CANADIAN GP – Four minutes of FP1 sees Valtteri Bottas fastest after CCTV cable cut
Valtteri Bottas was fastest in a short first practice session for this weekends Canadian Grand Prix. The session was red flagged after just ten minutes after a a technical issue with the circuits infrastructure saw the marshalling system go down at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
The teams were looking to use the only forecast dry session of the weekend to test new parts but the red flag after twenty minutes before the FIA called the session off forty minutes into the session. The teams will get a extra thirty minutes in FP2 to make up for the lost time.
The FIA statement read: “The session restart has been delayed due to issues with the local CCTV infrastructure around the circuit. The local organisers are working to resolve the issue and until that time we can’t restart for safety reasons.”
The FP1 clock continued to count down per F1’s rules and approaching the 40-minute mark the FIA issued another statement explanation. This read: “The delay will be longer as the CCTV is not synced correctly and until the issue has been fixed we cannot run on track.
“This system is a local installation and they are continuing to work to resolve the problem. The clock will continue to run down on FP1 and the session won’t be extended as there must be 2.5hrs between FP1 and FP2. We are looking at options to extend FP2.”
With 10 minutes of FP1 remaining it was announced that the session would not be resumed, while the event stewards announced that FP2 will start 30 minutes earlier – at 4.30pm local time – and last 30 minutes longer.
Lance Stroll was second four and a half tenths behind Bottas, the Quebecer going over half a second faster than his Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso. Only twelve drivers had set one flying lap, and none were representative of competitive pace.
The session had been red flagged when the Alpine of Pierre Gasly stopped at Turn Eight with a driveshaft issue and then the CCTV issue meant the session wasn’t then restarted on safety grounds.
Sergio Perez was three and a half tenths off Alonso, the Mexican going a nearly a tenth ahead of Max Verstappen. Oscar Piastri put his McLaren sixth, three tenths faster than the two Haas’s. Kevin Magnussen going nearly three tenths faster than his Haas teammate Nico Hulkenberg.
Guanyu Zhou was ninth going a second faster than Carlos Sainz,, rounding out the top ten. Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc was eleventh eight tenths off, Nyck de Vries was the final driver to set a time in twelfth.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell failed to even get out for an exploratory lap. Mercedes had expected a swift resumption after Gasly’s car had been cleared from the track and sent Hamilton and Russell out to the end of the pit lane but then had to wheel the cars back to their garages when the CCTV issues became apparent.
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