What the teams said – Friday in Canada

McLaren

Norris topped the opening session for McLaren in wet-dry conditions, the Brit looking comfortable in both as he threw his car around this famous track. He didn’t complete a flying lap in FP2 though, dropping down the leaderboard but certainly not in a representative spot. Piastri likewise dropped down the order in FP2, McLaren opting to keep their true pace something of a mystery.

Lando Norris – FP1: 1:24.435, P1; FP2: 1:20.843, P20

“Tricky first day on track with the conditions which meant I didn't get in as many dry laps as I wanted to. We got a good amount in the wet and took a reasonable first step this weekend but it’s hard to see where we stand. It’s been a difficult Friday for everyone, and the conditions here can change everything. We’ll now work hard overnight with the data we have and see where we can aim to be tomorrow going into Qualifying.”

Oscar Piastri - FP1: 1:26.754, P6; FP2: 1:19.008, P16

“That’s practice done. It’s been a bit of a difficult day with the weather, so it’s hard to read where we sit. I think we’re looking good, but it’s just difficult to know considering we didn’t get in all the running we wanted to, but that’s the same for everyone. Our pace and times on the Intermediates in P2 looked solid, so that’s a positive, but I think it’s going to be a jumbled up weekend for everybody. I’m looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“Today’s sessions were both affected by rain. It means we haven’t learned very much about tyre behaviour, car set up or even our competitive position. That said, we may have learned the most valuable information already, because conditions may be the same as this for the rest of the weekend. So, the running was valuable, and at least we were able to offer something to all the fans that came out today to see us. We need to stay focused, use what we took from today and be ready for an eventful weekend.”

Aston Martin

Aston Martin didn’t seem keen to run on the inters, choosing to preserve them for future sessions. As such their running in FP1 was limited to just one lap each on the green-marked tyres, with Stroll receiving rapturous applause when he did circle round. The Canadian did come out late on in FP1 on the softs and was one of a number of drivers to head across the grass in the slippery conditions. Roll on FP2 and both drivers looked quick on the softs before the rain intensified. Alonso wound up topping the session with Stroll in third, but it remains to be seen whether they were carrying less fuel than some of their rivals.

READ MORE: Alonso reflects on ‘tricky’ Friday despite going fastest as he warns of ‘gamble’ for rest of weekend in Canada

Fernando Alonso – FP1: 1:33.411, P15; FP2: 1:15.810, P1

“It was a tricky Friday for the entire field due to the weather with not many laps recorded, particularly in FP1. The conditions meant the track was never fully wet or fully dry but it could be like this in qualifying and the race so today could provide very useful information for the rest of the weekend. If the conditions are the same tomorrow, those that are sharp in qualifying and make the right decision on tyres could gain a big advantage. It’s going to be interesting for those watching but for us as a team it’ll be about getting the tyre calls right and aiming to make the most of that.”

Lance Stroll - FP1: 1:40.530, P17; FP2: 1:16.464, P3

“It was a stop-start day thanks to the variable weather. In FP2 we got to complete a fair amount of driving both on the intermediates and slicks on a drying track, and we learned a few things there and about the new tarmac, which is behaving a little differently to previous years. We got some good data on set-up and how the intermediates behave, and that could be crucial for this weekend as there’s more rain forecast. It’s always great to be driving in front of my home crowd and we’ll be aiming to give them something to cheer in qualifying tomorrow.”

Ferrari

The Ferrari boys looked quick in the wet and dry conditions, Sainz initially topping the opening session on the intermediates before being pipped by Norris once the track dried enough for softs. It was more of the same in the second session, despite Leclerc spinning and Sainz running wide. Leclerc was investigated for a tyre infringement though, having been the first to swap to the intermediates as the rain fell at the start of FP2. The team were fined for the breach, with the track having not yet been declared wet.

Charles Leclerc - FP1: 1:25.306, P3; FP2: 1:16.556, P4

"There was not so much to learn today, as the conditions were very different each time we went out. We put in quite a few laps throughout the day, so that was a positive.

"I’m looking forward to tomorrow and we will try to put everything together for qualifying."

Carlos Sainz - FP1: 1:24.763, P2; FP2: 1:17.722, P13

"A very Canadian Friday at this time of the year, with the weather changing a lot, alternating between dry and wet conditions. Despite the track changing all the time we managed to run as much as we could and put down some decent runs with both the slicks and the Intermediate compound.

"However, it’s not easy to extract many conclusions from the sessions today, so we need to focus on ourselves and be as ready as possible for tomorrow."

