The last race in Monaco ramped up the tension of the season in ways we hadn't imagined beforehand. With plenty of drama within the teams, and lots of on-track action as well, attention now turns to Canada to see if it can live up to its predecessor. A challenging circuit, with a great atmosphere, passionate fans (with a Sidepodcast contingent) and lots of F1 history, the Montreal weekend should be able to deliver, and here's how it's going to do it.

Event schedule

Nico Rosberg won the Monaco Grand Prix, under much scrutiny, and retook the lead of the driver standings. With Mercedes out so far ahead by themselves, it's great that we have the battle between the teammates to keep us entertained - even if it is slightly more hostile a fight than we anticipated.

Elsewhere, Marussia should still be on a high after achieving their first ever points in Formula One, whilst Caterham will be fuming that they matched their best finish but have been completely overshadowed. Watching to see if the backmarkers can repeat their successes in Montreal will be interesting, if not a likely occurrence.

There's lots of work to do in the midfield, with McLaren hoping to improve and Ferrari pushing for an engine upgrade that will help them pick up the pace. With Red Bull the only team capable of clinging to the coat tails of the Mercedes pair, we could do with some more competitive cars.

Support racing for this event includes Canadian Touring Car Championship, Ferrari Challenge, Masters HGP and Formule 1600.

Expected conditions

There's rain in the skies over Montreal at the moment, and that's set to continue, perhaps hindering progress on Friday as the practice sessions return to a more normal schedule. Things are forecast to brighten up slightly for qualifying and the race, although there are still plenty of clouds above the track to keep us guessing.

Track information

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve produces good racing in a picturesque setting with some unique challenges. A particular highlight is the Wall of Champions, a difficult chicane well-placed towards the very end of the lap. It's name will give a glimpse of the history, so many future and current F1 champions have ended their races in disgrace right there.

After the twists of Monte Carlo, Montreal stretches things back out with long straights engine in tight corners. Top speed is a key element of getting a good lap, but the fast sections end abruptly and are heavy on the brakes. Seeing plumes of black brake dust from the cars is a regular sight. The tarmac has also proven difficult to maintain on occasion, so grip can often be an issue from the start of the weekend to the finish.

There's also a relatively short pit lane in Montreal, which makes strategy more important than ever. The safety car often makes an appearance, and making sure pit stops occur at exactly the right moment is what keeps the heads on the pit wall busy.

Circuit history

Pole position isn't as crucial in Montreal as it is in Monaco, with only five polesitters taking victory since 2000, and another four winners starting from second place. There have been 44 Canadian GPs, held at three different tracks - Mosport Park, Mont-Tremblant and the current Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The first race at the island track was held in 1982, with just a couple of years off the calendar.

Prior to 2009, Ferrari had some good success during their period of dominance, but that was followed by good results for McLaren and Lewis Hamilton. There has been the occasional surprise as well, with Robert Kubica picking up his one and only F1 win in 2008.

Tyre compounds

Pirelli are bringing the soft and supersoft compounds again, for the second race weekend in a row. This is a change to their normal Canada selection, going for the two softest compounds of the range. Montreal is quite different to Monaco, but the same makeup of rubber will be attempting to deal with the challenges over the course of the weekend.

We're expecting a lot more energy and greater forces going through the tyres due to much higher speeds. There's a high degree of track evolution and we frequently see a lot of sliding - especially with reduced downforce this year - which obviously puts an increased amount of stress on the tyre... We're still expecting to have contained wear and degradation this weekend, even on the two softest tyres in the range.

- Paul Hembery

Press conference schedule

Official press conferences are organised by the FIA and happen four times during the weekend. The qualifying and post race press conferences will take place after the television unilateral interviews.

Race stewards

The FIA stewarding process includes a former F1 driver to offer added insight. These stewards are overseeing the weekend's action.