So far, Montreal has seen dry conditions for all the F1 action. Saturday saw a tense battle between Mercedes teammates George Russell and Kimi Antonelli for Sprint victory, with the Briton getting the upper hand on his teenage teammate. Russell laid another marker down with a last-ditch Pole Position later on in the day, with Antonelli set to start next to him on the front row.

The 28-year-old revealed that his qualifying result had been achieved despite Mercedes making a setup gamble with the chance of rain in mind. Russell said: "We made some changes based on the forecast for tomorrow. It may have hurt us a bit for now. It put the car out of sync a little bit. Kimi was more competitive than I and we weren't as clear ahead of everyone else as yesterday, so it was a challenge but I redialled my driving and put it together."

The threat of rain, however, means anything can happen during the race, and is not a rare thing at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Montreal has been host to some iconic wet-weather races, including Jenson Button's famous 2011 victory at what has been dubbed the greatest wet race in F1 history.

In 2026, wet weather running in the new cars, powered 50:50 by electrical power and internal combustion, and with emphasis on energy management and deployment, has been limited to the Barcelona pre-season shakedown and testing during F1's April break. Such limited experience in the wet has led Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle to suggest that drivers are a "little bit scared" of the prospect in the 2026 cars.

Prior to the Miami GP earlier in May, the FIA banned Boost Mode under wet weather conditions, which goes alongside their previous introduction of a 'partial' active aero mode, where only the front wing opens in specific circuit zones in the rain as opposed to both front and rear wings on a dry track.

While the FIA declared a greater than 40% chance of rain on Saturday evening, it appears the possibility of precipitation has since decreased.

According to Weather.com, rain is currently falling down rather lightly at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve at the time of writing, but things should clear up by the race start at 16:00 local time.

Weather.com has the chance of rain at lights out currently at 13% with only a two percent rise predicated at any point during the race. Humidity should be at 71%, while cloud cover is set at 99% for the start. Southeasterly winds should also reach up to 9mph during the Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, Alpine's Pierre Gasly recently completed a wet-tyre test at Magny-Cours to gauge how the current generation of cars behave in low-grip conditions, calling the experience “memorable” and warning fans to expect surprises if rain hits.

Speaking during the Canadian Grand Prix press conference, Gasly was asked about his wet-weather running and whether it had provided useful insights ahead of a weekend where rain could play a significant role, particularly on Sunday.

In his response, Gasly stated: “You guys are going to be shocked. I’m glad I’ve done these two days. Yeah, it’s going to be interesting for you guys. I mean, I’ve had Silverstone, 20th of January, which was memorable and I think will stay with me forever. But Magny-Cours was also something.”

When pressed further about whether the challenges he experienced were related to the torque of the 2026 car, the 30-year-old opted against providing further response, stating: “You don’t want me to answer that question.”