There was no shortage of action during free practice for the Canadian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc found the barriers in FP1 after locking up at turn three and running wide onto the grass.
An incident the Monegasque regretted stating that he ought to have taken to the runoff instead. Leclerc’s crash would prove costly as the time taken to repair the damage forced him to sit out the remainder of FP1.
Grip was generally hard to come by during that first session. Leclerc’s teammate Lewis Hamilton spun at turn 10 before running wide at the final chicane. Franco Colapinto spun at turn two, while Kimi Antonelli ran wide at turn six.
Gabriel Bortoleto narrowly avoided collisions with both Hamilton and Alex Albon, the Williams driver later impeded Fernando Alonso before setting the second-fastest time.
Max Verstappen comes into this weekend just one penalty point off a one-race ban after a controversial collision in Spain. The four-time world champion nearly collided with his old rival Hamilton en route to the fastest time in FP1.
In contrast to their clean sweep in Spain, McLaren has been slightly slower out of the blocks in Canada. Lando Norris suffered three separate off-road excursions, while his teammate Oscar Piastri slid wide at turn six.
After sitting out the Spanish Grand Prix due to a wrist injury, Lance Stroll has returned for his home race. However, the local hero had a troubled start to his weekend. A brush with the wall at turn 7 forced him out of FP2 with nearly 50 minutes of running left.
Leclerc was forced to sit out the session in its entirety, such was the severity of his crash in FP1.
Hamilton ran wide at turn 13 once again, as did both McLaren drivers, Albon and Verstappen.
Isack Hadjar found himself impeded by Franco Colapinto, although the rookie was able to recover well to P10. Colapinto suffered a second spin at turn two, while his teammate Pierre Gasly suffered a snap of oversteer on the exit of turn four.
Last year saw George Russell claim pole position in dramatic fashion. The Brit set an identical time to Max Verstappen but started in front due to his having set the time first.
This year, the Mercedes driver topped the timesheets in FP2 with a time of 1.12.123, two hundredths ahead of second place Norris. Mercedes’ strong form was reinforced by Antonelli securing third.
Having crashed out in FP1 and missed all of FP2, Charles Leclerc did well to recover in the final part of practice, securing a time of 1.11.877 just seven-hundredths of a second off Norris.
Stroll also had ground to make up, the Canadian managed to go 14th quickest in FP3, half a second and six places behind his teammate.
Pirelli have brought the C4, C5 and C6 tyres to Montreal, the softest compounds in their range. The data from free practice reveals a negligible difference in pace between the softs and the mediums. Choosing the right compound for qualifying looks set to be a major talking point.
Piastri’s final practice session was hindered by a brush with the Wall of Champions, the Australian suffering a puncture as a result of the collision. Nico Hulkenberg was another to come unstuck at the famed final corner, the Sauber driver spinning out of the final chicane.
As the track improved towards the end of the session, lap times began to tumble. Norris went quickest ahead of Leclerc, Russell and Hamilton. Verstappen could only manage fourth after grappling with brake problems in FP3.
With three different drivers going quickest in each of the three practice sessions, qualifying looks set to be an unpredictable affair.
