Nico Rosberg led a disrupted final practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix which was red-flagged twice.
Yesterday’s rain left the track in poor condition, with several drivers reporting a lack of grip during their first runs. Kimi Raikkonen led the way initially, lapping just a thousandth of a second quicker than Rosberg.
With just over 20 minutes to go the first drivers were beginning their runs on super-soft tyres. However Felipe Nasr, who was running a used set of the harder soft tyres, lost control of his car on the straight leading to the final chicane. The Sauber driver had opened his DRS while he weaved to increase his tyre temperatures, and the C34 spun towards the inside of the circuit.
The result was a huge crash. The Sauber’s front nose was destroyed as it made heavy contact with a solid barrier, and debris was thrown across the track. Nasr climbed from the wreckage and it was later confirmed by his team he is “OK”.
The session was red-flagged and eventually resumed with 12 minutes remaining. That left little time for the remaining runners to get their super-soft runs completed. They rejoined the track immediately after the track went green again, but within a few minutes the session had been red-flagged again.
This time the cause was Jenson Button, who stopped his McLaren at the exit of turn seven after reporting a problem with his power unit. His team mate had only just joined the track for the first time having been stuck in the garage with a problem of his own.
It was particularly bad news for Friday pace-setter Hamilton, who had not set a quick lap early in the session on soft tyres, and who went off at turn one when he began his first run on super-softs.
Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’15.660 | 17 | |
2 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’16.233 | 0.573 | 20 |
3 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’16.772 | 1.112 | 14 |
4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’16.914 | 1.254 | 17 |
5 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’16.993 | 1.333 | 16 |
6 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull-Renault | 1’17.021 | 1.361 | 19 |
7 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’17.122 | 1.462 | 18 |
8 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’17.197 | 1.537 | 18 |
9 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’17.396 | 1.736 | 25 |
10 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’17.573 | 1.913 | 12 |
11 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’17.578 | 1.918 | 21 |
12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’17.876 | 2.216 | 14 |
13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’17.892 | 2.232 | 18 |
14 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’18.446 | 2.786 | 12 |
15 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’18.473 | 2.813 | 18 |
16 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’18.492 | 2.832 | 18 |
17 | 28 | Will Stevens | Manor-Ferrari | 1’19.822 | 4.162 | 16 |
18 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’19.874 | 4.214 | 3 |
19 | 98 | Roberto Merhi | Manor-Ferrari | 1’20.231 | 4.571 | 16 |
20 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’21.492 | 5.832 | 9 |
Third practice visual gaps
Nico Rosberg – 1’15.660
+0.573 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’16.233
+1.112 Romain Grosjean – 1’16.772
+1.254 Valtteri Bottas – 1’16.914
+1.333 Sergio Perez – 1’16.993
+1.361 Daniil Kvyat – 1’17.021
+1.462 Felipe Massa – 1’17.122
+1.537 Sebastian Vettel – 1’17.197
+1.736 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’17.396
+1.913 Pastor Maldonado – 1’17.573
+1.918 Marcus Ericsson – 1’17.578
+2.216 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’17.876
+2.232 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’17.892
+2.786 Felipe Nasr – 1’18.446
+2.832 Max Verstappen – 1’18.492
+4.162 Will Stevens – 1’19.822
+4.214 Fernando Alonso – 1’19.874
+4.571 Roberto Merhi – 1’20.231
+5.832 Lewis Hamilton – 1’21.492
Combined practice times
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’16.627 | 1’16.440 | 1’15.660 | -0.78 | 77 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’16.212 | 1’15.988 | 1’21.492 | +5.504 | 65 |
3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’18.439 | 1’16.310 | 1’16.233 | -0.077 | 66 |
4 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’17.905 | 1’16.304 | 1’17.197 | +0.893 | 62 |
5 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’18.026 | 1’16.600 | 1’17.573 | +0.973 | 68 |
6 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’17.721 | 1’16.864 | 1’16.772 | -0.092 | 64 |
7 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’18.325 | 1’16.849 | 1’16.914 | +0.065 | 75 |
