Kimi Antonelli led Mercedes teammate George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in the only free practice ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, with the session interrupted by three red flags.
Antonelli entered this weekend with a 20-point lead over Russell in the title race and wasted no time making the most of Mercedes’ extensive upgrade package, leaving the teenager just over a tenth behind Russell with a time of 1 minute 13.402 seconds, with Hamilton more than seven-tenths behind.
With just an hour session to run before sprint qualifying later on Friday, drivers and teams were keen to learn as much as possible, and as soon as the lights at the end of the pit lane turned green at 12:30 local time, all 22 cars set off for Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Franco Colapinto’s Alpine suffered problems within the first five minutes, with the Argentine returning to the pit lane and saying over the radio that “the throttle is not working”, where the team worked to repair an electrical problem in the power unit.
Drivers began exploring the limits of the 4.41-mile circuit from the start, with Norris entering the run-off area of the final chicane, while Verstappen steered into the grass on the exit of Turn 7. However, the Red Bull driver set a fast pace, closing in on 10 minutes by the time the virtual safety car was deployed, and took first place with a time of 1:15.895 on the hard Pirelli tyres.
Liam Lawson’s session ended just before it started, with the New Zealander’s Racing Bulls car coming to a stop at Turn 5 with a mechanical problem, resulting in the failed car being recovered with a short red flag and four minutes added to the session time.
When the race resumed, Piastri was also the driver to skip the final chicane, and Hamilton momentarily cut the grass at the turn 8/9 chicane, but the circuit was still incredibly dirty and there was a general lack of grip.
After 20 minutes, Russell took the lead with a time of 1:15.760, but was surpassed by his Mercedes teammate Antonelli, who clocked a time of 1:15.414. Piastri became the first driver to record a time of 1 minute 15 seconds, and as a second red flag was brought out about 25 minutes later, the McLaren driver lowered the benchmark to 1 minute 14.963 seconds on hard tires.
Alex Albon’s session ended on the exit of Turn 7 after he hit a groundhog, causing significant damage to his Williams with little time to repair it before sprint qualifying. The delay extended the session by an additional 15 minutes as most drivers continued on hard tires after the track turned green.
The Mercedes drivers began competing for the fastest lap in individual competitions, with Antonelli reducing his best time to 1 minute 14.392 seconds on the hard. There were further deviations, with Norris hitting the grass at the Turn 3/4 chicane and returning to the track unharmed, Verstappen going deep into Turn 8 and Antonelli going deep into Turn 1.
With just over 15 minutes remaining, Russell was the first of the front runners to use soft tires and easily set the top time with a time of 1:13.850, followed by Antonelli with a time of 1:13.402, the best of the session.
Russell ran deep into Turn 1 on his next effort and cut the track before finally improving, but then spun and hit the barrier in Turn 2, after which he returned unscathed.
Esteban Ocon suffered a major accident when he crashed head-on into the barrier after spinning out of Turn 4, destroying the nose of his Haas and prompting a third red flag to recover the debris. Ocon was also notable for running a red light at the end of the pit lane less than a minute after the session restarted.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Verstappen and Norris followed the Mercedes team, while Piastri, Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls), Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) and Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso rounded out the top ten.
Audi’s Gabriel Bortleto led the way, followed by Izak Hajar (Red Bull), Ocon, Albon and Carlos Sainz in the second Williams. This position was occupied by the two Cadillacs of Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Lawson, Haas’s Olly Bearman, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez in 16th place, while Colapinto was unable to set a good time and finished last.
#Antonelli #leads #Russell #Canadian #practice #stoppage