Defending world champion Max Verstappen went quickest in the opening practice session for the 2022 FIA Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix as the sport returned to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the first time since 2019. Verstappen outpaced Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by over two tenths of a second with Fernando Alonso third for Alpine.
Verstappen led the way early in the session, logging a time of 1:17.991 on medium compound Pirelli tyres to take top spot. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas then rose to the top of the timesheet, with a lap of 1:17.902 effort. Verstappen responded immediately, however, stretching a massive 1.4s tenths of a second clear of the Finnish driver.
Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez then slotted into second place, half a second off the Dutchman, but the champion was already starting another flying lap and when he did so he again made a large improvement, posting a lap of 1:15.799s to sit 1.2 clear of Pérez.
Pérez was finding a comfort zone, however, and after a small improvement from Verstappen the Mexican jumped to P1 just before the quarter hour mark with a lap of 1:15.660.
After a lull in the action, the Red Bull pair then switched to the soft tyres just before the halfway point. Ferrari also made the switch and Sainz took top spot with a lap 1:15.441. Verstappen returned to the track, however, and posted his best time of 1:15.158 to beat the Spaniard by 0.246s.
Alonso finished third, just 0.373 behind Verstappen, while Pérez was left with fourth place, 0.4s behind his team-mate at the flag. Charles Leclerc in the other Ferrari settled for fifth place, 0.508 in arrears to Verstappen.
Sixth place on the timesheet went to George Russell who was separated from Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by home favourite Lance Stroll who took his Aston Martin to seventh place, 0.664 off Verstappen’s place. Behind Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel was ninth in the second Aston Martin and Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top for McLaren.
2022 FIA Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 27 1:15.158 208.887
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 34 1:15.404 0.246 208.206
3 Fernando Alonso Alpine 31 1:15.531 0.373 207.856
4 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 32 1:15.619 0.461 207.614
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 30 1:15.666 0.508 207.485
6 George Russell Mercedes 29 1:15.822 0.664 207.058
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 32 1:15.877 0.719 206.908
8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 27 1:15.877 0.719 206.908
9 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 33 1:16.041 0.883 206.462
10 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 29 1:16.083 0.925 206.348
11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 29 1:16.165 1.007 206.126
12 Lando Norris McLaren 17 1:16.211 1.053 206.001
13 Alex Albon Williams 29 1:16.308 1.150 205.739
14 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 33 1:16.322 1.164 205.702
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine 26 1:16.421 1.263 205.435
16 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 27 1:16.426 1.268 205.422
17 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 30 1:17.152 1.994 203.489
18 Mick Schumacher Haas 25 1:17.223 2.065 203.302
19 Nicholas Latifi Williams 33 1:17.241 2.083 203.254
20 Kevin Magnussen Haas 31 1:17.555 2.397 202.431
