FP1: Mercedes set early pace at Canada

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F1 Grand Prix, GP Canada, Circuit Gilles Villeneuveca

Powered by a brand new Mercedes power unit, Lewis Hamilton set the early pace at Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve. With team mate Bottas second fastest, it ended up another comfortable session for Mercedes.

On this power sensitive circuit, Mercedes opted to introduce their second specification power unit of the season, introducing it simultaneously for all its teams, thus including Racing Point and Williams.

The power units appeared to work well, with Hamilton's pace setting lap nearly a full second faster than third placed Charles Leclerc for Ferrari. Behind him, competition was close, with Verstappen, Vettel, Raikkonen and Sainz all within a tenth or two.

Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed a positive start to the weekend for Renault as well, followed by Sergio Perez and Keving Magnussen who completed the top 10.

With the track in a particularly slippery condition, many drivers found themselves out of grip, with several spinning off. Sebastian Vettel for instance spun at the hairpin and Romain Grosjean at Turn 6.

It was all without damage until Antonio Giovinazzi misjudged his approach to Turn 8, and ended up bumping a rear wheel in to the barriers. The incident threws debris on track, caused a puncture and possibly also damage to the car's suspension.

Still, one Virtual Safety Car period later, the track was cleared, and no further major hiccups occurred before the session came to an end.

Running continues later today in another 90 minutes of running in second practice.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
144Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:12.767-31
277Valtteri BottasMercedes1:12.914+0.147s25
316Charles LeclercFerrari1:13.720+0.953s24
433Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Honda1:13.755+0.988s26
55Sebastian VettelFerrari1:13.905+1.138s28
67Kimi RäikkönenAlfa Romeo Racing Ferrari1:13.945+1.178s30
755Carlos SainzMcLaren Renault1:13.973+1.206s34
83Daniel RicciardoRenault1:14.123+1.356s31
911Sergio PerezRacing Point Bwt Mercedes1:14.172+1.405s31
1020Kevin MagnussenHaas Ferrari1:14.202+1.435s32
114Lando NorrisMcLaren Renault1:14.246+1.479s33
1227Nico HulkenbergRenault1:14.474+1.707s30
1310Pierre GaslyRed Bull Racing Honda1:14.570+1.803s27
1499Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo Racing Ferrari1:14.582+1.815s17
158Romain GrosjeanHaas Ferrari1:14.645+1.878s31
1623Alexander AlbonScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:14.703+1.936s36
1718Lance StrollRacing Point Bwt Mercedes1:14.812+2.045s32
1826Daniil KvyatScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:15.343+2.576s32
1963George RussellWilliams Mercedes1:15.989+3.222s29
2040Nicholas LatifiWilliams Mercedes1:16.199+3.432s33