The weather has been glorious here in the UK, so we're allowed to be just a little bit smug when conditions look so cold and gloomy elsewhere.

A reminder George Russell starts on pole position for the third time in a row in Montreal, he also won here last year, while Kimi Antonelli, who is heading into round five off a hat-trick of victories, is starting alongside his team-mate on the front row.

Another one to look out for is Brit Arvid Lindblad. The Racing Bulls rookie scored a point in the sprint yesterday and is lining up ninth today.

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

The real challenge here is that it is not clear wet or dry, it is kind of somewhere in between. There is a lot of dampness around the circuit and the kerbs here do hold that moisture, it becomes very, very slippery.

There's grass right next to the race track, just beyond all of the grass sections are very hard concrete walls that will destroy a car if it hits them.

BBC Sounds

Harry Benjamin, former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley and F1 correspondent Andrew Benson are in position and ready to take us through this Canadian Grand Prix.

Click the 'listen live' tab at the top of the page, tune in via the BBC Sounds app if you're on the go or if you have a smart speaker, just say "play 5 Live".

Ian Fergusson
BBC weather forecaster

Very different conditions today verus yesterday, air temperature is 12.3C and track 16.6C.

Brisk SSE wind, recently gusting to 28mph. Light drizzly rain is likely to feature at times, and FIA official risk of (light) rain is 50%.

The skies are getting darker, and there are plenty of coat hoods up in the grandstands.

After the Miami Grand Prix was brought forward to avoid the bad weather, Canada’s potential wet forecast could give us a first glimpse of how these new generation of cars and tyres handle any slippery conditions.

Ferrari and Red Bull did do some wet running during the shakedown in Barcelona in January, and Isack Hadjar and Racing Bulls took part in Pirelli’s wet weather 2027 tyre testing programme after the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

Pierre Gasly was recently at Magna-Cours for a wet test and polesitter George Russell told Sky Sports the Frenchman’s feedback wasn’t so positive.

When the pit lane was opened earlier, drivers did head out on the green intermediates but Red Bull called Max Verstappen pretty quickly to say get back in for slicks.

During the grid walk, however, Cadillac’s Sergio Perez told Martin Brundle: "Really hard choice between the inters and the slick tyre."

Decisions, decisions…

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.