2s a lap out of the Red Bull. Hamilton remains third, a good 10s clear of Russell, with Ocon a further 15s back.
Quote
"I don't have the grip on exit, it is so bad," Leclerc says over team radio, rather confirming our earlier point.
Pit stop
Alonso finally calls it a day on his medium tyres and comes in to stop. He rejoins in P7, behind the Ocon/Leclerc scrap.
Leclerc is another driver stuck behind a rival. The Ferrari can't get the zip with DRS against the slippery through the air Ocon in his Alpine. Leclerc's tyres must be losing traction as he's yet to stop.
Stopwatch
The gaps among the top six have strung out a bit - although Sainz is trying to do something about that and logs a 1m17.210s to close in to within 9s of Verstappen.
Zhou, who also stopped earlier, can't match the top speed of the yet-to-stop Stroll which is frustrating the Alfa Romeo driver stuck in 10th place.
After his very slow stop Norris has come out in 17th, only ahead of Latifi out of the runners left in this race.
Hamilton's next to get past Alonso, who's yet to stop, moving past with DRS to grab third place.
Pit stop
During that second Virtual Safety Car period McLaren had a nightmare at the pitstops. Ricciardo had a slow stop, which dropped him to 12th, and double-stacking Norris only compounded the delay as his tyres weren't ready.
Sainz gets some temperature in his tyres and immediately gets after Alonso, getting a good run out of the hairpin and making a clearance with DRS into the chicane at the end of lap 22.
Green flag
Leclerc is still on the move! After a handful of drivers pitted ahead of him, he gets by Bottas at the final chicane and moves up to seventh place.
Pit stop
And Sainz comes in, coming out behind Alonso as he caught the pit exit just as the VSC was ending. Hamilton's right behind the Ferrari, but Sainz is slowly edging away.
Mechanical problem
Strange timing for Schumacher, as soon as Zhou pulled alongside, it appeared his Haas car let go and he had no choice but to stop in the Turn 8 run-off area.
By: autosport.com
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