De la Rosa on Top in Practice 1 - Canada
Pedro de la Rosa finished fastest in Friday's opening practice for the Canadian Grand Prix as McLaren proved they are likely to be the team to beat around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve this weekend
De la Rosa set a time of 1:16.415 to finish 0.169 seconds ahead of Toyota test driver Ricardo Zonta with lead McLaren race driver Kimi Raikkonen third fastest just 0.262 seconds off the pace.
High temperatures of 30 degrees, under sunny skies, greeted the drivers when they headed out for the first session but McLaren were always on top with de la Rosa setting the early pace and posting the fastest lap later in the session.
Briton Jenson Button backed up his claims that his BAR-Honda team should secure points this weekend when he finished fourth fastest, just ahead of World Champion Michael Schumacher, who has won the last three races in Montreal.
Juan Pablo Montoya, in the third McLaren, finished sixth fastest with Giancarlo Fisichella the lead Renault driver in seventh. His teammate Fernando Alonso chose not to set a time in the session.
Takuma Sato finished eighth in the second BAR with Ralf Schumacher ninth for Toyota and Rubens Barrichello making it two Ferraris in the top ten while American rookie Scott Speed finished 15th on his debut for Red Bull.
Jacques Villeneuve drew cheers from the crowd when he headed out on track for Sauber but he struggled for pace and could only manage to set the 16th fastest time.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:16.415 26 2. Zonta Toyota (M) 1:16.584 + 0.169 27 3. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:16.677 + 0.262 10 4. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:16.710 + 0.295 11 5. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:16.872 + 0.457 12 6. Montoya McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:16.945 + 0.530 10 7. Fisichella Renault (M) 1:17.281 + 0.866 6 8. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:17.458 + 1.043 10 9. R.Schumacher Toyota (M) 1:17.497 + 1.082 10 10. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:17.541 + 1.126 11 11. Heidfeld Williams-BMW (M) 1:17.739 + 1.324 5 12. Trulli Toyota (M) 1:18.049 + 1.634 6 13. Webber Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.138 + 1.723 6 14. Massa Sauber-Petronas (M) 1:18.252 + 1.837 8 15. Speed Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:18.499 + 2.084 22 16. Villeneuve Sauber-Petronas (M) 1:18.732 + 2.317 7 17. Klien Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:19.212 + 2.797 10 18. Coulthard Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:19.694 + 3.279 10 19. Karthikeyan Jordan-Toyota (B) 1:19.791 + 3.376 21 20. Friesacher Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:21.990 + 5.575 12 21. Albers Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:22.452 + 6.037 18 22. Monteiro Jordan-Toyota (B) 1:23.152 + 6.737 5 23. Alonso Renault (M) No Time 2 All timing unofficial
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