2014 Canadian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Rosberg has retaken the Drivers’ Championship lead with 122 points, four ahead of Hamilton in second. Alonso holds third with 61 points; Ricciardo is fourth and Hülkenberg fifth.

Previous race

Rosberg won Monaco from pole, leading every lap to claim his second victory of 2014 and the fifth of his career. Hamilton finished second and Ricciardo third, his second podium in two races. Bianchi took ninth — scoring Marussia’s first Formula One World Championship points since the team entered as Virgin Racing in 2010. The podium celebrations were muted by tension between the Mercedes drivers after Hamilton felt Rosberg had deliberately run off track at Mirabeau during qualifying, ending Hamilton’s final lap under yellow flags. Rosberg was investigated but cleared. Hamilton declined to accept Rosberg’s apology; they did not communicate on the podium. The two have since spoken and, in Hamilton’s words, “we’re cool, still friends.”

Between-race developments

Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda was openly unhappy with the Monaco qualifying incident and said he would speak to both drivers before Canada. Rosberg said his relationship with Hamilton had not fundamentally changed, describing the situation as part of a “very tight battle” for the championship.

Car upgrades

Mercedes have added fins and turning vanes to the front suspension’s lower wishbone and rear section of the brake ducts to improve airflow and reduce drag. Toro Rosso have built new exhaust systems following fractures on their previous units, likely caused by overheating that led to their Monaco retirements.

Entrants

Alexander Rossi drives Kobayashi’s Caterham in FP1 for the first time in 2014.

Tyre choices

Pirelli brings the yellow-banded soft compound and the red-banded super-soft.

Practice

Alonso set the fastest time in FP1 at 1:17.238 under heavy cloud cover. During the session several drivers ran off track due to low grip; Bianchi damaged a right track rod hitting the wall at turn four; Hülkenberg spun at the turn eight chicane; Massa stopped early with an ERS battery issue. Hamilton recorded the day’s fastest lap in FP2 at 1:16.118, with Rosberg second and Vettel third. Bianchi was restricted to three slow laps because of engine issues requiring an overnight engine change. In FP3 Hamilton was again quickest at 1:15.610 on soft compound tyres. Massa was second, Rosberg third. The session was red-flagged 15 minutes in when Gutiérrez lost rear grip at the turn three/four chicane and struck the outside barrier — the crash was too severe to be repaired in time for qualifying, and Gutiérrez missed the session.