In addition to three DRS zones, there have been a number of changes to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix.

Ahead of the opening of the new paddock complex in 2019, the wall on the drivers' left after the exit of Turn 2 has been replaced and a new debris fence fitted. At the same time, the walls on the both sides of the track between Turns 3 and 6 and at the back of the run-off at Turn 6 have also been replaced, with new debris fences fitted.

In addition, the walls in the escape road at Turn 3 have been re-aligned to provide a larger run-off and easier access for removing cars, while the wall in the run-off at Turn 10 has been re-aligned to provide better protection for rescue vehicles.

The walls straight on at Turn 14 have been also been re-aligned while the tyre barriers at Turns 2 (inside), 4, 6, 10, 13 and 14 have been replaced by TecPro barriers.

As previously reported, there are three DRS zones this weekend.

A new zone has been added, with a detection point 15m after Turn 5 and an activation point 95m after Turn 7.

The previous zones remain unchanged, other than the fact that the second zone has been extended by 100m. They still share a detection point 110m before Turn 9, with activation points 155m before Turn 12 and 70m after Turn 14.

While the available tyre compounds are the same as Monaco the two venues couldn't be any more different. Monaco tends to be a track where the start order bears a close resemblance to the finishing order while in Canada, anything can - and often does - happen.

This is due to the demanding track layout which features several overtaking opportunities, unpredictable weather, and - this year - the first big challenge for the new hypersoft, which made its debut two weeks ago. However, while Monaco is known as the track that asks the least from the tyres all year, Montreal contains bigger speeds and different corners.

A semi-permanent facility infrequently used outside the grand prix, track evolution from Friday to Sunday tends to be particularly high.

Furthermore, Canada is about traction and braking: longitudinal rather than lateral forces, consequently it is one of the most demanding circuits on brakes all year and if brakes overheat, this can affect tyres also.

"The track surface at Montreal is actually quite smooth," says Pirelli's Mario Isola, "but we should still see more than one pit stop due to the combination of the softest tyre nomination that we have ever brought to Canada, and a more demanding track layout than Monaco.

"In the past, there has been an extremely wide variety of strategies seen at this race, and the arrival of the hypersoft should now open up those possibilities still further.

"In reality, nobody knows exactly how it will perform in Canada in terms of wear and degradation, so the homework done during free practice will be more important than ever."

Since the current circuit configuration came into use in 2002 the race has been won from pole position eight times from 15 events, with three occurring in the last three years. Kimi Raikkonen, in 2005, and Jenson Button, in 2011, hold the record for wins from furthest back on the grid on this configuration. Both won from P7 on the grid.

Lewis Hamilton can equal Michael Schumacher's record of seven wins here this weekend as victory last year took the Briton's Montreal total to six. After scoring his maiden F1 win in 2007 with McLaren he added further wins for the Woking team in 2010 and 2012, before embarking on a hat-trick for Mercedes, starting in 2015.

Hamilton can also this weekend break Schumacher's record of Canadian Grand Prix pole positions. Both men have six poles in Montreal, with Schumacher's being scored in 1994 and 1995, with Benetton, and then in 1997 and from 1999-2001, with Ferrari. Hamilton's first pole here was his first ever, in 2007, with McLaren. He was on pole again with McLaren in 2008 and 2010 and he has started the last three races here from the front of the grid, with Mercedes.

The only other current drivers to have a pole position to their name at this track are Sebastian Vettel (2011, 2012 and 2013, all with Red Bull Racing) and Fernando Alonso, who landed pole here in 2006 with Renault.

Four other current drivers have also won here, though only Hamilton is a multiple winner. Kimi Raikkonen won in 2005 for McLaren, Fernando Alonso for Renault in 2006, Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull Racing in 2013 and Daniel Ricciardo scored his maiden grand prix victory here in 2014, again with Red Bull.

Sebastian Vettel is set to start his 10th Canadian Grand Prix this weekend. The German has never failed to finish in Montreal and is the only current driver with more than one Canadian Grand Prix to his name to have scored points every single time he has raced here. Vettel's current team-mate, Raikkonen, can boast the most points finishes of a current driver (13) but an otherwise perfect scoring record is blemished by a 2008 DNF, when he was crashed into by Hamilton in the pit lane.

Looking at some of the top betting site picks, Daniel Ricciardo remains a distant fourth in the odds at 9/1 even though he earned his second win of the year in Monaco last weekend. Then again, the predicted grid penalties won't aid his cause. The Australian follows Lewis Hamilton (3/2), Sebastian Vettel (3/2), and Valtteri Bottas (7/1). While the twisty nature of Monaco favoured Red Bull, the lack of grunt from the Renault power-unit will be noticeable, and with Mercedes opting to delay the introduction of its engine update, Ferrari is certain to head into the weekend feeling confident.

Indeed, the Maranello outfit is the most successful constructor at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with 10 wins, one ahead of McLaren. However, the Woking outfit is more successful in Canada overall, however, with 13 victories, two ahead of Ferrari.

Check out our Thursday gallery from Montreal, here.