Lewis Hamilton beat Valtteri Bottas to lead first practice for Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix, as Mercedes’ dominance continued.
Hamilton and Bottas traded quick times as track conditions gradually improved at the initially-dusty Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in warm and pleasant weather on Friday morning.
The pair at one point set identical lap times to jointly lead the session before Hamilton eventually prevailed, putting in a 1:12.767, as the W10s ran Mercedes’ upgraded Phase 2 engine.
Hamilton’s margin over Bottas was 0.147s, with the quickest non-Mercedes driver – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – a massive 0.953s behind the reigning World Champion.
It was nonetheless not a completely trouble-free session for Mercedes as Bottas returned to the pit lane during the final few minutes, citing a loss of fuel pressure from his W10.
Both Ferrari drivers ran with new Turbochargers and MGU-Hs in the session, with Sebastian Vettel fifth on the table after spinning at L’Epingle.
Max Verstappen split the Ferrari drivers, and was the only driver other than Leclerc to lap within a second of Hamilton, while Red Bull team-mate Pierre Gasly languished in 13th spot.
Gasly heavily locked both front tyres on the run to Turn 1 and had to take to the run-off, as his difficult 2019 campaign continued.
Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen led the midfield group in sixth position, just 0.040s behind ex-team-mate Vettel, and a mere 0.028s in front of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr.
Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, Racing Point’s Sergio Perez and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen completed the top 10, meaning Formula 1’s five midfield teams were covered by three-tenths of a second.
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi was the only driver to encounter a major setback in the session as he spun through Turn 8 and hit the wall, sustaining damage to the left-rear of his C38.
The Virtual Safety Car was implemented while marshals retrieved his stranded car.
Formula 2 title leader Nicholas Latifi had his first of six planned practice outings for Williams and finished at the rear of the 20-car pack, two-tenths down on regular racer George Russell.
Friday's second 90-minute practice session will begin at 14:00 local time
