Canadian Grand Prix LIVE: Sebastian Vettel wins in Montreal to take championship lead off Lewis Hamilton
Follow the latest from the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal
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Your support makes all the difference.Sebastian Vettel starts the Canadian Grand Prix on pole position as he looks to claw back the 14-point lead that rival Lewis Hamilton holds in the Drivers’ Championship, but an unpredictable race in Montreal could well see a shock or two arrive on Sunday evening.
With Hamilton down in fourth, Vettel can make up serious ground in the battle to become a five-time world champion, though just 0.232 seconds covers the top four with Valtteri Bottas in second and the fast Red Bull of Max Verstappen in third. With Daniel Ricciardo, two-time winner this season, down in sixth with Kimi Raikkonen fifth, and the Circuit Gilles Villeneueve one of the easiest tracks to overtake on in the calendar, a thrilling race is on the cards.
Hamilton though has pedigree around this track, and should he triumph today he will tie Michael Schumacher with seven Canadian Grand Prix victories.
Follow the live action below...
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What time does it start?
The Canadian Grand Prix starts at 19:10 BST.
Where can I watch it?
The race will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports F1 from 17:30 BST.
Starting grid
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1min 10.764secs
2 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:10.857
3 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:10.937
4 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:10.996
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:11.095
6 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:11.116
7 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:11.973
8 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 1:12.084
9 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Renault 1:12.168
10 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:12.671
11 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:12.606
12 Brendon Hartley (Nzl) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:12.635
13 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Sauber-Ferrari 1:12.661
14 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:12.856
15 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 1:12.865
16 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.047
17 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 1:13.590
18 Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Williams 1:13.643
19 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:14.593
20 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 No Time
What to look out forStrategy
Red Bull are on the alternative strategy as they start on the hypersoft, with the rest of the frontrunners on the ultrasoft - confusing eh? - meaning that Red Bull should be fast early on but see their tyres fall away quicker. It's an expected two-stop race, although the one-stop is not completely out of the question even if it is pretty risky here.
Fast Verstappen
Max Verstappen has looked on the money this weekend, and with the plucky youngster third and on the hypersofts, expect a lunge into turn one and two.
Renault vs Force India
The best of the rest sees Renault and Force India go toe-to-toe. Renault edged qualifying, but Force India believe they are better set-up for the race and believe that Ocon can make that seventh place his own and take advantage of any mishaps in front.
Recovering McLarens
Alonso and Vandoorne are out of position and with three DRS zones, they should be able to get a fair amount of overtaking done. The question is whether they can rediscover that pace that deserted them yesterday.
Latest:
- Vettel leads from pole with Bottas second
- Verstappen holds third
- Ricciardo jumps Hamilton at the first stops for fourth
- First lap safety car after big crash for Hartley and Stroll
- Top 5: 1. VET 2. BOT 3. VER 4. RIC 5. HAM
- RET: Hartley (Lap 1), Stroll (Lap 1), Alonso (Lap 42)
Early drama for Ferrari! They've confirmed that the engine intercooler needed changing on Raikkonen's car before the race, with Grosjean's massive engine blow-up at the start of qualifying leading to all Ferrari engines being checked. That's not something that triggers a penalty, but it's worth remembering that Vettel's has not been changed and may need managing at some point during the 70 laps.
Vettel brings the field around on a fairly steady formation lap and starts to line up on the grid. Here we go...
Lap 1: A big crash for Hartley and he takes Stroll with him! The Toro Rosso is airborne and the safety car is out!
Lap 2: That was very, very scary, but thankfully both drivers are out and ok. Stroll got wide out of turn four and Hartley went for the overtake on the outside through five, only for the Williams to get some oversteer, run wide and shunt Hartley into the barrier and up over his car.
At the front, Verstappen went for it and got past Bottas, only for the Mercedes to get back past through turn two. It was good clean racing that maintained the order, but behind Ricciardo gets by Raikkonen to take fifth.
Lap 4: Both Ericsson and Vandoorne dived into the pits at the end of the first lap and it's not clear if that's for damage or - more likely - to change tyres and complete the mandatory switch.
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