Verstappen leads the way as Williams impress in Montreal

Max Verstappen set the pace during Free Practice 1 at the Canadian Grand Prix, leading a session filled with traffic, early mistakes and a confident charge from the Williams pair.

Under clear skies in Montreal, Free Practice 1 saw drivers eager to roll out of the pitlane and onto the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with many navigating the unique circuit layout for the very first time in Formula 1 machinery.

Sporting three upgrades this weekend — a new front wing, front suspension geometry and a circuit-specific rear wing — it was no surprise to see Oscar Piastri rushing out of the pitlane with a big, bad aero-rake weighting his MCL39 down for his brief opening stint in FP1.

Piastri completed just one lap on the soft compound tyre before returning to the pitlane, remaining in the McLaren garage for the foreseeable future as the team worked to remove the chunky aero tools from his car. 

His stay in the pitlane was extended due to a Red Flag which consumed the circuit until the halfway mark of the session, when Piastri finally rejoined the track action on the soft compound tyre.

He set an opening lap that was 1.7 seconds off the benchmark — reducing that margin to under one second with a time of 1:14.818s on his next attempt.

Still circulating outside of the top ten, the Australian’s run plan didn’t allow him to make an impression on the timesheets as he begged the pit wall to find him a pocket of clear air down in P16.

Throwing his MCL39 across the kerbs at Turn 7, Piastri improved up the order, however, only just when he slotted into P14, two-tenths behind a struggling Lando Norris.

His time of 1:14.198s remained his fastest through to the chequered flag, with Piastri completing a practice start on the grid before retreating to the pitlane, welcoming the reset ahead of FP2.

Gaining experience around the street circuit-like track was Liam Lawson’s top priority during the opening hour of practice, with Racing Bulls the only team to send its representatives out on the medium compound tyre to start the session.

Lawson and Isack Hadjar went tow-to-toe during the first fifteen minutes of practice, finding comfort within the top ten as one-tenth separated the rookie teammates. 

Making a quick pitstop, Lawson returned to the circuit armed with a fresh set of the C5 tyre, however, that stint was over before it even started when he found himself the first driver on the scene of an accident at Turn 4. 

With Red Flags waving, Lawson returned to the RB garage, with the session later restarting with 35 minutes on the clock.

On the same tyre, Lawson slotted himself into P6 with a time of 1:14.305s, lapping a few more times before retreating to the pitlane once more.

When he rejoined the action, the #30’s place within the top ten nearly slipped away despite shaving three-tenths off his lap on the soft compound tyre, only saved when he improved to P7 moments later.

With a time of 1:13.373s, Lawson held onto a welcomed top-ten finish in Free Practice 1, falling just one-tenth short of his fellow rookie teammate to round out the first session at the Canadian Grand Prix.

As for the rest of the field, it was a wayward start for Franco Colapinto who started his first-ever flying lap around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with a slow spin at Turn 2, bringing out the first yellow flags of the weekend just moments into FP1. 

On the timing sheets, Colapinto’s teammate looked far more comfortable as he shot into second fastest, momentarily running five-hundredths behind the leading Red Bull driver who wished to carry the same confidence.

Complaining that his steering wheel was “heavy”, Max Verstappen wouldn’t take the lack of an answer from the Red Bull pit wall despite holding a benchmark time of 1:14.478s, with his team unable to detect an issue after ten minutes of running.

Lando Norris and George Russell capitalised on the distracted Dutchman’s opening runs, knocking him down a peg before Charles Leclerc set a new benchmark of 1:13.885s.

That lap was doomed to remain the Ferrari driver’s fastest of the session, with Leclerc quickly learning the hard way that the grip around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was a rarity in FP1 when he found his SF25 battered and bruised at Turn 4.

Carrying too much speed and later admitting that he “should have gone straight”, Leclerc locked up on the run into Turn 4, becoming a passenger during an incident that saw him charge straight into the inside barrier before rebounding across the circuit.

A Red Flag was declared to clear the stricken Ferrari, and when the session resumed with just over half an hour remaining, the sole remaining Scuderia representative wasn’t doing much better as Lewis Hamilton spun at the hairpin, returning to the pitlane to dispose of his C6 tyres.

The Ferrari driver was earlier witness to one of many traffic interferences, watching on as Alex Albon nearly collided with Gabriel Bortoleto despite the Williams driver’s genuine attempt to clear the racing line.

It seemed Hamilton took inspiration from that moment when he held up the reigning world champion in the second half of the session, earning an outburst of frustration from Verstappen who didn’t let the #44 slow him down in the minutes that followed. 

In the thick of the action, Verstappen headlined the return to the 4.36km circuit by setting a new fastest lap of 1:13.863s, momentarily losing out to Russell before shaving six-tenths off his next run.

Joining him within the top three, the Williams duo of Albon and Carlos Sainz were putting their foot to the floor and seemingly fulfilling the prophecy that this circuit would be a positive one for the team as they circulated in P2 and P3, just 0.039s behind the #1.

Despite gaining more experience in Montreal, drivers were still caught out by the difficult track surface conditions, with Norris running across the grass at the first braking zone, while his teammate had to wrangle his MCL39 across the kerbs.

Race preparations took hold of the final moment of FP1, with the timesheets reflecting limited change and allowing Verstappen and Williams to finish the first session on a high.

Taking to the starting grid, the field completed their first practice starts on the track to round out the hour, before retreating to the pitlane, ready to debrief ahead of FP2.

The cars will be back on track at 07:00 AEST for Free Practice 2, with the true order yet to be revealed in Montreal.

Image: Sam Bloxham/LAT Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

Free Practice 1 Results:

2025 Canadian Grand Prix Schedule (AEST):

Saturday, June 14th:

FP1: 03:30 – 04:30

FP2: 07:00 – 08:00

Sunday, June 15th:

FP3: 02:30 – 03:30

Qualifying: 06:00 – 07:00

Monday, June 16th:

Race: 04:00

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