13/06/2025 20:30
Max Verstappen edged out Williams duo Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz
at the end of a first practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix
in which Charles Leclerc wrecked his Ferrari. Fifteen minutes into
the session, Leclerc suffered a disastrous crash at Montreal's
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, destroying the left-hand side of his
SF-25. Racing up the hill into Turn 3, Leclerc was seemingly caught
in two minds on his approach as he was carrying too much speed.
Rather than taking to the escape road, the Monégasque braked too
late, and as he turned in his attempt to make the fast right-hand
turn, he instead smacked the corner of the barrier with the
left-front wheel of his car. The follow through saw the left-rear
also destroyed before the SF-25 finally came to rest on the entry
to Turn 8. Leclerc had been top of the timesheet at that stage, and
despite his heavy shunt, still finished 10th quickest after the
hour-long run. At the head of affairs was Verstappen in his Red
Bull with a lap of 1:13.193s, 0.039s clear of Albon and 0.08s ahead
of Sainz. As for McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the
duo were seventh and 14th quickest, and clearly on different run
plans to the likes of Verstappen and the Williams duo. Piastri, in
particular, was trialling a new front wing complete with eloquently
named 'mermaid tails'. whilst Norris was on an older spec. After an
early sighter from Hamilton with a lap of 1:17.018s, in beautiful
conditions under clear blue skies, Verstappen shaved off a second
before Albon did likewise, only for the Dutchman to post a
1:14.478s on his second push lap on the soft tyres. For rookies
Franco Colapinto and Kimi Antonelli, there were early moments of
angst. The Argentinian spun on the approach to Turn 2 on his
opening flier in his Alpine, whilst a few minutes, the Italian
suffered a moment of rear locking that forced him off track. As the
session continued, Leclerc soared to the top of the timsheet with a
1:13.885s, only for his session to come crashing to a halt soon
after. It sparked an eight-minute delay before running could resume
following which their were mistakes for Norris, who took a trip
across the grass; Russell with a moment through Turn 6, and then
Hamilton with a spin through the Turn 10 hairpin. Out front,
Verstappen then edged Leclerc off top spot by 0.022s before Russell
followed up on his next lap by going a third of a second quicker
than the Dutch driver with a 1:13.535s. Verstappen, though, was not
to be denied as he additionally despatched Russel by almost the
same amount of time, lowering the benchmark to 1:13.193s. Within a
moment, Williams' Carlos Sainz followed over the line, just 0.082s
down. Williams underlined its pace at this circuit as Albon edged
ahead of Sainz and to within 0.039s of Verstappen, who shortly
before had bemoaned Hamilton being on the racing line, forcing him
to take to the grass as he flashed past. Another error from Norris
followed with just under 15 minutes remaining, with the Briton
forced to take to the grass between Turns 1 and 2 before he finally
turned in a solid time to elevate himself up to seventh, 0.458s
adrift. In between Sainz and Norris was Russell, Hamilton, and
Racing Bulls star Isack Hadjar, with his team-mate eighth quickest.
Alpine's Pierre Gasly also finished ahead of Leclerc in ninth,
0.624s off the pace. more follows
