Nico Rosberg was the quickest man around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Friday morning in Canada, lapping over half a second faster than second placed man, Fernando Alonso.
The attention of the session was focused on Sebastian Vettel after he hit the wall of champions with just 34 minutes remaining. The accident brought out the red flags and will see the current championship leader starting on his back foot this weekend.
Rosberg’s team-mate, Micheal Schumacher, also put some good laps in to take third quickest, ahead of Felipe Massa and Jenson Button.
Lewis Hamilton’s running was cut short after he encountered a steering column issue, though he was able to put in 19 laps.
The Williams of Rubens Barrichello was the surprise runner in the top ten, followed by Paul di Resta, Nick Heidfeld and Nico Hulkenberg.
Canadian GP Free Practice 1 Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:15.591 | 32 | |
| 02. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:16.139 | +0.548 | 27 |
| 03. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:16.549 | +0.958 | 30 |
| 04. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:16.658 | +1.067 | 26 |
| 05. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:16.676 | +1.085 | 20 |
| 06. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:16.842 | +1.251 | 19 |
| 07. | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:16.990 | +1.399 | 28 |
| 08. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:17.294 | +1.703 | 26 |
| 09. | N. Heidfeld | Renault | 1:17.445 | +1.854 | 28 |
| 10. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:17.549 | +1.958 | 20 |
| 11. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:17.662 | +2.071 | 27 |
| 12. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:17.820 | +2.229 | 30 |
| 13. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1:18.458 | +2.867 | 31 |
| 14. | V. Petrov | Renault | 1:18.506 | +2.915 | 15 |
| 15. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:18.648 | +3.057 | 35 |
| 16. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:18.852 | +3.261 | 8 |
| 17. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:18.932 | +3.341 | 20 |
| 18. | J. Trulli | Lotus | 1:19.274 | +3.683 | 29 |
| 19. | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | 1:19.422 | +3.831 | 30 |
| 20. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:19.577 | +3.986 | 26 |
| 21. | J. d’Ambrosio | Virgin | 1:19.838 | +4.247 | 31 |
| 22. | T. Liuzzi | HRT | 1:19.960 | +4.369 | 23 |
| 23. | T. Glock | Virgin | 1:20.520 | +4.929 | 21 |
| 24. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:20.839 | +5.248 | 27 |
