Pace setting Hamilton crashes out as rain hits Montreal

F1 Grand Prix, GP Canada, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Lewis Hamilton continued to top the timesheet at Montreal, setting the fastest lap before rain hit the track. After that, a short venture on intermediates sent him off in the barriers and ended the session early.

Drivers were eager to go out and some running done on a dry track early on in the session, hence a queue of cars were aligned on the pit exit at the time of the green light. Sebastian Vettel led the pack. Ferrari and Force India chose to put their cars out on supersofts immediately, with other teams following suit a little bit later.

Just 10 minutes into the session, Nico Hulkenberg was seen running slowly back to the pits with a right rear puncture. It was however Hamilton who drew attention to himself, first having to avoid an early braking Grosjean at the hairpin, and a few minutes later he gets it all wrong at the notorious final chicane, bumping over the kerbs. He soon requested his team to inspect the car later on.

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The reigning World Champion however continued for another lap, setting the fastest time of the session, 3 tenths ahead of Vettel and Raikkonen.

Just before the rain, there's the interesting sight and talk of Vettel being able to go faster than Rosberg on the super soft tyres. The German Ferrari driver is on Rosberg's tail, but has to back off repeatedly.

Then, 30 minutes past the starting time, rain fell on the circuit, effectively ending any competitive running and finalising the timing sheet.

Still, Hamilton and Rosberg ventured out on the intermediates, which given the track conditions proved a bad choice. The joy of the fans didn't last long, with Hamilton failing to stop his car at the hairpin and bumping into the tyre wall. Fortunately for him without much harm, but as he was unable to continue, the red flag was brought out to clean the car away.

The car was soon cleared, but with the red flag staying out, the last part of the session turned out to be a rather boring event for the fans at the circuit.