As it happened: Canada 2017 - The race

• 18:30

  Hi F1 friends, how have you all been? We're back here today for the Canadian Grand Prix and very much looking forward to it!

• 18:31

  Circuit Data

  Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
  Local timezone	+04:00 GMT
  First race	1978
  Number of laps	70
  Circuit length	4.361km
  Race distance	305.270km
  Start offset	0.000km

• 18:32

  Ted News: There was a late panic on Nico Hülkenberg's car, as some pit stop practice by Renault went wrong and cross-threaded a wheel nut. That required a change of the entire quarter of the car, but looks like he's patched up and ready to go now.

• 18:32

  The pit lane has opened at Montreal and cars are roaring away to the pit lane exit, waiting their turn to do a practice start, and then zooming off for an out lap.

• 18:33

  There hasn't been a lot of concern about rain so far this weekend, despite forecasts. But it looks supremely windy out there at the moment.

• 18:33

  Fuel will be a key issue today, as it's a thirsty race, and many teams may be expecting a safety car period.

• 18:35

  Lewis Hamilton snatched pole position from Sebastian Vettel, so will line up at the head of the grid today.

• 18:37

  Starting grid

  1	L Hamilton	Mercedes
  2	S Vettel	Ferrari
  3	V Bottas	Mercedes
  4	K Räikkönen	Ferrari
  5	M Verstappen	Red Bull
  6	D Ricciardo	Red Bull
  7	F Massa	Williams
  8	S Pérez	Force India
  9	E Ocon	Force India
  10	N Hülkenberg	Renault

• 18:37

  Pascal Wehrlein crashed during qualifying and has a gearbox change penalty but won't have to take it as he is also required to start from the pit lane.

• 18:39

  Tweet from @Max33Verstappen: "Race day! Keeping fifth place is my first goal, but let’s see what happens in front of us #unleashthelion #keeppushing #CanadianGP"

• 18:40
  Soft

  Supersoft

  Ultrasoft
• 18:42

  

  28°C
  Track	41°C
  Humidity	43%
  Wind speed	3.2mps

• 18:43

  

  Great visual explanation of the conditions by Sky's @RachelBrookesTV: "How windy is it here in Montreal? This windy!"

• 18:45

  Carlos Sainz on the grid: "Between the walls, the wind changes and you have different behaviours... It's quite impressive, I must say."

• 18:48

  Ferrari took over the lead of the championship standings from Mercedes after the Monaco race, and Sebastian Vettel extended his lead to a full race victory, over 25 points above Lewis Hamilton. They'll be feeling pretty comfortable about that, but it is, of course, still early days.

• 18:50

  Drivers have lined up at the front of the grid for a minute of silence in honour of those affected by the London attack, and then the Canadian national anthem.

• 18:50

  

  Hi @geniebouchard!

• 18:52

  Tweet from @pirellisport: #CanadianGP about to start shortly. Was clear earlier, but has clouded over pretty quickly.

• 18:53

  Force India have done a great job to have two drivers starting within the top ten. They're looking to build on their strong start to the season so far. Meanwhile, Williams had mixed fortunes in qualifying and have Massa up in seventh, and Stroll down in 17th.

• 18:54

  Christian Horner of Red Bull: "Starts have been okay, so hopefully we can get a decent start. In a perfect world we could get one of the reds or silvers ahead of us. I think, on a day like today, anything can happen. It's so windy, it's going to affect some more than others. It'd be very unusual not to have a safety car or at least a virtual safety car today."

• 18:56

  2017 Race wins

  Pos	Driver	Total
  1	S Vettel	3
  2	L Hamilton	2
  3	V Bottas	1

• 18:58

  In terms of tyres, almost all of the grid are on the ultrasoft tyres. The top ten on used purple stripes as well. Only Kevin Magnussen in 18th and Pascal Wehrlein from the pit lane are on the supersofts.

• 18:59

  Tweet from @F1PaddockPass: "It's looking pretty blustery in Canada - which could make that last chicane pretty interesting. A new name on the 'Wall of Champions'?"

• 19:01

  The formation lap gets underway, but Daniil Kvyat hasn't moved away from his grid spot yet.

• 19:02

  The mechanics have crowded around him and got the Toro Rosso moving, but he won't be able to retake his position, he'll have to start from the back.

• 19:02

  Team radio from Daniil Kvyat: "Clutch failure, clutch failure guys."

• 19:03

  Hamilton pulls to a stop at the front and the rest of the field pile in behind him.

• 19:04

  Race started.

