P10 for Max in first Montreal practice session

Published on 05 June 2015 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen finished the first free practice session of the Canadian Grand Prix in tenth. The Dutchman completed 24 laps of which his 1:18.257 was the fastest. Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg led the way with Romain Grosjean completing the top three in his Lotus. Max' team mate Carlos Sainz clocked the seventeenth fastest time lapping the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 23 times.

As the fist of three practice sessions gets under way, Jenson Button is the first driver to draw attention to himself. The Briton's gearbox is stuck in second gear forcing the McLaren driver back to the pits. In the meantime, both Mercedes are the first drivers to set a time.

Max takes his time before venturing out on to the Ile Notre Dame based circuit. When he does eventually set a lap time, he moves up into ninth. After the first thirty minutes, when the first sets of the softest compound are handed to the FIA, Hamilton heads the timing tables.

The second half an hour is fairly quiet. Nevertheless there are a few drivers making mistakes. Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz and Hamilton all spin off track but are able to resume the session without any issues. Max stays in the pits. Scuderia Toro Rosso appears to save the youngster's power unit as the engine was also used during the Australian Grand Prix.

In the closing stages, Max heads out for another stint in which he consistently laps quicker. In the end, a 1:18.257 grants him P10, two seconds adrift of Lewis Hamilton. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz' mechanics are summoned to push the Spaniard's Toro Rosso back to the garage. After a quick check-up, the STR-driver is able to clock a few laps before end the session in P17, trailing Max by eighth tenths.

Canadian Grand Prix – Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – Friday 5 June

RESULTS FREE PRACTICE 1
 P  No Driver             Team          Time       Gap     Laps 
 1  44 Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes      1:16.212             34 
 2   6 Nico Rosberg       Mercedes      1:16.627   +0.415s   38 
 3   8 Romain Grosjean    Lotus         1:17.721   +1.509s   35 
 4  27 Nico Hulkenberg    Force India   1:17.871   +1.659s   34 
 5   5 Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari       1:17.905   +1.693s   25 
 6  19 Felipe Massa       Williams      1:17.985   +1.773s   28 
 7  26 Daniil Kvyat       Red Bull      1:18.021   +1.809s   30 
 8  13 Pastor Maldonado   Lotus         1:18.026   +1.814s   41 
 9  14 Fernando Alonso    McLaren       1:18.128   +1.916s   34 
10  33 Max Verstappen     Toro Rosso    1:18.257   +2.045s   24 
11  77 Valtteri Bottas    Williams      1:18.325   +2.113s   40 
12   7 Kimi Räikkönen     Ferrari       1:18.439   +2.227s   26 
13  11 Sergio Perez       Force India   1:18.503   +2.291s   28 
14   3 Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull      1:18.775   +2.563s   24 
15  22 Jenson Button      McLaren       1:18.786   +2.574s   25 
16  12 Felipe Nasr        Sauber        1:18.948   +2.736s   30 
17  55 Carlos Sainz       Toro Rosso    1:19.065   +2.853s   23 
18   9 Marcus Ericsson    Sauber        1:19.165   +2.953s   32 
19  98 Roberto Merhi      Marussia      1:20.616   +4.404s   33 
20  28 Will Stevens       Marussia      1:20.624   +4.412s   27

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