Mercedes Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the first practice session ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver was two-tenths faster than the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.
The Brit set his fastest time on the supersoft tyres. Hamilton will be looking to use his experience of six wins in Montreal to guide his team to victory this weekend following the disappointment he had in Monaco a fortnight ago.
FP1 must, however, be taken with a pinch of salt, as it rarely gives a real understanding of the true performance of the teams real performance. But, both Vettel and his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen who finished fourth suffered spins.
The session also saw Bottas make a mistake when he locked up coming into the pits. But lap times throughout the session did fall as the circuit cleaned up. That mistake proved costly, as he badly flat-spotted to run anymore ending his session early.
It was a strong start once again for Force India, both Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon were fifth and sixth, within a second of the Mercedes. Next was the Red Bull of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, however, the Williams of Felipe Massa split the two.
Fernando Alonso’s return to McLaren was difficult as the team’s reliability issues with the teams Honda engine continued. The Spaniard only managed thirteen laps, before a loss of hydraulic pressure saw him pull off
Alonso team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne completed twenty-nine laps on his way to eleventh. He was ahead of the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and Williams Lance Stroll. However, the Canadian rookie appeared unhappy with his set-up.
For the other Spaniard Carlos Sainz, his session ended at the hairpin on his out lap, with smoke coming from the rear of the Toro Rosso.
Romain Grosjean was fourteenth ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg who was another spinner.
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