The first session of free tests a Montreal it was heavily affected by the rain, so much so that half the grid was forced to remain inside the garage even after the green light. In fact, once the session resumed, there was little time left and the track conditions were not even that optimal. One of the bravest was Guanyu Zhou who paid the consequences, ending up against the barriers. The impact once again caused the session to be interrupted, and forced several riders to abort their first attempts on the soft tires. Among the drivers who managed to make an attempt was Lando Norris, the best of the morning in Canada together with the two Ferrari drivers. Given the little activity on the track due to this series of unexpected events, FP2 has become even more important. We see Than we what happened in Free Practice 2 in Canada.
As expected, bad weather appeared on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the opening of the ninth race weekend of the world championship. However, the intensity of the rain was even greater than expected, with heavy hail flooding the paddock. Despite these conditions the session started on time. But the teams were unable to take to the track for at least half an hour to allow cleaning operations from stagnant water around the circuit. The activity over the next half hour was quite frenetic between those who took to the track with the intermediates and those who, once the sun came out, attempted the lap with the softs. The main battles were Leclerc, Norris and Sainz, finishing just a few tenths away from each other. A challenge that also arises in Free Practice 2 in Canada.
After Miami, Imola, Monaco, Ferrari and McLaren hope to also be able to exploit the characteristics of the Montreal track to their advantage. Red Bull has already made it clear that entering into a challenge with these two teams will once again be difficult. However, bad weather and low temperatures could help the Austrian team.
Free Practice 2 Canada, we take to the track but the rain still threatens
The threat of rain leads all the drivers to go out at the stroke of 23pm Italian time for Free Practice 00 in Canada. Sainz takes to the track with the mediums, defying the weather conditions. The others take to the track with the soft tyres, with the exception of Charles Leclerc who takes to the track with the intermediate ones used previously. However the Monegasque was called back to the pits for a report from the FIA regarding the use of these tyres. The reason for the report and the subsequent investigation lies in the fact that, given that the session was not considered wet, Leclerc would not have been able to take to the track with intermediate tyres.
In the meantime the sky holds, and the riders on the track are all on soft tires. After 10 minutes of session Oscar Piastri also comes out with the yellow. Although it is more difficult to get them up to temperature, both Ferrari and McLaren want a reference with this tyre. On his first attempt with the medium Charles Leclerc placed himself in eighth place, while Sainz was fourteenth. The top positions are in fact occupied by the drivers with the soft tires, namely Alonso, Ricciardo, Gasly, Russell and Hamilton. Compared to the group, Alonso makes the difference and his teammate Lance Stroll also joins him after 20 minutes. But Aston Martin's "domination" doesn't last long, a few minutes later Leclerc overthrows Fernando Alonso, and he does so on medium tyres, preceding the Spaniard by a tenth. The situation is reversed again, but the rain returns again half an hour from the end and this affects the outputs.
Verstappen in the pits, problems with his Red Bull?
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen, who is in eighteenth position, is forced to return to the pits due to an ERS problem on his RB20. Max has just changed the power unit, and this call to the pits worries the team quite a bit, as 20 minutes before the end of the session they are forced to dismantle the number 1's car in search of the problem. A problem that marks the end of the session for the Dutchman and which adds to those that Red Bull is going through at this stage of the championship. In Monaco Max didn't even manage to get on the podium, finishing in sixth place after a difficult qualifying.
The rain returns, we turn again with the intermediates
The rain forces the riders to return to the track with intermediate tires. With 10 minutes to go, almost everyone takes to the track even though they don't improve. This concludes a day from which it is difficult to extrapolate any data. This is the top 10 after 60 minutes of Free Practice in Montreal. Everything postponed until tomorrow then.
P1 Alonso
P2 Russell
P3 Stroll
P4 Leclerc (yellow rubber)
P5 Ricciardo
P6 Magnussen
P7 Hamilton
P8 Tsunoda
P9 Albon
P10 Cross
