To get involved use Twitter<\/strong><\/a> (via hashtag #BBCF1<\/strong><\/a> ) or text us via 81111<\/strong> with F1<\/strong> before your message. (Not all contributions can be used. Messages will be charged at your standard operator rate.)<\/span><\/p>\n BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson in Montreal:<\/strong> “Oh dear. Unfortunately for Vettel, he effectively predicted this crash himself on Thursday, when he said: ‘This is one of the most difficult weekends. You have the walls pretty close. I felt it in 2008, when I was not able to take part in qualifying because I hit the wall in practice. It is a long weekend.’ It’s unlikely to affect him too much, though – if you remember, he also crashed in first practice in Turkey and missed most of Friday, but still dominated the race.”<\/p>\n Sebastian Vettel on the Red Bull team radio:<\/strong> “I hit the kerb, slid off the track and hit the wall. I’m fine.”<\/p>\n BBC Radio 5 live F1 commentator David Croft:<\/strong> “Vettel adds his name to F1 champions who have gone into the Wall of Champions. Vettel was one of the first cars to go out on the soft tyres so maybe pushing a bit harder – he was pushing for his best lap time. That was a big crunch and has pretty much wrecked the right-hand side of his car.”<\/p>\n 1556:<\/strong> A crash for Sebastian Vettel, a heavy one, losing control as his car drifts after the chicane and he slams the right side of into the Wall of Champions. The driver’s fine, but the world champion’s error has caused the session to be red-flagged.<\/p>\n 1554:<\/strong> With a lot of comment about the track being very “dirty” at this stage, the chicane at turns eight and nine is causing some problems, and Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari grazes the grass…<\/p>\n BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson in Montreal:<\/strong> “Many of the teams have brought updates to this race, a lot of them specifically in response to its requirement for a relatively low downforce configuration. But Ferrari may have something more than that. A few weeks ago, team boss Stefano Domenicali mentioned Canada as the first race at which his team might be expected to challenge for victory after a disappointing start to the season. And the team have brought new front and rear wings as well as an updated version of their exhaust-blown diffuser to Canada. Fernando Alonso didn’t sound too optimistic on Thursday, so it will be interesting to see how he goes here, on a track where he came close to winning in 2010.”<\/p>\n BBC pit-lane reporter Jennie Gow:<\/strong> “Lewis Hamilton is standing alongside his pit crew and they’re talking about why the steering column blanked out. They are going to do a quick fix and he will manage to do some more practice laps, but they’re not sure why it happened.”<\/p>\n 1547:<\/strong> Change at the top. Ferrari appear to be enjoying a decent weekend – in its very early stages – as Felipe Massa tops the times, while Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) is second, from Mark Webber (Red Bull). The second Ferrari (Fernando Alonso) is fourth quickest.<\/p>\n BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz:<\/strong> “There are two people with big problems. Sebastian Vettel is back in the garage and they have been working on the brakes on his Red Bull and only now is he stepping back in the car. But Lewis Hamilton’s looks terminal. They’ve removed the entire steering column from his car.”<\/p>\n 1542:<\/strong> Hamilton’s session could be over. His McLaren is up on the stands in the garage, they’re taking the floor off the car, and the driver has already unzipped his race suit. Problems.<\/p>\n BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson:<\/strong> “A novelty for this weekend is the introduction of a second zone where drivers can deploy their ‘DRS’ overtaking aid – a moving part of the rear wing that reduces drag and therefore boosts speed. Here in Montreal, the first zone is down the long straight from the hairpin into the final chicane – but a second immediately follows along the pit straight. No one appears to think two zones is a bad idea, even though overtaking is generally not a problem here. But there are mixed views about its likely efficacy. Jenson Button believes that a driver risks losing two places if he is being chased by two cars – one in the first zone and one in the second. But Sebastian Vettel believes overtaking will still be tough down the pit straight because ‘into Turn One is not a hard stop’.”<\/p>\n Hispania technical director Geoff Willis:<\/strong> “We’ve been trying to bring new parts to every race. We have a new exhaust layout and we’ll decide whether it will stay on during the weekend. We’re preparing for our first wind tunnel programme which will be starting next month in Brackley [home of the Mercedes team]. Everyone is racing their neighbours and our immediate neighbours are Virgin so anything we can do to get closer to them will be a step for us.”<\/p>\n 1538:<\/strong> Hamilton on top now, from Schumacher. Jamie Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) is third fastest, but I’ll be amazed if he does anything like as well as that come Sunday. Oh and did you know? Paul di Resta, of Force India, has never taken to this circuit in any cateogry of racing. He’s eighth fastest at present.