Canada – Free Practice 1: Alonso fastest, Hamilton dominates Rosberg
Fernando Alonso finishes first in this first free practice session of the Canadian Grand Prix of F1, benefiting from the fact that Mercedes is working on race settings.
Start of the session on dry ground under a fairly clear sky, with an air temperature of 25°C and the track at 17°C.
**The session is underway!** The first cars have fitted the soft (yellow) tires. Kevin Magnussen is the first driver to clock a flying lap at 1:21.061. Nico Hülkenberg spun at the hairpin braking, with no damage to his car.
After 25 minutes, Hamilton climbs to the top of the timing sheet with a 1:18.088 followed by Rosberg and Hülkenberg. Hülkenberg complains of rear tire graining after 30 minutes. All the F1 cars have returned to the pit to analyze the initial data collected and return the tire set allocated by Pirelli for this first half-hour of FP1.
The sky is starting to cloud over. The weather forecast announced a 25% chance of rain for this session.
After 50 minutes, there were the “straight ons” by Pastor Maldonado and Alexander Rossi – who is replacing Kamui Kobayashi for this first session – at the hairpin, without any damage. Rossi is informed that he is at the lower end of his tire operating window.
As the first hour approaches, Jules Bianchi hit the wall at turn 4. He returns to the pit slowly. On the timing side, Rosberg improves to 1:17.705 but Hamilton responds with a 1:17.254. The order is Hamilton followed by Rosberg, Alonso, and Vettel. Alonso is very quick, just over a tenth behind Hamilton.
20 minutes to the end, the Spaniard sets the best time at 1:17.238. Williams reported an issue with Massa’s ERS, session ended for him. Ten minutes to go, the standings remain Alonso, then Hamilton and Rosberg.
The session ends with Alonso’s Ferrari in front of the two Mercedes of Hamilton and Rosberg.
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
1 | Alonso | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:17.238 | 21 | |
2 | Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:17.254 | +0.016 | 25 |
3 | Rosberg | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:17.384 | +0.146 | 32 |
4 | Vettel | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | 1:18.131 | +0.893 | 28 |
5 | Bottas | Williams Martini Racing | 1:18.361 | +1.123 | 20 |
6 | Ricciardo | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | 1:18.435 | +1.197 | 26 |
7 | Button | McLaren Mercedes | 1:18.446 | +1.208 | 33 |
8 | Magnussen | McLaren Mercedes | 1:18.514 | +1.276 | 31 |
9 | Räikkönen | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:18.578 | +1.340 | 15 |
10 | Vergne | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:18.643 | +1.405 | 14 |
11 | Hülkenberg | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:18.733 | +1.495 | 30 |
12 | Perez | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:18.959 | +1.721 | 22 |
13 | Sutil | Sauber F1 Team | 1:19.108 | +1.870 | 24 |
14 | Grosjean | Lotus F1 Team | 1:19.142 | +1.904 | 32 |
15 | Kvyat | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:19.177 | +1.939 | 21 |
16 | Maldonado | Lotus F1 Team | 1:19.340 | +2.102 | 37 |
17 | Massa | Williams Martini Racing | 1:19.575 | +2.337 | 7 |
18 | Gutierrez | Sauber F1 Team | 1:19.804 | +2.566 | 15 |
19 | Bianchi | Marussia F1 Team | 1:20.200 | +2.962 | 15 |
20 | Chilton | Marussia F1 Team | 1:20.844 | +3.606 | 26 |
21 | Ericsson | Caterham F1 Team | 1:21.404 | +4.166 | 33 |
22 | Rossi | Caterham F1 Team | 1:21.757 | +4.519 | 27 |