Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix 2011: Mercedes and Ferrari Impress in P1

The first Practice session for the Formula 1 2011 Canadian Grand Prix took place at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on the morning of Friday 10th June 2011, with strong performances coming from the Merceds and Ferrari drivers, who produced the top four fastest lap times in P1.

Nico Rosberg, of Mercedes, was the fastest, posting a lap time of 1:15.591, some half a second ahead of Ferrari’s Spanish ace, Fernando Alonso, who was, in turn, four tenths of a second ahead of Rosberg’s team-mate and fellow German, veteran Michael Schumacher.

Italian driver, Filipe Massa, of Ferrari was fouth best, with a time of 1:16.658, just a tenth or so behind Schumacher.

The McLaren-Merceds men were next, with Jenson Button (1:16.676) narrowly edging out his British team-mate, Lewis Hamilton (1:16.842).

Red Bull will perhaps be a little disappointed with the performance of their men in P1 – Mark Webber could only manage 12th fastest, while runaway World Championship leader, Sebastian Vettel, could only muster a 16th best 1:18.852, though their Saturday and sunday performances this season mean that to disount them at this early juncture would seem a little premature.

Vettel’s underperformance brought the session to a halt as he hit the “wall of champions” at the final chicane, after out-braking himself on the Soft compound tyre.

Rubens Barichello, who holds the best ever lap recorded at this course showed once more that he enjoys the long straights and tight corners of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Barrichello posted a 7th fastest time of 1:16.990 – some ten placesand nearly two seconds faster than his Williams-Cosworth team-mate, Pastor Maldonado. Barrichello remains a competitor, even in this, his 310th Grand Prix.

Full classification for Practice One of the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix is listed below.

FIA Formula One World Championship – 2011 Canadian Grand Prix – Practice 1 Results