<\/p>\n BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz:<\/strong> “Red Bull’s new front wing is beautiful and they have a new diffuser on the car as well – some photographers were trying to get a look of it but the Red Bull mechanics were standing in the way. Lovely work at Red Bull and a feeling in the team that they aren’t going to just settle for the points here this weekend. They are going to try and win this one.”<\/p>\n 1534:<\/strong> As well as birds causing problems here, groundhogs are an issue at this track – yes, like in that movie. I’ll keep you posted if anything happens. Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher now tops the timings, and Lewis Hamilton has the second fastest lap.<\/p>\n From Adam Venus,<\/strong> via text message: “There was a risk that a Bahrain event would have brought politics into sport. Bad move.”<\/div>\n 1526:<\/strong> First quick lap times coming through, and it’s Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso setting the early pace with a spin round the circuit at a tick under 1min 20secs.<\/p>\n BBC Radio 5 live F1 commentator David Croft:<\/strong> “The only Red Bull driver to stand on the podium in Montreal is David Coulthard in 2008. This circuit isn’t their best. It is fair to say that if McLaren can’t do it here their chances aren’t great for the rest of the season.”<\/p>\n 1522:<\/strong> Fairly quiet out on the track for now. Everyone has done at least a lap or two, but nobody has set a time yet.<\/p>\n BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson in Montreal:<\/strong> “The death knell for Bahrain rang on Monday when the teams objected to going there, and everything since then has effectively been an elaborate dance to formalise that reality. The latest step in that came last night, when Bahrain put out a statement saying they accepted the race would not happen. All that remains is for the FIA to formally republish the calendar without Bahrain and moving India back to 30 October, its original date.”<\/p>\n 1518:<\/strong> Drama of a very minor sort as Jarno Trulli’s Lotus collides with a small bird on his installation lap. I’ll let you guess who won that particular fight.<\/p>\n BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson in Montreal:<\/strong> “The usual suspects will doubtless be battling it out at the front this weekend, with Red Bull facing a challenge from McLaren and Ferrari, but the unique layout of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is likely to shake things up a bit. There are no fast corners for the Red Bulls to stretch their legs, and the long straights are not good for the championship leaders, whose cars do not have as much power as their rivals. So the expectation is that Red Bull will face a tougher challenge than normal. McLaren’s Jenson Button predicts that may come from an unexpected quarter. Mercedes get a bigger advantage down the straights from their DRS drag-reduction device than any other team and Button says this will mean ‘they are going to be very, very quick in qualifying’.”<\/p>\n 1512:<\/strong> Toro Rosso reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo, subbing for Sebastien Buemi, reports back after a few laps with the following news about his brakes: “Quite a soft feeling from the pedal and quite sticky.”<\/p>\n BBC Radio 5 live F1 commentator David Croft:<\/strong> “I was talking to some of the Virgin guys, they were all saying that they have quite a few parts that they won’t be able to use if we get rain this weekend.” 1502:<\/strong> The racing green livery draped over the chassis of Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus flashes through the first few turns – the Finn is the first man to hit the tarmac.<\/p>\n 1450:<\/strong> In 10 minutes, the pit lane will open at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Tyre choices this weekend are softs and super softs. Expect the drivers to take things relatively easy early on – this is a circuit that can severely test suspension, brakes and engines – there have been an average eight retirements per race since the start of the Millennium.<\/p>\n BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson in Montreal:<\/strong> “The Canadian Grand Prix is one of the most popular events on the calendar with those in Formula 1. Montreal is a vibrant, exciting city and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve always seems to produce exciting races. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who has won two of the last four races here, is a particular fan: “It’s a fantastic place. This is one of the top races of the year. The city is full of people, it’s a great place to be, there’s great history here, Gilles Villeneuve, it’s a street circuit, it’s quite bumpy, I particularly enjoy it. You’ve got to be close to the walls here, which I really like doing.”<\/p>\n
…I’ll add this: a number of teams are trying tweaks to various body parts, it’s like a plastic surgery clinic for rich Californians out there.<\/em><\/p>\n
I don’t think anyone’s complaining about there being too much overtaking are they?<\/em><\/div>\n