F1 practice LIVE: Canadian Grand Prix updates and times as Max Verstappen goes fastest in FP1
Follow the first practice at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as the build-up to the Canadian Grand Prix continues
Follow live F1 coverage as the Canadian Grand Prix weekend kicks off with free practice sessions one and two in Montreal.
The big news of the week is the FIA’s decision to “reduce or eliminate” porpoising on the advice of its medical team - just days after Lewis Hamilton suffered with severe back pain in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Hamilton required assistance to get out of his Mercedes after his car bounced up and down at high speed throughout last Sunday’s race.
Mercedes ran their machines close to the ground in Baku to produce lower downforce. But the move exaggerated the bouncing, and under the FIA’s new technical directive, Mercedes might be required to raise the ride height of their cars which could further slow them down.
At the front of the grid, Max Verstappen will be hoping to extend his lead over chief title rival Charles Leclerc after he took full advantage of the Ferrari driver retiring last weekend with the race victory.
Follow all the latest updates as we build towards this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix:
Verstappen on being booed by the crowd:
“It was disappointing I don’t know why they did that. But maybe some of them don’t like me but that’s fine, they all have their own opinions. I don’t care...”
Sainz in his post-qualifying press conference:
“Honestly I had no idea where I was going to be. It didn’t feel amazing, I made a few mistakes, but I had a lap on the board but with no battery in the last couple of straights I was convinced it wasn’t going to be enough, but that’s why I was surprised! In these conditions it’s about putting a lap on the board and not about the optimal or best lap of your life.”
Charles Leclerc post-Q3: “I’m happy for Carlos, he did a great job today. I didn’t deserve to be on pole but P3 is a good position to be for the race. The pace is there so everything should go well and obviously time management will be a thing too.”
Verstappen is notably getting booed by the home crowd, as he is interviewed following his second spot: “Q3 can always be a bit of a lottery. We have a good race car in the dry and in the wet. It’s not only about the first lap and also about the tyre management but yeah looking forward to tomorrow.”
Sainz on his first pole - in his 150th race: “It was a good lap but I was struggling a lot in the standing water. Also it was tough in the intermediates but I did a lap which I thought was nothing special but just get it on the board and pole position!
“The pace has been there all weekend apart from FP3 which we’ve corrected from qualifying. We should be in a good position to hold on to it. I will try my best of course!”
The top-10 in full:
1) Sainz
2) Verstappen
3) Leclerc
4) Perez
5) Hamilton
6) Norris
7) Alonso
8) Russell
9) Zhou
10) Latifi
Q3 DONE: Carlos Sainz is on pole!
It’s the Ferrari driver’s first ever pole position in Formula 1!
Verstappen second, Leclerc third. Perez in fourth. Hamilton down in fifth, Norris in sixth...
Wow that was dramatic!
Q3: 1 minute to go!
Fernando Alonso has put his Alpine on the second row in third currently, with Hamilton marginally behind Verstappen!
But they’re all pushing and are all setting faster laps! This may well be the case of who can set their lap last...
Q3: 3 minutes to go
The current top-three: Verstappen, Hamilton and Russell! Hamilton is two-tenths behind the Championship leader...
Exciting stuff! It’s hard to know who to focus on! More rain expected in the closing minutes too...
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