• 19:04 Lap 1

  Good clean start at the front, Verstappen shot up the order into the first corner. Second place for the Red Bull.

• 19:04 Lap 1

  Two cars are out, Massa and Sainz are off with huge damage.

• 19:05 Lap 1

  Safety car!

• 19:05 Lap 1

  Both drivers are out of their respective cars, so that's a relief.

• 19:05 Lap 1

  Grosjean and Wehrlein have pitted under the safety car.

• 19:06 Lap 2

  Massa was going through the corner as normal, Sainz came out of nowhere backwards on the grass and swiped into him. Replays show he lost control and someone must have tapped him.

• 19:06 Lap 2

  It was probably Grosjean who was involved in that incident as he has taken on a new front wing.

• 19:07 Lap 2

  Wehrlein has taken on the ultrasofts, so he's already got rid of the red stripes - another solid strategy call from Sauber.

• 19:07 Lap 3

  Turn 3 incident involving Felipe Massa and Carlos Sainz under investigation.

• 19:08 Lap 3

  The safety car will come in this lap.

• 19:08 Lap 3

  Team radio from Felipe Massa: "Unbelievable, I have no idea what's happened. Somebody just pushed me completely."

• 19:08 Lap 3

  So, we have Hamilton leading still with Max Verstappen running in second place. Bottas is third, with Vettel losing out on the start and dropping to fourth.

• 19:09 Lap 3

  Alonso is calling for people to use their heads. "What are they doing? They need to calm down," he says.

• 19:10 Lap 3

  Track is clear.

• 19:10 Lap 4

  Some carbon fibre went flying there, but Verstappen is ploughing ahead and putting the pressure on Hamilton.

• 19:11 Lap 4

  Räikkönen had a huge wobble there, kicked up some dust and grass, but saved it from the wall with mad skillz.

• 19:12 Lap 5

  There's an endplate missing on the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, that must have been the carbon fibre that went flying on the restart. The Ferrari crew are getting ready in the pit lane.

• 19:13 Lap 6

  Vettel does come into the pit lane with a very one sided front wing. Slow stop, obviously, but a fresh front wing and ultrasoft tyres go on the Ferrari.

• 19:14 Lap 7

  Incident involving Daniil Kvyat under investigation - failing to regain position before safety car line 1 on formation lap.

• 19:14 Lap 7

  DRS enabled.

• 19:15 Lap 8

  Vettel has rejoined last with one stop under his belt. He's even behind Wehrlein and Grosjean, who benefitted from pitting under the safety car.

• 19:16 Lap 9

  More replays of the start look like Sainz cut into the path of Grosjean, which caused the first collision and sent Sainz spinning into Massa. Also, Alonso had to cut across the grass to avoid them, hence his complaints about the crazy antics going on around him.

• 19:17 Lap 9

  Turn 3 incident involving Felipe Massa and Carlos Sainz to be investigated after the race.

• 19:17 Lap 9

  Team radio from Sebastian Vettel: "I think I lost some piece of the front wing again. Check the numbers. Something came off on braking for three."

• 19:19 Lap 11

  Verstappen slows to a halt and pulls off track, dropping down the order rapidly. After such a great start!

• 19:19 Lap 11

  Virtual safety car deployed.

• 19:20 Lap 11

  Verstappen is climbing out the car, he looks really annoyed, understandably.

• 19:21 Lap 12

  Hülkenberg takes the opportunity to pit.

• 19:21 Lap 12

  Pérez reports he's fighting with the wind and traction is quite poor. He's currently running fourth, so doing a great job for Force India.

• 19:22 Lap 13

  Driver Positions

  Pos		Driver	Stops
  1	0	L Hamilton	0
  2	1	V Bottas	0
  3	3	D Ricciardo	0
  4	4	S Pérez	0
  5	-1	K Räikkönen	0
  6	3	E Ocon	0
  7	4	D Kvyat	0
  8	4	F Alonso	0
  9	7	S Vandoorne	0
  10	8	K Magnussen	0

• 19:23 Lap 13

  Magnussen reports there's a Ferrari fan cap in the shadows under the bridge on track. "Can they remove that?" he asks.

• 19:23 Lap 13

  The marshals are push, push, pushing that car. There's no easy place to get rid of that Red Bull so it's taking a while.

• 19:24 Lap 14

  Drive through penalty for Daniil Kvyat - Failing to regain position before safety car line 1 on the formation lap.

• 19:25 Lap 14

  Track is clear.

