Having brought their hardest tyres to Barcelona, Formula One's sole tyre supplier Pirelli are set to spice things up with the softest compounds at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix.

The Canadian Grand Prix is the tenth round of the season, the second in North America after Miami. Montreal is one of the staples on the calendar, for many years the only round in this part of the world.

It is popular with drivers and teams because there’s always a real buzz around the event thanks to the enthusiasm of the local fans. For the whole week, the city in the Province of Quebec comes alive with events linked to the Grand Prix.

The compounds

For the third time this season, the softest trio of compounds will feature on track. That means, after appearing for the first time in Imola and again in Monaco, the C6 will be in use, alongside its closest relatives, the C5 as Medium and the C4 as Hard. The selection is therefore one step softer than last year when the chosen compounds were the C3, C4 and C5.

This weekend, when using the new C6, teams and drivers will be able to make the most of the information and data gathered at its two previous appearances.

The Gilles Villeneuve Circuit is a track where the lateral forces exerted on the tyres are medium to low, while the longitudinal ones are a bit more severe, although not particularly high, because of the cars being subjected to strong deceleration followed by sharp acceleration.

The track surface is very smooth and not very abrasive and is never used for racing apart from the Grand Prix weekend. Graining, especially during free practice on Friday, could put in an appearance, but as the track gradually rubbers-in it shouldn’t be a factor. Lap times come down really quickly, not just from one day to the next, but also during each session.

On top of that, the unpredictable and changeable weather is a factor to consider, a wildcard that’s been known to disrupt the on-track action here, while fluctuating temperatures are a feature of the Montreal event.

The race got underway on a wet track. 18 drivers opted to start on Intermediates, while the Haas pair went with extreme wets. Indeed, Magnussen and Hulkenberg provided the show in the early stages of the race, as the blue banded Pirelli Cinturato offered excellent grip in these conditions, so that both drivers were able to charge up the order, with the Dane even making it as high as fourth place by lap 3, having started 14th.

However, the track was drying out rather quickly and so the American team’s two drivers were the first obliged to pit for Intermediates, as their lap times had slowed considerably.

Then, in the second part of the race, the green-banded Pirelli Cinturato was the tyre to have, as conditions alternated between rain and sunshine with the track drying, especially on the racing line, before getting wet again following another shower.

The majority of drivers made the most of the first Safety Car period, forty minutes into the race, to switch to a second set of Intermediates, while a trio made up of Ocon, Tsunoda and Bottas, gambled on their tyres lasting long enough to extend the stint until the track was fit for slicks.

Sauber’s Finn went to lap 42, while Alpine’s Frenchman and Racing Bulls’ Japanese driver waited a further two laps. These three were the only drivers to complete the seventy lap race with only the one pit stop.

When slicks were viable, the majority (14) of drivers chose the Medium, thus looking for a better warm-up phase, while five went with the Hard, thinking more about wear, armed with the knowledge that in free practice, the Medium had suffered with graining.