Mercedes

Hamilton was the first to brave the conditions and come out to wave to the crowd at a track he’s had tremendous success at. He seemed happy from the off, despite opting not to bolt on the new front wing for fear of a brush with the barriers in the tricky conditions. Russell wound up second in FP2, but with so many cars running mixed programmes, it remains to be seen just how competitive Mercedes will be at this track.

Lewis Hamilton – FP1: 1:25.970, P4; FP2: 1:16.908, P7

"It felt great out there today. I was raring to go throughout no matter what the conditions. I was pleased that we were able to maximise our time on track as that is what is needed around a circuit like this. It’s all about building your pace. Today, it was also about understanding the conditions plus the new surface they’ve laid.

"The car felt strong throughout and I didn’t even get to finish what would have been my fastest lap. This is one of the best circuits we go to, so I really enjoyed myself out there. Recently, Saturday’s have proved more challenging for us, but I feel confident out there and that the car is reacting to my inputs. Ultimately, we won’t know until tomorrow afternoon just where we are in the order but today was a really good day overall."

George Russell - FP1: 1:28.541, P10; FP2: 1:16.273, P2

"It was good fun out there today. It was difficult to take many learnings into the rest of the weekend as each lap the conditions were changing. First it was spitting, then it was drying, then it was raining again! The car was feeling good overall, but we will only learn about our position relative to others tomorrow. I had faith in the car today though and felt confident throughout.

"In FP3, you are usually very focused on your Qualifying performance. However tomorrow, we are also going to have to evaluate our race pace. We are going to have to be very clear on the changes we want to make ahead of Qualifying. In all honesty, there won’t be a lot that any driver or team learnt today. The weather could be similar tomorrow though so it’s going to be interesting."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"The goal for today was to make the most of the opportunities for running and learning in the mixed conditions. The team and drivers have done a good job of that. There's a chance of rain in both Qualifying and the race. We were therefore focused on covering as many conditions as possible and making sure we had the tyres in a decent temperature window along with understanding the car balance.

"The car seems to be working reasonably well, but it's impossible to draw conclusions on pace from a day like today. If we get a dry final practice tomorrow, then it's going to be busy as we've still got a lot of low and high fuel work to get through. The track is tough on the cars so ideally, we'll get a long run in to check everything is OK. Considering the conditions today, it was a decent start to the weekend."

Red Bull

Red Bull had a steady opening session, both drivers running the intermediate tyres before swapping to the softs late on. Verstappen did run over the grass late on but found time to joke with his race engineer about his “off-road excursion.” There wasn’t much time to joke around in FP2 though, with the Dutchman coming back to the garage with the smell of burning filling his nostrils. It turned out to be an ERS issue, and that cost Verstappen any further involvement in Friday’s running.

READ MORE: Verstappen admits first day in Canada ‘not ideal’ as he reacts to FP2 technical issue

Max Verstappen – FP1: 1:26.502, P5; FP2: 1:19.311, P18

“Unfortunately FP1 was very affected by the weather and we also did not get many laps out of FP2. There was a suspected electrical issue so the Team told me to box. They are investigating what the issue is in the garage now and I’m sure we will get to the bottom of it. It is not ideal as I would have liked to have driven a few more laps and it is not how I would have liked to have finished the session. But now we just need to understand more about what happened and the implications that it will have for this weekend."

Sergio Perez - FP1: 1:28.058, P9; FP2: 1:17.041, P10

“I think overall it was a very tricky day with the conditions that we had. I think it is going to be very important in qualifying tomorrow to be out there at the right time. We could already see in FP2 that the conditions and track were changing quite a bit if you were not pushing on the right lap, it could be quite a big difference. We felt a few things in the car that we want to adjust, we have a good idea where we need to make changes, but I think it is very difficult to draw any conclusions on a track that was dictated by the weather today. We made some good progress on the inter tyre and that was quite positive, but on the slick, we were just not out at the right time, so I am not concerned about it and we will get to see the competitiveness tomorrow."

RB

Ricciardo went for a bit of a rollercoaster splash late on, cutting across the grass and kicking up a huge puddle of water. That drenching aside, it was a steady opening for RB with both drivers looking dialled in. Ricciardo, a previous winner here, also looked good in FP2, winding up fifth overall with Tsunoda also solidly in the top 10.

Daniel Ricciardo - FP1: 1:28.582, P11; FP2: 1:16.731, P5

“It was a good day and I’m feeling pretty good; just before FP1, it was looking like we might not do any driving today, so I’m happy ending the day doing quite a few laps in FP2 on both compounds. We feel like we’re in a good place, so I don’t think we’re going to do too much tonight, just fine-tuning some bits and pieces. The track dried pretty quickly this morning and is also a lot smoother than it used to be, so it seems to be a bit easier on the tyres. I think if it’s going to be these mixed conditions tomorrow, it will be important to be on the right tyre at the right time.”