• 19:25 Lap 14

  Kevin Magnussen passes Stoffel Vandoorne to move into ninth place, he's sitting in a McLaren sandwich now.

• 19:25 Lap 15

  No, wait, Lance Stroll makes his way past Vandoorne as well to move into tenth place.

• 19:26 Lap 15

  Nico Hülkenberg also easily dispatches Vandoorne. That's three places gone for McLaren in the blink of an eye.

• 19:27 Lap 16

  Daniil Kvyat heads into the pit lane to serve his drive through penalty. Bit sweary about it as well.

• 19:29 Lap 17

  Kevin Magnussen, Lance Stroll and Nico Hülkenberg are all jostling for the same piece of tarmac. Magnussen stays ahead for now, in 8th.

• 19:30 Lap 18

  Kimi Räikkönen comes into the pit lane, 2.6 second stop for the Ferrari crew.

• 19:30 Lap 18

  Incident involving Kevin Magnussen under investigation - overtaking under the virtual safety car.

• 19:31 Lap 19

  Tweet from @ToroRossoSpy: "Okay, drive through done. @kvyatofficial is now back to P11, position in which he started the race in... So let's start all over again!"

• 19:31 Lap 19

  Ricciardo pits as well, reacting to the early Ferrari stop.

• 19:32 Lap 20

  One to Watch

  L Stroll	vs.	S Vettel
  9th	+0.403s	10th

• 19:32 Lap 20

  Sergio Pérez comes in for a stop as well, everyone's reacting to the early Kimi stop to try and avoid the undercut.

• 19:33 Lap 21

  Ricciardo put on the soft tyres, with the yellow stripes. That's the hardest of the three compounds and a different strategy to everyone else.

• 19:34 Lap 21

  Vettel squeezed past Stroll in an incredibly late move, moving into ninth place.

• 19:34 Lap 22

  Kimi Räikkönen is hunting down Fernando Alonso, who is sitting in sixth but has a pit stop still to take.

• 19:35 Lap 22

  Räikkönen easily sweeps past Alonso for the position and starts to pull the gap to the McLaren.

• 19:36 Lap 23

  Team radio to Fernando Alonso: "Please avoid short shift third to fourth."

• 19:36 Lap 23

  Lance Stroll, in front of the home crowds, thought about a move on Kevin Magnussen but backed out of it. He's sitting in tenth at the moment.

• 19:37 Lap 24

  Hamilton has pulled out enough of a gap out front to take a pit stop and emerge unhindered. However, it's Valtteri Bottas that comes in first.

• 19:37 Lap 24

  Tweet from @lukehmuse: Just to keep everyone updated - Jolyon Palmer, who started in 15th, is currently in 15th. Thanks.

• 19:38 Lap 25

  Hamilton is advised they're thinking of the soft tyre for the next stint. Bottas also took on the yellows.

• 19:39 Lap 25

  Gap Analysis

  Pos	Driver	Gap
  1st	HAM	1:16.037
  2nd	OCO	+22.646
  3rd	BOT	+24.779
  4th	RIC	+35.363

• 19:40 Lap 26

  5 second time penalty for Kevin Magnussen - overtaking under virtual safety car.

• 19:40 Lap 26

  Hülkenberg is piling on the pressure to the Williams ahead, and he passes just in time for Stroll to come into the pit lane. Hülkenberg up to 10th.

• 19:41 Lap 27

  Team radio from Fernando Alonso: "You are not giving me useful information. I need the pace of Magnussen. I need other things."

• 19:43 Lap 29

  Hamilton and Ocon out front have yet to pit. Also Alonso in 8th, Magnussen in 10th and Vandoorne in 12th.

• 19:44 Lap 29

  Hülkenberg continues to storm passed anything and everything, moving past Magnussen into ninth.

• 19:45 Lap 30

  Bottas has closed the gap to Ocon, and is within half a second of the Force India.

• 19:46 Lap 31

  Daniil Kvyat puts in an impressive overtaking move to pass Kevin Magnussen and move back into a points position.

• 19:47 Lap 32

  Bottas is maintaining the gap to Ocon, but can't seem to find a way past the Force India.

• 19:48 Lap 32

  Bottas takes a look into turn one, but doesn't have the momentum. Ocon wobbles a little out of turn one, but remains ahead for now.

• 19:48 Lap 32

  Team radio from Esteban Ocon: "I start to lose grip now."

• 19:49 Lap 33

  Hamilton was also complaining of a lack of grip, and in he dives into the pit lane. Superb stop from Mercedes for the super soft tyre.

