07/06/2013
NEWS STORY
Mat Coch writes:
The grey skies painted a miserable picture over the Montreal skyline, perhaps mirroring the atmosphere within the paddock as the Mercedes tyre test saga rumbled on. Although the rain had stopped by the time the first practice session opened for the Canadian Grand Prix, standing water saw many teams opt to complete just an installation lap as the session got underway.
The wet conditions effectively ruled out Pirelli's hopes that teams would test its 'prototype' medium compound tyre, with potential ramifications spilling over on to the British Grand Prix.
As was the case in Monaco, Esteban Gutierrez headed out on track first, leading the pack around as they performed system checks; Caterham's Alexander Rossi, substituting for Charles Pic for the session, was asked to perform radio tests at a number of different spots around the circuit.
The blue walled wet tyres were the order of the day, rooster tales of spray thrown skywards off the sodden tarmac, though a number of drivers braved the conditions on intermediates, including Mark Webber and Paul di Resta.
No time had been set after ten minutes of the session, the circuit having fallen silent as teams busied themselves in the garages. Among them was Ferrari, testing a newly sculptured front wing while next door Red Bull had a development wing which features no less than nine elements.
Sergio Perez was the first to start a timed lap, even if he didn't complete it. Interestingly, as Perez powered down the long back straight on his return to the pits his car was clearly not riding the bumps well, the McLaren looking like it may shake itself to pieces at any moment.
Moments later Gutierrez was back on track, his Sauber looking smoother in the slippery conditions than Perez' McLaren though still bouncing down the back straight as though speeding along a pot holed country lane. Twenty minutes into the session the Mexican driver was the first and only man to have set a time.
Williams, still without a point six races into the 2013 season, spent the early part of the session with flo-viz paint on its cars, the team clearly spending time focussed on aerodynamic work.
Meanwhile Mark Webber was circulating on intermediate tyres, lowering the fastest recorded lap to a 1:27.909 after almost half an hour of the session gone. It pre-empted a number of drivers taking to the circuit on intermediate tyres, the standing water which was a feature early on now seemingly less of a concern.
While drivers looked to switch to the lesser of the two grooved tyres there was no sign of a dry line. Forecasts predicted rain would cease during the session, though low temperatures were not helping the circuit dry quickly.
With cars circulating the times tumbled; Raikkonen went second fastest on a 1:29.245, improving to a 1:28.290 on the following lap while Nico Hulkenberg was a second behind in third place. Still conditions remained tricky, Valtteri Bottas taking to the grass at the Turn 3 chicane after half an hour. Bouncing over the grass the young Finn kept away from the walls, completing the lap without further incident.
Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Verge headed to the top of the timing screens as the clock ticked down to fifty-three minutes remaining, a 1:26.436 some three tenths faster than Nico Rosberg who'd set the second best lap.
The Monaco winner soon remedied that situation, lowering the benchmark to 1:26.051 as a dry line began to emerge; Marussia radioed Max Chilton telling the Englishman to go seeking puddles down the straights to cool his tyres.
With fifty minutes remaining the top eight drivers were separated by less than sixth-tenths of a second, at least until Rosberg knocked a second out of his previous best to lay the next marker.
Blotting his copybook early in the weekend was Jules Bianchi who appeared to miss his braking marker at Turn 3 before taking to the escape road. A badly executed spin turn saw the Frenchman facing the barrier perpendicular to the direction he should have been going before the team told him to stop the car with an overheating engine.
With half the session over Felipe Massa finally began a timed lap, the Ferrari driver the only man not to have set a time at that point. His first time, a 1:28.186, was good enough for seventeenth.
A little further back Alexander Rossi was quietly going about his business in twenty-first, someway off regular driver Giedo van der Garde. Importantly however the American driver was keeping himself out of trouble in what were tricky conditions.
Max Chilton, Lewis Hamilton and a raft of others were caught out by the slippery circuit – Hamilton taking to the grass on the approach to the final chicane as he ran out of road as Mark Webber and Massa returned to the pits. The incident didn't appear to phase the 2008 world champion whose next lap was a 1:25.054, just over a tenth of a second slower than his pace-setting teammate.
It had been a busy opening hour for Gutierrez, the Sauber driver notching up 22 laps around the Notre-Dame circuit.
As expected, the rain which had fallen early in the session had stopped and a distinct dry line now began to appear with a little more than half an hour remaining. Conditions were still tricky however, Jenson Button taking to the tarmac run-off at the final chicane - a new curb, installed for this year, slowed the 2009 world champion on his return to the circuit.
Elsewhere, reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel put in a number of scrappy laps, the German missed apexes as he began to push the limit on the drying track. The Red Bull driver set the second fastest time, splitting the Mercedes duo but was still three-tenths off Rosberg at the front.
The fastest times were still being set by those on intermediates. Still running, Vettel took six tenths out of Rosberg's best as he circulated with almost the entire circuit to himself.
Times had tumbled some seven seconds across the session; Vergne became the first to brave a switch to medium compound tyres with a shade over twenty minutes left on the clock. The side walls of the tyres, which one would expect to be painted white, noticeably lacked any markings which suggested the Toro Rosso driver was on the Pirelli 'prototype' tyre.
Offline the circuit remained treacherous; Gutierrez ran wide at the first turn, splashing through a puddle and coating his Sauber with a thin layer of mud down the right hand side. Only two wheels left the circuit, the youngster able to carry on without any damage done.
Conditions had improved, so much so Van der Garde found himself sixth on 1 1:25.753, while Chilton was only one place back on a 1:15.821.
As the session began to wind down Massa took to the circuit on the prototype Pirelli, the Brazilian cruising down the back straight on what appeared to be a straight line test. Rather than completing the lap however he returned to the pits having completed just six laps in almost eighty minutes.
Alonso, Raikkonen and Vettel also tried the new Pirelli tyres, though the circuit appeared someway off being completely ready for the dry weather tyres; those on the medium compound some four seconds off the pace in the first sector alone. It was a point proven by Perez, sliding off at Turn 6 after putting a wheel on the white line under braking, bouncing over the grass before re-joining the circuit.
As if running a comparison programme as Perez lapped on the development tyre, Button in the other McLaren was out on the standard medium compound as the Woking squad looked to understand the new tyre construction.
In the final five minutes everyone (with the exception of Bianchi) was on track; dry tyres the order of the day with a number of teams opting for the development tyre. By now it was clearly the tyre to be on; a dry line seeing times tumble by seconds as Button went fastest with a 1:21.551, roughly ten seconds faster than times at the start of the session.
One driver on the regular medium compound tyres was Pastor Maldonado, the Williams driver sliding into the barrier at Turn 4 after losing the rear of the car at the exit of Turn 3. Heading nose first into the wall he bounced back out on to the track, being narrowly missed by a Marussia and Red Bull before marshals could clear the stricken Williams.
Moments later Adrian Sutil had a half spin at the old Pit Hairpin, though he managed to keep his car more or less on the circuit.
With yellow flags still out for Maldonado's car, Paul di Resta, in the other Force India, set his personal best lap time. Mark Webber set a fastest time of the session in the first sector, despite yellow flags out in that area at the time.
Proving the circuit was improving in the dying stages it was Paul Di Resta who was fastest, less than a tenth of a second ahead of Button with a lap of 1:21.020. The big story though was one of weather, the wet conditions and limited dry running making any conclusions difficult to draw.