Following his mistake on his qualifying lap, Takuma Sato will be starting from the pitlane in today's Canadian GP. The Japanese driver damaged his car and as a result it necessitated repairs. Gianmaria Bruni has also opted to start from the pitlane.

Following yesterday's dramatic, and somewhat surprising qualifying session, there's great anticipation ahead of today's race. Ralf Schumacher starts from pole with Jenson Button alongside. However it's the cars behind this duo that really capture the imagination, and promise a scintillating battle in the opening minutes. Behind Ralf and Button we have Jarno Trulli, Juan Pablo Montoya, Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher, with Barrichello and the two McLarens just behind.

As ever strategy is the key, and it won't be too long before we discover who was running on fumes and who was thinking ahead to a serious race strategy. That said, we expecting most drivers to opt for two stops, however the big question is when those stops will take place.

Ambient temperature is 25 degrees C, while the track temperature is 37 degrees.

The cars head off on the warm-up lap, Alonso a little slow in getting away.

The cars line up on the grid, the atmosphere is electric.

Ralf makes a great start as does Button, but Trulli pulls off track with a technical problem. At the first corner there's a coming together, Coulthard's involved as are the Jaguars. Sato leaves the pitlane and somehow manages to avoid the mayhem.

At the end of the first lap Ralf leads Button by 1.1s, with Alonso third ahead of Montoya and Michael. Meanwhile Webber pits for repairs having damaged a tyre in the melee, while Trulli retires with what turns out to be a suspension problem.

Ralf continues to pull away from Button, while Alonso, Montoya, Michael, Raikkonen and Barrichello are running nose to tail. Elsewhere Klien makes a mistake but is able to continue.

At the end of lap 5, Ralf leads Button by 2.4s with Alonso 1.2s behind. Da Matta is running eighth ahead of Panis, Heidfeld, Fisichella, Coulthard, Glock, Sato, Klien, Massa, Baumgartner, Bruni and Webber.

Michael is managing to pull away from Raikkonen, who is now holding up Barrichello, while hard on the heels of Montoya. Barrichello gets past the Finn on sheer grunt, though the McLaren could have a problem.

Once 'released', Barrichello is immediately quick, posting a new best time in the first sector then going on to post a new fastest lap.

At the end of lap eight, Webber pits again, as Ralf extends his lead to 3.6s. Back in the Jaguar garage, Webber retires.

Alonso is now running 0.8s behind Button and 1.1s ahead of Montoya, who is shadowed by Michael Schumacher.

At the end of lap 11, Coulthard pits, the Scot currently running twelfth. Next time around teammate Raikkonen pits, the Finn was running eighth.