After learning about the FIA’s latest measure to avoid excessive porposing, seeking to reduce the problems it can cause to drivers and the danger it can also pose, the first free practice session 1 of the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix F1 I had a special interest.
From the first minute of FP1, all the single-seaters took to the track quickly to check their behavior and make any adjustments that the FIA had explained in its latest technical directive, since not complying with what was established could even lead to disqualification.
At the end of the first 60 minutes of action at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Max Verstappen closed the time table in first position with a 1:15.158, ahead of Carlos Sainz and a surprising Fernando Alonso who finished third, three tenths from the Dutch driver, but with a medium compound.
However, it must be made clear that the marks of this first session are still far from the expected times.
Behind the Spaniard from Alpine, Sergio Pérez set the fourth best time in Free Practice 1 in Montreal, which allowed him to get ahead of Charles Leclerc and a George Russell who was close to the leading times.
Lance Stroll, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo completed the top ten less than a second off Verstappen’s best time, to the positive surprise of Aston Martin, who after many weekends of suffering seem to be here in Canada, from moment, you can breathe a little easier.
FP1 Results, Canadian GP 2022 F1 Free Practice 1
Click on “VIEW RESULTS” to see the full time table
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | Km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
27 | 1’15.158 | 208.887 | ||
| two |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
3. 4 | 1’15,404 | 0.246 | 0.246 | 208,206 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
31 | 1’15.531 | 0.373 | 0.127 | 207.856 |
| 4 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
32 | 1’15,619 | 0.461 | 0.088 | 207,614 |
| 5 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
30 | 1’15.666 | 0.508 | 0.047 | 207.485 |
| 6 |  George Russell |
 |
29 | 1’15.822 | 0.664 | 0.156 | 207.058 |
| 7 |  Lance Stroll |
 |
32 | 1’15.877 | 0.719 | 0.055 | 206.908 |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton |
 |
27 | 1’15.877 | 0.719 | 0.000 | 206.908 |
| 9 |  Sebastian Vettel |
 |
33 | 1’16.041 | 0.883 | 0.164 | 206.462 |
| 10 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
 |
29 | 1’16.083 | 0.925 | 0.042 | 206.348 |
| see results | |||||||
Summary of Free Practice 1 of the Canadian GP 2022 F1
After the latest FIA technical directive, in which it announced an extra measure to check that the 2022 Formula 1 cars do not suffer from excessive porosing that could even be harmful to the drivers, all the teams took to the track in the first few minutes from FP1.
The first thing that caught the attention of the cameras was the enormous rebound of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari F1-75, a worrying image, since it could even lead to disqualification if his mechanics do not find a solution during free practice.
From very early on, the two Red Bulls were placed in the first two positions of the time table, with Max Verstappen leading with a 1:15.799 at the end of the first 10 minutes of Free Practice 1, ahead of Sergio Pérez and the two cars from Maranello , almost a second away.
The Mercedes garage attracted almost all the cameras when its two drivers, Hamilton and Russell, stayed in the garage longer than their rivals, with the mechanics working on their cars and, most likely, to reduce the rebound, since it is the W13 is the car that suffers the most bounce.
Esteban Ocon, at the wheel of his Alpine, saw how a plastic bag was placed just in front of the air intake of his right front brake and he had to return to the pits without being able to brake and with smoke coming out of his brake pad due to the burn that he had suffered due to lack of refrigeration.
Alonso was one of the first drivers to mount the soft tire and after 20 minutes of Free Practice 1 he climbed to third position, behind the Red Bulls, just 0.652 seconds behind Checo Pérez, who had stolen the lead from his teammate with a 1:15.660.
Coming into the middle of FP1, the session leveled off and the drivers slowly headed back to their garages to make some changes to their cars and fit Pirelli’s softer tires for this Canadian GP.
The first car of the favorites to set a record with these tires was that of the Mexican Red Bull driver, who was unable to improve his time with averages despite painting the first sector purple.
After Pérez’s attempt, Leclerc, who was riding a nine-lap soft, was placed second, 0.006 seconds behind the Mexican, while Sainz, on new softs, moved up to first place with a time of 1:15.441. In turn, Verstappen had to return to the garage after detecting a problem in the configuration of his car.
Behind, the Aston Martins were placed fifth and sixth to the surprise of the other teams, although some such as Mercedes had not yet recorded a lap with the fastest compound for this weekend in Montreal.
Back on asphalt, Verstappen regained first place with a 1:15.158 on soft and, most importantly, with the problems solved.
Yuki Tsunoda came very close to causing the first red flag of the weekend after a brush with one of the track walls in which he erased the Pirelli mark on his tires.
Meanwhile, the Mercedes went out on the track with soft and placed fifth and seventh, with Alonso who surprised everyone and placed third, three tenths off the best time in FP1, but with the medium compound.
Estaban Ocon, also with means, improved his time and rose to 14th place, far behind his teammate, more than a second behind.
In the last minutes of the session, practically no driver managed to improve their times and no one suffered any mishap, so the positions were stable and everyone was able to return to their garage without further problems.
