Leclerc crashes as Verstappen tops FP1 in Montreal

World champion Max Verstappen started Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix weekend on top after heading a chaotic first practice session on a slippery Montreal circuit.

First practice at a relatively cool but sunny Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was marked by a plethora of spins and twitches for many drivers, as the track had extremely low grip and was tricky to drive.

An innocuous spin by Alpine’s Franco Colapinto into Turn 2, on his very first flyer, foreshadowed what would be a messy one-hour session.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc went quickest in the opening stages, but his session ended after 15 minutes as he locked up his front-right tyre and understeered into the wall at Turn 3, destroying his Ferrari’s front-left corner. That accident caused a brief red flag.

Leclerc apologised to the team for what he labelled a driver error, but the Monegasque was far from the only racer to slip up.

Mercedes’ George Russell and McLaren driver Lando Norris were also seen going into the grass after a twitch, but both managed to keep it out of the wall. Meanwhile, Leclerc’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton made a full spin at Montreal’s hairpin.

After the interruption, Russell went top with a 1m13.535s on Pirelli’s softest tyre, which is the same C6 compound used in Imola and Monaco, with the Briton lowering an earlier benchmark by Verstappen.

Verstappen then retaliated with a 1m13.193s after Carlos Sainz briefly appeared at the top, while the second Williams of Alex Albon then split the two drivers. It looked like a very promising opening session for the Grove squad, although team principal James Vowles soon admitted to Sky that his team was running a different programme and therefore further up than it would be.

But in the final 10 minutes, nobody got close to Verstappen and the two Williams cars. The Dutchman led the session by 0.039s over Albon, although he suffered a scare by nearly colliding into the infamous Wall of Champions on the outside of the final chicane.

Behind third-placed Sainz, Russell’s earlier benchmark was still good enough for fourth, followed by Hamilton, who went straight at the chicane in the final minutes of the session.

Isack Hadjar was sixth on another strong start for Racing Bulls, followed by Norris who clocked the quickest second sector in the dying minutes, and Liam Lawson.

Pierre Gasly was the last driver to beat Leclerc’s early effort in ninth, with the Ferrari man rounding out the top 10.

Second practice follows at 5pm local Montreal time.

F1 Canadian GP results – FP1