8 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’18.503 | 1’17.367 | 1’16.993 | -0.374 | 64 |
9 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull-Renault | 1’18.021 | 1’17.092 | 1’17.021 | -0.071 | 59 |
10 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’17.985 | 1’17.041 | 1’17.122 | +0.081 | 65 |
11 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’18.775 | 1’17.111 | 1’17.892 | +0.781 | 58 |
12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’17.871 | 1’17.120 | 1’17.876 | +0.756 | 63 |
13 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’19.165 | 1’17.261 | 1’17.578 | +0.317 | 70 |
14 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’19.065 | 1’17.318 | 1’17.396 | +0.078 | 71 |
15 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’18.128 | 1’17.627 | 1’19.874 | +2.247 | 58 |
16 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’18.257 | 1’17.657 | 1’18.492 | +0.835 | 65 |
17 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’18.948 | 1’17.751 | 1’18.446 | +0.695 | 63 |
18 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’18.786 | 1’18.135 | 1’18.473 | +0.338 | 63 |
19 | Roberto Merhi | Manor-Ferrari | 1’20.616 | 1’19.531 | 1’20.231 | +0.7 | 64 |
20 | Will Stevens | Manor-Ferrari | 1’20.624 | 1’19.734 | 1’19.822 | +0.088 | 56 |
2015 Canadian Grand Prix
- Fifth-placed Vettel wins Driver of the Weekend
- Even Montreal can’t lift F1 from its 2015 torpor
- Sponsor watch: Spain, Monaco and Canada 2015
- 2015 Canadian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Top ten pictures from the 2015 Canadian Grand Prix
Equinox
6th June 2015, 16:08
What an embarrassing moment for Hamilton to be last in the best car by a country mile.
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
6th June 2015, 16:10
Thank god Nasr has got the experience.
gdewilde (@gdewilde)
6th June 2015, 16:13
Good thing Nasr didn’t enter F1 when he was 17 then, or otherwise Maldonado would’ve had a synchro buddy the past few years
HK (@me4me)
6th June 2015, 16:28
All those drivers criticizing Verstappen because of his age.. it’s an utter joke. All of them, no matter how many categories they raced in before entering F1, have made mistakes of their own.
mickey18 (@mickey18)
6th June 2015, 16:45
Ya. To be honest I still haven’t forgiven Sauber for what they did earlier this year, but Nasr was the one good thing in that team (from the outside at least, not counting mechanics etc). But he’s just managed to undo that, his mistake today was much simpler then Verstappen’s.
hzh (@hzh00)
6th June 2015, 16:50
Unfortunately, some refuse to learn from their mistakes and try to direct the blame toward others; typical teenage behavior. Making rookie mistakes because of lack of experience is something and trying to convince others that such mistakes are because of other drivers is another thing.
Jonny Edwards (@racectrl)
6th June 2015, 16:45
Your comment is really uncalled for. This is Nasr’s first time using DRS in a season and he got caught out. In every other sense he’s an experienced racer who was fully entitled to criticise Max.
David-A (@david-a)
6th June 2015, 17:09
Glass house, stones. And this is not the first occasion this season he’s had to use DRS.
mickey18 (@mickey18)
6th June 2015, 17:24
Perhaps it was too strongly worded. But rookies calling rookies ‘inexperienced’ is rich. Nasr just made an error which was quite silly too. Don’t open DRS on cold tyres when swerving? If he needs to learn that lesson then lets hope it learnt.
Also @hzh00 what you are describing is essentially what Button criticised Max for, which I agree with. However Nasr’s quote “the accident is proof of his inexperience” is purely based on his crash.
I’ll admit when Verstappen was first announced I had my doubts, but since then he’s proven to be more then capable driving the cars and racing wheel-to wheel such as in Malaysia and China.
It seems some people may have just bit their tongue when he was first announced and have waited for an error before all leaping on him.
Jonny Edwards (@racectrl)
6th June 2015, 17:39
@Mickey – Nasr has 5 years racing experience on Verstappen and that makes all the difference. Driving into the back of another car at 120+ mph is a basic fundamental error that Nasr would’ve learned in F3/GP2 and that was his point. Instead of Max learning that mistake in a lower formula he learned it at Monaco in an F1 car.
What Nasr did today was get caught out by a system that is specific to F1. A system that he is still learning about and for that reason it is excusable, no matter how silly it was.
grat
6th June 2015, 17:38
Wait– did you just imply there’s a good reason for GP2 to adopt DRS?