• 19:49 Lap 33

  Now Ocon takes his turn into the pit lane as well. Also red stripes going on the Force India.

• 19:49 Lap 33

  Ocon rejoins in sixth place.

• 19:50 Lap 34

  Gap Analysis

  Pos	Driver	Gap
  1st	HAM	1:19.046
  2nd	BOT	+9.483
  3rd	RIC	+22.151
  4th	PER	+24.493
  5th	RAI	+26.524

• 19:50 Lap 34

  Kvyat has been swearing on the radio again. "Watch your words, please," he's told.

• 19:51 Lap 35

  Tweet from @F1_Central: Lots of different strategies being played right now, just a question of which is faster in the long run and if there's any more SC's or VSC

• 19:53 Lap 36

  One to Watch

  K Räikkönen	vs.	E Ocon
  5th	+0.727s	6th

• 19:57 Lap 39

  Additional 10 second time penalty for Daniil Kvyat as original penalty was incorrect - failing to regain position before safety car line 1 on formation lap.

• 19:58 Lap 40

  That's not going to help the Toro Rosso driver's rage right now.

• 19:59 Lap 41

  Red Bull have said that Verstappen's retirement was down to a battery failure. Very disappointing.

• 20:00 Lap 42

  Lance Stroll is now looking firmly at the rear wing of Grosjean's Haas, hoping for a way past for 13th place.

• 20:01 Lap 42

  Grosjean's got older tyres so is looking pretty squirrelly.

• 20:01 Lap 42

  Kimi Räikkönen pits again. Ultrasofts on the Ferrari this time out.

• 20:02 Lap 43

  Stroll finds his way past Grosjean and moves into that 13th place.

• 20:02 Lap 43

  Fernando Alonso pits.

• 20:02 Lap 43

  Super softs go on the McLaren, he'll be going to the end.

• 20:03 Lap 44

  Team radio from Sebastian Vettel: "Do we believe the other cars have to stop?"

  "No they don't."

• 20:04 Lap 45

  Stroll and Vandoorne are now engaged in battle, dipping this way and that for 12th position.

• 20:05 Lap 45

  The safety cars have helped limit the field spread here, but both Sauber drivers have dropped one lap down now.

• 20:05 Lap 46

  Team radio to Kimi Räikkönen: "Seb is staying out, he's going to try and overtake those Force Indias. We just keep going as we are, keep pushing, good pace."

• 20:06 Lap 46

  Vettel is hustling both the Force Indias, with Räikkönen now 13 seconds behind him, on much fresher tyres.

• 20:08 Lap 48

  Team radio from Lewis Hamilton: "Is Vettel going to the end on these tyres?"

  "We're not sure how he's going to manage his tyres, but your level of management is excellent."

• 20:09 Lap 49

  Lots of great radio messages for Daniel Ricciardo, who is trying to hold the Force Indias behind him, and Sergio Pérez: "What else can I use to attack?" He's told they're already using everything.

• 20:11 Lap 50

  Sebastian Vettel has come into the pit lane for a fresh set of rubber, he's taken on the ultrasofts.

• 20:12 Lap 51

  Vettel is told he'll be back in the battle with about eight laps to go.

• 20:14 Lap 52

  Pérez gets the call that Ocon can pass Ricciardo if he "does what he can" or in other words, moves out the way.

• 20:15 Lap 53

  Ocon doesn't look close enough to pass yet, unless Pérez has to slow down considerably.

• 20:17 Lap 55

  Kvyat reports some strange vibrations, and wonders if there's something wrong with the engine. He's given the call to box, box, box and has to take his ten second penalty. So it's a slow, slow stop.

• 20:17 Lap 55

  There's a problem on the right rear tyre, and it's all halted. A mechanic dashes out with a yellow striped tyre, then three other matching tyres arrive. "Stop the engine," Dany is instructed.

• 20:18 Lap 56

  Team radio from Sergio Pérez: "I want the chance to overtake him. Let us race, man. Please?"

• 20:18 Lap 56

  Kvyat does get going again, so he's back out on track but two laps down now.

• 20:19 Lap 56

  Tweet from @Mattg81: Shortest ever stint on UltraSofts there for Kvyat. Didn't even hit the tarmac

• 20:20 Lap 58

  Team radio from Jolyon Palmer: "Very weird feeling from the rear."

• 20:21 Lap 58

  Kvyat is back in the pit lane, and it's a retirement for the Russian driver. Double DNF for Toro Rosso this afternoon.

• 20:23 Lap 60

  Ten laps to go.

