Canadian GP: Free Practice #1 - RE-CAP & TIMES

CANADIAN GP - FREE PRACTICE #1 - RE-CAP & TIMES

    Max Verstappen topped the times in the opening free practice session ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.

    The Red Bull driver set a 1m13.389s time in the final third of the session, before improving to 1m13.302s.

    The performance would be a confidence boost to Verstappen, who has come under pressure after mixed weekends throughout the season. But the session wasn’t perfect for the Dutchman, with a puncture caused by debris on track disrupting his running.

    The gap back to the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton could also be cause for concern for Red Bull. Verstappen’s time on the hypersoft compound of tyre was just 0.088s quicker than Hamilton’s ultrasoft time.

    A late improvement put Daniel Ricciardo P3, ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Valtteri Bottas, and Kimi Raikkonen.

    After running top early in the session, Fernando Alonso dropped back to seventh, finishing best of the rest, with Carlos Sainz, Stoffel Vandoorne, and Pierre Gasly completing the top 10.

    Sainz’s team-mate Nico Hulkenberg started the morning in trouble. Just 10 minutes into the session, his Renault came to a stop on track, bringing out the red flags. He completed just a handful of laps and failed to set a time.

    Esteban Ocon finished P11, ahead of Romain Grosjean, Marcus Ericsson, and Charles Leclerc.

    Kevin Magnussen and Brendon Hartley took 15th and 16th.

    Both Williams drivers ran into trouble in FP1. Lance Stroll was the first to find the wall after suffering oversteer at the chicane. He managed to make it back to the pits, but the incident meant he completed half as many laps as team-mate Sergey Sirotkin.

    Sirotkin hit the barrier late in the session after spinning at turn 6.

    The pair finished 17th and 18th, with Sirotkin 0.5s faster than his team-mate.

    Friday driver Nicholas Latifi, standing in for Sergio Perez, was P19.

TIMES:

1. Max Verstappen - 1:13.302 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands
2. Lewis Hamilton - 1:13.390 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain
3. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:13.518 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia
4. Sebastian Vettel - 1:13.574 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany
5. Valtteri Bottas - 1:13.617 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland
6. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:13.727 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland
7. Fernando Alonso - 1:13.900 / McLaren-Renault / Spain
8. Carlos Sainz - 1:14.116 / Renault-Renault / Spain
9. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:14.311 / McLaren-Renault / Belgium
10. Pierre Gasly - 1:15.004 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France
11. Esteban Ocon - 1:15.071 / Force India-Mercedes / France
12. Romain Grosjean - 1:15.119 / Haas-Ferrari / France
13. Marcus Ericsson - 1:15.386 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
14. Charles Leclerc - 1:15.439 / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco
15. Kevin Magnussen - 1:15.579 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
16. Brendon Hartley - 1:15.756 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand
17. Sergey Sirotkin - 1:15.768 / Williams-Mercedes / Russia
18. Lance Stroll - 1:16.259 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
19. Nicholas Latifi - 1:17.145 / Force India-Mercedes / Canada
20. Nico Hulkenberg - NO TIME SET / Renault-Renault / Germany

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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