FP1: Verstappen fastest ahead of Hamilton

F1 Grand Prix, GP Canada, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Max Verstappen enjoyed a productive first practice session at Montreal, putting his Red Bull atop the timesheet after the first 90 minutes of running. Lewis Hamilton was a close second while team mate Daniel Ricciardo was third fastest.

Though times say little to nothing in FP1, the top six were seperated by less than half a second, with Fernando Alonso becoming the best of the rest in 7th, 6 tenths down on the Dutch pace setter.

Carlos Sainz put Renault in the top 10 as well, in stark contrast with the fortunes of his team mate, Nico Hulkenberg. The latter completed just 3 laps as an apparent gearbox problem brought his to an early halt. His on-track stoppage first triggered a virtual safety car period, followed by a red-flag situation of 12 minutes to allow the stricken car to be removed from the circuit.

Stoffel Vandoorne was 9th fastest for McLaren with Pierre Gasly rounding the top 10.

This meant that both Haas were again unable to position themselves in the top 10. The team, wary of the lost opportunities earlier in the season, warned their drivers not to crash, but scoring points will also require the pace of the first races of the season.

It is especially interesting to see how Sauber are very much in the mix with Haas. Both Ericsson and Leclerc managed to split the Haas cars, confirming that the team seems to be getting its head around their Alfa Romeo Sauber C37}.

Williams were yet again near the back of the pack, with Lance Stroll becoming the first to hit the champions' wall, though without any major damage. Sergei Sirotkin meanwhile clipped the wall at Turn 6, just before the end of the session. He too did so while not causing any major damage to his car.