Keith will have a coronary. ;)
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
6th June 2015, 17:23
@hunocsi Well said. Nasr crash is the silliest crash I can recall. There have been many inane moments in f1 but this one ended with a crash.
grat
6th June 2015, 17:42
I was thinking of the session last year when Maldonado apparently was paying more attention to the wheel than the track, and ran into a wall– China, maybe? Bahrain? It was one of the flyaway races before Barcelona (where he went around a corner, into a wall).
Sharon H (@sharoncom)
6th June 2015, 19:52
I think we’re betting without Maldonado when it comes to judging the silliest crashes.
Andre (@lheela)
6th June 2015, 16:14
It seems Vettel overtook a Manor under red flag, could be a penalty.
For the sake of a race that’s not a straight runaway for the Mercs don’t hope so.
Lance (@lancelot)
6th June 2015, 17:04
Well, I remember Rosberg and Ricciardo overtaking under a red flag last year and they didn’t get a penalty.
iAltair (@)
6th June 2015, 17:18
Lol the bias.
Nase (@)
6th June 2015, 17:26
I agree on the “runaway” part, but for the rules’ sake, I hope he does gets punished (if there were no significant mitigating circumstances; I didn’t see the incident).
It’s been increasingly bothering me that Räikkönen’s unsafe release in the Melbourne GP wasn’t punished, just like Vettel’s FP incident in Bahrain, that was also ultimately caused by the team sending him on the track with a loose wheel.
It’d be extremely bad for the sport if one team turned out to be unpunishable.
bola
6th June 2015, 20:09
They stopped Raikkonen’s race. I don’t think a punishment was necessary there. Moreover, I heard the issue stemmed from Raikkonen doing something wrong during the pitstop, and not Ferrari pit guys’ fault.
Nase (@)
7th June 2015, 18:49
Well, all that has no bearing on the infrigement. Ferrari’s crew failed to keep him stationary, although one of the gunmen waved in protest. Whether or not the damage that led to the problem was the driver’s or the team’s fault is irrelevant to the rule.
And as to stopping his race: He carried on for a mile or so before they finally told him that they knew something was wrong. Nothing bad happened, but that’s despite Ferrari’s mismanagement of the situation. The rule was installed for safety reasons, not for performance reasons (at least not explicitly), so whether or not the driver’s race was destroyed because he had to stop, is, again, irrelevant. The Stewards had a job to do, but failed to impose the rules according to their letter and spirit. Which is a shame.
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
6th June 2015, 16:23
As a Mercedes and Hamilton fan I’m getting increasingly more angry with the team.
Why did they sit Ham in the garage for first 23min. There’s nothing to learn in the dry but there was yesterday in the rain? And yeh sure enough it backfired, setup is nowhere where driver wants it and 2 red flags. They shoot themselves the foot once again.
gdewilde (@gdewilde)
6th June 2015, 16:34
It didn’t look like Hamilton himself was so eager to get out, sitting very relaxed in his chair looking at the monitors. (As was Rosberg at first, but he ventured out a lot sooner)
Nase (@)
6th June 2015, 17:28
As far as I know, there were brake issues on Lewis’s car, that weren’t even completely sorted out when he did join the session.
George (@george)
6th June 2015, 16:42
Gone with Rosberg in my predictions, seems to be quietly doing his job this weekend while Hamilton repeatedly shoots himself in the foot.
Anthony
6th June 2015, 17:11
Keith, that “visual gap” chart is fantastic! For people who like to think in a “structured visual” manner, like me, it conveys the results in an easily understandable manner! How did you create it?
Nase (@)
6th June 2015, 17:51
+1
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
6th June 2015, 17:28
As much as Lewis and Merc want to forget the Monaco pain, it seems they keep managing to hit the spot this weekend. I think whatever happens this weekend can be the start of something critical for the championship table.
mateuss (@mateuss)
6th June 2015, 17:45
I want to ask those people who pay gazillion billion to watch F1 on SkyF1, because this interests me:
Does it not upset you that you can’t watch all the F1 sessions live and uninterrupted, even though you are paying for it, you are forced to take a brake from enjoying your motorized billboards driving past some billboards to look at some other commercials? Are you satisfied with that deal?
Nase (@)
6th June 2015, 17:50
That’s assuming that all those people actually pay … not saying any more, I don’t want to anger the gods that be.
But yeah, you have a point.
mateuss (@mateuss)
6th June 2015, 17:54
Well, at least some do, otherwise there would be no streams…
bola
6th June 2015, 20:11
“otherwise there would be no streams…” LOL