FP1: Mercedes set early pace at Canada

F1 Grand Prix, GP Canada, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Powered by a brand new Mercedes power unit, Lewis Hamilton set the early pace at Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve. With team mate Bottas second fastest, it ended up another comfortable session for Mercedes.

On this power sensitive circuit, Mercedes opted to introduce their second specification power unit of the season, introducing it simultaneously for all its teams, thus including Racing Point and Williams.

The power units appeared to work well, with Hamilton's pace setting lap nearly a full second faster than third placed Charles Leclerc for Ferrari. Behind him, competition was close, with Verstappen, Vettel, Raikkonen and Sainz all within a tenth or two.

Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed a positive start to the weekend for Renault as well, followed by Sergio Perez and Keving Magnussen who completed the top 10.

With the track in a particularly slippery condition, many drivers found themselves out of grip, with several spinning off. Sebastian Vettel for instance spun at the hairpin and Romain Grosjean at Turn 6.

It was all without damage until Antonio Giovinazzi misjudged his approach to Turn 8, and ended up bumping a rear wheel in to the barriers. The incident threws debris on track, caused a puncture and possibly also damage to the car's suspension.

Still, one Virtual Safety Car period later, the track was cleared, and no further major hiccups occurred before the session came to an end.

Running continues later today in another 90 minutes of running in second practice.