2010 Canadian Grand Prix

Previous race

In Turkey, Sebastian Vettel attempted to pass teammate Mark Webber for the lead on lap 40. The two Red Bulls collided; Vettel retired immediately while Webber recovered to finish third. Hamilton won the race with Button second. Neither Vettel nor Webber is prepared to accept full responsibility for the collision, though both say they want to move on.

Championship standings

Hamilton takes the lead of the championship after winning in Turkey, with Button close behind. Webber and Vettel have both been damaged by their Istanbul collision. The Montreal circuit is widely expected to favour the low-downforce strengths of McLaren rather than the Red Bull package that has dominated recent races.

Between-race developments

The Canada race returned to the calendar this year after a one-year absence. None of the teams plan major upgrades for Montreal; those running the F-duct device are still in the trial phase of its development.

Milestones

This race is Scuderia Ferrari’s 800th start in a World Championship event as a constructor.

Practice

The Friday sessions passed without significant incident aside from minor off-track excursions and a spin by de la Rosa at the L’Épingle hairpin. Di Grassi was the only driver not to set a time in the first session after stopping on circuit. The standout story of Friday was severe tyre degradation on the super-soft compound: several sections of the circuit had been resurfaced since Formula One’s 2008 visit, leaving the new surface with little grip and unable to bring the tyres to their optimum temperature. Bridgestone’s motorsport tyre development director Hirohide Hamashima attributed the problem to the tyres failing to generate heat. New teams continued to close the gap: Kovalainen finished the second session just over half a second behind Alguersuari, compared to a three-second deficit in Bahrain.

Vettel was fastest in the second session, with Alonso and Rosberg behind him. The McLarens, which had set the pace in the first session, both struggled in the afternoon.

In Saturday practice, Hamilton was comfortably fastest, ahead of Webber, Alonso, and Schumacher. Hamilton was seen clipping the concrete walls at one point, as did Massa, but both continued. Chandhok’s Hispania stopped on circuit early in the session. Rosberg was sidelined for most of the hour with a clutch problem. Di Grassi lost control under braking at L’Épingle and came to rest in the gravel having recorded the session’s highest speed — 324 km/h — through the speed trap.