F1 GP Canada, Free Practice 1: Verstappen ahead of Hamilton in the first outing of the weekend

Max Verstappen opens the race weekend in Canada with his Red Bull, and the best time of 1:13.302. With the hypersoft compound, the softest in the Pirelli range, the Dutchman left behind the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, 88 thousandths of a second behind and second with a compound disadvantage, and the single-seater of his teammate Ricciardo, who came third in tire parity with his teammate. Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen, Alonso, Sainz, Vandoorne and Gasly complete the top ten of this first session, which saw only one red flag waving due to Hulkenberg's stop. Excellent pace also for Hamilton's Mercedes in the race pace simulation, with the ultrasoft compound.

News – The sun kisses on Friday morning on the track in Montreal: Verstappen and Raikkonen are the first to venture into the curves of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the usual installation laps. The first responses from the drivers speak of a dirty track, which will however improve over the course of the session. In these FP1 Nicholas Latifi is at the wheel of Force India in place of Checo Perez. The first time belongs to Sirotkin's Williams, 1:23.556, when we are about fifteen minutes from the start and Hamilton has just settled into the cockpit of his Mercedes. Ricciardo passes at the top, dodged shortly afterwards by Alonso's McLaren. Thirty minutes from the start the Spaniard, on the hypersoft tyre, leads the group with the best time of 1:15.006, followed by Vandoorne, Bottas, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Sainz, Grosjean, Sirotkin, Gasly and Raikkonen. Vettel is 13th. Ricciardo, Sainz, Gasly and Vettel are on the ultrasoft compound, while the top ten are on the supersoft.

But here comes the red flag to interrupt the activity on the track: Hulkenberg's Renault is stuck at the end of the straight, with the gearbox blocked. The drivers' single-seaters then return to the pits, waiting for the track to become usable again. At the restart, Bottas sets the pace with the red tire and a time of 1:14.243. Halfway through the session, behind the Finn are Alonso, Vandoorne, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Vettel, Sainz, Kimi, Gasly and Ericsson.

So the Spaniard from McLaren returns to lead the group, again on the hypersoft compound. Like him, Vandoorne, second, and Ocon, sixth, are also on pink tyres. Then it's Hamilton's turn again, the fastest in 1:13.967, followed by his faithful teammate. Verstappen, the only one up to that point without a time trial, took to the track with the hypersofts and took seventh and then fourth place in that order, before taking the lead from the Briton, thanks to a time of 1:13.389. Behind him we find Hamilton, Bottas, Alonso, Vandoorne, Kimi, Ricciardo, Vettel, Ocon and Sainz. Kimi is the only one still with the red compound, the others are all on ultrasofts, except for the two McLarens, which are also on hypersofts.

Vettel is forced to take a break in the pits, with the mechanics busy working on the bottom of his SF71H. Verstappen meanwhile dropped to 1:13.302, while Ricciardo rose to third place. Bottas, Kimi, Alonso, Sainz, Vandoorne, Vettel and Ocon complete the top ten positions. Once back on track with the hypersoft compound, the Ferrari German took fourth place, while the race pace simulation began.

The checkered flag gives Verstappen's Red Bull the first free practice session, ahead of Hamilton and Ricciardo.

F1 GP Canada – Times, results and laps Free Practice 1