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Formula 1 Canadian GP

F1 Canadian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2

Friday's action from the eight round of the 2023 Formula 1 season.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR23, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23

F1 begins its eighth round this weekend with another trip across the Atlantic for the Canadian GP.

Max Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings by 53 points from Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, following his latest win in Spain coupled with the Mexican’s fourth place finish behind both Mercedes drivers.

First practice starts at 6:30pm BST with second practice at 10pm BST.

Live Standings

Stopped

Summary

  • Summary
    • Hamilton leads Mercedes 1-2 in second practice for Canadian GP before rain curtails running
    • FP2 red-flagged twice, as Alpine's Ocon stopped on track and Hulkenberg's Haas fire
    • First practice also red-flagged in opening minutes and then cancelled due to local CCTV infrastructure issues
  • Leaderboard
    1. Hamilton, Mercedes
    2. Russell, Mercedes
    3. Sainz, Ferrari
    4. Alonso, Aston Martin
    5. Leclerc, Ferrari
    6. Verstappen, Red Bull
    7. Bottas, Alfa Romeo
    8. Perez, Red Bull
    9. Stroll, Aston Martin
    10. Gasly, Alpine

Live Text

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Green flag
Hello one and all! Who fancies some practice action for the Canadian GP? Well, you've come to the right place.
Breaking news

So far this weekend we've seen some big ol' upgrades on the Aston Martin that will debut in Montreal, with team owner Lawrence Stroll looking for a double podium this weekend:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/aston-martin-reveals-major-f1-upgrades-for-canadian-gp-/10483471/

Aston Martin AMR23 floor

Aston Martin AMR23 floor

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Meanwhile at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton thinks his team has finally found the best development direction with its W14 F1 car:
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/hamilton-mercedes-has-found-its-north-star/10483370/
George Russell, Mercedes-AMG Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG

George Russell, Mercedes-AMG Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

It's been a struggle for Ferrari so far this season, but the Italian manufacturer finally had something to celebrate last weekend as it won the centenary Le Mans 24 Hours on its return to the top class. Leclerc and Sainz will hope that success can rub off on them this weekend.
Full disclosure: We've spent today watching the opening day of the Ashes and this opening practice session rather clashes with the end of play. So if any cricketing lexicon slips in, we're sorry.
There's been a few minor track changes at Montreal since F1 has been away, most notably a small wall between the pitlane exit and Turn 1.
Green flag
FP1 is green! Off we go!
Both Red Bulls are on the track early, loaded with aero testing devices, meaning they've got a busy session planned combining testing and race preparation.
"I lost the driveshaft, let me know what to do. No gears!" Gasly reports on team radio. He's come to a halt at Turn 8.
Gasly is giving it the control + alt + delete to try to get his Alpine going again, while team-mate Ocon is in the pits with his car up on the jacks. Not a good start to the weekend for the French squad.
Red flag
And there's an early red flag due to Gasly being unable to get going again. He's stumped.
Gasly has been pushed towards a gap in the barrier by the track marshals but then left alone, maybe to see if he can get going again. But it is no good and he's wheeled off the track fully.
So, a premature start to the session and a nightmare for Alpine. The team must be having flashbacks to Azerbaijan.
So far no driver has completed more than three laps in this session, as we await a restart time, while we've already lost over 13 minutes of FP1. It isn't clear what the delay is for now that Gasly's car is off the track.
This will be wrecking the run plans of every team, especially those with lots of fancy new parts to try out.
Maybe the track officials are catching up on the end of day Ashes highlights. England's early declaration, what's that all about?
Mercedes have the answer to the delay: Both cars headed to end of pitlane but then a problem in race control meant the circuit was not reopened while it is resolved. This issue was only communicated when cars reached end of pitlane. So we have brought the cars back as they would have lost any useful tyre temperature.
So it appears a power outage around the track is causing this extended delay. Someone put 10 Canadian cents in the meter.
Here's the official line from the FIA on the delay: The session restart has been delayed due to issues with the local CCTV infrastructure around the circuit. The local organisers are working to resolve the issue and until that time we can’t restart for safety reasons.
The TV director is filling time by showing shots of the local groundhogs that are sitting trackside. This is an F1 nature documentary in the making.
There is still no update on a restart time as we approach the midway point in the session. Remember, a red flag in practice doesn't stop the clock like in qualifying, so once the hour is up that's it for FP1.
As nothing is happening fast in FP1, a low loader truck has appeared to take Gasly's stricken Alpine back to the pits. His stoppage caused the initial red flag, of course he cannot be blamed for the subsequent delays, but so far he hasn't missed any action.
We didn't realise F1 was such fans of Coventry City TV... that's a gag stolen from the golden era of Soccer AM.
Gasly's car has made it to the pitlane and is wheeled back into the Alpine garage. He could make the restart without missing a moment at this rate.

Here's the latest from the FIA:

The delay will be longer as the CCTV is not synced correctly and until the issue has been fixed we cannot run on track. This system is a local installation and they are continuing to work to resolve the problem. The clock will continue to run down on FP1 and the session won’t be extended as there must be 2.5hrs between FP1 and FP2. We are looking at options to extend FP2.

So, we could have a bumper FP2 if teams agree to it and we cannot get going again in first practice.
The sun sets at 8:45pm local time at Montreal tonight. That's 1:45am BST for those back in the UK. It could be a long night!
To clarify, first practice will end in 15 minutes regardless of what happens. But second practice could be made longer if all teams agree to it.
Fan favourite Daniel Ricciardo gets the biggest cheer of the day as he's shown on the big screen. That's been a theme this year. Just imagine if he was still driving in F1.
Breaking news
Right, we have an update on this situation. First practice will not be resumed and there's a change to second practice...
Breaking news

FP2 will be pushed forward by 30 minutes, so it will become a 90-minute session starting at 4:30pm local time - that's 9:30pm BST.

Breaking news
Here's the latest:
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-canadian-gp-opening-practice-suspended-due-to-cctv-issue/10483645/
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR23, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR23, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

That was, er, one of the more unusual F1 practice sessions we've ever covered. Let's try that all again in a couple of hours.
Breaking news
And here's our full report on that F1 'practice' session: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-canadian-gp-bottas-tops-fp1-before-session-is-cancelled/10483657/
We'll take a quick breather ahead of the revised FP2 plan and hope for more running later on. Back soon!
Hello there! Welcome back to coverage of FP2 ahead of the F1 Canadian Grand Prix.
If you missed the opening free practice session earlier, then don't worry... because you didn't actually miss much at all! A CCTV issue meant only a handful of laps were completed at the start of the session.

By: Autosport Staff

Published: