Canadian Grand Prix FP1: Kimi Antonelli tops interrupted and extended session
F1 NewsFriday, 22 May 2026 at 19:52
Formula 1 Championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, ended the only practice session for the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix fastest amid multiple incidents, stoppages which necessitated a 20 minutes extension.
Antonelli fired a warning shot for teammate George Russell with a 1:13.402 lap, 0.142s better than the Briton's best effort.
But those who have to be really worried are Mercedes' rivals who were over seven tenths clear of the second-best, in this case Ferrari with Lewis Hamilton in third, 0.774s off the pace.
It seems Mercedes' major upgrade is doing the business and propelled the W17 further ahead of its rivals.
Charles Leclerc was fourth fastest in the sister Ferrari, 0.179s behind his teammate and just 0.011s clear of Max Verstappen who was fifth fastest in the Red Bull Racing RB22.
While McLaren were Mercedes' closest challengers in Miami, Lando Norris was only sixth fastest, 1.397s off the pace and suffering from several off-moments while Oscar Piastri was seventh fastest in the other Papaya car also not having a clean session.
Arvid Lindblad was eight fastest for Racing Bulls who lost Liam Lawson early on in the session due to a hydraulic issue causing the first Red Flag.
Racing Bulls are being investigated for the CDS (Clutch Disengagement System) not working on Lawson's car which meant it was stuck in gear making the marshals' lives more difficult while removing it from the track.
Nico Hulkenberg was ninth in the Audi while Fernando Alonso, surprisingly, was tenth fastest in the Aston Martin.
As mentioned in the headline, the session was interrupted several times with Franco Colapinto breaking down before even completing a lap, the Lawson broke down.
After that, Alex Albon crashed unsuccessfully trying to avoid a marmot/groundhog and caused another Red Flag.
Esteban Ocon crashed later in the session causing a third Red Flag, albeit a brief one.
Being the only session, race control decided to increase the session's time by 4 minutes after the first Red Flag and 15 minutes after the second.
Sprint Qualifying is next.
Buildup towards FP1
Montreal came earlier than usual this year and for the first time in its history, it is running under the Sprint format which means FP1 will be the sole practice session of the weekend with Sprint Qualifying following.
The earlier date means cooler temperatures which means teams and drivers will have to relearn the tyre wear and deg patterns around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Pirelli, by the way, have the C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium) and C5 (Soft) compounds available this weekend.
It will be interesting to see how the rule changes that the FIA and Formula 1 debuted in Miami work in Montreal with its high power demands. The FIA are also trialing revised rear lights on the cars that will allow driver to know better what the car in front is up to.
Blue lights mean a car is running at a lower power level. Purple light for cars at 0kW of motor power, and yellow for superclipping.
1) After bringing significant upgrades to Miami last time out, McLaren introduce the second half of the package in Montréal with a new front wing, a revised engine cover and cooling louvres, a new halo winglet, revised rear wing endplates, updated rear suspension fairings and new… pic.twitter.com/apTtxaxcAJ
— FIA (@fia) May 22, 2026
Another point to look out for is Mercedes' first upgrade package as they respond to McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull.
Sticking with Mercedes, all eyes are also on Russell who should really respond and try to end the winning streak of Antonelli.
Back to upgrades, McLaren have another big package as well as Red Bull and Racing Bulls, Williams, Audi and Cadillac with Haas also bringing a comprehensive one for the VF-26.
FP1 Session Highlights
The session started in clear conditions with track temperatures registering 37 degrees Celsius while air temperature was at 16 degrees.
Soon after the cars hit the track, Colapinto was soon limping on track, reporting that his throttle is not working as he tried to make his way back to the pits.
He did manage to reach the Alpine pits as his mechanics roll the car into the garage and starting working on it trying to save the Argentine's session.
"My throttle is not working" 😢
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2026
Franco Colapinto's Alpine is slow at the pit entrance, with some drivers taking avoiding action, but he makes it back into the pit lane #F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/oo3FZJyNCo
Norris had a moment and locked up at Turn 13 and went through the run-off area as Verstappen ran a bit wide out of Turn 7 and kicked up some dust.