Yuki Tsunoda - FP1: 1:28.723, P12; FP2: 1:16.951, P8

“As a team, it was a positive day. For myself, there are still a couple of things to improve but overall, it was a very fun day because of the several condition changes. It was good training and learning for myself, especially driving the intermediate tyres in wet conditions because we haven’t had much wet running this year. It was also good data collecting. As we know, everyone was doing different things but looking at our pace we’re not in a bad place. I still felt as though we were able to perform well in rainy conditions, so I’m confident in both wet and dry. As always, there are some things from today’s runs to improve on, and the midfield is still very tight, but we’ll continue doing what we’ve been doing for the last races, finetune certain areas and put it all together tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Racing Director

“It was a good day, both drivers were happy with their car. We, of course like everyone, ran in both dry and wet conditions. We chose not to run on the full wet tyres but used the intermediate in both FP1 and FP2, and we’re happy. We’ve got a decent car and baseline, and obviously will be looking overnight to see what we can do to improve further. We are expecting more rain tomorrow and possibly on Sunday, but we are satisfied with the work we’ve done today. A lot of that work has come from what we learned in Monaco but also simulator sessions after Monaco, so we’re particularly happy that it translated to a good car on track today.”

Williams

Sargeant found the greasy conditions challenging, sliding off a couple of times and running across the grass for good measure. Albon had one of the best catches of the day though, losing the rear through the final corner and just avoiding the infamous Wall of Champions. But when they kept their cars on track, Williams looked to be in and around the top 10, and should be confident of pushing on towards Q3 in qualifying if things go their way.

Alex Albon - FP1: No time set, P20; FP2: 1:16.977, P9

"Overall, we had a good practice session in FP2 and it was fun to get out there and take a bit of risk. It looks like we will have similar conditions across the weekend, so I'm glad we could do some laps on the slicks and the Inters. The car felt strong on both compounds, and the slicks felt really good even with the DRS closed, so there's definitely more lap time there. In all my running today, I was between fourth and ninth so I'm generally feeling positive for tomorrow."

Logan Sargeant - FP1: 1:36.586, P16; FP2: 1:17.496, P12

"Obviously, it was a massively disrupted day. Looking at it as a whole, we didn’t get to drive in proper dry or wet conditions. There was maybe a little missed opportunity by not doing any laps when it was a bit more wet in FP1. Nonetheless it was okay in general with a few things to sort out. I think we’re going to be in a similar weather pattern tomorrow, so it’ll be about being on the right tyre at the right time and getting the strategy correct."

Sven Smeets, Sporting Director

"As predicted in the beginning of the week the weather determined the run plans today. There wasn’t much running in FP1 for us, but we made the most of FP2 doing a good number of laps on the Soft tyre before changing to the Intermediate. We collected valuable information on both tyres for the rest of the weekend and the drivers are reasonably happy with the set-up of the car in these constantly changing conditions. More rain is expected for tomorrow and Sunday which will keep things interesting. We will have to be on top of our game as there will be opportunities to score valuable points on Sunday."

Haas

Haas didn’t run the soft tyres late on in FP1 unlike many of their rivals. They did do so in FP2 before switching back to the intermediates as the rain fell. Magnussen managed the standout time for the team with sixth overall in FP2, which should give them confidence that a good qualifying result can be had here, especially if conditions stay mixed. But the Dane also showed how easy it is to get it wrong in the rain, as he cut across the grass and just about missed the barriers.

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Nico Hulkenberg - FP1: 1:32.826, P14; FP2: 1:17.903, P15

“There are mixed feelings from different parts of the sessions. Some moments felt good, some moments felt bad, so we’ll be looking into that to understand it. It didn’t feel great and we didn’t get into a good rhythm or harmony, so we’ve got some work to do there. It does make it tricky, but you have those weekends sometimes, but it spices things up. Tomorrow is more of the same in terms of weather, so I’m getting ready for an interesting day.”

Kevin Magnussen – FP1: 1:29.052, P13; FP2: 1:16.773, P6

“You never learn enough but I got the chance to go out on both slicks and intermediates. I got a good feeling in the car, on all sets of tyres, so that’s positive and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. What we’re taking away from today is the feeling in the car, and the pace that we got in the dry, which looked very positive.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“I think conditions have been very challenging, but I think we’ve got the information we needed. In FP1, Kevin had a good run on the intermediate tyre, so that gave us confidence in terms of performance. Again with Kevin in FP2, we had a decent run on the dry tyres. Even though they weren’t completely representative conditions, we understand how the car behaves now on the soft tyre, so that was good. For the next two days, our biggest challenge is how to manage the mixed conditions from intermediate tyres to dry. I think we got that basic information, so considering how difficult the day has been, it’s been a pretty decent day.”

