Kimi Antonelli fastest in Canadian Grand Prix practice as Fernando Alonso reaches the top 10

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Kimi Antonelli topped the timings during a disrupted Canadian Grand Prix practice session, with Liam Lawson, Alex Albon and Esteban Ocoan all causing red flag stoppages.

Antonelli arrived at the Canadian Grand Prix leading the championship after winning each of the previous three races, and the 19-year-old looked to continue his remarkable run in Montreal after rewriting several Formula 1 records in Miami last time out.

However, the opening and only practice session of the weekend began in frustrating fashion for Alpine, as Franco Colapinto suffered a loss of power along the back straight. The Argentine driver, who impressed with a seventh-place finish in Miami, limped back towards the pits before reporting over team radio: “My throttle is not working.”

Replays showed Colapinto’s Alpine slowing dramatically on the run towards Turn 13, but he successfully guided the car across the pit entry line, allowing Alpine mechanics to recover it without outside assistance and immediately begin work on a fix ahead of Sprint Qualifying later in the day.

Elsewhere, several drivers struggled to keep within the limits of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve during the early stages of the session. Reigning world champion Lando Norris locked up heavily at the final chicane and ran wide on his first flying lap, while Max Verstappen also dipped into the grass after Turn 7.

The session was then interrupted by an early Virtual Safety Car when Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls lost power exiting Turn 2. The New Zealander managed to pull the car to the side of the track, but with just a single practice session available this weekend, the stoppage represented a significant setback ahead of qualifying.

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Because Lawson’s car had come to a halt on a narrow section of the circuit, race control soon escalated the interruption to a red flag to allow marshals to safely recover the stranded Racing Bulls. With it being the only practice session of the weekend, stewards announced the session would be extended by four minutes.

Following the brief delay, drivers continued to battle the slippery conditions around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Replays showed Oscar Piastri locking up heavily into the final chicane, while Lewis Hamilton ran across the grass at Turn 8 moments later after struggling for grip on corner exit.

Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya observed that the track surface still appeared to offer very little grip, particularly on corner exits, with several drivers fighting to keep traction out of Turn 2.

Despite earlier running from both F1 Academy and Formula 2 throughout the day, there was speculation that the circuit remained dusty and under-evolved during the session, contributing to the lack of grip and the number of mistakes seen across the field.

Alex Albon brought out a second red flag of the session after crashing between Turns 7 and 8. The Williams driver appeared to clip the barrier along the straight, with replays suggesting the impact caused damage to the front suspension.

Albon immediately pulled to the side of the track before climbing out of the car, with the medical team dispatched to retrieve the Thai-British driver. The incident marked another frustrating interruption during a disrupted practice hour, with teams already facing limited preparation time ahead of Sprint Qualifying later in the day.

Ahead of the session resuming, Sky Sports F1 reported that Albon had struck a groundhog moments before the crash, with the impact believed to have caused the damage that sent the Williams into the barrier.

Practice was subsequently extended by 15 minutes to compensate for the two red-flag interruptions, allowing teams some much-needed additional running time around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Verstappen encountered early issues in the Red Bull as the session restarted, reporting over team radio that the “steering suddenly feels a lot heavier”. The Dutchman found himself down in eighth place as we reached the halfway mark.

Antonelli topped the timing sheets with 30 minutes remaining before Mercedes teammate George Russell moved ahead by a tenth of a second. The championship leader then responded immediately, almost brushing the Wall of Champions on his next flying lap before reclaiming top spot by five hundredths of a second.

Soft tyre runs towards the end of the session saw Antonelli still comfortably at the top of the times, with Russell sitting just ahead of the two Ferraris. McLaren found themselves about a second and a half behind the Italian, with both Norris and Piastri struggling on their soft tyres in the final corner.

Piastri was quick on the radio to complain about vibrations from flat spots on his tyre with the team suggesting manual deactivation of straight mode before pulling into the pitlane.

Russell then attempted to respond to Antonelli’s pace, but suffered a big spin at Turn 1 that sent the Mercedes across the grass and through the pit exit road before lightly brushing the barrier. Despite the scare, the Brit was able to continue and return to the track.

The session saw further drama in the closing stages when Esteban Ocon hit the wall between Turns 7 and 8, damaging his front wing and scattering debris across the circuit. The Haas driver managed to nurse the car back to the pitlane, while Jolyon Palmer questioned whether the incident was purely driver error on F1 TV.

“That was weird,” Palmer said. “I don’t think that’s pure driving error there for Ocon. He had the car straight, it shouldn’t snap like that at that part of the corner.”