10/06/2017
NEWS STORY
The seventh round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship began with practice Friday at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal as teams prepared for the Canadian Grand Prix Sunday.
Two 90-minute sessions - FP1 and FP2 - on the 4.361-kilometer (2.710-mile), 14-turn track were primarily spent building grip into the semi-street circuit. With the infrequent use of the roads on which the track is based, the asphalt proved to be very green and it made traction hard to come by.
Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, two of the first drivers to venture out in FP1, enjoyed a solid opening session with Magnussen securing the 12th-fastest time and Grosjean two spots back with the 14th-quickest time.
Magnussen logged 25 laps, with his best time coming on his penultimate lap - a 1:16.233 earned on a set of Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft tires. Grosjean totaled 18 laps, with his best time also coming on his next-to-last lap - a 1:16.345 earned on the same compound.
Leading the way in FP1 was Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, whose fast lap of 1:13.809 was .198 of a second better than the next quickest driver, Scuderia Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.
As the track rubbered in, speeds picked up and lap times dropped in FP2. Grosjean made the biggest gain, wrapping FP2 as the 11th-quickest driver with a time of 1:14.566, which was 1.799 seconds better than his best lap in FP1. His quick time came on the 16th of his 33 laps shod on a set of Purple ultrasoft tires. Magnussen shaved 1.557 seconds off his FP1 time with a 1:14.676 earned on his 18th lap, also while utilizing the ultrasoft tire. He ended the session 14th overall with 35 laps completed.
Atop FP2 was Scuderia Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen with a quick time of 1:12.935. His fast lap was .215 of a second better than runner-up Hamilton, but still .123 of a second off Hamilton's pole-winning mark for last year's Canadian Grand Prix and .660 of a second off the all-time fastest lap at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - a 1:12.275 set by Ralf Schumacher in his Williams during qualifying for the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix.
Between the two sessions, Haas F1 Team ran a total of 111 laps - 60 by Magnussen and 51 by Grosjean.
Romain Grosjean: "It was a decent day. We've tried a few setup items. It was good that it stayed dry. I enjoy driving the track here. It's always a big challenge, but pretty good fun. We're working on the setup of the cars - trying to get a bit more performance. It looks like there are some pretty tight lap times, not at the front, but from, I would say, Force India, ourselves, Toro Rosso and Renault are up there. It's going to be key to find the last few tenths. I'm happy with the car. The long run wasn't too bad. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
Kevin Magnussen: "It was a good day for us. I really enjoyed driving on the track. The car felt good, initially. There are a few places we can improve, which we're working on for tomorrow, so let's see how we go. It should be warmer tomorrow, with less clouds, so the track should be warmer and the tires easier to get working. I'm happy with the day."
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: "Not a bad FP1 and FP2 for us. We struggled a little bit with a new set of brakes in the second part of FP1, but the guys got it back on track for FP2. There we got a good session in. We did all our testing. The car is where it always is - in the midfield. It's a very tight midfield again. It seems to be quite slippery out there. Everybody's a little bit spinning around between the wind and the dirty track. I think we're in a good place and ready for tomorrow."