FP1 & FP2 - Canadian GP report: Haas F1 Ferrari

In the two practice sessions on Friday in advance of Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutiérrez logged a total of 113 laps around the 4.361-kilometer (2.710-mile), 14-turn circuit.

The opening, 90-minute session was held under partly cloudy skies with a comfortable temperature of 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit). Both drivers took full advantage of the track time and made all of their competitive laps on the Pirelli P Zero Purple ultrasoft tire – the tire of choice for Haas F1 Team this weekend.

Haas F1 Team has gone with an aggressive tire strategy in Montreal. Of the 13 sets of Pirelli tires each driver can use throughout the race weekend, the team has selected 10 sets of ultrasofts apiece for Grosjean and Gutiérrez. Three sets of Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft tires complete each driver’s allotment. None of the P Zero Red supersofts made available by Pirelli were chosen.

Grosjean ran two, 10-lap stints in the morning session, with his best time coming on his 17th lap (1:17.008) to place him 13th overall. Gutiérrez also ran two stints, consisting of 10 laps and 14 laps, respectively. His best time came on his ninth lap (1:17.319) to place him 16th overall.

Leading the way in FP1 was the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. They ended the session 1-2, with Hamilton’s mark of 1:14.755 besting Rosberg’s time by .331 of a second.

Two-and-a-half hours later, FP2 began and Haas F1 Team drivers utilized both the Yellow softs and Purple ultrasofts.

Grosjean made three stints totaling 35 laps. His first, six-lap run came on the Yellow softs, followed by another six laps on the Purple ultrasofts and a final, 23-lap run, also on ultrasofts. His best time was 1:16.093, earned on his 11th lap, to place him 15th overall.

Gutiérrez made four stints totaling 32 laps. He also began the session on the Yellow softs, with his first run lasting seven laps. A switch to Purple ultrasofts was made for the next run, which lasted nine laps. Softs went back on for the third stint, which lasted 12 laps before ultrasofts returned for the last, four-lap run. Gutiérrez’s best time was 1:16.591, earned on his 13th lap, putting him 18th overall.

Hamilton again led the way in FP2, with a best lap of 1:14.212. But it was Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who was next quickest, .257 of a second behind Hamilton. Rosberg was third, .526 of a second behind his Mercedes teammate.

Romain Grosjean

“It was a good day. We had plenty of mileage and the car felt OK. Generally, I’m very happy with the balance of the car. We had a long run to end the day and it did everything we wanted it to do, so that’s good. Hopefully, we can find a bit of performance in the tires for tomorrow.”

Esteban Gutierrez

“We completed today’s program, which was the most important thing for us as it gave us some good data. Now the guys are working hard to fine tune everything for tomorrow. With low fuel the car wasn’t really that great on the ultrasoft. However, the car felt better with a high fuel load. We’ll work a bit more on our qualifying pace and try to make a clean day tomorrow. The weather will be a bit variable, so we’ll have to adapt and react quickly, but we’re looking forward to it.”

Gunther Steiner

“A good FP1 and FP2 for us. We completed our program and everything we had set out for today. We’ve stabilized a lot as a team over the last few races. The drivers are pretty happy and we know where we are at the moment, so we just need to keep our focus. Tomorrow we’ll see how we can do in qualifying. The weather is still open as to what might happen, so it could all change, but we’ll be ready and hopefully we’ll have a strong outcome.”