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Canada, FP1: Verstappen quickest in opening practice for Canadian Grand Prix

Sainz 2nd, Alonso 3rd

By Franck Drui

17 June 2022 - 21:07

Defending world champion Max Verstappen went quickest in the opening practice session for the 2022 FIA Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix as the sport returned to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the first time since 2019. Verstappen outpaced Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by over two tenths of a second with Fernando Alonso third for Alpine.

Verstappen led the way early in the session, logging a time of 1:17.991 on medium compound Pirelli tyres to take top spot. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas then rose to the top of the timesheet, with a lap of 1:17.902 effort. Verstappen responded immediately, however, stretching a massive 1.4s tenths of a second clear of the Finnish driver.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez then slotted into second place, half a second off the Dutchman, but the champion was already starting another flying lap and when he did so he again made a large improvement, posting a lap of 1:15.799s to sit 1.2 clear of Pérez.

Pérez was finding a comfort zone, however, and after a small improvement from Verstappen the Mexican jumped to P1 just before the quarter hour mark with a lap of 1:15.660.

After a lull in the action, the Red Bull pair then switched to the soft tyres just before the halfway point. Ferrari also made the switch and Sainz took top spot with a lap 1:15.441. Verstappen returned to the track, however, and posted his best time of 1:15.158 to beat the Spaniard by 0.246s.

Alonso finished third, just 0.373 behind Verstappen, while Pérez was left with fourth place, 0.4s behind his team-mate at the flag. Charles Leclerc in the other Ferrari settled for fifth place, 0.508 in arrears to Verstappen.

Sixth place on the timesheet went to George Russell who was separated from Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by home favourite Lance Stroll who took his Aston Martin to seventh place, 0.664 off Verstappen’s place. Behind Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel was ninth in the second Aston Martin and Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top for McLaren.

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time	Laps
01	Max Verstappen	Red Bull RBPT RB18	1:15.158	27
02	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari F1-75	1:15.404	34
03	Fernando Alonso	Alpine Renault A522	1:15.531	31
04	Sergio Perez	Red Bull RBPT RB18	1:15.619	32
05	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari F1-75	1:15.666	30
06	George Russell	Mercedes W13	1:15.822	29
07	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Mercedes AMR22	1:15.877	32
08	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes W13	1:15.877	27
09	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Mercedes AMR22	1:16.041	33
10	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren Mercedes MCL36	1:16.083	29
11	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri RBPT AT03	1:16.165	29
12	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes MCL36	1:16.211	17
13	Alex Albon	Williams Mercedes FW44	1:16.308	29
14	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri RBPT AT03	1:16.322	33
15	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault A522	1:16.421	26
16	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo Ferrari C42	1:16.426	27
17	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo Ferrari C42	1:17.152	30
18	Mick Schumacher	Haas Ferrari VF-22	1:17.223	29
19	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes FW44	1:17.241	33
20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari VF-22	1:17.555	31