Canada – Free Practice 1: The Surprise Paul di Resta

The rain has stopped, but the track is quite wet at the start of this first free practice session of the Canadian Grand Prix. At Caterham, Charles Pic is replaced by Alexander Rossi this Friday morning. The French driver will get back behind the wheel for the day’s second session. At Ferrari, Felipe Massa has a new chassis, but the Scuderia is also testing a new front wing on which paint is applied to analyze the airflow.

Esteban Gutiérrez is the first to set a time on the board with 1:31.508. As the final 60 minutes approach, Mark Webber claims this fastest time. The Australian completes a lap in 1:29.412 with intermediate tires. The Red Bull driver improves on the next pass, 1:27.909. With the intensification of on-track action, times begin to improve. Kimi Räikkönen displaces Webber from the top of the timesheet while Valtteri Bottas has a brief excursion onto the grass. The Williams driver slots in between Webber and Räikkönen on the next lap as Jean-Eric Vergne, often very comfortable on wet tracks, takes the fastest time with 1:26.436.

For Jules Bianchi, things are not going as well. The Marussia driver goes straight at turn number 3. As he tries to get back on track, his team asks him to cut the engine. Session interrupted for the driver from Nice.

After 45 minutes, Nico Rosberg is back at the front with a lap completed in 1:24.902. The recent Monaco Grand Prix winner is ahead of Ricciardo and Vergne. The STR8 stands out in these particular conditions.

15 minutes later, the German is still in the lead. He even improves by 4 tenths. Lewis Hamilton is in second, with Ricciardo in third position. Räikkönen, Vettel, and Alonso are in 12th, 13th, and 14th respectively. There are 30 minutes left in this first session.

25 minutes before the checkered flag, Vettel, who has never won here, sets the benchmark time at 1:23.047. Romain Grosjean is in 3rd place. In 10th, Vergne is the first to fit the experimental tires brought by Pirelli for this Grand Prix.

15 minutes before the end of this first practice session, Van der Garde is in 6th position and Max Chilton, 7th. Both are running on worn intermediate tires. Fernando Alonso returns to the track on Pirelli’s modified compounds. As for Jenson Button, he prefers to take the track with medium tires that will be used throughout the weekend. This choice allows him to put his McLaren in the spotlight 5 minutes before the end. 1:21.551 for the 2009 world champion. Kimi Räikkönen also improves and takes 2nd place.

Pastor Maldonado, meanwhile, finishes this session in the wall at turn number 4, much to the dismay of Claire Williams who is pouting in the English team’s garage.

The session ends with the fastest time set by Paul di Resta at 1:21.020, ahead of Jenson Button and Romain Grosjean. Alonso and Räikkönen complete the top 5.

Free Practice 1 Results for the Canadian Grand Prix: