Lorraine McKenna
BBC Sport Journalist

Thank you, Tas!

Hello, folks. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli are warming up for round two of their team-mate battle in Montreal today.

Both drivers made a good getaway off the line at the start of the sprint race yesterday but with tensions high after some hard racing between the pair, could we see some first-corner drama?

If they do end up in a squabble, world champion Lando Norris and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, lining up in third and fourth, will be ready to pounce.

Every driver has been wrapped up like it’s mid-winter at the track. Isack Hadjar said it’s “very windy and very cold”, while Charles Leclerc added these temperatures aren’t going to be nice for the tyres.

Richard: Rain affected race will be very interesting, I’ll go for a surprise Hamilton win.

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Martin on X: , external"Lance will start today’s race from the pit lane. We have taken a strategic decision to replace the battery (ESME) and make several other set-up changes to the car."

Have an F1 or race related question?

Our F1 correspondent Andrew Benson is again doing a weekly Q&A in 2026.

Send in your questions here and we'll put the best to Andrew after the Canadian Grand Prix.

Wayne: I can see Russell and Antonelli coming together and Lando coming in for the win.

It was not a good Saturday for Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

The Monegasque qualified eighth for Sunday's race, while his team-mate Lewis Hamilton starts the race in fifth.

"Honestly, it's one, if not the worst weekend of my career. Since first practice, I haven't had one lap where I could feel the car," he said after qualifying.

"It's strange but it's the situation I find myself in at the moment and I've got to work on that," he added.

Image source, Getty Images

There's a Furrari friend visiting today.

Charles Leclerc's little pup, Leo has been spotted in the paddock earlier.

Maybe that's the good luck charm Leclerc needs as he has not been having the best weekend.

Image source, Getty Images

Matthew: This is definitely going to be one to watch with the new regulations. Rain always spices things up. I still remember Button coming from last to first in the rain back in 2011.

Image source, Getty Images

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who starts second on the grid, speaking to Sky Sports: "We're seeing a bit of everything [with the weather]. It's hard to predict what's going to happen.

"It was meant to rain all morning up until race time but now it seems to be holding on - but it's pretty cold, very windy and very gusty.

"It's going to be a big topic today, the wind. It [has] rotated quite a lot since ysterday, and cold."

On tyre preparation: "It's not easy, of course. In the warm-up and formation lap, you try to do as much work as possible with weaving and braking and stuff but you can only do so much in one lap.

"It's going to be important to just extract the maximum out of it. Also, in the first few laps, just try to build the temperature without graining the tyres, because that's another topic. It's going to be interesting, very challenging.

On the sprint race battle with team-mate George Russell: "We had a meeting yesterday and clarified that, so now it's all good and very excited for the race.

"Hopefully a good result for me and for the team in general."

The rain has not reached Circuit Gilles Villeneuve just yet, so time to put away the intermediates and bolt on the slicks.

Verstappen: "I think we should switch tyres."

Race engineer: "Copy that Max, box. Switch to slicks, confirm."

The pit lane is now open and we have a little under 40 minutes until the race begins in Montreal.

Will it be a dry race or will the rain pour?

Max Verstappen has already been on the radio to talk tyres.

Mercedes are running away with the constructors' championship.

They are 77 points clear of second-placed Ferrari.

McLaren are third, Red Bull fourth and Alpine fifth.

Image source, Getty Images

Mercedes' George Russell has started to nibble away at Kimi Antonelli's lead.

The 20-point gap has been reduced slightly to 18, but Antonelli is still ahead on 106.

Charles Leclerc's Ferrari sits further afield at 63 points.

Current world champion Lando Norris is fourth with 58 points.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Montreal

It's been a long, gloomy and cold lead-up to the Canadian Grand Prix.

After three days of glorious blue skies and sunshine, the weather turned overnight, and Montreal woke up to rain. It stopped during the morning, but it’s one of those grey days where there is always moisture in the atmosphere and the threat of rain persistently there.

The race is not starting until 4pm local time - two or three hours later than normal - to give the Indianapolis 500 time to finish, so there has been a lot of time to fill in not very pleasant conditions. Although senior F1 personnel are always busy.

The track is dry, but it’s drizzling slightly, although not enough right now to veer teams away from slick tyres. Even in a dry race, there are expected to be problems getting the tyres up to temperature.

The drivers are genuinely concerned about the prospects for a wet one, as the wet tyres don’t work well and very few have any experience of the rain in this year’s cars.

Mercedes will be pleased with having both drivers on the front row for the Canadian Grand Prix, but who will take the victory?

Can George Russell cruise through the race with ease? Does Kimi Antonelli have something up his sleeve?

Could it be someone different?

Or will the weather change things?

Let us know who you think the winner will be by selecting the 'Get Involved' button to have your say.

The weather has taken a turn for the race on Sunday in Montreal.

The dry and bright conditions of the past two days in Montreal are set to be replaced by wet and cold conditions on Sunday.

The risk of rain for the race start, which is 4pm local time, is 78%, with temperatures also dropping to about 12C compared to Friday and Saturday.

During the drivers' parade, George Russell was wrapped in his coat, "I'm feeling cold right now" he said.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Mercedes' George Russell left it to his last lap to take pole in Saturday's qualifying.

He pipped team-mate Kimi Antonelli by 0.068 seconds to take the top spot for the race.

"It is the most exhilarating feeling in the world when it comes at the last minute out of nowhere," he said over the radio.

Russell won the sprint race on Saturday, converting it from a pole position, but it did come with some drama. In Turn One on lap six, Antonelli tried to overtake Russell around the outside and ended up off the track.

Antonelli was quick on the radio but was told by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff to stop "moaning".

Will Russell do the double this weekend in Canada? He'll want to make a clean start off the line and extend the gap from the rest of the pack.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Montreal

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen has threatened to quit Formula 1 at the end of this season if planned changes to the engine regulations for next year are blocked.

Governing body the FIA said two weeks ago that an agreement had been reached in principle to changes that would reduce the need for energy management with the new engines introduced this year.

But opposition has emerged in subsequent talks around the detail of the plan and there is currently not enough support for the move to be passed under F1's governance protocols.

"If it stays like this, it's going to be a long year next year, which I don't want," said Verstappen.

"It's just mentally not doable for me to stay like this. It's really not."

Verstappen confirmed that if he did decide to stop, he would not come back. "There's a lot of other fun things out there," he said.

Drivers have been complaining this year about the way the new engines, which have a nominal 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical energy, have reduced their ability to drive on the limit at all times.

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Four-time World Champion Max Verstappen qualified sixth for Sunday's race, just ahead of his team-mate Isack Hadjar.

Earlier this week, Verstappen said the planned changes to Formula 1's engine rules for next year would return racing "almost back to normal" and hinted he would stay in the sport as a result.

But he's threatened to quit if these changes are blocked.

Let's have a look at what he has said.