GP – Free Practice 1: Massa Leads in the Rain

Felipe Massa waited until the end of the first wet free practice session of the Canadian Grand Prix to establish himself as the fastest driver.

He clocked a time of 1’17”553, which proved to be sufficient to fend off several attempts from his competitors.

In the end, it’s Robert Kubica’s BMW that comes closest to the Brazilian, eclipsing the performances of Heikki Kovalainen and Nick Heidfeld, who each in turn usurped the second place from Kimi Räikkönen, who finishes 5th.

Jenson Button fell from fourth to last place in just eight minutes.

The track was wet from the start of the session and predictably, it was the Force India cars that were the first to hit the track.

But halfway through the session, with a drying track, it was the Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock that took control of the session. They stayed ahead until the other drivers switched to dry tires just after the hour of testing.

The reigning world champion is therefore 5th ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who waited until the last seven minutes to position himself in this 6th place.

Mark Webber was third but eventually dropped to seventh place ahead of his teammate David Coulthard’s Red Bull. Kazuki Nakajima and Fernando Alonso complete the top ten.

Not surprisingly, a few mistakes were made by Button, Trulli, Alonso, and Piquet, but no one made contact with the safety barriers.