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F1 Canadian Grand Prix: qualifying – live | Formula One
Key events
Ted Kravitz is in the pitlane, looking at what the teams are up to. Red Bull have caught his eye by looking to add downforce for the wet tomorrow; conceding they can’t compete in qualifying in the dry but there are advantages to be had playing a longer game.
Rival teams – not least McLaren, who had their only internecine strife last year between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri – will be looking to capitalise. Ferrari, who are so fast off the grid, will be anxious at least to break into the second row for the main event, giving Lewis Hamilton and/or Charles Leclerc the chance to threaten the top two, even if they cannot get to the front row by right.
Wolff was pleased with Mercedes’ starts, Russell’s especially, and blamed the car not Antonelli for his being slightly slower. But still …
Back in the day, David James caught more crosses than any other Premier League goalkeeper – because more were fired in, as opposing teams knew that sooner or later he would drop one. One successful pair of starts does not stop a vulnerability being perceived.
It was a difficult incident to cover during the sprint because the TV director failed to show anything immediately and belatedly some unhelpful on-board footage, not screening the best views until after the race had finished. We all heard Antonelli’s complaints, though, which while he went too far did him a disservice.
To me the key points are that Russell could not simply disappear, and that the stewards did not get involved, as they could have done even though the pair are from the same team.
Wolff is chatting to Sky. He is “100% sure he will look like a fool at some points this year” after discussing the rules of engagement, or “racing intent” as they prefer to say.
If you were a multimillionaire team principal, what would you have said in the past couple of hours? The most important point, I guess, is that Wolff would have told Antonelli to focus on what is in front of him, ie qualifying. Mercedes will be after another front-row lockout now and anything else can wait.
What do you think? Let me know via philip.cornwall@theguardian.com
Welcome to qualifying, starting at 9pm BST/4pm EDT.
Has everyone got their breath back? Has everyone cooled down? The first sprint race in Montreal seems likely to feature in reviews of the season after George Russell and Kimi Antonelli almost came to grief and the latter reacted furiously, forcing Toto Wolff on to the team radio to tell the teenager to calm down. Three hours later, they will be back at it, albeit not wheel to wheel as the team send forth their drivers spaced out.
(For a moment I pondered the drug connations of “spaced out”, then let it go, then returned to the quotes, and there’s Antonelli saying Russell had been “very naughty”. God I hated the Shamen’s hymn to MDMA, Ebeneezer Goode, but that “naughty, naughty, very naughty” opening line has stuck around.)
Reuters reports that Russell said he needed to check the video but from what he felt at the time:
“From my side, I didn’t think I did anything wrong and it wasn’t investigated. I guess race directors and stewards thought the same.
“You never get overtaken around the outside of that corner,” he added, saying that Antonelli’s drive was risky. “Kudos to Kimi for giving it a go … I respect that.
“You race each other hard, but fair, and from my side, there’s never ill intentions towards anything. But on the same note, I’m not just going to wave somebody by. And we’re both fighting for our championship.”
Of Antonelli, Reuters said:
He added the team would clarify the situation after reviewing the race. “The main thing for the team is that there was no contact, that we don’t crash into each other.”
We will see what Mercedes say later but you imagine there will be more internal discussions once everyone has packed up and left Quebec.
Giles Richards’ sprint race report
Here’s Giles’s view on Russell and Antonelli:
They had the race in their hands after both made a good start from the front row and Russell closed out well despite pressure from Norris, but the debrief at Mercedes will likely still be a feisty affair.
Still, the win was the strong start to the weekend Russell was looking for. He won the opening race of the season in Australia and the first sprint of the season at the Chinese Grand Prix, but with Antonelli winning the past three races, the young Italian had taken a strong lead in the world championship. Russell needed to reassert himself and did so in the first real test.
