Hamilton quickest as Alonso’s return is halted by breakdown

2017 Canadian Grand Prix first practice

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Lewis Hamilton led the first practice session for the Canadian at a very slippery Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Canadian GP practice in pictures
Several drivers including the Ferrari pair spun during the session. However the two red cars were quick enough to get in the mix with the Mercedes pair. Sebastian Vettel lapped just under 0.2s off Hamilton’s pace, despite spinning at turn two.

Kimi Raikkonen, whose car got away from him earlier in the session at turn seven, was fourth-quickest behind Valtteri Bottas.

The Force India pair impressed by occupying the ‘best of the rest’ positions in fifth and sixth. Esteban Ocon,on his first visit to the Montreal track, spun at turn six shortly before the session ended.

Max Verstappen was seventh, the Red Bull driver having spoiled a set of tyres with a heavy lock-up while having problems with his brakes.

McLaren had one car inside the top ten until the closing minutes of the session when Stoffel Vandoorne was edged out. However Fernando Alonso’s return to the cockpit was unsuccessful. A hydraulic problem stopped him after 13 laps.

The quickest Renault could only manage 15th: Nico Hulkenberg was another driver to spin during the session. But he got more done than Carlos Sainz Jnr, whose Toro Rosso expired on its first lap out of the pits.

Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
144Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’13.80936
25Sebastian VettelFerrari1’14.0070.19828
377Valtteri BottasMercedes1’14.0460.23721
47Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’14.2300.42128
511Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’14.5780.76934
631Esteban OconForce India-Mercedes1’14.7850.97635
733Max VerstappenRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’14.8611.05219
819Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes1’15.1061.29731
93Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’15.4411.63223
1026Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Renault1’15.6581.84926
112Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren-Honda1’15.9432.13429
1220Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1’16.2332.42425
1318Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes1’16.3132.50436
148Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1’16.3452.53618
1527Nico HulkenbergRenault1’16.4732.66427
1614Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Honda1’16.5212.71213
179Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1’16.8052.99624
1830Jolyon PalmerRenault1’17.0043.19526
1994Pascal WehrleinSauber-Ferrari1’17.6063.79728

First practice visual gaps

Lewis Hamilton – 1’13.809

+0.198 Sebastian Vettel – 1’14.007

+0.237 Valtteri Bottas – 1’14.046

+0.421 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’14.230

+0.769 Sergio Perez – 1’14.578

+0.976 Esteban Ocon – 1’14.785

+1.052 Max Verstappen – 1’14.861

+1.297 Felipe Massa – 1’15.106

+1.632 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’15.441

+1.849 Daniil Kvyat – 1’15.658

+2.134 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’15.943

+2.424 Kevin Magnussen – 1’16.233

+2.504 Lance Stroll – 1’16.313

+2.536 Romain Grosjean – 1’16.345

+2.664 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’16.473

+2.712 Fernando Alonso – 1’16.521

+2.996 Marcus Ericsson – 1’16.805

+3.195 Jolyon Palmer – 1’17.004

+3.797 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’17.606

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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38 comments on “Hamilton quickest as Alonso’s return is halted by breakdown”

  1. “I’m looking forward to being back in an F1 c… Nope, never mind”

    1. “Hey, who peed in my seat?!”

      1. Is this the weekends caption competition?
        ”It’s just a short run to the border. They won’t notice till its too late.”

  2. Every McLaren breakdown feels like another nail in the Honda coffin – even ones unrelated to the engine unit(Hydraulics, in this case).

    1. At this rate they will run out of nails….

      1. Nailed it.

      2. Omg we have a winner

  3. “I’m glad to be in the back of a tow truck again, to meet the boys and girls of the tow truck service and the marshalls pushing my car to the other side fo the barriers”

    Happy happy happy…

  4. Yes Mercedes is the underdog!

    1. yeah fo sho! ;)

  5. Jolyon Palmer 18th, I know these are just practice session but this guy should really look for an indycar seat.

    1. We need to give him some credit. This is closest he’s been to Hulk all season.

      But I agree… this boy just isn’t F1 material.

    2. Ricciardo was 0.6 behind Verstappen the same as Palmer was behind Hulkenberg, so sack them both

      1. Wehrlein was 0.8 off Ericsson so he’s definitely on his way to Indy racing

        1. Wehrlein was the only driver to run solely on the Soft tyre. He didnt use SS like Erricson, and i believe neither of them used Ultra softs (they must be saving them for later practices).

          1. Nobody mentions Stroll, because Indycar doesn’t want him. Maybe his father can strike a deal with Duracell so he can win in Formula E.

          2. Still should be sacked

          3. Sack Vettel for being slower than Raikkonen in Monaco

          4. Still slower on the same tyres in practice two, sack Werhlein now!

        2. Sack Halton for being slower than Bottas twice

          1. Sack Labour for losing to the Tories

          2. Sack Hamilton for changing his name to Halton

          3. Sack Fran for typos

      2. Sack Bernie for being close minde- oh, wait…

  6. Great start to the weekend for Mercedes. After all this talk about being 2nd best, it’s glad to see them on top of the time sheets again. I think this weekend will be an epic battle between Ferrari and Mercedes…. and I have a gut feeling there will be a Lewis vs Sebastian battle with none of the niceties from their Barcelona fight.

    Surprising to see Force India up there. It should be an exciting battle for best of the rest between Williams, FI and RBR as well.

    McLaren…. I’m trying to find a word that describes the catastrophe that is their Formula 1 season.

    1. Too early to tell anything, though I would expect to see Force India 7th and 8th and the gap to the front 4 to grow somewhat

    2. McLaren…. I’m trying to find a word that describes the catastrophe that is their Formula 1 season

      . Try “consistent“. They have consistently broken down this season.

    3. Why are you glad mercrdes are back at the top in practise? Wait for qalifying and race please. Going by other first practise sessions this year, ferarri might dampen your gladness by sunday.

      1. Where did you read ‘glad’ in my post?

        Just saying it’s looking good for a fight between the 2 teams.

        1. @todfod Try reading your second sentence again.

          1. @mashiat

            Looks like a hit a blind spot

    4. Hamilton is usually quickly on the pace in first practice. Others tend to catch up later and the gap is small.

      1. The “others” have started catching up already.

  7. Pierre Racine
    9th June 2017, 17:59

    Stroll STILL over 1 second slower than Massa (1.2 second) in P1 on the SAME tire (SS) which is MILES behind. This guy doesn’t seem to learn anything up until now. I admit, he never drove on this circuit but, still, there’s nothing that points to some progress of his after 6 races. If he doesn’t improve in the next few races I think his reputation will be toasted forever… I mean he can’t go on like this for the rest of the season; he has to show something more, besides… money I mean.

  8. Can anyone explain why McLaren aren’t sounding out Toyota or Porsche for engines, both have mighty hybrid technology in WEC with total reliability, surely they would be able to transfer that knowledge and understanding into an engine for F1 ?

    1. Toyota doesn’t need it. They’re already successful with hybrid roadcars.

  9. Maybe Toyota / Porsche are not interested in F1 at the moment. They are major corporations when they go racing it’s normally on their terms. E.G. Mercedes and Ferrari.

Comments are closed.