It would appear that the two main protagonists in terms of the world championship are preparing to do some gambling this afternoon.

With tyre wear the main cause of concern, McLaren - which qualified on the super-soft (option) tyre - is hoping for a safety car in the early stages of the race. While Red Bull - which qualified on the medium (prime) tyre is gambling that there isn't an early safety car, that it made the right choice in starting the race of mediums and that McLaren didn't.

With no overnight rain, and the forecasters now saying that we're in for a dry afternoon, it appears that the weather will not be a factor here. Instead, we will have to focus on those bits of rubber at the corner of each car, the more over-enthusiastic drivers out there and the unforgiving Montreal walls.

There is a long history of safety car periods here, however, the question is whether we'll see it at the very beginning of the race or later in the afternoon. Then again, there is every chance that we'll see more than one appearance by the fabulous silver Mercedes AMG.

McLaren came here as favourites, indeed, all the Mercedes powered cars looked to have the edge, due to the sheer grunt of the British built powerplant and - in McLaren's case - a highly efficient F-duct. However, tyre wear has caused many of us, not least the teams, to think again.

That said, McLaren, certainly in terms of Lewis Hamilton, appear to have the edge, though Jenson Button is legendary for his Prost-like silky-smooth style which is very kind to its tyres. Nonetheless, we could, for the first time this season, see drivers making two - maybe even three - scheduled tyre stops this afternoon.

That said, on a day when there is a lot of gambling going down, anything can happen and probably will.

While Michael Schumacher looked disappointing, we have a sneaky feeling that the German was looking ahead to today's race and was more than happy to miss Q3, thereby having the option of choosing which tyres with which to start the race. We might be wrong, we usually are, but time will tell.

Other than McLaren and Red Bull, watch out for the Ferraris, which are doing much better here than expected, Robert Kubica - a proven winner here - and the Force Indias, which, other than the Mercedes engine, have an efficient aero package.

The Williams duo qualified eleventh and twelfth, and, providing they can keep out of trouble could add a point or two to the Grove outfit's tally. Vitaly Petrov has been working hard all weekend but in all honesty appears to be overdriving the Renault, and that can only end in heartbreak on this kind of track.

The Toro Rossos are struggling here as are the Saubers, with Kamui Kobayashi lucky not to be out-qualified by Heikki Kovalainen. Meanwhile, Hispania and Virgin continue their own private battle with neither team appearing to make progress.

Hamilton, Alonso, Kubica and Schumacher have all won here before, the German six times, but, all things considered, it is the Englishman who must be favourite to repeat the feat here again today.