Read his full report:
Right, time to wrap up now until qualifying. Here are the latest standings:
1 Kimi Antonelli (It) Mercedes 106pts
2 George Russell (GB) Mercedes 88
3 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 63
4 Lando Norris (GB) McLaren 58
5 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Ferrari 54
6 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 48
7 Max Verstappen (Neth) Red Bull 28
8 Oliver Bearman (GB) Haas 17
9 Pierre Gasly (Fr) Alpine 16
10 Liam Lawson (NZ) Racing Bulls 10
I’ll be back from 8.30pm BST/3.30pm EDT to see how the Mercedes pair battle each other when not wheel to wheel …
Wolff continues, asked about Norris taking P2 off Mercedes because of the fight: “You can see how quickly it goes. You create a gap with two cars, you start to fight a bit and you can lose a race … If it’s the grand prix, Norris may well win.” At bottom, he is glad this happened in a sprint, with fewer points at stake, and wants to use it to lay down some rules of engagement.
Wolff speaks. “It was great cinema. I really enjoyed these moments … we can say how will we handle these moments in future.”
It comes down to a split second and to whether Russell could have done anything differently. As Brundle says, he couldn’t just disappear.
What will Mercedes be saying behind closed doors? How will Antonelli react? He had calmed down by the presentation, but what will he take into qualifying and how will we react in the race tomorrow?
Brundle says that had it been two teams then there would have been protests, but points out that Russell bounced on the kerb – how could he give more space to give the car’s width.
Bernie Collins asking why the race director did not look at Antonelli-Russell. It was a close call. The question is whether Antonelli was under control sufficiently to take the next corner within track limits.
Interesting to hear Russell push back at the notion that he really needed that. “I was never really concerned, to be honest. It’s just I know Miami is a bit of a bogey track for me and of course there’s been this huge break in the calendar, so lots of people with a lot of things to say. But ultimately I just wanted to get back racing and it feels like the season is going to restart now with, I think, six races in eight weeks.” Will he still feel so happy after qualifying? And what will he make of Radio Antonelli?
Jean Alesi, the 1997 winner here, does the presentations.
George Russell as they hold their prizes. Photograph: Bradley Collyer/PA
Norris says “It was good to watch them go at it for a while” of the Mercedes pair. “Today was a good result for us.”
Russell speaks. “It was a cool race, I was just talking to Lando, it was very difficult to get a gap around here. It felt quite easy to follow, the slipstream was quite powerful with the overtake mode.”
Antonelli says he got pushed off, but concedes he made a mistake after that. “I was quite well alongside, I got pushed off.”
That was a hell of a race, even if we never saw the lead truly change, whatever Antonelli may think. Russell had to grind that out. It was a good performance by Norris, too, though he got lucky that when he locked up Antonelli went straight on and had to give the place back.
Russell started on pole and stayed there but it was far from a stroll. Antonelli put him under pressure but lost his head and a place – and he is still sounding off. “We talk about this internally and not on the radio,” says Wolff.
Russell wins the sprint!
Here comes Russell! Ahead of Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton.
Piastri takes Hamilton! Leclerc does too.
Antonelli passes! But off the track and has to give it back.
Lap 22. Russell hanging in there despite graining problems but Norris locked up.
The big overtake chance is Piastri on Hamilton. 0.2 between them.
Lap 21: Hamilton has touched a wall under pressure from Piastri.
10sec time penalty for Hülkenberg for gaining an advantage by leaving the track.
Russell seems to have pulled out a little. Up to 1sec. Perhaps we will be robbed of a grandstand finish.
Martin Brundle was arguing earlier that you might want to be second going into the final lap, the theory being that you can overtake and not be got back at. But what if there are three cars rather than two in the argument?
Hamilton-Piastri-Leclerc is as tight as Russell-Norris-Antonelli. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, started seventh, has stayed seventh, and is no threat and under no threat.
Sector times are such an oddity now: with variations in the use of the hybrid power across different parts of the circuit, it is very hard to make comparisons.
Russell struggling. Tyres not hot enough and some graining on his mediums. Antonelli putting in fastest laps in third, Norris doing well too. It is now really tight between the top three.
We’re approaching halfway of the 23-lap sprint. 1. Russell, 2. Norris, 3. Antonelli, 4. Hamilton, 5. Piastri, 6. Leclerc, 7. Verstappen, 8. Lindblad, 9. Colapinto, 10. Sainz
Norris less than a second behind Russell. The Antonelli on-board video suggests Russell was not at fault.
Correction! Hadjar back out. It will be valuable to pick up tips for tomorrow.
Hadjar is out, engine problems for the second Red Bull. A big shame for the first driver in a while to show he can at least use the Verstappen-focused Red Bull decently.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
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