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:
It’s a hell of a crash
Blimey.
Just seen a replay in the media centre of the crash.
Russell squeezes Gasly which causes a slight touch - Russell clips Zhou, flinging the Alfa Romeo upside down towards the barrier before the Chinese driver’s car spins back round and up, into the fence above the tyre barrier.
Meanwhile, a secondary incident behind them saw numerous collisions. Bumper cars frankly.
FIA STATEMENT
FZhou and Albon have been taken to the medical centre. Both were conscious and will be evaluated at the medical centre
RED FLAG
George Russell having a word with an FIA official. It’s a bit unclear, but I believe he’s asking why he can’t rejoin the race. The Mercedes driver was in the gravel before he got out of the car and raced across towards Zhou’s car.
Russell will not be able to restart the race...
Zhou update: The Alfa Romeo driver is out of car on a stretcher
Zhou is out of the car. He is on a stretcher but is moving, and his Alfa Romeo team say he is OK. Good news.
He has been taken to hospital.
Unconfirmed reports of protestors storming the track on the first lap too
Zhou update: The Alfa Romeo driver is still in the car
The medical team is currently down at Abbey at the site of the crash. An ambulance is also going down the main straight.
Zhou update:
An extraction team is currently working on putting the Alfa Romeo the right way round...
We’ll bring you more news as we get it.
All the drivers in the pit lane have left their cars and are in their garages, most with their engineers.
So we’ve lost George Russell - whose top-5 run this season comes to an end - and Alex Albon, while Guanyu Zhou is also out with his condition unknown.
RED FLAG: All the cars line up into the pit lane
It looks like Russell and Albon are definitely out, with Ocon and Gasly are limping back to the pits...
We wait to hear news about Zhou. It looked a nasty crash into the barriers...
LIGHTS OUT! RED FLAG STRAIGHT AWAY!
Wow where to start with this start?!
Verstappen is rapid at the start and gets ahead of Sainz, while Hamilton surges up from fifth to third!
But there’s a red flag after the first corner after a BIG crash at Abbey!
Guanyu Zhou flew into the barriers, while George Russell and I think Alex Albon too is out of the race!
The cars come into the pits...
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