McLaren’s Lando Norris set the pace in an eventful FP1 session for the Canadian Grand Prix at the rapidly drying Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Norris survived a frantic final stage of the race on soft tyres to top FP1 ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
Lando Norris takes first place in Canadian Grand Prix after bad weather
Changeable weather had been predicted throughout the race weekend and that was certainly the case as hail rained down on the paddock before clearing at the start of the session.
However, with work ongoing to remove large amounts of accumulated water on the track, race control confirmed that FP1 would start as scheduled, but the pit lane would remain closed and drivers would remain in their garages.
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A quarter of the way through FP1, with only the safety and medical cars on track, race control gave the signal that the pit lane would open in eight minutes… just as rain started to fall again, this time less heavily than the rain that had fallen prior to the session.
And seven-time Canadian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes took to the track for the first time on greenwall intermediate tyres around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, waving to the spectators as he went, reporting over the radio that there was “very little grip”.
Hamilton’s former teammate Valtteri Bottas tried full wet tyres before quickly deciding that intermediates were the best option.
As the session entered the second half, Alpine’s Jack Doohan finally began his fifth FP1 session with the team, with the Australian seen as the favourite to replace Esteban Ocon in F1 2025.
But just as the track was beginning to dry, the session was halted under the red flag after Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu came to a halt after crashing at Turn 5 and into the left-hand wall.
With the broken Sauber quickly removed, FP1 resumed with 23 minutes remaining, and Zhou’s team-mate Bottas was the fastest so far with a 1m33.215s but still had plenty of time and grip to find.
Sainz took the lead with a time of 1m27.485s, with Ferrari team-mate Leclerc in second, 0.075s behind, as the drivers prepared for the final run – with blue skies overhead, would anyone be brave enough to attempt it on slicks?
For Leclerc the answer was yes and he went on the soft tyre, sparking the likes of Sainz and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to follow suit.
The session ended with a series of push laps, with Norris in the lead with a time of 1:24.435, with Sainz and Leclerc completing the top three.
FP1 timing
1. Lando Norris McLaren 1:24.435
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.328
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.871
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +1.535
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +2.067
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren +2.319
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine +3.149
8 Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber +3.235
9 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +3.623
10 George Russell Mercedes +4.106
11 Daniel Ricciardo RB +4.147
12 Yuki Tsunoda RB +4.288
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team +4.617
14 Nico Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team +8.391
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +8.976
16 Logan Sargent-Williams +12.151
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +16.095
18 Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber
19 Jack Doohan Alpine
20 Alexander Albon Williams
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