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

2018 Canadian Grand Prix: Vettel seizes pole

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...

---

Please allow a moment for the blog to load...

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

Key Points

• The Canadian Grand Prix starts at 19:10 BST
• Sebastian Vettel starts on pole position with Lewis Hamilton down in fourth
• Valtteri Bottas second with Max Verstappen third after difficult run of form

[10 June 2018 11:35 · Jack de Menezes]

Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the Canadian Grand Prix.

With lights out scheduled for 19:10 BST, we'll kick off our live coverage from 18:00 to bring you all the build-up to what should be a cracking race, with the top six drivers all harbouring realistic hopes of triumphing this evening.

[10 June 2018 18:04 · Jack de Menezes]

Good evening and thanks for joining our live coverage of what is lined up to be a cracking race. Any one of the top six could win the seventh grand prix of the season. Heading into the race, Vettel, Hamilton and Ricciardo have all taken two wins apiece, but Bottas has been within a whisker of a race win on more than one occasion and Verstappen has proven in the past that he has the pace to pull off a shock result. With Raikkonen also in the mix, and the streets of Montreal known for unpredictability and a safety car or two, anything could happen over the course of the next three hours.

[10 June 2018 18:15 · Jack de Menezes]

Yesterday's qualifying session couldn't have been much closer if it had tried. Ricciardo set the pace in Q2, but that speed deserted him in Q3 as he could only muster sixth place just behind Raikkonen.

Hamilton certainly had the pace but struggled with a rear brake issue that kept leading to a front-right lock-up in the hairpin, leading to him finishing fourth on the second-row alongside Verstappen. The teenager has come under fire recently for the number of crashes he's had this season and his comment in Thursday's press conference that he would "headbutt" the next journalist who asked him about this, but he responded with an incredibly strong Friday and Saturday and took third place, before telling team boss Christian Horner "Looks like I can still drive."

That left the top two, and although Bottas pushed Vettel close, the Ferrari man improved his time with his second lap to consolidate his pole for today's race.

Further down, Renault showed good pace to claim the best of the rest in seventh with Hulkenburg, while Sainz starts ninth with Ocon in-between. The second Force India of Perez completes the top 10, but you have to look a long way down in 14th and 15th to find the McLarens after a disappointing qualifying session, with Alonso starting ahead of Vandoorne. 

Gasly is supposed to line up 16th, but he's taken a new power unit that will drop him to the back of the grid.

[10 June 2018 18:19 · Jack de Menezes]

Our F1 correspondent David Tremayne was in Montreal to call qualifying as it happened.

[10 June 2018 18:25 · Jack de Menezes]

Plenty has been made of Max Verstappen's recent actions - both on and off the track - and after coming out swinging on Thursday, he struck a very different tone after topping both practice sessions on Friday.

[10 June 2018 18:35 · Jack de Menezes]

The weekend is particularly special for one man as Fernando Alonso, the two-time world champion, celebrates his 300th Grand Prix. Alonso will of course go down in history as one of the greats, but as David Tremayne writes, there are key reasons why he is not the great one.

With his future very much in doubt beyond the end of the season and the Le Mans 24 Hours on the cards next season, what will Alonso do next?

[10 June 2018 18:38 · Jack de Menezes]

Wow...the pit lane is open for cars to go to the grid, and Ricciardo comes within a whisker of sticking it in the wall! The Red Bull ace comes flying out of turn seven and runs wide onto the dirty kerb and just keeps it out of the concrete, and unsurprisingly he backs it off the pace quickly.

[10 June 2018 18:45 · Jack de Menezes]

With 25 minutes until lights out, here's how the grid shapes up:

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

Note: Pierre Gasly starts at the back of the grid due to a power unit change.

[10 June 2018 18:56 · Jack de Menezes]

A comical moment on the grid ahead of the race arises as Martin Brundle, deep into gridwalk mode, butts in on a conversion to speak to supermodel Winnie Harlow - only to usher Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin away as he was speaking to her.

All rather weird, but it's time for the Canadian national anthem with all 20 drivers at the front of the grid.

[10 June 2018 18:58 · Jack de Menezes]

A lovely rendition of Oh Canada ends with a two-plane flyover, but with little over 10 minutes until lights out, it's time for the drivers to suit up, helmet on and jump into their cars!