• 20:24 Lap 60

  Hamilton comfortably leading, Bottas a comfortable second. Ricciardo is the one under pressure... but that's depending on how the Force India scrap behind him plays out.

• 20:24 Lap 60

  Whisper it, but Fernando Alonso is currently sitting in tenth place.

• 20:24 Lap 61

  Räikkönen's told that "you know the score", and that within moments there might be a Vettel squeezing past him.

• 20:25 Lap 61

  Tweet from @LastLapPodcast: "You know the score" is the new "Fernando is faster than you"

• 20:25 Lap 61

  In fact, Räikkönen runs wide and Sebastian Vettel sweeps through to move into sixth place. He's got a couple of seconds to run before seeing the rear wing of Esteban Ocon.

• 20:26 Lap 62

  The Ferrari pit wall told Vettel he'd be ready to fight the pack with eight laps to go, and lo and behold, he's free to race with eight laps to go.

• 20:27 Lap 63

  Tweet from @RenaultSportF1: Kimi lapping in 1:21secs!!! He's losing time and we've got Nico in P8 behind him!

• 20:28 Lap 64

  Problems for Räikkönen, his engineers are working through the diagnosis with him on the radio.

• 20:29 Lap 64

  Vettel is right up behind Ocon now. His tyres are 17 laps old, Ocon's 31 and Pérez's 44.

• 20:30 Lap 65

  Pérez has fallen more than a second behind Ocon, so has no DRS. Ocon pulls to the side of his teammate but can't do anything yet. Vettel close behind too. It's all SO CLOSE.

• 20:31 Lap 66

  Ocon pulls alongside his teammate again, still can't get the edge.

• 20:32 Lap 67

  Pérez was aggressively defending, gave Vettel a chance on Ocon. Ocon missed his braking point and ran wide off track, rejoined ahead but had to yield so Vettel has passed him.

• 20:32 Lap 67

  Vettel next runs wide off track, but he sticks to the right side of the bollard and stays in that Force India sandwich.

• 20:34 Lap 68

  Yellow flags.

• 20:34 Lap 69

  Shock and surprise. Fernando Alonso is off track, climbing out of the car. UGH. I whispered it and everything.

• 20:35 Lap 69

  Vettel takes the inside line against Pérez and makes it stick! He's up and through and into fourth place.

• 20:36 Lap 69

  Fernando Alonso has actually climbed into the crowd and everyone is squishing up to get pictures and to grab a piece of the Spaniard.

• 20:37

  Lewis Hamilton wins the Canadian Grand Prix!

• 20:37

  Bottas crosses the line a distant second, and Ricciardo holds on to fourth place.

• 20:38

  Ocon doesn't want to give up until he truly has to, pulls alongside Pérez and crosses the line just inches behind his teammate.

• 20:39

  Stroll picks up his first points in front of his home crowd, with a ninth place finish.

• 20:40

  Ocon doesn't sound too happy on the radio. "Not fair racing at all," he says. Good points for Force India but at what cost?

• 20:42

  Gap Analysis

  Pos	Driver	Gap
  1st	HAM	1:18.355
  2nd	BOT	+19.783
  3rd	RIC	+35.297

  This isn't the full story though. Vettel was 0.7 behind in fourth, with Pérez fifth, and Ocon just 0.3 seconds behind his teammate.

• 20:43

  Championship Standings

  Pos	Driver	Pts
  1	S Vettel	141
  2	L Hamilton	129
  3	V Bottas	93
  4	K Räikkönen	73
  5	D Ricciardo	67

• 20:43

  Championship Standings

  Pos	Team	Pts
  1	Mercedes	222
  2	Ferrari	214
  3	Red Bull	112
  4	Force India	71
  5	Toro Rosso	29

• 20:47

  Very intriguing race from start to finish, really. Disappointing for Max Verstappen and frustrating for Daniil Kvyat. Let's not even talk about Alonso.

• 20:47

  Out front, Hamilton has closed the gap a little but Vettel did some great damage control. Mercedes have wrestled back the number one spot in the standings.

• 20:47

  This Force India situation will no doubt create some conversation both in and outside of the paddock for the next few days, curious to see how long the ramifications will linger.

• 20:48

  Points for Stroll, something he desperately needed to give himself some confidence and perhaps get some of us, who have been harsh, to ease off a little.

• 20:48

  The next race is in two weeks, with a return to the Azerbaijan circuit, another slow and twisty street circuit with similar characteristics to the last two. What delights does it hold in store?