Pushing the limits already! 💨
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2026
Both Norris and Verstappen have run wide as they start to build up the confidence in their cars 👀#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/aJcmzAxUaP
Soon after, less than ten minutes into the session, we got our second casualty as Liam Lawson parked his VCARB on the side the the track reporting loss of power steering indicating a hydraulic issue.
The Virtual Safety Car was out which soon became a Red Flag.
🟡 VSC ➡️ RED FLAG 🔴
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2026
We are now under Red Flag conditions in order to retrieve Lawson's car, which has caught Hamilton and Ferrari out in the pit lane! #F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/RsBb28mBXo
Verstappen was soon asked about his feedback on downshifts on his RB22, and he was fairly positive in his feedback.
"They're pushing a little bit, especially in the lower gears, but the locking is much better," the Dutchman said.
The session was restarted with less than 45 minutes remaining on the clock but it was soon announced that FP1 will be extended for four minutes.
Hamilton the ran wide at Turn 8, went through the grass and managed to get back on track in one piece.
Taking to the grass! 🍃#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/2hYQUz2soF
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2026
Ocon then reported that he was smashing the ground at every bump.
With 36 minutes remaining, drama returned as Albon binned his Williams coming out of Turn 7 just where Verstappen managed to escape from a wide moment earlier.
The Williams driver was not as lucky as he parked his car with considerable damage and the Red Flag was out. Albon was out of his car and fine.
It appears Albon was trying to avoid a marmot/groundhog and that was caused the crash. The animal did not seem to survive the incident hence there was no replay.
🔴 RED FLAG 🔴
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2026
Alex Albon has had a crash in his Williams 😱
He is out of the car and ok#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/jca4LWx6ot
The session was restarted with a little over 20 minutes remaining but it was extended by 15 minutes to compensate for the stoppages.
Norris then had a moment in the chicane and went through the grass.
Verstappen, on the other hand, reported: "Steering has suddenly got a lot heavier."
He then said: "I keep getting these weird snaps a lot with the lower gear downshifts, it's like the diff opens."
Replay showed Verstappen couldn't turn the car at Turn 8 and went straight into the grass run-off.
Antonelli also locked up and went deep into Turn 1 but was saved by the run-off. The Italian also came too close to the wall while pushing but got away with it.
Sending it right up against the wall! 😮💨🤏
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2026
Antonelli is pushing on a lap which elevates him to the top of the timesheets so far, with a 1:14.392 🟣#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/bNAQk5G9kC
In the final 16 minutes, the Soft Pirellis finally made an appearance with Russell first to take them on as teams started preparation for Sprint Qualifying. Up until that point, the Hard compound was the tyre being used.
Onto the soft tyres! 🛞
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2026
Russell jumps up to P1 on the softest compound, but Antonelli follows up with a storming 1:13.402, four tenths quicker than Russell 🟣👀#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/GWLLkcFgMd
The drives kept having lockups and off moments while on the Soft tyres - Piastri, Russell...
Piastri said he had flat-spotted his tyres as his engineer suggest manual shutdown of straight-line mode as they suspected that caused his lockup.
Russell then got away with a big one, as he spun in Turn 2 and ended up tapping the barriers. He was lucky to get away with it.
Pushing in FP1! 😮💨
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2026
This is how the first practice session ALMOST came to an abrupt end for George Russell 👀#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/00UQ2Rvqyp
The the Yellow flag was out as TV footage showed Esteban Ocon running without a front wing on his car. Instead it was on the track.
Replay showed he Frenchman taking too much kerb at the exit of Turn 4, spun, went head on into the barriers damaging the nose. However the VF-26 bounced back on track and Ocon managed to drive it back to the pits.
🔴 RED FLAG 🔴
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2026
Esteban Ocon has spun and ripped off his front wing! 💥
He keeps his Haas going but there is debris all over the track 👀#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/8GLlZwNA50
A brief Red flag was raised before the track was cleared with less that three minutes remaining.
The session was concluded with practice starts.
Canadian Grand Prix FP1 Classification
Latest News
Loading