Alpine

Doohan was in Ocon’s cockpit for FP1, but the Aussie only got a couple of laps in thanks to the conditions. That did mean Ocon was the only driver with a fresh set of inters for FP2, and he put those to good use – managing 31 laps during the second hour of practice. While he was gathering data, Gasly was trying to go quick and would end up in the top 10 in FP1, before falling down the order in FP2.

Esteban Ocon - FP2: 1:17.417, P11

“It was a good day, despite the fact that Jack could not get much running in FP1 because of the poor weather conditions, which was also a pity for him. In the afternoon we were able to drive under both dry and wet conditions and we caught up on what was not possible this morning and pull together some information which was good. The track is much better with the new surface here. It is much more enjoyable, so well done to the circuit organisers. We hope that tomorrow we will be able to properly test the grip of the track here at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. I hope that we will have a good Qualifying on Saturday.”

Jack Doohan - FP1: No time set, P19

“It was not the most exciting FP1 session for me, with limited running due to the weather conditions. With the forecast for the remainder of the weekend also looking uncertain, it was important to save tyres and keep some sets back in case the rain remains. We were able to get an installation lap in with the Wet tyre and make sure the car was running fine. Then when the track was drying towards the end, we finished off with an out lap on the Soft tyre and conduct practice starts. So, we still managed to gather some useful data. In the end, the weather is outside of our control, but we made the most of what we could given the conditions.”

Pierre Gasly - FP1: 1:27.584, P7; FP2: 1:20.789, P19

“Overall, the car felt good today. Although, due to the weather conditions and heavy rain we did not get much running in. But it is the same for everyone else. So there are lots of question marks for all the teams, especially with the new asphalt. We will see what the rest of the weekend has in store for us. Obviously, it would be great to continue where we have left off in Monaco, but we are conscious that Monaco is a very unique track and we know where we stand with our car’s current performance. Hopefully, the weather conditions here for the rest of the weekend can mix things up and open up opportunities for us. We will work hard to make sure we are ready to grab them if they present themselves to us."

Kick Sauber

Zhou brought out the first red flags of the session after he aquaplaned off into the barriers in the worst of the conditions. That combined with a spin for Bottas and a very slow practice pit stop made it a tricky start to the weekend for Kick Sauber. They had a better time of it in FP2, both drivers keeping their session mostly clean in more tricky conditions.

Valtteri Bottas - FP1: 1:27.670, P8; FP2: 1:17.817, P14

“It seems like we are in a better place compared to where we were in Monaco, which is obviously encouraging for the weekend ahead. Today’s rain affected both sessions, meaning any time we’d go out on track it would be in different conditions and mounting different tyres: this made it trickier to get a detailed read of the car’s behaviour and performance. Still, the feeling with the car is positive, and we managed to get a decent number of laps during FP2, gathering important data for us and the team back in Hinwil to work on overnight. With a variable weather forecast, it'll be important to fully trust the car tomorrow in qualifying, to push it to the limit no matter the conditions.”

Zhou Guanyu - FP1: No time set, P18; FP2: 1:19.987, P17

“It's great to be back racing in Montreal, even though it’s been a tricky day for everyone out there. During FP1, I expected a bit more grip on the wet track, but I experienced aquaplaning and was lucky to save it just before touching the wall – so we were able to minimize the damage. The team did a great job getting the car ready for FP2, allowing us to run in both wet and dry conditions. Given the mixed conditions, however, it’s difficult to say where we stand, but the car definitely feels much better than it did in Monaco. I’m looking forward to more racing tomorrow.”

Pirelli

Simone Berra, Chief Engineer

“It’s very difficult to draw any conclusions from today, which saw the weather alternate between sunshine and showers. Track conditions never got close to optimal, as seen from the fact that lap times on the slicks were a very long way off, around four seconds in fact, of the average simulation times received from the teams prior to this North American trip. That still leaves two main unknown factors, namely how the tyres will suit the new track surface, and so far today we have seen very low levels of grip, so it is logical to expect a marked evolution if the cars can run consistently on a dry track, and secondly the level of graining. We have been able to gather some slightly more solid data on the crossover point from intermediate tyres to slicks, confirmed at around 112% of a dry lap time.

“Clearly, uncertainty surrounding the weather for the rest of the weekend will be a major consideration: for tomorrow, Meteo France is currently saying there is an 80% probability of rain for qualifying, while the figure is lower for the race, but we know that the situation can change rapidly here.”