F1 Canadian Grand Prix: Friday Roundup

Lewis Hamilton bounced back from the Monaco Grand Prix pit stop debacle to top both practice sessions for the F1 Canadian Grand Prix on Friday.

The British driver posted a time of 1:16.212 in first practice around the 4.361 km Circuit Gilles Villeneuve before improving to 1:15.988 on a set of super soft tyres in second practice, which was interrupted by heavy rain. Hamilton and Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg attempted to keep running on intermediate wet weather tyres but then ceased to do so when Hamilton crashed out of the session, prompting the rest of the field to stay put in their pit garages.

Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari, however, seemed to have something in response to Mercedes' pace on the super-soft tyres in second practice as the former four-time F1 champion and teammate Kimi Raikkonen posted the second and third fastest times. The pair were just over three tenths of a second behind Hamilton's best effort and a tenth faster than the second Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. The times were also set with the Ferrari duo posting fewer laps in second practice.

Coming into the weekend, Hamilton, unsurprisingly, was bombarded with questions related to the infamous pit call in Monaco and whether that decision dented his confidence in the team. The defending world champion dodged questions regarding the events of the previous round, which were brought to the spotlight again as Formula 1's official website posted the radio communication between Hamilton and the Mercedes pitwall that lead to a spectacular turnaround in the Briton's fortunes.

FERRARI PACE UNCONFIRMED
Coming back to the on-track action, Hamilton took little time to get back to pace on a track where he has won thrice.

Rain had hit the track 30 minutes into the session and after Hamilton’s off, no one dared to venture on track. While the running was severely limited because of the rain, drivers were able to complete at least one run on super soft tyres - something they didn’t manage in Monaco a fortnight ago.

This means it’s difficult to tell how big a step Ferrari have made by using three engine developments tokens.

MERCEDES POWER TO THE FORE
Both the Lotus F1 drivers were comfortably in the top 10 on a track that should suit the Mercedes power unit that sits on the back of the E23 Hybrid. Maldonado would be looking to score his first points of the season, after mechanical problems sidelined him from the previous race on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Williams pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa would also be targeting a return of points, after a lacklustre Monaco Grand Prix. The team described their lack of pace as one-off and are expected to finish just behind the Ferraris and Mercedes, unless Red Bull pulls something special out of the bag.

Force India’s damage limitation exercise continues as they wait for the upgraded B-Spec car that it set to run in Austria, having recently passed the mandatory crash-test. Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, in particular, have done a commendable job to put Force India in sixth place in the championship, despite the obvious weaknesses of the launch-spec VJM08 chassis.

McLaren who scored their first points since reuniting with F1 returnees Honda, are braced for a tougher outing at the horse-power hungry tracks in Canada and Austria. The Japanese manufacturer has spent two of its available engine tokens for improved reliability after Fernando Alonso scored another DNF while running in the top 10.

And finally, it appears that plans to reintroduce refuelling in F1 in 2017 have been scrapped, as teams expect it to be detrimental to the show along with adding to the expense of going racing and raising safety issues.