F1 Canadian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Friday's action from the eight round of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
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.
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With essentially no running taking place in the opening session, it means that FP2 has been extended by an extra 30 minutes, with the session getting underway at 2130hrs BST.
It meant that the rest of the session was suspended, with Valtteri Bottas officially fastest after setting his time in the opening moments. You can check the report out here.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
